SARATOGA COUNTY
FIRE ADVISORY BOARD
Attendance: William Crawford T/O Ballston
John Mazur T/O Charlton
Phil Brousseau T/O Clifton Park
Ray Bush T/O Corinth
Courtney Seelow T/O Edinburg
Kevin Barkley (A) T/O Galway
Jon Davis T/O Greenfield
Ted Wilming (E) T/O Hadley
Art Hunsinger T/O Halfmoon
Joe Plewinski T/O Malta
Bob Palmieri C/O Mechanicville
Paul Marozzi T/O Milton
Don Ranck T/O Moreau
Kurt Haas T/O Northumberland
David Atwell T/O Providence
Peter Shaw C/O Saratoga Springs
Rick Drew (A) T/O Saratoga
Jeff Mahar T/O Stillwater
Dennis Farrar T/O Waterford
Robert Brown T/O Wilton
Ed Tremblay Emergency Services
Paul Lent Emergency Services
Jackie Staskowski Emergency Services
Timothy A. Johnston Sheriff’s Dept.
Ron Clausen – Officer’s Assn. Guest
Tom Tracy – South Glens Falls Fire Guest
Tracy Cancilla – Pres. Officer’s Assn. Guest
Paul Parker Guest
The January 25, 2010 meeting was called to order at 1900. The “Pledge of Allegiance” was said and a moment of silence observed.
Fire Advisory Board
The minutes from the December 28, 2009 meeting were approved and our new members and guests welcomed. First order of business was to elect our officer’s and the vote was unanimous for Bob Palmieri to remain our Chairman and Dave Atwell our Vice Chairman. Thanks for taking the task on again this year; you both did a wonderful job and we appreciate all you do to keep the Fire Advisory Board organized and running smoothly.
The Committee Assignments for 2010 are as follows:
Radio Haz Mat Mutual Aid Training Center
Art Hunsinger Kevin Barkley Bob Palmieri Ted Wilming
David Atwell Ed Tremblay Kevin Barkley Ed Tremblay
Phil Brousseau Paul Marozzi Jeff Mahar Bob Brown
John Mazur Pete Shaw Dan Gale Jon Davis
Rick Drew Joe Plewinski
Personnel Legislative Budget Recruitment & Retention
Ray Bush Bob Palmieri Dennis Farrar Art Hunsinger
Art Hunsinger Jeff Mahar Jeff Mahar Phil Brousseau
Ted Wilming Dan Gale Joe Plewinski
Courtney Seelow Bill Crawford
State Training Classes:
The FAST class held in Halfmoon had 18 people attend and 15 completed
A 2nd FAST class to be held in Schuylerville is full with date TBD.
A Principles of Building Construction class was held with 30 people pre-registered but only 28 showing up.
Incident Safety Officer class will be held in Malta in February. 38 people have pre-registered and 4 are on a waiting list.
Ed was notified that the training hours should remain at 1200 this year. He will probably schedule half the hours by March 1st and wait until the budget is complete and get the ok to spend the money.
Fire Fighter 1 students will soon be required to sign an Agreement before attending class. Unfortunately, several disruptions in the classroom have made this necessary.
Paul Parker offered praise to the Malta Ridge FD for a job well done at a recent structure fire in Malta.
Public Safety Building – no report.
Radio Committee
With the Motorola contract having been signed, Paul Lent said a kick off meeting with Administrators, Public Safety members and Engineers would be held to start the radio portion of the project.
On February 4, a meeting will be held at the Hyatt Exit 12 and Rt. 67 Malta at 7 pm. This informational meeting for EMS and Fire agencies will introduce the vendor and project implementation team; outline the phases of the project and timelines. Representatives from Motorola will provide a slideshow explaining the system and have equipment on hand to look at.
One milestone of the system will be met by September 30, when the zone will be ready for acceptance testing. This does not mean the radios will be in the trucks and operable; it will be a test to make sure the equipment works according to the specifications.
An operations manual is being created for the system, to be comprised of the following sections: operation side for Fire, EMS and law enforcement, as well as a system overview. Paul has been researching manuals from other counties and discussing it with Art and Ed. This will be an extremely busy year and monthly updates will be posted on the website.
The radio committee will also be discussing the possibility of organizing mass training courses for radios.
Progress continues at the Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility tower site although the contractor has had difficulty drilling through the rock. Power has been brought in to the site and the shelter pad will be finished soon. The tower and shelter are ready to be delivered once the site is prepared.
Mechanicville has requested a new Radio Identifier for their support vehicle M39-4. Motion made and approved unanimously.
Haz Mat
The Capital District Haz Mat Committee, made up of teams from Saratoga, Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady Counties, had applied for Federal Grants for training and equipment and received both. A new Ahura meter, used to analyze and identify unknown chemical substances, was purchased. The meter should be in service by late March or early April and change locations every 2 months to allow every Haz Mat team a training opportunity.
The other Grant received is for training. A tabletop meeting will be held Feb. 10 in South Schenectady to simulate the response of an attack on a local Chemical Company. Hopefully this will lead into a full scale at a later date. Paul Parker will represent Ed at this meeting.
Mutual Aid - no report.
Fire Training Center - no report.
Personnel - no report.
Legislative & Budget – no report.
Recruitment & Retention – no report.
Old Business - no report.
New Business
It was asked if dispatch announcements were transmitted on high or low band. Dave said it varies, depending on the call load. A policy change is possible if requested.
Don’t forget to check out the fire website at www.saratogacofire.com . Dave Atwell is the web administrator and is constantly updating the information; please continue to send new pictures and information to him at datwell@nycap.rr.com. Thanks Dave!
Ed Tremblay will be out of service for several weeks while recuperating. Paul Parker will be covering for him, so if you need assistance please call his cell phone, 376-2633 or send an email to pparker54@yahoo.com. We appreciate your help, Paul.
Good & Welfare
We mourn the recent passing of Jim Boucher, past Chief of South Glens Falls FD and former Town of Moreau representative for the Fire Advisory Board; we offer our condolences to his family and friends.
Don thanked everyone who attended his wake and funeral and appreciated having Greenfield FD and Maple Ave. FD for standing by during the ceremonies.
Please keep Ed Tremblay and his brother Dave in your thoughts and prayers as they recover from surgery.
Next meeting is February 22, 2010 at 7pm.
Motion to adjourn by Bob Palmieri and carried by all.
Respectfully submitted by Jackie Staskowski