10/03/2000 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 10/3/2000 Mr. O'Grady, chairperson of the Public Safety Health & Welfare Committee: 1) The committee met on September 27, 2000. Present were committee members O'Grady, Nashar and Limpert; Council members Gareau and McKay; Safety Director Jenkins, Finance Director Copfer, Fire Chief Bak, Fire Captain Cirrone, and firefighter Tony Lange. The committee discussed Ordinance 2000-123 which establishes the organization of the fire division in the Department of Public Safety. With this ordinance, the structure of the fire division will be amended to allow for additional firefighters as needed for the future. Chief Bak made a presentation and distributed a handout. Current manning within the department allows for 11 firefighters and 3 officers per shift. This number of 14 has been unchanged since the last personnel increase which occurred in 1992. Since that time, the number of runs per year has increased from 2,437 in 1992 to 3,087 in 1999. Safety Director Jenkins remarked that the purpose of this ordinance is to surface the issue of staffing to City Council and action regazding additional appropriations for increased manning would be taken up by Council as the budget permits. During the course of the meeting, Councilman Nashar inquired about the use of part-time firefighters as a possible solution for the manning question. The Chief responded that this would cause more problems than it would solve, not the least of which is departure of part-time firefighters for full-time jobs elsewhere after the City of North Olmsted had incurred the cost of training them. This ordinance is intended as a manning document for the future. It is not the intention of the Administration that Council will appropriate funds to fill all of these positions. Further, it is not the position of the Fire Department that all of these positions should be filled now. However, in light of the significant increase in runs per year, and in light of the fact that these runs have often left the main fire truck with just two firefighters to man it, it is clear to him that some relief must be provided. He would suggest to the Administration and to the Finance Committee of Council that manning should be increased by three firefighters for the coming yeaz. This would allow an increase from 14 to 15 firefighters per shift. He offers this opinion for Council's consideration and looks forward to discussions during the budget process for 2001. The committee unanimously recommended approval of Ordinance 2000-123. Mr. Limpert, chairperson of the Recreation, Public Pazks and Buildings Committee: 1) On September 27, there was a joint meeting of the Finance and Recreation Committees to discuss Resolution 2000-119. Present were committee members Limpert, O'Grady, McKay and Miller; Councilman Nashar; Finance Director Copfer, Safety Director Jenkins, and Service Director Bohlmann. Resolution 2000-119 authorizes the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids for lighting improvements at Ball Diamond Number Two at the North Olmsted Park as detailed in the plans and specifications on file. This will be enhancement of the lighting and should create less spillage into the neighborhoods. Also, it should improve safety on the ball diamonds by moving the poles out further from the area of play. The joint committees unanimously recommended approval. 2) The Recreation Committee met on September 27. Present were committee members Limpert, O'Grady and Miller; Councilmen McKay and Nashar, Safety Director Jenkins, Service Director Bohlmann, Finance Director Copfer. The committee discussed Ordinance 2000-130 which authorizes the Mayor to enter into a sublease agreement with