St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1
Board of Commissioners
Special Meeting
Minutes
February 21, 2017
The meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m.
The prayer and pledge of allegiance were done.
ROLL CALL: Chairman Crowley and Commissioners Brackett, Hoying, and Gay were present.
Commissioner Rich arrived at 6:33 p.m.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION-
Albert Lee, Jennifer Faciane- Ms. Faciane thanked the department for its participation and involvement in her father’s funeral.
Retired Chief Albert Lee issued “Letters of Commendation” to the Honor Guard members.
Communications Officer of the Year- Jacob Boudreaux
Medic of the Year- Chris Canning
Firefighter of the Year- Ryan Gonzalez
Promotions: Deputy Chief Nicky Bruno, District Chief Kenneth Smith, Captain Roy Provenzano, Fire Captain Timothy Dudenhefer, Fire Operator Clint Coulon, Fire Operator Anthony Scharenbroch
Retirement: District Chief Paul Huval- 28 Years of Service (absent)
Fire Prevention Officer Van Joffrion- 24 Years of Service (absent)
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Gay made a motion to approve the minutes of the January 17, 2017 meeting. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS – (none)
NEW BUSINESS –
1.Chief’s Report
a)Significant Monthly Events
• 2 retirements- promoted and hired replacements
• Civil Service Appeal- Administrative actions were upheld
b) Station 13/ HQ – Bid Opening 2/9 – Chief Kaufmann stated that there is a Resolution, under “PMI”, that addresses his recommendation.
c) PIAL Update- Chief Kaufmann stated that the package has been completed and will be submitted electronically. The package will be reviewed and onsite visits will be conducted in approx. 45 days. Chief Kaufmann stated that the goal is to become a Class 2 rated department.
d) PFFA-LA Conference- Chief Kaufmann stated that he spoke at the PFFA-LA Conference in New Orleans.
e) Legislative Meeting (Non-Profit Tax Exemptions, Millage Process) – Chief Kaufmann stated that a meeting was held with Deputy Assessor Troy Dugas, Senator Sharon Hewitt and Representative Kevin Pearson and some legislation concerning the millage process was addressed (moving the meetings back to Slidell) as well as some of the advertisement language (“meeting” vs. “hearing”). Attorney Ingram will draft the language change in the current Legislative Audit roll forward/ roll back process.
f) Annual Ethics and BOC Tier II Financial Disclosure- email reminder was sent 1/3/17
g) Capital Strategy Meeting– Commissioner Hoying previously inquired about our future “Capital” plan. Chief Kaufmann stated that a “Capital” strategy meeting is set for March 6 and Commissioner Gay will attend.
h) Public Campaign/ Outreach- Chief Kaufmann stated that nothing was scheduled, in February, due to PIAL. In March, a vehicle extrication demo will be done (behind Central Station).
i) Operations Reports – Chief of Operations Kuhn discussed the “Operations” report (January) which covers YTD call totals, Hydrants Inspected, NFIRS Incidents, Dollar Loss/ Dollar Save (by Station location), Average Response Time (by Station) and EMS Call Type and Number of Incidents.
j) Maintenance Report- Chief of Operations Kuhn discussed the “Maintenance” report (January) which covered preventative maintenances and major repairs performed.
k) Fire Prevention Report- Chief of Fire Prevention Marquette discussed the monthly “Fire Prevention” report (January) which included Inspections, Public Fire Safety & Education Events, Investigations, and Economic Impact.
Chief Marquette also discussed his 2016 Year End report.
l) Training Report – Chief of Training Bauer was absent.
m) General Comments- Chief Kaufmann stated that the building behind the maintenance building is near completion and we will have the concrete and culvert work done. Chief Kaufmann further stated that the pole barn, behind Station 17, is complete.
Chief Duffaut is working on the year-end report and it should be complete by March.
Commissioner Brackett made a motion to accept the Chief’s report. Commissioner Hoying seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
2.SFFA (Slidell Firefighters Association)
• PFFA-LA Convention- February 2-4- Chief Duffaut stated that there were over 300 registered attendees.
• MDA Golf Tournament- The tournament will be in April (date to be determined)
3.PMI Report
a.) Employee Benefits
b.) Human Resource
1) 2017-009: BOC Resolution (Adopt Employee Handbook & Revisions)
ACTION ITEM: APPROVAL
Commissioner Brackett made a motion to adopt Resolution 2017-009, Relating to the Adoption of Employee Handbook Revisions for District No.1. Commissioner Rich seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
2) 2017-010: BOC Resolution (Adopt Revised SOGs and SOPs)
ACTION ITEM: APPROVAL
Commissioner Brackett made a motion to adopt Resolution 2017-010, Relating to the Adoption of Revisions to the Standard Operating Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures for District No.1. Commissioner Hoying seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
3) 2017-011: BOC Resolution (Additional Funds- Rescue Apparatus)
ACTION ITEM: APPROVAL
Commissioner Hoying made a motion to adopt Resolution 2017-011, Relating to the Purchase of Fire Apparatus (“Rescue Truck”) for District No.1. Commissioner Gay seconded the motion.
Captain Ronnie Brennan, as representative of the truck committee, gave a brief presentation on the specs and components listing of the truck. He further stated that the truck is PIAL compliant. Additionally, the life expectancy is approx. 20 years.
Chief Kaufmann stated that the additional funds (up to $95K) that he is requesting would come from the surplus balances that were transferred to the “Rolling Stock & Facilities” Fund. Chief Kaufmann further stated that an additional $13,000 discount was given, after the request was made for the additional funding.
Chief Kaufmann thanked Captain Kleck for all of his assistance with maintenance.
The motion carried unanimously.
4)2017-012: BOC Resolution (Reject All Bids- Station 13 & HQ)
ACTION ITEM: APPROVAL
Commissioner Brackett made a motion to adopt Resolution 2017-012, Relating to the Ratification of the Rejection of all Bids for Station 13 & Headquarters for District No.1. Commissioner Hoying seconded the motion.
Attorney Ingram stated that by rejecting the bids, we avoid being tied up in any litigation and don’t have to select the second lowest bid, as McMath and Stevens Construction failed to meet the requirements of the bid bond; therefore, non- responsive.
Attorney Ingram stated that after discussions with the architects and Administration, it was determined to recommend that all bids be rejected, due to all exceeding the budgeted project amount. He further stated that Greenleaf Architects was going to conduct some value engineering. The bids will be advertised February 23 and the bid opening will be March 23.
Chief Kaufmann introduced the architects, Justin Greenleaf and Michael Buturla, and stated that they handled the bid opening at HQ. He further stated that a couple of the bidders had recommendations for some possible construction changes for a cost savings.
Commissioner Hoying stated that this is the second project where the bids have come well in excess of what the project budget was and inquired as to how we can improve on this in our process. Chief Kaufmann stated that both projects were forecasted 2 year before making a selection. He further stated that the economy is driving the workload. He stated that five architect firms were interviewed, and that process added an additional 3-6 months in getting the bids out. Commissioner Hoying stated that his concern is that in the future, we may not have the latitude to absorb increases in costs, due to not budgeting a tighter number.
Chairman Crowley inquired as to whether we have enough value engineering potential to get close to the budgeted amount. Mr. Buturla stated that Chief Kaufmann requested, from the beginning, that things be pared down, to the point that everything that does not detriment the services provided by the department was removed from the original drawings. Mr. Buturla stated that from a value engineering standpoint, there are several ideas that a couple contractors provided.
Commissioner Brackett made a motion to amend the Resolution to reflect “Relating to the Recommendation to Reject all bids for Station 13 & Headquarters”. Commissioner Hoying seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Resolution 2017-012, Relating to the Recommendation to Reject all Bids for Station 13 and Headquarters for District #1, was passed unanimously.
5) 2017-013: BOC Resolution (Re-Bid RFP Station 13 & HQ)
DISCUSSION / ACTION ITEM: APPROVAL
Commissioner Brackett made a motion to adopt Resolution 2017-013, Relating to the Request for Proposal to Rebid Station 13 & Headquarters for District No.1. Commissioner Gay seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
6) Fire Chief Evaluation- Mr. Waniewski stated that he would like to present the results at the March meeting.
c.) Payroll – (none)
d.) FRS (Firefighters Retirement System) – (none)
e.) VFIS Special Risk Insurance & LWCC-
1) VFIS Renewal Questionnaire
Commissioner Brackett made a motion to accept the PMI report. Commissioner Rich seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
4.Duplantier Hrapman Hogan & Maher, LLP- Mr. DiGiovanni discussed the January financial report.
Chief Kaufmann stated that we had a pipe leak under the slab at St. 17 and the projected repair amount was $15,000. VFIS is covering $13,000 of the repair costs.
Chairman Crowley gave Mr. DiGiovanni a record request, from Mr. McDonald, for a complete copy of the January financials.
Commissioner Gay made a motion to accept the January financial report. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
5. Attorney’s Report-
• Civil Service Appeal- discussed above
• Legislative Meeting- discussed above
• Bid Rejection Recommendation – discussed above
Commissioner Hoying made a motion to accept the Attorney report. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
6.Board comments – (none)
Commissioner Hoying made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.