Minutes 02-12-2019 Fire Chiefs - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 • Trying to recruit a diverse workforce • Trying to increase their workforce Service and Value to Orange County 17 Million Dollar Question- contribution of service Orange County by the volunteer firefighters. • Risk Assessment Committee- He said that they are looking to have shared resources across the county departments. Emergency Communications • Enhanced emergency communications are needed in Orange County, and the Chiefs are looking at a comprehensive package for this. Workforce Development and Preservation • High School Fire Academies • Training Facility Importance- Durham Tech plays a major role in their training Chief Sullivan said the items below are priorities: • Health and Safety- • Critical Incident Stress Management - they are retiring firefighters due to mental illness o Cancer Prevention - firefighters are dying at alarming rates across the nation and here in Orange County and they need to take a whole look at this Training Center Update Chief Sullivan said last year Chief Phillip Nasseri applied for, and received, a federal grant for$330,000 for a training facility. Chief Sullivan said the Chiefs have ordered the facility and now need to centrally locate it. He said there are two maps at the Commissioners' regarding possible locations: Durham Tech and Blackwood Farms • Durham Tech — He said he, other fire chiefs, and Travis Myren went to Durham Tech to try discussing co-locating on their Orange County campus, but unfortunately the property is in the backyard of residential properties and he is afraid of the "not in my backyard" concerns. He said this visit did reveal the fact that Durham Tech has some funding to assist with this facility, in exchange for use of the facility. Blackwood Farm site: he said the Chiefs understand this is a valuable asset to Orange County. He said this property is an ideal location to place this facility, but this is an Orange County decision. • He said the training facility prop is movable (picture on slide), and the Fire Chiefs association now owns it. He said a location will be needed by the end of August 2019. Phillip Nasseri said the property needs to be bought and paid for by the end of August, so a location needs to be hammered out by mid-March, in order to do the grading. He said there are lots of possible locations, but he does not want the cost of grading to outweigh the cost of the building. He said the location needs to be economically feasible, easily accessible, centrally located, and close to city water. He said Durham Tech is amenable to help fund it, and discussions are ongoing. He said Durham Tech may be willing to contribute to an off-site location as well. Chief Sullivan said the Chiefs will continue to work on this as it is so desperately needed.