Deer Harbor Station, new engine chassis also on table at July 8 meeting

In his report to the Board of Fire Commissioners on July 8, Orcas Island Fire Department Chief Mike Harris announced that the Fire/Medic local union members Valerie Harris, Mik Presz and Patrick Shelpler have formally presented the proposal to divide the Assistant Fire Chief duties into three positions, with a start time of Jan. 1, 2009. They also proposed an interim start date of August 1, 2008. Their current contract expires on Dec. 31, 2008.

Their proposal, in which the Assistant Chief’s duties are divided among three Division Chiefs, has been presented to the Volunteers Association, and to the public at two previous Fire Commission meetings.

Part of the union’s proposal is that a fourth paramedic be hired to eliminate current overtime shifts, and to become familiar with the Division Chief duties in each area.

Instead of the immediate permanent hire of a fourth paramedic, the union proposed that Dave Zoeller and Tom Ardavany, island Fire/Medics who work part-time for the district, share the fourth paramedic position until the end of the year, with perhaps making the job-share position permanent in 2009.

While Harris said that he has met with the union to discuss the wages “they would require to go forward,” the proposal has not provided any financial information to date. Commissioner Duke said, in response to public inquiry, that costs would be evaluated and available to the public down the road.

During public comment, several speakers questioned the lack of financial information regarding the proposal.

Kathleen Speed said that the Division Chief proposal by the union was vague and that even ball park figures were needed for productive discussion of their proposal.

Leith Templin said, “You do know what a fourth paramedic will cost and the salary range of an Assistant Chief,” and argued for the public to be informed as to the basic financials of the union’s proposal.

Commissioner Clyde Duke said that such information would be “forthcoming” to the public.

Speed compared the Commissioners’ mandate with that of a private business and said, “You have no timeline on anything. In three months you’re going to waste time and money — yours and mine.”

Commissioner Jim Coffin noted that the union contract expires at the end of this year.

Chief Harris said, “People have been asking for specifics for some time now; the contract elements need to be discussed in Executive Session.”

Templin said, “There needs to be more public comment. It’s crazy to implement this [Divison Chief contract] by August 1.”

She added that one of the purposes of Executive Sessions were for the Commissioners and Chief to discuss personnel discipline, firing, and finalizing contracts, but that job descriptions should be discussed in public session.

Coffin said he would look into the legalities of Executive Sessions.

Pierrette Guimond suggested the Commissioners consult the Public Information Act, as there were some questions as to how meetings should be held.

Guimond also said that, while the paramedics had excellent qualifications for that position, she felt it was dangerous for the Fire Department to sign a three-year management contract with the union.

Templin said that the problem with the union fire/medics “taking the top three jobs… is it creates the confusing hierarchy of a huge city fire department.

“It’s really important for you to think about this plan. This is a volunteer department,” Templin told the Commissioners.

When Errol Speed asked when the public would be informed of the Commission’s comparison of alternatives for the Assistant Chief position, Duke replied, “In the future.”

Deer Harbor station

Chief Harris said that Bill Trogdon, a retired architect who has made preliminary drawings of the new Deer Harbor station, is interested in being the architect of record for this project. Liability insurance creates a problem, as Trogdon does not maintain it, and Harris suggested creating an “administrative volunteer position” to make the Fire Department project feasible.

Harris also reported that the Deer Harbor station water system needs fixing and “we will need to pay the whole cost up front to avoid delays. The issue of whether this will satisfy [the system owner] is unknown.” Orcas Septic is working on the design for repair of the water system.

Harris will be attending a seminar on station design in order to present the requirements and basic design of the station to the architect. Harris said, “This station, because of space limitation, is not a complicated fire station.”

Fire Department volunteer and former commissioner Bob Phalan noted that when the Eastsound Station was built, it was designed by architects “after Paul [Spencer] had input to the engine bays, Pam [Harney] gave input to the front area of the station, and volunteers had input for their area.”

Retaining wall

Bids to construct a retaining wall across the eastern boundary of the Eastsound Fire Station came in at $4,139 for a rock wall, and $6,233 for an interlocking cement block wall. The Fire Department had first estimated that the wall would cost about $8,000.

New pumper engines

Harris reported that he plans to meet with a representative from the Darley Company, which Harris called, “one of the three top companies building pumpers, to discuss apparatus to be built on the five chassis the Fire Department was authorized to purchase last month. The alternative, Harris said, was to “tag along with existing bids from nearby fire districts” for similar work.

Erroll Speed questioned past experience when the apparatus vendor and the chassis manufacturer were “not in sync” and accountability for the ensuing problems was hard to pin down.

Chief Harris said that while, “there is no way around the problem when we buy commercial, rather than custom-built chassis… [the firefighting superstructures] don’t invade the electrical system, so it’s easy to tell if it’s a chassis or superstructure problem.”

Leith Templin questioned the length and wheel base of the new fire engines. “Normally, only one or two firefighters leave from Eastsound station, so why are crew cabs thought to be the best solution?

“This organization has come a long ways in improving facilities and equipment and training. But sometimes the ball gets rolling and we need to step back to ask, ‘Is this where we want to go?’”

Pond information needed

At the meeting, a press release on the July 4 fire, in which a two-story log cabin in the area of Dolphin Bay Road was completely destroyed by fire, was distributed. See related story, A3.

In discussing the Fire Department’s response to the fire, Chief Harris noted that although there were three ponds for water access within a quarter-mile, “there were only two we could get to.”

He added that the Department’s map book has no addresses, “so we couldn’t find the property, much less ponds.”

Kathleen Speed said that it was important for the Fire Department to know where ponds were on private property, and Chief Harris replied that Captain Max Jones would develop the FireWise program to add information about ponds.

Leith Templin suggested that Harris ask the public to contact the Fire Department to help inform them as to where ponds are located on private lands.

The next public meeting of the Orcas Island Fire District Commissioners is July 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Eastsound Fire Hall. Call 376-2331 for further information.