Agenda - 11-05-2015 - 6-a - Minutes

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2 1 • Fire Prevention 2 • Update of equipment - from grants 3 • Advanced training level for swift water 4 • Biggest- Strategic Plan 5 6 Goals: 7 • Continue to recruit volunteers 8 • Outreach with community partners- Emergency Services and Sheriff's Dept. 9 • Training Facility 10 • EMT training/certification 11 • Pursue grants 12 • Joint purchasing of equipment 13 • Keeping up with standards 14 15 Chair McKee said Commissioner Dorosin and Commissioner Rich were not able to 16 attend tonight. 17 18 2. Public Safety Training Facility for Fire/Emergency Medical Services/Law 19 Enforcement 20 Chief Allison said there are 391 volunteers in Orange County, and a facility is needed to 21 train these volunteers properly. He said Chapel Hill is building a new facility. He said at this 22 meeting last year, the request was made for the BOCC to offer assistance, if the land for a 23 facility could be secured. He said the Efland Fire Department offered to donate some land. He 24 said Chapel Hill is looking to build a huge training facility to accommodate fire, EMS and law 25 enforcement. He said the idea has been proposed for the Town and the County to collaborate 26 and create a large, jointly shared facility in a centralized location such as Blackwood Farm. He 27 said such a facility would benefit all the departments. 28 Chapel Hill Chief Sullivan said the discussions are in the very early stages, since the 29 present facility is very old. He said if a joint facility could be built it would be a win-win situation 30 for all. 31 Chief Cabe said in order to get ISO certification the facility must be centrally located to 32 the majority of the stations, and that is why a joint facility is being considered. 33 Jim Groves said this proposal is for the day-to-day operational needs as opposed to the 34 Triangle J Council of Governments (TJCOG) regional proposal. He said maybe going forward 35 TJCOG could be invited to participate in a joint facility in Orange County. 36 Commissioner Burroughs asked if there is an estimate of the needed acreage. 37 Chief Allison said that would depend on the design, but the biggest obstacle has been 38 the acquisition of land. 39 Chief Cabe said the acreage would depend on the uses. He said anywhere from two to 40 five acres would be needed to build a combination burn building/drill tower and to be able to get 41 fire trucks to it. He said EMS has different needs, such as driver training. He said if classrooms 42 are desired on site, then space would be needed for a classroom building. He said the facility 43 could be large and complex, or small and simple. He said law enforcement would have yet 44 other needs. He said most burn buildings use gas, thus having much less run off, and as such 45 do not have to be as far removed as in the past. 46 Chief Sullivan from Chapel Hill said there are public safety training center architects that 47 do this type of work daily across the country. He said clarifying the needs would be a good 48 starting point. 49 Chief Cabe said South Orange Rescue Squad (SORS) provides specialized rescue. He 50 said this squad would need to have some defined space for training props, high elevations, etc.