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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-28-17 Health and Public Safety o�SpU d C: J U C W PEACF. ve a s 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK HEALTH & PUBLIC SAFETY AUGUST 28. 2017 4:10 P.M. Committee Members Present: Jo M. Broden, John Voorde, Karen White, Oliver Davis Committee Members Absent: None Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Dr. David Varner, Regina Williams-Preston Other Council Absent: Gavin Ferlic, Randy Kelly Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Graham Sparks, Bob Palmer Presenters: Steve Cox,Michael Schmidt Agenda: Bill No. 17-53 —Indiana Task Force One MOA Approval Bill No. 49-17—Scrap Metal Licensing Amendment Bill No. 17-54—Appointing Agent/Negotiator for Fire Negotiations Committee Char Jo M. Broden called to order the Health and Public Safety Committee meeting at 4:14 p.m. She introduced members of the Committee and proceeded to give the floor to the presenters. Bill No 17-53—Indiana Task Force One MOA APP roN al Steve Cox, Chief of the South Bend Fire Department located at 1222 S. Michigan Street, stated, Today we are asking the Council to approve a Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Indianapolis and our Department to be able to partner with FEMA Indiana Task Force One. Task Force One responds to different disaster events throughout the county. One (1) of the things our Department is asking as being part of Task Force One is to use the South Bend Fire Department's facilities as well as the East Race as a designated Center for Training Excellence by FEMA. That comes with funding and training resources for our Department to be able to take part in deployments,training and other things. Administratively,when we get deployed as a State asset,typically the Federal Government reimburses the State and then the State reimburses the Department for the man-power costs. However,they do not typically reimburse us for back- fill for those individuals when they are on deployment. In other words if Chief Baker is away,we receive reimbursement for his salary and benefits while he was away,but while he was away we 455 County-City Building•227 W.Jefferson Boulevard•South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 -Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567•www.SouthBendfN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN ALKEYNA M.ALDRIDGE JOSEPH MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS had to call in overtime to cover his local spot here. As a member of Task Force One, those back- fill spots are also reimbursed through the Federal government. We are predicting the team in our Department to be between five (5) and ten(10) individuals to take part in the Task Force. Selection for the Task Force is done through the Indianapolis Fire Department. Our team would probably consist mostly of swift water rescue. Chris Baker,Assistant Chief for Indiana River Rescue for the South Bend Fire Department located at 1222 S. Michigan Street, stated, There are only twenty-eight (28) of these teams throughout the whole country and the selection process is pretty difficult because you have to have hundreds of hours to get in. Our Department only has a handful of five (5)to ten(10) that meet the initial training requirements to get in. One (1) of the benefits to this is we would then be eligible for other Federally funded training that we could then bring back to our membership to get more folks trained to that level. Chief Cox continued, It is very important for us to have that kind of experience because these are low-frequency type events for us so when something happens like the floods we had last fall, we had individuals that were trained. There are protections within the agreement that if we don't have the resources available, we won't send our personnel. Committee Chair Broden asked, Will there be equipment benefits with this? Chief Baker replied, There is nothing right now that says they will house something here. However, that could change within the State or within FEMA. Committee Chair Broden then asked, What does the stress support look like? Chief Cox replied, The Federal government provides a significant amount of support. One (1) thing about Hurricane Katrina, they had more mental health professionals than responders there. Some feedback they received from the responders was that they were ok but with everyone asking if they were ok, it made them feel worse. They tend to have a lot of resources with that and we also have many resources here already. Councilmember Dr. Dave Varner asked, You're confident you can do this with your current staffing?And these reimbursements are full? Chief Cox replied, Yes we can with our current staffing and yes, the reimbursements are in full. Michael Schmidt, Legal Department of the City of South Bend with offices on the 12th floor of the County-City Building, stated, This is in front of the Council under the Indiana State Interlocal Agreement. This technically needs to be enacted by the City of Indianapolis and the Department of Public Safety. Public Works did sign this in agreement. Committee Chair Broden then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motions. 2 Committeemember John Voorde made a motion to send Bill No. 17-53 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Oliver Davis seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 49-17—Scrap Metal Licensing Amendment Oliver Davis, 1801 Nash Street, stated, A few weeks ago, Mr. Kevin Gaffney reached out to Joe Molnar as well as myself. Mr. Gaffney is the owner of Paul's Auto Yard. He brought up a key issue with our Scrap Metal Ordinance. It was prohibited to sell scrap metal on Sundays. I reached out to our Attorney,Mr. Bob Palmer, and he helped us to bring this up. Joe Molnar, Clerk for the Ordinance Violation Bureau with offices on the 4th floor of the County- City Building, stated, We came before Council about six (6)months ago with a Resolution to approve all the dealers in the City. I fielded the first call from Mr. Gaffney and it seemed like a no-brainer to include Sunday in the Ordinance. There is already a decreasing number of dealers in the City so there is no reason to have Sunday excluded. I have not encountered anyone who is opposed to this. The law firm that supports the statewide organization of scrap and junk dealers are in support of this as well. Bob Palmer, Council Attorney with offices on the 4th floor of the County-City Building, stated, Some of the references to the State Statute were not correct anymore because of some changes, so we changed the numbers in this Ordinance. We also changed some definitions, all to comply with the current State Statutes. Committee Chair Broden asked, Who is responsible for enforcement? Mr. Molnar replied, Code Enforcement is the primary enforcer, but the Police and Fire Departments are also responsible. We haven't had issues in the past and I don't think there should be moving forward. Committee Chair Broden then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motions. Committeemember Karen White made a motion to send Bill No. 49-17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Voorde seconded the motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No 17-54—Appointing Agent/Negotiator for Fire Negotiations Tim Scott, 711 Forrest Avenue, stated, This is a simple Resolution appointing Bob Palmer as our legal representative in the upcoming Fire Department negotiations. The budget amount set for this position was twelve thousand dollars ($12,000). Committeemember White asked, This is only to appoint the agent, and process and procedure is yet to be determined? Mr. Scott replied, That is correct. 3 Committee Chair Broden asked, Who is the negotiating team?How is it referenced in this and what is anticipated in terms of Council representation? Mr. Scott replied, That doesn't have anything to do with this Resolution whatsoever. The team can be made up of Councilmembers as we see fit but the only thing done here is appointing Bob Palmer as legal representation for us. Committee Chair Broden then asked, Have we firmed up the negotiating team? Mr. Scott replied, Right now, it is you and John Voorde as volunteer members, and myself if need be. Committee Chair Broden then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Davis made a motion to send Bill No. 17-54 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Voorde seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. With no further business, Committee Chair Broden adjourned the Health and Public Safety Committee meeting at 4:36 pm. Respectfully Submitted, ?OM. Broden, Committee Chair 4