The Board of Fire Commissioners
Portsmouth Fire Department
Station 1 Portsmouth, NH
January 16, 2002 1900 hours
I.
Call to Order:
Chairman Gamester called the meeting to order at 1900 hours. Commissioner Hughes led the Pledge of Allegiance. Along with Chairman Gamester and Comm. Hughes, present were Commissioner Wentworth, Acting Chief LeClaire, Deputy Chief Achilles, Fire Marshal Jones, Mechanic Goyette, Firefighter McQuillen, representing Local 1313, Captain Pamboukes, representing Local 4039, Capt. Collins, Firefighters: LaClair, Kenneway and Putney and Jim Baker, representing Foster’s Daily.
II.
Approval of Minutes
of Previous Meeting:
Motion to accept the minutes of the December 5, 2001 meeting made by Commissioner Wentworth, seconded by Commissioner Hughes, unanimous.
III.
Reports:
A. Fire Chief’s Reports:
Motion to accept Fire Chief’s Reports 002-006, made by Chairman Gamester, seconded by Commissioner Wentworth, unanimous.
B. Dispatch Committee:
Work of this committee is done and the City Council has approved the 3-phase project. Acting Chief LeClaire noted to the Commission that the relocation of the fire dispatch would be the last step in the process and does not expect to see this completed until 2004. Total project cost is $1.5 million with $700K coming from Police COPS Grant that has been received and the City will be covering all dollars over.
C. Other:
Deputy Chief Achilles noted the Fire Department is currently in the process of implementing new photo id’s for all personnel. He also spoke briefly on the new ambulance and it’s expected delivery date of January 28, 2002 and the purchase of new air pack units and self rescue ropes for each firefighter with funds from the Fire Acts Grant.
Two of the three injured firefighters have returned to light duty this past week. The third expects to be cleared for return to light duty in mid February.
Minutes from January 16, 2002 Continued:
Acting Chief LeClaire commented on the FY02 projected budget shortfall and that he and Deputy Chief Achilles are still working on the numbers with the City’s Deputy Finance Director Judie Belanger however, expects the shortfall to be around $285K - $300K. A second quarter budget review with the Finance Department has been scheduled for Jan. 23, 2002. City Council has approved adding this amount to the Fire Dept.’s FY02 budget as supplemental income and become a part of the FY03’s budget. This will be a one-shot deal so the numbers need to be accurate.
VI.
New Business:
Motion to approve and accept item 02-008, New Emergency Medical Service Rates, made by Commissioner Hughes, seconded by Chairman Gamester, unanimous.
Acting Chief LeClaire noted to the Commission that NHOEM has awarded us the EMA Grant for $21K once again for this year. This grant reimburses the fire department 50% of our costs associated with completed projects as they relate to Emergency Management (EOC Drills, Nextel Communications, Weather Advisory Station Subscriptions, etc.)
All arial ladder testing is complete and have passed inspection. The continuation of ladder testing is being done tomorrow, January 17, 2002 for our ground ladders.
Marine I and Marine II are now out of the water for the winter months. Marine I is being stored in the basement of the dept. and Marine II is being stored at the Eliot Fire Department, noting that this will be our last year that Eliot stores the boat for us.
Fire Station Source Capture Emergency Vehicle Exhaust Installation:
The first round of bidding for the Source Capture Emergency Vehicle Exhaust to be installed at Station 2 were thrown out due to conflicts in the “technical” specifications noted in the bid documents. Three bids were received in the first round.
The bid documents were revised to reflect a more detailed description of what the “technical” specifications needed to be for the exhaust system and placed out for re-bid.
Minutes from January 16, 2002 Continued:
Two companies presented proposals, Air Technology with a proposal amount of $54,590.00 and Air Cleaning Specialists with a proposal amount of $58,963.00. After evaluating the bids, and researching the history of installations and performance, and reviewing technical specifications of bidder products, the City of Portsmouth’s Purchasing Department determined that the bid of Air Cleaning Specialists to be the only bid that met all requirements. Air Technology’s bid was found to be non-compliant due to items missing.
Therefore, it is the Fire Department’s recommendation to award the bid for Source Capture Emergency Vehicle Exhaust Installation to Air Cleaning Specialists from Hanover, MA for bid amount $58,963.00.
Motion to accept the bid proposal of Air Cleaning Specialists for $58,963.00 made by Comm. Hughes, seconded by Comm. Wentworth, unanimous.
Acting Chief LeClaire introduced to the Commission our two new firefighters, Seth Kenneway who started on Jan. 7, 02 and Chad Putney who started Jan. 14th.
Motion to enter into non-public session to discuss personnel issues made by Chairman Gamester at 1926 hours, seconded by Comm. Hughes, unanimous.
Motion to come out of non-public session made by Chairman Gamester at 2015 hours, seconded by Comm. Wentworth, unanimous.
Chairman Gamester announced that the Board of Commissioners voted to advertise the Fire Chief’s position inside the City of Portsmouth’s Fire Department only, at this time. Current fire dept. personnel are encouraged to apply. Vote 3-0.
Motion to adjourn at 2030 made by Comm. Wentworth, seconded by Comm. Hughes, unanimous.
___________________________
Michael Hughes, Clerk