Minutes 10-02-2014 Fire - Laserfiche WebLink

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Jim Groves said First Net is just a public private relationship using existing infrastructure and making it a little more resilient to give more coverage in certain areas. He said this is really just a wireless broadband type network. He said only phones with a special chip can be used on the system, and this will require a fee. Jeff Cabe said he would not completely abandon the VIPER system, as it does have some benefits across the state. He said the County needs something to merge with it or piggyback onto it. Commissioner McKee said he is hearing that the County needs to look comprehensively at what it has and what it needs in determining which direction to go. He said there is no reason not to revive the Emergency Services work group to look at the options going forward. � Emerqency Medical Services Co-location Jim Groves said it has been over a year since the first co-location. He said in his opinion it has been incredibly beneficial, and EMS is learning a lot more about what emergency response is all about. Bill Waddell said this has been a great contribution to the wellbeing of their residents, and response times have improved. Jim Groves said the relationship with Carrboro has been a great asset. Commissioner McKee said he pushed this idea in the Emergency Services work group, and he knew there would be challenges to overcome. He said the departments have gone out of their way to make this work. c. False Alarm Discussion Jason Shepherd reviewed the following background information from the abstract: Many times the Fire Departments are dispatched to false alarms, often occurring at the same address. The Fire Departments and Orange County Emergency Services (OCES) Fire Marshals Division has limited options to encourage a facility owner to correct an issue with a faulty alarm system (or homeowner/employee error in activating/deactivating the system). Jason Shepherd said the fee schedule is basically for fire inspection fees, and there is no enforcement authority over the local business owner to repair fire alarm systems in a timely manner. He said he has come up with a proposal that will be submitted with the next budget. He said this will propose a fee schedule for false alarm activations. He said there are not a lot of false alarms in Orange County, but the ones that do occur happen at two particular institutions. He said in 2011 it was suggested that the County enhance fire inspection fees to bring in more revenue. He said at the time, the division elected not to charge any more for inspections, but some of the optional permits were changed to mandatory permits. He said this did not take into account the issues with the false alarms. He said his proposal will allow enforcement of properly maintained fire alarm systems. He said three or more activations within a month would result in a $100 fee, and anything over three would add an additional $25 charge. He recommends that the revenue for this should go to the Jaycee Burn Center. Commissioner porosin asked Dan Jones if the program in Chapel Hill includes non- profits or if there are exemptions. Dan Jones said there are no exemptions in their program. He said the revenue goes into their general fund. Jim Groves said Jason Shepherd needs some leverage for residents to come into compliance, but Orange County could also be the ones paying that fee since County Buildings have had some false alarm issues.