TOWN OF SOMERS
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER: Carl Rohrbach called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
Members Present: David
Palmer, Alice Van Tasel and Carl Rohrbach
Members Absent: Tony
Bruno and Frank Lawlor
Others Present: Fire
Chief Bill Meier, Fire Marshal Walter Summers
LOCATION OF EMERGENCY EXITS:
Emergency
exits identified to persons present
AUDIENCE COMMENTS:
Fire Marshal
said that the emergency exit announcement is only required if 100 people or
more in attendance.
MINUTES APPROVAL:
A motion by Mrs. Van Tasel, seconded by Mr.
Palmer to approve
the regular meeting minutes of September 18, 2003 passed unanimously.
FIRE MARSHAL:
·
A
motion by Mrs. Van Tasel, seconded by Mr. Palmer to approve payment of the Fire
Marshal activities for the period from 9/7/03 through 10/18/03 passed
unanimously.
·
4th graders participating in Fire
Prevention Week poster contest
·
Fire Marshal and Deputy Fire Marshal missed
seminar that explained recent changes to fire codes because of delays in
getting approval from Commission and Selectmen
o
Commission will consider authorizing Chairman to
approve such requests if time is critical and Commission approval is needed
before the next regular meeting
·
The juvenile connected with a recent arson fire
has been referred by the State Police to the Fire Hawk program in Enfield
o
Next budget may require line item (~$800-$1000) in the Fire
Marshal or Police budget to fund the program for an average of 2 kids a year
from Somers.
·
Project manuals and drawings continue to be
reviewed for the different school renovations.
o
The commission asked
the Fire Marshal to identify separately the hours spent on the school
renovation for suggested reimbursement by the School Building Committee since
these inspections are not funded in this year’s budget.
o
The Fire Marshal has
completed an outline of what’s required from him to be compliant with
inspection codes for the renovated school building program. He still needs to add the estimated time
allocation for the tasks
o
Commission is
drafting a letter to the Selectmen seeking to restore the 2 hours/week
reduction to the Fire Marshal schedule
·
Received a nearly $500 grant from Connecticut
Fair Plan to purchase a video camera for fire investigations.
·
A 90% grant from NFPA for Hazard House, a
hands-on fire prevention tool for elementary students, is being
considered. The Fire Marshal would have
to provide about $700 currently not in the budget
FIRE CHIEF:
·
FEMA grant for new tanker has been denied
·
Tolland County mutual aid response system
created after 9/11/01 worked well in the Ellington ammonia incident
o
Somers responded with 15 firefighters and 3
trucks but town remained covered at all times
·
First Selectman should make offer to
recommended candidate for paid Fire Captain shortly
·
Union contract negotiations covering the
four paid firefighter continues
o
Lieutenant/arson investigator pay grade
included
·
Participated in the Town Planner’s 10-year
vision meeting. Items considered were
o
20 additional hydrants beyond the currently
planned 15, eight of which are in place
o
Truck replacement
o
Second fire station and ambulance to reduce
response time
o
Full time paid Fire Chief
·
Chief does not want to be CIP
representative again
·
Commission requested the Chief provide a
date/time breakdown of medical and fire calls for the year
BUDGET REVIEW:
·
Ambulance budget looks okay but medical supplies and oxygen
expenditures are running slightly ahead of projected.
·
Fire budget on track
NEW BUSINESS:
The proposed meeting schedule for 2004 was passed out for
review. A vote on the schedule will be
at the next meeting
ADJOURNMENT:
A motion to adjourn was made at 8:25 p.m. by Mrs. Van Tasel,
seconded by Mr. Palmer and approved unanimously. The next meeting will be Thursday, November 20, 2003 at 7 pm at
the Somers Fire House.
Respectfully
submitted,
Carl
Rohrbach, Jr.
Chairman