White River Township Fire Department

Senior Staff Meeting

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Present: .

Chief Tibbetts Chief Cassin Chief Slauter

Chief Brown Chief Thacker Chief Young

Kim Clawson

1. Meeting called to order at 8:09 a.m.

2. Station updates:
1. Chief Tibbetts met with station 52 officers regarding the expansion/renovation. Asked them to determine the location they want their offices. There will be a basement in the new addition. They were also directed to develop a “wants” list and a “needs” list. Chief Tibbetts states that they will need to stay under budget.
2. Chief Tibbetts met with Lt. Settles regarding the construction of the new building. Our largest problem at this time is trying to determine the footprint of the building. Dudley Senefeld originally designed a two bay station but Chief Tibbetts directed him to redesign it for three bays. He directed Lt. Settles to hold a meeting with the station 51 officers for them to develop the same types of lists as station 52 officers.
3. Chief Cassin stated that we should have formed committees long before we met with the architects to determine.
4. Chief Cassin stated that he has been fielding various requests as to why committees were not formed originally and that Lieutenants who will be “living” in these buildings have not been involved. Chief Tibbetts became agitated towards Scott and stated that these people should have been coming to him from the beginning instead of Scott. He will be speaking with Lieutenant Alford regarding concerns raised
5. Chief Cassin stated that $7,000 has already been spent on architectural fees for both locations. Chief Tibbetts stated that these fees are only to determine feasibility.
6. Chief Cassin again requested that we form a specific committee.
7. Chief Tibbetts ordered Chief Cassin to be in charge of the committee and be assisted by Lt. Smith. This committee will be for both construction projects. Anything having to do with Operations will be discussed with Chief Slauter, Fire Prevention will be Chief Brown, Training will be Chief Thacker and Safety will be Chief Young.
8. Chief Cassin expressed concerns that the extra additions to the original plan to station 52 were not included in the original budget for the fire loan.
9. Chief Tibbetts was adamant that the Battalion Chief will be moving to the new station 51.
10. Chief Young requested consistent updates from the committees so that the Battalion Chiefs stay involved.

3. 18 people are going through the part time process testing this Saturday. Chief Slauter reported that everything is still on schedule.

4. Career hiring process update. Written test went well last Saturday. Everyone showed for Driver Operator. Travis opted to test only for Lieutenant. For the Lieutenant exam, one didn’t show and one was late. Chief Thacker believes we are down to 18 for the Lieutenants process. Should know soon what the results are on the written exam then we will begin scheduling for the oral interviews. Chief Thacker stated that there were some complaints received regarding the questions asked on the tests were not in the study materials. Chief Thacker assured that they were. Chief Thacker stated that Mr. Savitsky developed the questions randomly from test banks. This is not a pass/fail event. The exams will be graded on a scale. Chief Thacker stated that everything is still on schedule as originally planned.

5. Please notify Chief Young any time there is an accident. He stated that the investigation phase goes so much smoother when he is able to be there and get witness statements, photos, etc. Work comp bills should be sent to the work address and not the employee’s home address. Chief Tibbetts stated that some accidents do not need to have driving privileges suspended. Chief Slauter was adamant that the policy be amended and that we not follow a separate set of rules. It was also suggested that various lab tests be mandatory in certain situations (i.e.: urine tests, breathalyzer tests, etc.). Chief Young requested one month, due to his coming vacation, to develop a revised policy draft to be submitted to senior staff for discussion. Chief Young also stated that the rumor mill is out of control on some of these incidents. Information during the investigation should only be shared on a need-to-know basis. Once the investigation is completed, then general information can be released. Questions arose regarding a backing incident regarding Jeff Smith late last year where an accident review committee has never met. Chief Young stated that he has met with Lt. Smith regarding this incident but a full safety committee meeting was never held.

6. Evaluations will continue. Kim will distribute round 3 evaluations after she returns from vacation.

7. Reminder to Chiefs Tibbetts and Thacker to complete exit evaluation for Bruce Alexander.

8. Please keep Kim’s office locked.

9. Per Lt. Hart, paralytics have been ordered to be removed from the apparatus to Dr. Gansman. He is adamant about this and it is not up for discussion. Lt. Hart will be removing these from the trucks tomorrow.

10. Chief Thacker reported that burns are completed at the Bluff Road house until the final burn. Everyone did a great job with safety issues, especially given the heat factors involved. Chief Tibbetts asked him to get quotes from roofing companies to remove the shingles. Make sure that whatever company we hire has their own work comp and liability insurances.

11. New lectern is in and is still being wired.

12. Knox box is in at Devonshire. Allows access to riser rooms, annunciator panels, clubhouse and all residence furnace rooms. Chief Slauter asked that the master list be updated.

13. Please help all fire stations maintain fire codes. Door at station 52 between living area and bay cannot be roped open. It is difficult to enforce codes in the public when they visit our stations and see items not in compliance.

14. All fires need to have a cause listed in the run report. If there are any questions, please contact someone in fire prevention. Be especially cognizant of juvenile fire setters, especially with the onset of summer break coming on.

15. Chief Slauter will be covering the Health & Safety division while Chief Young is on vacation.

16. Chief Brown urged that we expedite the re-structuring of the volunteer corporation. This continues to cause major problems within the department. Chief Brown asked that we quit conferring with the corporation board when decisions need to be made. Chief Cassin stated that we should be able to get this completed as soon as the August part-time hiring process is completed. Chief Brown suggested a memo or email come from Chief Tibbetts or Cassin reminding everyone that we all follow the same policy manual whether full-time or part-time.