Agenda - 11-06-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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I Commissioner Gordon asked if the drawing of the lines has to do with the insurance 2 purpose or if it is more about the kind of unit that is dispatched. She asked what is involved in 3 mutual aid. She asked for an explanation of the differences in insurance costs. 4 Phillip Nasseri said the departments are still sending all trucks that are needed and 5 there is no change in mutual aid. He said the only change is the order on the piece of paper to 6 allow a better insurance rate. 7 Commissioner Gordon asked him to confirm that it was not true that only the primary 8 station sends all of the equipment and everyone else sends a truck. 9 Phillip Nasseri discussed a specific example scenario. He said the departments would 10 send everything that was needed to provide the best service. 11 Commissioner Gordon gave an example where the station for Chapel Hill was three 12 miles away and North Chatham was 5 miles away. Phillip Nasseri said all three departments 13 would be dispatched — Carrboro, Chapel Hill and North Chatham. 14 Commissioner Gordon said it appears that residents are getting the same service; and 15 this is just a discussion of the insurance rates. 16 Jason Shepherd said the insurance companies are there to make money, and for 17 residents outside of 5 miles, the charge is higher even though the service is the same. 18 Commissioner Gordon said this is important for people to know 19 Phillip Nasseri said their service delivery is always the same. 20 Jason Shepherd said that once the department of insurance certifies station 2 in White 21 Cross, it will take a maximum of 120 days to find out when the new rating will take effect. He 22 thanked the fire departments and the Board of Commissioners for their work and support. 23 Commissioner McKee said he has noted two items where Orange County can help. He 24 said one of these is the issue of trees overhanging the road on Shade Tree Lane. He wonders 25 if the County can prod the community to open this for better access. He said the other issue to 26 look into is the fire road connections. 27 Jason Shepherd said he is planning to talk to neighborhood associations about the 28 dangers of fire departments not being able to reach certain homes due to impassable roads. 29 30 2. Training Ji a) Collaboration with Durham Technical Community College 33 Durham Tech Public Safety Department Dean and Department Head, Randall J. 34 Egsegian, introduced himself. 35 Commissioner McKee said this is an open discussion on training issues. 36 Phillip Nasseri said there have been some communication issues and a lack of funding 37 for training. He said departments have sometimes had difficulty getting classes, or there has 38 been a lack of instructors for much needed classes. He said the hope is that this will turn around with Randall Egsegian stepping into this position. 39 Phillip Nasseri said more funding is needed for Fire /EMS training classes. He asked the 40 Board of County Commissioners and Commissioner Price (who is on the Durham Tech Board 41 of Directors) to help this move forward in this area. He would like to see more funding shifted to 42 the fire side and the continuing education. He said these are life and death decisions, and it 43 would be good to have the best possible training. 44 Commissioner Price said the board of trustees has discussed this, and there have been 45 assurances that this will be taken care of. She said she will bring this up again at an upcoming 46 meeting. She said part of the problem is that Durham Tech has a policy that requires a 47 minimum number of students for a class to be offered. 48 Phillip Nasseri said that has not been a problem in a very long time. He said the 49 department usually exceeds the required minimum number. He said every year fewer classes 50 are offered, which makes it difficult to receive money from the state to fund the program and