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MINUTES OF MEETING OF DECEMBER 2nd, 2004 The regular monthly meeting of the Seacoast Chief Fire Officers Association was called to order by president Thayer at 7:10pm at the Rochester Headquarters station with 15 communities represented. Also present was the State Fire Marshal. Following the salute to the flag and a moment of silence for fallen firefighters, a message of welcome was heard from Chief Mark Dellner of the Rochester Fire Department. Mark has recently been appointed as Fire Chief in the Town of Dennis Massachusetts and thanked the group for their assistance and friendship over the past years. He also took the opportunity to introduce Assistant Chief Norm Sanborn who will be acting chief when Mark departs. The November minutes having been previously forwarded to the membership by electronic mail were not read, but were accepted as published. The report of the treasurer was given and was also accepted as read. The only correspondence referenced by the president was a mailing from the NHMA-PLT on insurance renewal. He also reported that the association’s haz-mat inventory had been completed and it appeared that we were approximately $50,000 under insured. Committee Reports: Task Force: No report START: Chief Comeau. Operating budget for 2005 being prepared. Major purchases to be made in the near future utilizing the Homeland Security grant money totaling $17,000. Legislative: Chief Plummer. The NHAFC is active on two major pieces of legislation. One being the safe cigarette act and the other as it relates to mandatory burn reporting. Copies of the bills will be made electronically to the membership as soon as they are published. Nominating. None Training. Chief Plummer. The Mayday program held in November was a great success. A hard copy of his report is attached to these minutes and on file with the secretary. He also overviewed future training programs, the next of which will be on May 19th, 2005. The Cocheco Country Club seats only 150 and a larger venue will be sought for Chief Billy Goldfedder. IEU Joint Committee: Chief White reported on the initial meeting held on the 23rd of November. There is great concern on the part of the IEU membership that career chiefs are attempting to take over the IEU and that the volunteer/call chiefs are being shunned. It was agreed that it is important not to give the impression of a “hostile takeover”. The IEU has received a copy of our bylaws, but we do not have theirs. By-Laws. None at this time Proposed Guidelines. Chief Plummer spoke on two areas that they are looking at; 1. Mayday procedures and, 2. Highway Safety. How detailed do we want them written? Asst Chief Achilles suggested a common core document and let each community refine to fit their own needs. Chief Plummer will leave samples of Dover’s SOGs and asks for input from the membership. The policies could be posted on the SCFOA website for review by anyone. Annual Meeting. Chief Comeau reported that the annual dinner meeting will be at the Exeter Inn on January 6th, 2005. More information to follow. Website. Chief Lombardo. The site is up and running and he needs e-mail addresses and links. Old Business; Posichek. Assistant Chief Cote reported that the unit was back from the factory upgrade. The original invoice will be lowered by $800 and a new user schedule will be published soon. A long discussion was held on the liability surrounding the use of the Posichek; is the intent to use the unit to check the scba units for operational status or to make repairs in house? Annual per unit scba fee schedule was discussed along with the possibility of adjusting the annual dues upward to cover some of the maintenance costs across the board rather than raising user fees. The possibility of a tiered system with regard to the posichek and compressor-cascade system was also discussed. More later. Fit testing of scba facepieces was also discussed. It was moved and seconded to look into the possibility of purchasing a fit testing apparatus. Moved and seconded to amend the motion to read “investigate the possibility of providing fit testing”. Amendment passed. Main motion passed. Hose Coupling machine. Chief Lambert. Unit has been rewired and is back in service. Job protection for volunteers. Chief Lord overviewed the legislation that Illinois adopted regarding volunteer firefighter job protection. Chief Plummer offered to bring it to the NHAFC legislative committee to take a look at. Marshal Degnan has no knowledge of legislation currently existing or problems in this state with volunteers and their employers. Ladder testing. Chief Lord spoke with one company, ATC and quoted prices for the testing of aerial and ground ladders. $445 per aerial and $35 per ground ladder. Dover has the equipment necessary for the non destructive testing of ground ladders and offered it to anyone one that wanted to use it as well as the expertise of one of the Dover officers regarding ladder testing. He also suggested that UL should be looked at, as he feels that they have a better testing program. Several communities expressed an interested in testing their ladders. New business. Marshal Degnan announced the promotion of two members of his staff to Deputy Fire Marshal. He updated the membership on proposals for a fee schedule for plans review and modular inspection; funding for haz-mat coordinator and regional haz-mat controls. His office’s web site is up and running and looking for departmental links. Chiefs Greenleaf and O’Keefe were appointed to the auditing committee. The meeting recessed for Ten minutes. Following the break, Chief LeClaire passed out copies of proposed by-law changes and went over each one of them. A copy of the proposed changes is attached to these minutes and is on file with the secretary. The membership will be notified in accordance with Article X of the current by-laws. President Thayer presented a petition from the Rye Fire Department for inclusion in the mutual aid district. Moved, seconded and so voted. For the good of the order; Chief Plummer thanked the secretary for his efforts with the Mayday seminar. He also asked the members to support the annual golf tournament, as the profits will be utilized to support our educational programs. Chief Lambert asked about the IEU voting procedure. Does each member get a vote or does each community get a vote. This will be researched. Chief O’Keefe recognized Chief Mark Dellner and his contributions to the New Hampshire fire service. A round of applause was given for Chief Dellner. The motion to adjourn was heard at 9:14pm. Respectfully submitted, William H. Sullivan, Secretary
MINUTES OF MEETING OF NOVEMBER 4th, 2004 The regular monthly meeting of the Seacoast Chief Fire Officers Association was called to order by president Thayer at 7:O4pm at the Raymond New Hampshire fire station with 9 communities represented. Following the salute to the flag and a moment of silence for fallen firefighters, a message of welcome was heard from Deputy Chief Chuck Perkins of the Raymond Fire Department The October minutes having been previously forwarded to the membership by electronic mail were not read, but were accepted as published. The report of the treasurer was given and was also accepted as read. Under correspondence, the bill from BioSystems for $3338.99 was discussed. It was agreed to hold payment and investigate the high amount. START – Chief Comeau reported that “tank training” had been completed and the application has been submitted for Homeland 1 & 2 money. It will be FY04 money for a complete trailer and chlorine kits. WEB SITE – Chief Joe Lombardo. It is up and it works. He needs content and e-mail addresses for a directory. We need to decide on a domain name and he is working on a free host site. BYLAWS – Assistant Chief White. No report. TRAINING – Chief Plummer submitted a report as he was unable to attend. A MayDay seminar update was given. Close Call Safety program scheduled for May 19th, 2005, with the location to be announced. Highway Safety for Emergency Personnel on a Saturday to be announced. Possibly in February. Reading The Smoke. Working on dates. LEGISLATIVE – Chief Hurley gave updates on the safe cigarette, support of NH chiefs for a standard on bed clothing, sheets, bedding etc. There is discussion of mandatory smoke detector installation in single family homes upon sale of the property. The fire marshal is pushing for a fee schedule for the reviewing of plans. TASK FORCE – No report. Under OLD BUSINESS, there was no update on the hose coupling machine status. President Thayer gave an overview of the IEU meeting. A committee of three from each organization has been established to study the consolidation with a report due back in February of 2005. No update on the PosiCheck. Deputy Benotti reported that Hampton has the SCFOA black bunting stored at the beach station. Chief Comeau also has some in Exeter. Chief Lord is working on ladder testing bid specs. President Thayer spoke about the Firefighter Job Protection act. Under NEW BUSINESS, the president brought up property liability. All of our inventory is covered (about $250,000 in value) There were questions about the state trailer coverage if we are responsible for a loss. President Thayer is working on this issue. Steve Achilles presented his idea for a new logo. It was moved and seconded to move forward with the design. So voted. The president appointed a nominating committee consisting of Chiefs Comeau, Cutter and Plummer. And the IEU consolidation committee consists of Chief Hurley, Asst Chiefs Achilles and White. Dover Fire and Rescue requests to officially join the SCFOA mutual aid system. Moved, seconded and so voted. Moved and seconded to send a letter of support for Commissioner Dick Flynn regarding issues at the governor and council level. So voted. There was discussion on the placarding of railroad cars on the national level. A recommendation was made to contact legislators on this matter. For the annual meeting in Exeter, it was voted to have a dinner meeting that night. Chief Plummer requested that a committee be appointed to review the MayDay procedures. It will be Chiefs Plummer and Cutter along with Deputy Benotti and Asst Chief Achilles. The same committee will handle Highway Safety. For the good of the order; Chief Cutter reported on a LODD in Lancaster Mass and the effort to obtain an annuity at the local level. He will keep us posted. Chief Hurley spoke on leadership issues and people not wanting to move up to the chief officer level. We should be tracking close calls and near misses. Asst Chief Achilles has revised Portsmouth’s MCI alarm card based on last months input from the members present. The motion to adjourn was heard at 8:19pm Respectfully submitted William H. Sullivan, Secretary (minutes taken by Asst Chief Achilles)
MINUTES OF MEETING OF OCTOBER 7th, 2004 The regular monthly meeting of the Seacoast Chief Fire Officers Association was called to order by president Thayer at 7:16pm at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard fire station with 11 communities represented. Following the salute to the flag and a moment of silence for fallen firefighters, a message of welcome was heard from Chief Harry Tagen who then excused himself for a meeting with the naval staff for nuclear relicensing. He spoke about the new pumper recently delivered to the shipyard at the cost of $308,000 The September minutes having been previously forwarded to the membership by electronic mail were not read, but were accepted as published. The report of the treasurer was given and was also accepted as read. There was no correspondence. START – Chief Comeau reported that John Waterman was drafting a budget for start. No report on the progress of our web page. BYLAWS – Chief LeClaire reported that they are currently on hold. TRAINING – Chief Plummer submitted a report as he was unable to attend. October 26th will be the cutoff date for the November 5th seminar. There are currently 33 registered. LEGISLATIVE – No report. Chief Lambert did report that the fire codes update have received initial approval. TASK FORCE – President Thayer reported that the necessary paperwork has been submitted for the task force and strike team. Under OLD BUSINESS, Deputy Hoyt reported that the problem with the hose coupling machine seems to be an electrical problem in the North Hampton station. Chief LeClaire gave a detailed report on the meeting between the executive boards of this organization and the Interstate Emergency Unit that was held in Epping on September 16th with a total of Twelve people present. There was a great deal of dialog on many issues. The next IEU meeting will be on October 21st in Brentwood and it is recommended that all members of our group attend. The major focus at this point seems to be the fire school and the continuation of the programs. Discussion followed regarding possible future plans for the consolidation of the two groups. Chief Greenleaf reported that the PosiCheck is still in Connecticut awaiting the upgrades. President Thayer asked the directors present to stay for a short meeting following adjournment. Under NEW BUSINESS, it was moved by Chief Comeau and seconded by Chief Roediger to nominate Assistant Chief Dick White to the board of directors of START as the volunteer chief. Moved that nominations be closed and the secretary cast one ballot for A/C White. So voted. The president reported that all of the SCFOA rolling stock are now registered with municipal plates. He also mentioned the swearing in of state fire marshal Bill Degnon. He is looking for volunteers to serve on the nominating committee. If none come forward, a committee will be appointed. He also wants to compile a list of members that are currently serving on committees at the state level. Chief Lord requested information on ladder testing. He also thanked Exeter fire for their assistance at the Wakeda Campground mass casualty incident. The president brought up the subject of changing our non-profit status so that filing an annual IRS form would not be necessary. It was moved, seconded and voted to have John Waterman look into it. The next meeting will be in Raymond on November 4th. Chief Malasky reported that Newmarket will be moving into their new station during the following week. Deputy Steve Benotti reported that the NHAFC meeting would be in Hampton on Thursday October 14th at McGuirks Restaurant, following a day of golf and marine response familiarization with Hampton’s new fire/rescue boat. Chief Comeau reported that Captain Chris Soave will be retiring on November 1st. Assistant Chief Achilles spoke about Portsmouth’s accountability system and asked that all members that respond to his city on mutual aid, assist in the implementation by participating in the system. Following adjournment, he presented a power point program on the above system. The motion to adjourn was heard at 8:15pm Respectfully submitted William H. Sullivan, Secretary |