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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRFA 2015-05-13 Item 1 - Draft 4/8/15 Minutesi �c M of Tukwila x�oa Minutes Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee April 8, 2015 Call to Order Co -Chair Kathleen Wilson called the meeting to order at 1730 hours.. Committee Members David Cline, City Administrator; Moira Bradshaw, Senior Planner; Chris Flores, Tukwila Interim Fire Chief; Jim Schneider, Kent RFA Chief; Joe Duffie, Tukwila Councilmember; Merle Brooks, Tukwila firefighter, Alan Codenys, Tukwila firefighter; Dawn Judkins, Union President of Tukwila firefighters; Mike Denbo, KCFPD 37 Commissioner, board member of Kent RFA; Ray Shjerven, Captain Kent RFA, Union President; Brian Snure, Attorney for Kent RFA board; Genevieve Christensen, Assistant General Manager for the Westfield Mall; Roxanne Knowle, Senior Real Estate Manager for CBRE; Jessica Jerwa, Tukwila citizen representative; Jerry Thornton, Tukwila citizen representative; Kathleen Wilson, Tukwila citizen representative. Also present: Vicky Carlsen, Deputy Finance Director; Norita Deckard, Admin. Support Tech. UN INOTPTt •1 •IJ,I It was moved and seconded that the minutes for the meeting on 3/11/15 be approved with a correction to the spelling of Mike Denbo's name. The motion was approved. Review of Draft Revised Procedures There was discussion about the procedures to follow for citizens that wish to speak at the meetings. Should the public submit their statements in writing before the meeting, and if they don't, will they still be able to speak to the committee? Councilmember Duffie felt that no one should have to submit statements or questions in writing first. Ms. Wilson said that it was helpful when she was on the Tree and Environment Advisory Committee when written comments were received. Ultimately, there was Committee agreement that it is important to make sure the public knows that they are invited to attend the meetings, but that it is the committee's meeting and that the Co- chairs may need to use their discretion with each Agenda. Councilmember Duffie recommended that the Committee decide on a time limit for citizen comments. There was unanimous agreement to limit each citizen to 2 minutes. Revision to the Draft Procedures to reflect a 2 minute citizen comment was seconded and the Procedures were approved. Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee Minutes Page 2 of 5 April 8, 2015 2014 Fire Exploratory Committee Recommendation City Administrator David Cline summarized the findings of the 2014 Fire Exploratory Committee. That committee recommended the formation of a steering committee with a broader representation of the community to continue exploring the feasibility of a possible annexation to the Kent Regional Fire Authority. The Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee's purpose is to make a recommendation to the City Council on whether to proceed with the annexation process. General Business Jerry Thornton volunteered to compile a list of fire depa Interim Chief Flores presented an organizational chart • Administration • Operations • Emergency Management • Fire Prevention nyms and their definitions. isions in the fire department: The Administrative division provides policy and direction to the rest of the fire department and interacts with other City departments. The Administrative Division consists of a fire chief, assistant chief of operations, an assistant to the chief, and an administrative support technician. There are 70 full -time employees, which includes 54 full -time firefighters in fire suppression positions. The Tukwila Fire Department supplies two full -time captains to the South King County Regional Training Consortium. The two training captains still report to the Tukwila Assistant Chief. The department's participation in the training consortium has resulted in improved training opportunities and better training documentation thru the Training Tracker program. The Fire Department not only provides fire suppression and emergency medical services, but also deals with rescue, marine response, and hazardous materials incidents. Fire prevention provides code enforcement, conducts inspections and issues permits. Other services are public education and outreach, and emergency management. The Tukwila Fire Department Explorer Scout Group has joined with the Zone 3 Explorers Group which encompasses all of south King County. Tukwila Fire also has a chaplaincy program. All of these other categories support the fire suppression and emergency medical responses. Some logistics (maintenance of vehicles), financial, legal and IT support services are important services that are external to the department and provided through other City departments. Currently, in the Tukwila Fire Department firefighters have a greater degree of responsibly and may be tasked with different jobs such as maintaining the inventory, repairs of personal protective gear or other small tools. The advantages to being part of a regional fire authority would be that more staff 2 Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee Minutes April 8, 2015 Page 3 of 5 allows diversification and specialization. With more resources, maintaining firefighting equipment and supplies could be more efficient. City Administrator Cline pointed out that the reason the committee is learning about emergency management and fire prevention is because the City will have the option of either keeping these services or contracting with the Kent Regional Fire Authority to provide these services. Emergency Management Battalion Chief Marty Grisham presented an overview of the Emergency Management Division. In 1980 the responsibility for emergency management was assigned to the Fire Department. In the mid - 1990's it was administered by Public Works. In 2009, following the Howard Hanson Dam threat, emergency management was transferred back to the Fire Department and administered through the Fire Department budget. The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) state requires and governs the establishment of an emergency management division. The mayor has authority to assign a director from any city department. In 2010 the powers and duties of emergency management were updated in with a significant rewrite of the Emergency Management section of the Administration and Personnel Chapter of the Tukwila Municipal Code (TMC 2.57.) One of the primary purposes of the emergency management division is planning and preparation for emergencies. The Fire Chief is the "Director of Emergency Management "; the division is staffed by an Emergency Manager, and an Emergency Management Specialist. Funding comes primarily from the City budget, but also from state and federal grants. Emergency management provides public outreach thru' education and public training programs such as Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. It also provides logistical and planning support for other City departments during real life incidents such as the "Take Back the Boulevard." Emergency management is responsible for generating and maintaining a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan and participating in county and state wide emergency drills such as the Cascadia Subduction Zone Rising Drill. Emergency' management also manages all of the emergency radios in the City. Tukwila Fire Marsha Battalion Chief Don Tomaso presented an overview of the Fire Marshal's Office. Staff includes a fire marshal, two deputy fire marshals, a fire project manager, who is a certified plans examiner, and an administrative support technician. The Fire Marshal duties include: business license review; assigning addresses; backup plan review — building, mechanical, fire alarm, and sprinkler; code enforcement; fire investigations with limited criminal follow -up; public record requests; public works project reviews; impact fee administration; assists with economic development; construction inspections back -up; hotspots committee; city land use and street design review; code questions; state association memberships. 3 Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee Minutes April 8, 2015 Page 4 of 5 The Deputy Fire Marshal duties include: construction, sprinkler and fire alarm inspections; suppression responses; investigating alarm problems; hazardous materials inspections; following -up on confidence test reports with problems; fire investigation; B occupancy inspections, which include offices and commercial services; and some public education. The Fire Project Manager duties include: review of building, mechanical, fire alarm, sprinkler, public works and tank installation plans; main project oversight; review of operational permits, temporary tent permits, and tank removals; code questions. The Fire Marshal's Office also processes 18 -month fire and life safety business inspections and sends inspection letters; processes operational and construction permits; maintains business files, and fire alarm and sprinkler plans; verifies addresses; and processes public records requests. For 2014 the total number of construction and 18 -month inspections totaled 3,850 of which 1,400 where firefighter crew inspections. The Fire Marshal's Office had 3,495 calls for service and attended 381 fires which resulted in 161 fire investigations. management Chief Schneider explained that the cities of Kent a prevention, fire investigation and emergency manE administer and manage those programs. We hau the KRFA meets or exceeds the permit turnarounc department review of construction applications is t As an example of how we've been able to ensure cities, the Kent RFA hired a civilian inspector who Department, and he now provides fire prevention The City of Covington performs its emergency id SeaTac, who are statutorily responsible for fire gement, chase to contract with the Kent RFA to good working relationship with our cities and pectations. The advantage of having the fire one of our primary concerns is firefighter safety. d working knowledge and relationships with the ✓ously worked for the City of SeaTac Fire ices for the City of SeaTac through the KRFA. e KRFA for fire prevention and investigative services but Duties in- house. With regard to fire investigation, the KRFA fire investigative division has three investigators and a supervisor who work shift assignments. Each fire investigator is a certified police officer, who can carry a weapon and make arrests' in the field. Each investigator can also follow his cases all the way thru to completion. The KRFA has high closure and conviction rates. General Business The topic of the next meeting will be standard of coverage: how to define the level of service, and whether joining with the KRFA would result in a different or better level of service. Chief Schneider will also include a discussion of the KRFA's FD cares program because of the impact that program has on their service level. The ultimate goal of this steering committee is to make recommendations to the Tukwila City Council on whether to proceed with the annexation process. The services discussed tonight will be affected because an annexation of the Tukwila Fire Department to the KRFA will change the current model of El Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee Minutes April 8, 2015 Page 5 of 5 service delivery and program administration. If the Committee's recommendation is to proceed and the City Council agrees, then the KRFA Plan will need to be amended to indicate whether some or all of the services discussed tonight will be part of a contractual agreement. If they are provided by the KRFA, then the details on contracting for services, such as costs, will be negotiated through an Interlocal agreement between the City of Tukwila and the KRFA. Adjournment At 1921 hours Co -chair Wilson declared the regional fire authority steering committee meeting adjourned. Minutes taken ands 5