White River Township Fire Department

            Senior Staff Meeting

           

            Thursday, October 14, 2004

 

 

                       

Present:       .

Chief Tibbetts

Chief Cassin

Chief Slauter

Chief Brown

Chief Thacker

Chief Wilson

Kim Clawson

Lt. Engmark

Lt. Hart

 

 

 

  1. Eleven of the sixteen new part time hires completed orientation last night.  The remaining 5 will complete it on Saturday.  All should be ready for shift assignments with the December schedule.

 

  1. Discussion on minimum staffing is tabled until the next senior staff meeting.  Chiefs Cassin & Slauter will work on a presentation to be presented then.

 

  1. Proposal for Class A Overcoat.  Cost is approximately $115 and has a removable liner.  Chief Brown suggested changing the plain buttons to the silver or gold buttons, depending on rank.  Everyone approved the proposal and this will be added to our uniform specs.

 

  1. Clothing allowance policy currently reads that no employee will receive their allotment until after they have completed one year of employment.  They are issued t-shirts, pants etc.  We have been pro-rating their amount and giving it to them at their hire date so they can buy boots, coats, etc.  Chief Cassin stated that we either need to change the policy to reflect current practice or we need to adhere to the existing policy.  Chief Brown suggested that if we follow the current policy, we need to increase the quantity and type of items they are initially issued.  Chief Tibbetts stated to leave the policy as-is for now and to go ahead and issue the new part time employees their pro-rated amount at hire ($33 until 1/1, then the full amount at that time).

 

  1. Chief Cassin stated that he will be composing a list of officers that should be provided phones based on their job duties.  He hopes to have this to present at the next senior staff meeting.  We cannot continue to provide phones to ALL officers, as some do not need/use them.

 

  1. Lt. Hart led a discussion on current safety board issues and how they affect the proposed Captain positions.  He will try to have a meeting with the benefits committee from the District Board, the 416’s attorney, and the District’s attorney to resolve these issues.  His goal is to have a recommendation ready for the December district board meeting.

 

  1. Everyone agreed that we should start another Engineers process immediately.  Once the Captain promotions are completed, as well as the M-F Training Chief, and those vacant positions are backfilled, we will be out of personnel.  We will eventually need to hire 1 engineer, then place the rest on a list.

 

  1. Chief Thacker stated that the new FT recruit class is going extremely well.

 

  1. New ice machine has been installed at station 53.  However, because it drains almost constantly, it is causing a severe problem by filling our tank often.  At this rate, we will need to have the tanks pumped every 3 weeks at approximately $500 per pump.  Chief Brown suggested disconnecting the machine until a solution can be found.  Chief Tibbetts stated that he would have Tony Slusher call the company and find out if this can be avoided.

 

  1. Chief Thacker reminded everyone that we need to continue to work together for White River to be the best department that it can be.