Minutes 10-02-2014 Fire - Laserfiche WebLink

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meeting. She said part of the problem is that Durham Tech has a policy that requires a minimum number of students for a class to be offered. Phillip Nasseri said that has not been a problem in a very long time. He said the department usually exceeds the required minimum number. He said every year fewer classes are offered, which makes it difficult to receive money from the state to fund the program and build back up the classes. He said this is a snowball effect that has resulted in less and less funding. Commissioner Price said the funding cuts come from the state in an odd way. Phillip Nasseri said he is aware of this. Commissioner Price said the funding is based on the whole year. Phillip Nasseri said he wants to figure out a way to stop the snowball effect of cuts happening every year. Commissioner Price asked who is coordinating with Durham Tech. Phillip Nasseri said every department has their own training protocols, and each department has a point of contact that works with Durham Tech. Jeff Cabe asked about Commissioner Price's comment about the state's weird problem with funding. He said other community colleges have many more classes and training facilities than Durham Tech, and he asked if this funding formula penalizes Durham Tech. He said this is one of the most affluent Counties in the state with the highest tax rates, and he asked if that money is not coming back. Commissioner Price said what she is hearing now goes beyond a funding issue. She asked who she can put in contact with the powers that be at Durham Tech. Commissioner McKee said since the Durham Tech representative will be meeting with the Fire Council in the near future maybe those details can be fleshed out then. Commissioner Price said she just wants to know if there is there someone for her to contact. Bonnie Hammersley said she and Jason Shepherd will contact Durham Tech and Jim Groves to work with them in concert with the fire departments. Commissioner Price said there is a history to be aware of. Jim Groves said the Durham Tech representative will be at next fire chief's council, and they look forward to having him there. Phillip Nasseri said the point that Jeff Cabe was trying to make is that community colleges in much more rural areas with smaller populations have built facilities to train first responders. He said the question is what it will take to support Durham Tech to get training that is currently available elsewhere. Commissioner porosin said part of this is about classes being offered, and the other part is the need for an actual training facility. He asked if that training facility would be part of the community college or a separate entity by Orange County. He asked if it could be a source of revenue generation if it was a separate entity. Jeff Cabe said the state pays for FTE training. He said the community colleges usually have these training facilities. He said the department of insurance does not allow others to compete with the colleges. He said there are county and city training sites that are built to train the residents in those cities, but these are big ticket items that take a lot of maintenance and staff. He said most rural areas use the community college. Jeff Cabe said this discussion is about two different things, and the first is getting state approved instructors to come and teach classes to people who want to be firefighters and EMTs. He said this is the Durham Tech discussion and the training center is a separate discussion.