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2002 02 14 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN February 14, 2002 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in work session on February 14, 2002, at 4:30 p.m. in the Small Courtroom of Baytown Municipal Court Building, 3120 North Main Street, Baytown, Texas, with the following in attendance: Ronnie Anderson Council Member Coleman Godwin Council Member Calvin Mundinger Council Member Don Murray Council Member Mercedes Renteria III Council Member Scott Sheley Council Member Pete C. Alfaro Mayor Monte Mercer City Manager Ignacio Ramirez, Sr. City Attorney Gary W. Smith City Clerk The meeting was opened with a quorum present after which the following business was conducted: Tour the New Municipal Court Building and the new Municipal Jail. City Council and the other attendees of the work session toured the new Municipal Court Building and the new Municipal Jail. Discuss fire department staffing. City Manager Monte Mercer explained the impact on Senate Bill 382 on the fire service. The bill affects the interior fire attack. Unless there are four firefighters on the scene, if the fire is beyond the incipient stage, entry into the burning structure cannot be made, unless there is evidence of imminent danger to a person. The staff has prepared four options for Council's review. The City maintains five fire stations. Before the new law, response was made with two engines and a ladder truck and the Battalion Chief. This totals ten fire fighters. The tactical priorities of rescue and fire control are given to the first unit on the scene. The second company controls water supply and property conservation. Under the terms of Senate Bill 382, the firefighters must determine if there is a viable rescue to be made. Only then may they enter prior to the arrival of the second unit. ( Presently we dispatch three engines and a ladder truck. The second unit must arrive before entry is made into the building to aggressively fight the fire. The third unit handles the Page 2 of 4 Minutes of the Work Session — February 14, 2002 water supply and other issues (previously handled by the second unit on the scene). This causes the response time (for entry into the building) to increase from 4.4 minutes to 5.7 minutes. The City experiences 50 to 70 working fires per year. Assistant City Manager Bob Leiper explained that an offensive attack of the fire is made from within the building. Spraying water from outside will push the fire further inside the building. Under the current situation, action can be taken, but the fire is not being attacked until the arrival of the second engine. Mayor Alfaro observed that increased staffing is necessary to maintain the current service level. Mr. Mercer reported that investments had been made to get the firefighters to the scene more quickly. The opticom system has been installed at 25 intersections at a cost of $8,00049,000 per intersection. Studies show that four firefighters provide greater efficiency and reduce injuries. The Battalion Chief is on the scene to manage the entire incident. The OSHA standard adopted in the Senate Bill excludes the Battalion Chief from being included as a fire fighter at the scene. The first option is to maintain the current staffing level and current response method. This will result in a longer response time. There is the risk of greater loss. The second option is to staff the outlying fire stations with four fire fighters at all times. This should reduce the longest response times, but it will not eliminate all delays. This would have covered 18 of 48 fires last year. The third option is to operate a flying squad. Two fire fighters would be, each, placed at two central locations. Both would respond to each fire. This would require two separate buildings and additional equipment. The fourth option is to staff all stations with four fire fighters at all times. This will add fifteen fire fighters, eliminate the delay, allow quicker searches and rescues, and provide better efficiency and fewer injuries. The recurring expense will be $670,000 or two cents on the tax rate. Other cities in Texas are working the problem. The flying squad concept is from other states and has not been used in Texas. Mr. Leiper reported that Pasadena has a response time of eight to nine minutes, but cautioned that the information was several years old. Senate Bill 382 does not apply to volunteer departments. The response time has been improved by one minute with the use of opticom. Mayor Alfaro suggested that staff be asked to prepare a plan for increased staffing without a tax increase. Council Member Godwin stated that if the Appraisal District trend continues, the funding to pay for the increased staffing would be available. Page 3 of 4 Minutes of the Work Session — February 14, 2002 Council Member Anderson stated that much can happen during that 1.2- minute delay. Council must protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens. Costs cannot be balanced against the risk to life. Council Member Mundinger observed that increased staffing will reduce property damage and reduce injuries, making it a safer arrangement. Council Member Anderson stated his opposition to a tax increase and supported finding an off -set to pay for the additional fire fighters. Mr. Leiper reminded Council that there must be a direct indication of risk of loss of life before entry can be made with fewer than four fire fighters on the scene. A report must be filed to explain the exceptions. Discuss traffic signal update. City Manager Monte Mercer reported that a report is included in the Council's packet. Discuss proposed amendments to the junked vehicle ordinance. City Manager Monte Mercer announced that City Attorney Ignacio Ramirez, Sr. would address this subject during the regular Council meeting. Receive and discuss presentation of the automated Baytown Sun Index at Sterling Municipal Library. Denise Fischer, Librarian, introduced the team that prepared the historical index. Linda Jones, Assistant Director /Technology Services, Karyn Walentoski, the current Sun indexer and coordinator of the Reference Division, Tracy Cuellar, Lee College Librarian, Cheryl Payne, Director, Houston Area Libraries Automated Network, and Wanda Garner Cash, Editor and Publisher of The Baytown Sun. The index can be found on the Library's web page, The Baytown Sun's web page and Lee College's web page. It is free of charge. The index chronicles items of local historic interest. Ms. Fischer demonstrated the use of the index. The index is searched by key words, with limitations by date and type of record to be searched. The index will give the date and page of the item. This information can be used with the microfilm files to find the record and to print a copy. The index can be used for genealogical research. Funding for the conversion of the index cards to the computer index has been provided by a TexTreasures grant from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Page 4 of 4 Minutes of the Work Session — February 14, 2002 Discuss appointments Health Officer and Alternate Health Officer. Community Development Advisory Committee, Growth Management and Development Advisory Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission. The discussion was delayed until the regular Council meeting. Adjourn. Council Member Godwin moved adjournment. Council Member Renteria seconded the motion. The vote follows: Ayes: Council Members Anderson, Godwin, Mundinger, Murray, Renteria and Sheley Mayor Alfaro Nays: None. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:09 p.m. W. Smith City Clerk