Agenda - 06-21-2016 - 5-a - Minutes

Browse Search

9 1 Chief Sullivan reviewed the following memorandum, found in attachment 4: 2 Chief Sullivan said he is here to provide an overview of discussions surrounding needed 3 public safety training facilities in Orange County. He said initial discussions have identified a 4 possible opportunity for a multi-jurisdictional/multi-discipline training facility. 5 Chief Sullivan said this project is a future project and will not need funding in fiscal year 6 2016-2017. He said he envisions more conversation over the next few months about the 7 feasibility of this project. He said this is not a new idea because the County Fire Chiefs have 8 had this as a priority for some time. 9 Chief Sullivan said the need for fire-training facilities was a topic during the October 1, 10 2015 Orange County Commissioner's meeting with the County Fire Chiefs. He said the 11 necessity of improved and/or new training facilities have been topics of conversation for multiple 12 years. He said the Orange County Fire Chiefs support the concept of a multi-jurisdictional/joint 13 training facility. He said such a facility would maximize resources of the collaborating partners 14 and provide additional opportunities for joint training. A sub-set of the Orange County Fire 15 Chiefs have begun meeting to further the discussion and visioning process, regarding training 16 needs and the specific elements needed at the facility. 17 Chief Sullivan said as they continue to vision this facility, they strongly believe that 18 additional synergy can occur from the inclusion of law enforcement and emergency service 19 partners who also have a need for additional and updated training facilities. He said informal 20 conversations with several of these Chiefs and department heads have resulted in additional 21 support for the project. 22 Chief Sullivan said the Community College system could also be an important partner in 23 this initiative. He said Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College has demonstrated 24 success in the development of a joint public training facility in Woodfin, North Carolina. 25 He said over the past several years the Triangle J Council of Governments has been assessing 26 the feasibility of building a regional joint public safety training facility. He added that while this is 27 an important initiative, the regional site will not serve the day to day training needs of our 28 County public safety entities. 29 Chief Sullivan said over the next several months their plan would be to pull together 30 representatives of all public safety agencies in Orange County and the Community College to 31 continue this conversation with the interest of bringing a proposal to the County Commissioners 32 and the local elected bodies for additional action and consideration. 33 Chief Sullivan showed the Boards some PowerPoint slides of various training facilities 34 around the State. He said this facility is in the explorative phase. 35 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the size of land parcel that would be needed is known, 36 and if this facility could be considered economic development. 37 Chief Sullivan said anywhere from 15-40 acres for a site is needed, and there are 38 economic development possibilities since other counties and cities would pay to come and use 39 this facility. He said Orange County personnel are currently traveling outside the County for 40 training. 41 Council Member Parker asked if there is a timeline in place for the next steps of this 42 project. 43 Chief Sullivan said recommendations from rural fire boards and towns could be brought 44 back in a year, with the primary assets going in first before the core. 45 Commissioner Rich asked if any land has been identified that could work for a facility 46 such as this. 47 Chief Sullivan said it would need to be near municipal water and close to recovery water 48 sites, as well as centrally located. 49 Commissioner Rich said the site would need to be centrally located away from 50 residential areas.