HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-27-1999 Meeting
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PUBLIC SAFETY
COMl\1ITTEE
COMNITTTEE ROOM - December 27, 1999
3:30 P.M.
PRESENT: B. Young, Mayor, F. Handy, Chairman, B. Kuhlke, W. Mays, members, J.
Brigham, R. Colclough, Commissioners, A. Cheek, Commissioner-Elect, R. Oliver,
Administrator, J. Wall, Attorney, 1. Bonner, Clerk of Commission.
ABSENT S. Shepard, Commissioner-member.
MEDIA S. Cooper, Augusta Chronicle, S. Eidson, Metro Spirit, Channel 26 and Channel
6.
ALSO PRESENT: R. Few, Fire Chief, C. Rushton, IT Director, M. A. Gibbs, Sheriffs
Department, C. Scott, Operations Chief and M. Rodgers, Deputy Chief of Technical
Services, Fire Department, F. Hall, Manager River Creek Apartments.
Presentation by the Fire Department of the New Year's Eve!Y2K Preparedness Plan
developed by Augusta Richmond County Fire Rescue.
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Chief Few: I wanted to give you an idea and the cost of the New Year's Eve
celebration. The cost will be S 11,460.32 for all the employees we have on the operation
side. We have some other forces in place as well and I'll let two of my Deputy Chiefs
speak on those.
Deputy Chief Scott, Chief of Operations: Everything that you see in dus book as
far as the operational plan for Y2K has been implemented within the Fire Department.
We have had training with all of our employees. Our plans cover all areas of the
celebration in the entire city of Augusta as well as the River Walk. We will also have a
command structure in place to deal with each event. Each station will be prepared to
handle any situation. There will also be a sub station under the Jessie Norman
Amphitheater.
Chief Few: We will also have twenty-five golf carts stocked wilh tire
extinguishers and EMS equipment. The reason for that is that in the downtown area we
will not be able to get trucks into that area.
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Deputy Chief Rodgers, of Technical Services: We started back in June contacting
all the people that had any dealings with the 911 Center asking for assurances that they
would be Y2K compliant and that all their testing would be completed by this time. They
all assured me that it would be and I have letters confirming that from them. Now what
we've done is set up a three-tier system to back up our 911 system. We've located a
bank of cellular telephones that will be located in the 911 Center and we will have
additional personnel in to man these cell phones. We've put out a flyer that has all the
numbers of the tire stations out to the public giving the location and the location of VHF
radio system there in case they have a problem with their telephones and have an
emergency and need assistance. The last option that we have built into this plan is to put I
ten HAt\1 operators in ten of the fire stations through out the county in the isolated areas.
We think we've come up with a workable plan. We've coordinated with the different
people that we think we needed to coordinate with and we don't see any problems getting
our units to any situations.
Mr. Kuhlke: So move to receive this as information.
Mr. Mays: Second.
Motion carried unanimously.
Approve $227,500 to purchase Mobile Computing SIW from New World. New
World was low bidder to RFP #99-090; $672,500 to purchase Mobile Computing
H/W off of state contract from Motorola; $45,500 to hire a System Administrator to
support mobile computing system effective 7/1/00 at a pay grade of 52 (salary range
$34,959 - $52,438) with position to work for Information Technology. (90% of funds
to be supplied from Local Law Enforcement Block Grant LLEBG. 10% is currently
in the SherifPs Department's 2000 budget request)
Mr. Oliver; We have a grant that will permit us to buy eighty-six lap top
computers to put in the patrol cars so that if an officer sees a license plate that looks
suspicious they can run a check right then.
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After a short discussion;
Mr. Kuhlke: I'll make a motion that we approve this.
Mr. Mays: Second.
Motion carried unanimously.
Discussion of River Creek Apartment fire.
Chief Few: It is very difficult to talk about everything that happened at that tire
because it is under in"estigation and we won't be able to talk much about it. When a fire
gets into the attic of a structure it is very difficult for a tire department to control. With
this fire the only difference we could make is protect the other buildings around it. I
realized that we would not be able to save much of that building so we had to save the
other complexes around it. This is a fire that gar a head start on the fire department. I
blame no one.
Ms. Fran HalL Manager River Creek Apartments, 2525 Center West Pkwy: The
Chief has said that he cannot maintain the trucks, that's quite upsetting. I would like to
know why they did not have a map of the apartment complex? When was the last time
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the tire hydrants at River Creek apartments were checked? The hose that exploded was
the second hose on the scene. That's why there was no water on that building. When
they hit the building with the water they hit it from where the fire started instead of
setting up a line of defense at the end that was not engulfed in flames at that time. That's
why we lost the second half of the building. They pushed the fire down the building
instead ofpushing it back to what was already gone.
Mr. Mays: I would like to make a motion that the questions that have been
raised, that are a matter of the record, that we allow those questions to have a
formal answer through the Administrator by way of the Fire Chief in reference to
those that have been made in this public meeting, regardless of what the nature.
Whether it's accusation or equipment, whatever the case maybe and put into a total
formal report and I ask that those questions already asked be incorporated. I do
think some where in this process there needs to be a check made on the water
pressure of all the water hydrants.
Mr. Kuhlke: Second.
Motion carried unanimously.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
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Lena J. Bonner
Clerk of Commission
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PUBLIC SAFETY
AGENDA
COtvIMITfEE ROOM - December 27, 1999
3:30 P. M.
1. Presentation by the Fire Department of the New Year's Eve/Y2K Preparedness
Plan developed by Augusta Richmond County Fire Rescue.
2. Approve $227,500 to purchase Mobile Computing S/W from New World. New
World was low bidder to RFP #99-090; S672,500 to purchase Mobile Computing
H/W off of state contract from Motorola; $45,000 to hire a System Administrator
to support mobile computing system effective 7/01100 at a pay grade of 52 (salary
range $34,959 - $52,438) with position to work for Information Technology.
(90% of funds to be supplied from Local Law Enforcement Block Grant LLEBG.
10% is currently in the Sheriff Department's 2000 budget request)
3. Discussion of River Creek Apartment fire.
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