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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-12-21 - Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes December 21, 1995 TRUSTEES MEETING DECEMBER 21, 1995 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ACTION 1. PRESENTATION BY RURAL/METRO PUBLIC HEARING 2. LOCAL LAW INTRODUCTORY#5-1995 RYE BROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT RESOLUTIONS 3. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION ADOPTING LOCAL LAW INTRODUCTORY#5 - 1995 RYE BROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT 4. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION ON FIRE SERVICE CONTRACT WITH RURAL/METRO 5. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION WESTCHESTER COUNTY FIRE MUTUAL AID 25 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING 0066107 VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK BOARD OF TRUSTEES ANTHONY J. POSILLIPO COMMUNITY CENTER 32 GARIBALDI PLACE RYE BROOK, NEW YORK THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1995 CONVENE MEETING: The Meeting was called to order by Mayor Cresenzi at 7:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose room and the Pledge of Allegiance followed. Present were the following members of the Board: Mayor Salvatore M. Cresenzi Trustee Eugene R. Strum Trustee Nancy Stein Tunis Trustee Joseph Pellino Trustee Gary J. Zuckerman Also in attendance were: Christopher J. Russo, Village Administrator Kenneth E. Powell, Village Attorney Robert J. Santoro,Police Chief Patricia Pagli, Secretary PUBLIC HEARING 2. LOCAL LAW INTRODUCTORY#5-1995 -RYE BROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT Mayor Cresenzi announced the Board would make the first item on the agenda the public hearing on the Rye Brook Fire Department, and he opened the floor to speakers. Mr. Bill Nethercott of 943 King Street was the first speaker. He asked what the Rye Brook Fire Department consisted of because two scenarios were discussed last week. Mayor Cresenzi announced that the Village of Rye Brook had received three proposals,one from the Village of Port Chester(late Sunday night),one from the Uniformed Fire Fighters Association and one from Rural/Metro,Inc., of Arizona. He explained that the Rye Brook Board of Trustees met on Tuesday and reviewed the aforementioned proposals carefully and analyzed them. In answer to the question of what the Fire Department would be, Mayor Cresenzi responded that it would be necessary to review each of the proposals received. He summed up each proposal. Port Chester's basically was a continuation of their existing fire services with a different pay schedule attached that did not address many issues previously raised by Rye Brook. The Uniformed Fire Fighters Association (UFFA)proposal was two proposals in one. The first OQ6008 December 21, 1995 included three pieces of apparatus and a mixed department of roughly 12 paid men supplemented by a corps of volunteers. UFFA commented that while the proposed service was used in many local communities,they did not feel it was the best choice. The second proposal included a fully paid department of roughly 40 men. The proposal from the private company,Rural/Metro, included three pieces of apparatus, approximately 10 career fire fighters and a minimum of 25 paid reservists. The Mayor added that the reservists would be supplemented by volunteers. Fire fighter Nethercott asked, "You have not made a decision yet on which way you are going?" He asked directly if the Village of Rye Brook would be using Rural/Metro Corporation. Mayor Cresenzi expressed that the Board had reached a conclusion based on an analysis of the proposals received, and had been open-minded and willing to listen to what people had to say. Fire fighter Nethercott asked if the Village chooses Rural/Metro, will there be ten-man shifts. Mayor Cresenzi said no,it would be a mixed department similar to the proposal of the Uniformed Fire Fighters, which is a mixture of paid and volunteer fire fighters,with three-man shifts. Fire fighter Nethercott asked if Rural/Metro's initial response would be three men. He reported that the Port Chester Fire Department's initial response is with a minimum of 15 men. Mayor Cresenzi said, "Bill, your first response engine, I believe, is one paid man." Fire fighter Nethercott replied, "What about the volunteer fire apparatus with roughly three or four men on the apparatus? Did you forget about that?" Mayor Cresenzi said he had not forgotten, but pointed out that the initial response now is one paid man, and then volunteers get on their equipment and respond to the call. Fire fighter Nethercott informed the Mayor that the initial response is with one paid rig and five volunteer rigs. As a volunteer fireman he leaves what he is doing and responds immediately upon receiving a page. He asked if the proposed fire company would also respond immediately. Mayor Cresenzi said they (Rye Brook)would also respond immediately. Mr.Nethercott requested a list of Rural/Metro's "so-called"volunteers,to check their training. Mayor Cresenzi answered that the Village of Rye Brook would have a list of fire fighters in Rye Brook, but was unsure whether the list was available, since it might be a personnel item. However,he said, all paid men and all reservists would be New York State certified fire fighters, Fire fighter Nethercott asked if all of the reservists would be from Rye Brook. Mayor Cresenzi said that they would be responding from local areas such as Rye Brook,Port Chester,Rye, etc. 2 006000 December 21, 1995 Fire fighter Nethercott asked where the fire house would be located when Rural/Metro is brought on. "Who has a gun to your head to get this deal going right now?" Mayor Cresenzi said that for the time being, they would operate out of the Village Garage because it is the only facility currently owned by Rye Brook that could house the fire house. As for who is exerting pressure on Rye Brook, he responded, "Port Chester." Fire fighter Nethercott conveyed that he did not read anything in Port Chester's resolution pertaining to future contracts. He said, "of course you twisted that around to make Rye Brook look good in the paper, but that was in there." Mayor Cresenzi said, "No Billy, what happened was we have been at this for many months and we have made numerous proposals which have gone unanswered. Our last correspondence,on October 30, 1995, was sent to the Port Chester Village Board in which we asked a few questions. The first was on the status of the fire survey. The second was to ask for a proposal that was supported by their Board." He continued that there was minimal if no contact between Rye Brook and Port Chester until December 4, 1995 at a public meeting when a Resolution was passed starting a time clock. Port Chester started the clock by approving that Resolution. Fire fighter Nethercott explained that the, "clock was for this year only, not for future years." The next speaker,Bill Irwin, 3 Phyllis Place,noted that Rye Brook had 28 business days to come up with a plan. He asked if Rye Brook had enough time to equip the men with boots, helmets, bunker pants, turn-out coats within 28 days and afford the approximate annual gear cost of $4,000 for each man. He asked why Rye Brook was paying Reservists when Port Chester gets three or four hundred volunteers, and pointed out that the fire fighters will need infectious control training and Hepatitis B shots. He expressed concern that there remained only 28 days to get all this done, besides learning the roads and hydrant locations. Next he raised the issue of fire alarm boxes in the schools. If a child pulls a fire alarm now, it rings at the Port Chester Fire House. He asked if Rye Brook had the equipment to accept those alarms from schools and United Cerebral Palsy's facilities. He Said, "This is a taxpayer's nightmare," since the Village--based on public safety-- will go out and buy $300,000 worth of fire apparatus without competitive bidding. He continued that everyone wants the best for Rye Brook, but the issue is being rushed through during the holiday season. He was unhappy with the quality of the leadership from the Rye Brook Board and he pleaded for them to slow down in their decision making on this matter. Mr. Peter Moline, of Port Chester asked how Rural/Metro would handle two calls at the same time and how long it would take Rural/Metro to respond, find a water source and attack the fire. Mayor Cresenzi asked why would that be any different than the current response. Mr. Molino said that right now, Port Chester responds with 15 men to a fire call. Mayor Cresenzi said a response would not be with just three men because the paid reservists would supplement them. He reported that Rural/Metro will operate similar to the way Port Chester operates now. Rural/Metro's full-time staff would provide the initial response,then a minimum of twenty five paid reservists would back them up. 3 006010 December 21, 1995 Mr. Molino asked if the reservists would be at the same location as Rye Brook's Fire Department. Mayor Cresenzi responded no. He stated they would function like Port Chester's volunteers and that the only difference would be they would be paid for their time on duty or in training. Mr. Molino asked how Rural/Metro would handle an alarm at a school with one thousand people. Mayor Cresenzi said that they would respond to it. "How else would they handle it?" Mr. Molino asked, "If there were over 1,000 children, shouldn't more fire fighters respond?" Mayor Cresenzi explained that he went to school in Pelham and there were 1,500 to 1,600 students then. At that time there were three Villages in the Town of Pelham and the responding fire department was North Pelham with an initial response of three pieces of apparatus. Mr. Bill Nethercott came forward to speak again. Trustee Zuckerman asked to state, before Mr. Nethercott addressed the Board, one comment with respect to the prior speakers. He said it was apparent that each speaker had assumed Rye Brook would contract with Rural/Metro. In fact,their proposal has been reviewed and the Rye Brook Board has felt confident that whichever fire service is chosen,the people of Rye Brook will receive a response that is equal to or greater than that of the Port Chester Fire Department's past response(s). He did not know if it was worthwhile to answer each question on the fire department,but that was his opinion of the Board's feeling after reviewing all documents. Mr. Rick Piper introduced himself as a business owner of 309 Willett Avenue, Port Chester, Captain of Fire Rescue, Port Chester Fire Department, concerned neighbor and friend. As the captain of a rescue company he asked,whichever fire company service Rye Brook chooses, what their extrication capabilities will be for an auto accident,train accident, bus accident, etc. Mayor Cresenzi statect they will be able to rescue people because they will have the necessary equipment on the truck to do the job. He noted that the audience laughed while asking these questions,but then he asked why people would think that Rye Brook would go out and hire a department that would not provide adequate safety to the Village of Rye Brook. Mr. Piper again asked what kind of extrication equipment the company would supply. Mayor Cresenzi assured those present that the Rye Brook Fire Department would have the equipment necessary to do the job. Mr. Piper asked the Board to describe how the fire service would make an initial attack on a fire. He said Rural/Metro, which will have three pieces of apparatus, will need three men to go to a scene where they will not be able to perform a primary search, find a water source,make an initial attack, and do a secondary search with three men until the paid reserves get there. He asked, "Are the 25 reserve members guaranteed to be available to the Village of Rye Brook in 28 days? Does the Village have their names in writing?" 4 006011 December 21, 1995 Mayor Cresenzi responded in the negative. Mr. Piper suggested that the names were not available because they were not guaranteed to the Village of Rye Brook in 28 days, Mayor Cresenzi reiterated that the Village of Rye Brook was guaranteed twenty five trained,paid reserve fire fighters from Rural/Metro in the time allotted. Mr. Piper reported that he felt it would be impossible for the Village of Rye Brook to secure a fire department with 25 reservists in 28 days. He stated that it would take at least one to two years to build a fire department, and it could not happen over night. Mr. Paul Cregan, 17 Wyman Street,North, asked the Board if they are making the decision as to the future of the fire service for the Village of Rye Brook. "If that is the case, who on the Village Board is qualified to make that decision?" Trustee Zuckerman wished to clarify whether Mr. Cregan was asking the Board if the fire fighters would be experienced or if he was asking whether the Rye Brook Board is qualified to make a decision to contract with someone to provide fire fighting service. Mr. Cregan said he was asking what expertise the Board has to determine what is the best fire service for the residents of Rye Brook. Trustee Zuckerman said the Rye Brook Board has the same expertise now to determine whether we should contract with Port Chester or the municipal paid fire fighters or the private contractor as we had last year and the year before, when we contracted with Port Chester. The question should be what the Board's expertise was when they originally contracted with Port Chester. He asked if he was being told that Rye Brook should contract with Port Chester under any condition. Mr. Cregan said that he told the Board last Thursday, "Don't quit(negotiations)!" Mr. Cregan reported that the Port Chester Board had made a change and would be coming back to the table, due to pressure that the department had put on the Village Officials of Port Chester. Trustee Zuckerman asked, for the record, "Did we or did we not, receive a Resolution from the Village of Port Chester stating they would only give us an interim contract based on an assessed value formula and that we had five days to answer? Is that a fact, or is that not a fact?" Mr. Cregan said yes, Port Chester gave the option of an interim contract. Trustee Zuckerman said that Port Chester gave Rye Brook five days to answer, during which Rye Brook had responded in the negative. Mr. Cregan said subsequent to the interim contract, Port Chester's Board came back to the table. Trustee Zuckerman corrected Mr. Cregan and told him that Port Chester did not come back to the table with different options. The Port Chester Board did not come back to the table, but four 5 006012 December 21, 1995 trustees from the Village of Port Chester made a separate proposal that Rye Brook deemed unsatisfactory. He said those four trustees were informed that their proposal did not meet many of Rye Brook's conditions and terms, including the cost proposed. Rye Brook found the proposal inadequate, besides lacking the support of the Mayor of Port Chester who would have to negotiate the contract. He explained that the Port Chester Board was considering a 90 day extension to expire on January 31, 1996. Rye Brook had until then to arrange for its alternatives. Mr. Cregan stated that the two Boards had not met in some time, and so should meet and settle. Trustee Tunis said the Mayor of Port Chester had demanded a fire study,but when Rye Brook approved the study Port Chester's Mayor would not consider it. She stated that the Village of Port Chester had told the Village of Rye Brook to go away so Rye Brook went away, and while the Board is sorry some people don't like the turn of events,Rye Brook did exactly what Port Chester asked it to do. She reported that any dissatisfaction should be with the Village of Port Chester for refusing to negotiate and not caring about its fire department. Mr. Cregan stated that fortunately, this is a democratic society where a vote requires the majority of the Board and not just the Mayor. He stated that Port Chester, by majority vote of their Board, proposed to return to the negotiating table and Rye Brook had known it could do so. Rye Brook resident John Ferraro asked the Board what action would take place on February 1, 1996, if and when one of the schools would have to be evacuated. Trustee Tunis asked to address that issue as an Associate Director of the PTA, since the PTA reviews and tracks school evacuation times. She conveyed that to evacuate the Port Chester High School,the best time is 1 minute, 20 seconds and the worst time is 1 minute, 45 seconds. Also, the Middle School takes 2 minutes, based on statistics from the Port Chester School Board. Mr. Ferraro asked what the plan of action would be in a true emergency. Mayor Cresenzi noted that if a Fre alarm was pulled it would be up to the school to evacuate the children. He added that a search and rescue would be conducted. Mr. Ferraro reiterated his question specifically as to what would be the plan of action. Mayor Cresenzi communicated his feeling that regardless of what the Rye Brook Board said, it would not be well received or believed. He advised that the format of the meeting should return to where the Board would only hear comments from the public. Mr. Ferraro demanded an answer as a tax payer and father of a student in the middle school, Mayor Cresenzi answered that there would be an adequate fire response to the building. Mr. Ferraro asked how and with how many (fire)men the Village would respond. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the Village would respond with fire trucks and fire men, with an appropriate number of men responding to each individual call. 6 6060 :13 December 21, 1995 Mr. Ferraro asked from where would the firemen come and to what level would they be trained. The Mayor said they would be fully trained fire fighters with the same training as paid firemen. Whitney, a fire fighter from the Town of Greenwich, came forward and stated she would like to ' read a letter from the Byram Volunteer Fire Department addressed to Chief Barnes. It read: Dear Chief: As per our prior conversation on the proposed Rye Brook Fire Department, our fire station will not respond to Mutual Aid for Rye Brook if Port Chester Fire Department is denied its present fire coverage. We support the position of the Port Chester Fire Department one hundred percent and feel that the past and present coverage of Rye Brook by the Port Chester Fire Department was most advantageous to the taxpayers of Rye Brook. We will continue to work with the Port Chester Fire Department as always under the present arrangement that it has with Rye Brook. Thank you. Volunteer Fire Chief,Byram Fire Department. Whitney asked if anyone present at this meeting was from Rural/Metro. Mayor Cresenzi questioned whether the letter from the Byram Fire Department indicated that if Rye Brook asked for Mutual Aid that Byram would not respond to save lives. Whitney said if Rural/Metro did not like something taking place, they could just strike. Mayor Cresenzi corrected her,noting that Rural/Metro employees do not strike because they are owner/employees (they own part)of the corporation. Whitney claimed she had heard Rural/Metro had gone on strike in the past. Mayor Cresenzi said that to the best of his knowledge, Rural/Metro had not ever gone on strike. Mr. Terry Buxton came forward as a Port Chester resident of 63 Washington Street, Captain of Putnam Engine & Hose and 23-year member of the Port Chester Fire Department. He said that Rye Brook residents would not get what was promised to them and as far as he could tell from the responses to questions asked,residents were being swerved around by the Board. Mayor Cresenzi explained that information had been evaluated by the entire Board with no one person making a decision. Rye Brook had reviewed all the documents and reached a consensus. Mr. Buxton asked if there was anyone from Rural/Metro present to answer some questions. Mayor Cresenzi said that there would be a presentation by Rural/Metro with the opportunity for questions to be answered. Mr. Buxton asked the Mayor if a study had been done on fire services, and if so was it available. Mayor Cresenzi said yes a study had been done in 1992 by Carroll Buracker Associates, and that it was available for public review. 7 006014 December 21, 1995 Ed Quint, 219 Nueton Avenue, informed the Board they should notice that people present at the meeting were Rye Brook residents,not fire fighters. It sounded to him like the contract with Rural/Metro was a done deal and asked if Rye Brook had sought out Rural/Metro or vice versa. He asked if someone from Rye Brook had visited a Rural/Metro fire district and for how long. The Mayor responded that a Board member had contacted Rural/Metro a year ago, and someone had made a two-day visit to such a district several weeks ago. Administrator Russo continued that he had traveled on behalf of the Board of Trustees to a Rural/Metro fire district in Knox County, Tennessee, and had viewed six or seven fire stations in that district. Mr. Russo said that a video tape had been made of the visit, which would be easier to show than to comment on. Trustee Pellino reported that the video tape had been showing on cable television for the past twenty four hours and would continue to be shown. Mr. Quint asked why a Board member had not gone to see the service. The Mayor said that the Board had decided to send the Village Administrator to report back. Mr. Quint asked what power did the Village Administrator have over the resolution that might be passed this evening. He could not understand why a Board member had not gone to Tennessee. Mayor Cresenzi responded that the Village Administrator has no power to affect the resolution. He went on to say that the Board trusts his judgement because he is a valued employee of the Village of Rye Brook. "Why wouldn't the Board take his word for what he had seen?" Mr, Quint asked if Rye Brook had obtained a copy of Knox County's Fire Department Budget. The Administrator answered that the Town in Knox County, Tennessee was similar to the Village. Mayor Cresenzi communicated that most of the questions asked had been difficult for him to answer. He said most-questions would have been answered during the resolution portion of the meeting, and he wished to reverse it. Therefore, during the public hearing,Rural/Metro would present their proposal to allow everyone to hear it and then ask questions. Mr. Pat Frederico, a member of the Port Chester School for 12 years, asked whether Rural/Metro would have ample coverage for the buildings it would have to protect, i.e. four schools,the Rye Town Hilton, Arrowwood and Philip Morris, which do a lot of heavy cooking. His experience in the food service industry had shown him how damaging a grease-fire could be. He had seen no problems in the past 12 years with Port Chester's fire service. The prior Saturday morning, during a wrestling tournament at Port Chester High School,the Port Chester Fire Department arrived within three minutes of an alarm and evacuated the entire building. He was grateful it was only a false alarm and that the fire department responded so quickly. Mayor Cresenzi stated the Board's opinion is Rural/Metro can provide the coverage. Mr. Myron Miller, 223 North Ridge Street, asked why Rye Brook was taking away his fire protection. He wanted to know how much it would cost him as a taxpayer. 8 0UU1b December 21, 1995 Mayor Cresenzi responded that the disagreement is on a host of issues including the location of resources, allocation of manpower, and budget input. While money is important, it is not the only factor. He explained that Rye Brook has to plan for growth in its northern end, while planning for the Village's overall future, including fire service. The decision was between striking a deal with the Village of Port Chester to put paid men and volunteers in a Rye Brook fire house, and finding an alternative. When negotiations broke down,the Board had decided to look at an alternative. Mr. Miller asked if the Board had thought about whether he wanted his fire protection from a private corporation. "What allowed the Rye Brook Board to speak for me as a taxpayer?" Mr. Miller requested the Mayor to put the question to a referendum. Mayor Cresenzi responded that such a task is exactly why the Board was elected. The Mayor explained that the contract is not subject to a referendum. Mr. Miller requested a list of volunteers from Rye Brook who would serve in an emergency. Mayor Cresenzi said he did not have the list at the time. Mr. Miller asked why the Mayor did not have the list. Trustee Tunis answered that the list was not prepared because Rye Brook had no contract. She said the bottom line was that the Port Chester Board had asked Rye Brook to leave, so they did. Mr. Miller asked why he should be happy with the Village contracting with Rural/Metro. Mayor Cresenzi noted that Rye Brook saw no cooperation from the Port Chester Village Board.. Mr. Miller stated that was untrue, and added that from the behavior he saw tonight,there was no possible way the Rye Brook Board could strike a deal with anyone. Rye Fire Chief Cotter came forward and asked Rye Brook's position on the issue of mutual aid. Mayor Cresenzi reported that Rye Brook had corresponded with the Chiefs'Association through County Fire Coordinator Walter Groden and had been told that if Rye Brook could give mutual aid,it could receive mutual aid. Chief Cotter stated that the Sound Shore Chiefs had a discussion about mutual aid for Rye Brook and they had contemplated contesting the agreement. He added that some of the points they would look into included whether it is legal and whether it covers everything it should. Mayor Cresenzi stated that what Chief Cotter was saying was that they would be testing the mutual aid agreement, as voted on by all the Chiefs in the County. He asked why so much opposition had arisen to Rye Brook forming its own department. Chief Cotter said, "Rye Brook can form it's own Department, but you used the words - 'you give mutual aid-you get mutual aid.' One truck with one man cannot give mutual aid." 9 006016 December 21, 1995 Chief Cotter stated, "You give mutual aid with the number of men who show up to a scene at somebody else's fire house also." He explained that a one-man truck cannot give mutual aid. While he did not oppose Rye Brook having its own fire department, he opposed Rye Brook automatically receiving mutual aid simply by establishing its own fire department. Mayor Cresenzi could not understand why people would not accept Rye Brook's fire department. Chief Cotter repeated that Rye Brook cannot get mutual aid unless it is given. He said that it seemed that Rye Brook thinks one man and one truck is mutual aid, and asked how Rye Brook could expect other communities to be satisfied with the mutual aid Rye Brook would provide. Mayor Cresenzi agreed that mutual aid would be received if it was given. However,he disagreed with Chief Cotter's assessment that "one man and one truck" would be the extent of Rye Brook's capability and reported that Rural/Metro would address his concerns during their presentation. Mr. Brian Sury, 9 Sunset Road, came forward and said it was mentioned that there were three or four proposals contemplated. Mr. Sury asked what the costs were,what the approximate cost of the Rural/Metro contract would be, and what the term of the Rural/Metro contract would be. He asked if information in a flyer that had been sent out indicating a new fire house(temporary) on West William was correct, and if plans had been made to put a firehouse elsewhere. Mayor Cresenzi stated that the costs of the proposals ranged from $725,000 to $2,000,000, and that Rural/Metro's approximate annual cost would be $750,000. He cited Rural/Metro's contract term as three years, and said that the firehouse location was part of what had initiated the entire discussion. The Village's Facilities Committee had been asked to recommend sites. Mr. Sury mentioned that he thought one of the agreements or memorandums from Port Chester said that they would allow a fire house, and that they would let Rye Brook investigate or study the idea to construct a firehouse and establish a volunteer company in Rye Brook, Mayor Cresenzi explained that Port Chester had indicated that Rye Brook would have to build the fire house and buy the land,which, in effect, gave Rye Brook permission to spend its own money. Construction of a Rye Brook fire house would not work unless Rye Brook had agreement with the Village of Port Chester, Rye Brook had originally suggested a firehouse staffed by paid men, and one of the Port Chester Resolutions detailed that it would be considered, which is not a commitment. A section in the resolution indicated that Rye Brook could ask one of the volunteer companies to relocate to the new fire house. Over the prior weekend the Chiefs had issued a letter that said if Rye Brook constructed a fire house, they would provide the man power. Mr. Sury brought up a recent article in the newspaper that indicated that a Village trustee stated that Village operated departments are entitled to receive two percent of fire insurance premiums paid out of state companies that would be the same as at least$40,000 per year. Mr. Sury stated that as far as he knew "two percent" monies do not go back into a budget, they have to go to the fire fighters. Mr. Sury then asked Administrator Russo whether the two percent goes to the firemen and not to the budget. Mr. Sury conveyed that the Village will not be saving$40,000. 10 00601''? December 21, 1995 Trustee Zuckerman stated, "I think we disagree with you on that." Mr. Sury asked for the Trustee's reasoning behind his statement. Mayor Cresenzi stated that there have been cases on how the 2%insurance surcharge funds have' been split between fire fighters,not on how it has been paid back into a budget. I think we disagree with you on that. Mr. Ed Garrity(?) Gary(?), resident of Port Chester, 15 Francis Lane, and a thirteen-year member of the Port Chester Fire Department spoke next. "Do all of you(trustees) live in Rye Brook?" (Trustees -yes) "Have any of you ever had a fire in your home? Have you ever been in a fire or have you ever seen a fire next door to you?" (Trustees -Yes) "So you have seen us actually in action?" (Trustees-Yes) "My next question is have you ever looked into privatization besides (with)the four gentlemen sitting behind you? Do you know what privatization really does to a community? Do you know what the long term effects are? Have you looked into that, aside from this fire department? Because next, Mayor,they'll be having your job. That's what happens... These gentlemen all look really nice, dressed real well, sitting behind you. They're all from Rural/Metro. We're talking business first with these gentlemen and saving lives second,cause that's what it comes down to. Which one of you will raise your hand and take responsibility when something happens? When something tragic happens? It's not going to be our fault. Who's going to stand there and say, 'You know what? We made a mistake. Their response time should have been three minutes but it was seven, because they couldn't find the street,or whatever the case.' Who is ultimately responsible?" The Board accepted fall responsibility and he concluded, advising them to "get someone to educate you because you are headed down the wrong path." Mr. Tom Murphy,President of Local 1971, Port Chester Paid Fire Fighters spoke next. "I passed out a pamphlet that has some of the names of the places that Rural/Metro used to serve and they no longer serve (in Arizona). Have the Rye Brook Mayor and Board, called any of those areas and ask why Rural/Metro does not serve their community any longer?" The Mayor responded that he thought it would be better for Rural/Metro to answer that question. "Also Mayor,the New York State Professional Fire Fighters, about two weeks ago, at a Rye Brook meeting, showed up with about two hundred and fifty members. At that meeting, we offered our services as professional negotiators to help you solve the problem with Port Chester. As of this evening, I do not believe that you have gotten back to us to sit down with Port Chester again. I had spoken to just about all of you personally on the phone, and I guaranteed you that we would roll up our sleeves and knock out a deal between you and Port Chester. Mayor Cresenzi responded, "Let me just answer that. We have talked a lot on the phone. And we have been through a lot of these different discussions, but the simple fact is the Chamber of Commerce offered an independent mediator, which is Dr. Sal Prezioso, a month and a half back, and that was to be held at the Rye Marriott Court Yard. We agreed to it and Port Chester did not. What we are reacting to tonight is the clock that was started on December 4, 1995. I'm going to quote you, from the newspaper, and if I make the quote wrong, correct me. It was to the Port Chester Board, 'If you pass this Resolution,you're pushing Rye Brook out.' And they passed the Resolution. The influence that you were able to exert on that Board, that night, had zero effect. And that's the Resolution we are reacting to, because we have to." It 006058 December 21, 1995 Tom Murphy continued, "I understand what you're saying, Mayor. I didn't have much effect that evening. Unfortunately,we did not have two hundred and fifty professional fire fighters standing outside like we did at 90 South Ridge Street approximately two weeks ago. The offer was made to you that at that meeting to allow us the opportunity to go with three hundred fire fighters to Port Chester. That offer is still on the table. If you would like to accept that,you have my guarantee that we will knock a deal out and make it happen between you and Port Chester, with the Chiefs involved, also from the Village of Port Chester Fire Department. You're making the wrong move... Port Chester is definitely the best fire department." Trustee Tunis asked, "Tommy,where was your union when we asked you in June, in July, in August, in September, in October? I spoke to you and I spoke to members all the way up through Albany. We begged you to go to Port Chester. We begged you to bring them in. We begged you to bring them to the table. I spoke to you a lot... you were in my house a lot, getting information. I spoke to other members of the union(without mentioning names) late at night, early in the morning, pleading with you,get Port Chester to the table. Where was your union then? After the Resolution,after it was too late,the men came to the wrong place and protested." Mr. Murphy continued, "In answer to your question as to where were we at that point in time, unfortunately, the story kept changing between Rye Brook and Port Chester, that a deal was about to... I'm not saying that you said that, I'm just saying that the word came from Ron Tocci and other people that deals were close to being cut. Unfortunately,that was not a fact. We believed that and did not get involved. I am an employee of the Village of Port Chester and I did not want to put my neck on the line. All I'm telling you tonight is that if you want the State's help, to get the two Villages together to sit down and talk, we will go, as I told you before, with three hundred people to Port Chester, That is not a problem. We had two hundred and fifty in four days. We have plenty of time to get more-- even double that." Mr. Zuckerman responded, "Tommy,did you ever hear at any time from our Board, any member of our Board, individually or together, that we were close to a deal with the Village of Port Chester?' Mr. Murphy replied, "No, I did not." Mr. Zuckerman continued, "So,basically, I assume that you conveyed that to people in the State and the people in other parts of your union,that Rye Brook said, 'We are not close to an agreement.' Is that correct?" Mr. Murphy replied, "I never heard anything from Rye Brook concerning that... that type of comment." Mr. Zuckerman explained, "No. I'm asking you, if you passed that along to the other people?" Mr. Murphy replied, "To the State? No." Mr. Zuckerman continued, "What I'm getting at is Rye Brook has maintained from the beginning, all summer long, that we were not close to an arrangement with Port Chester. For whatever reason, whether you are mentioning Ron Tocci or any other political figure,nobody seemed to 12 0060. 0 December 21, 1995 take that very seriously. And, unfortunately, the time to deal with the Village of Port Chester is past. There was a last ditch attempt last Thursday to get mediation accomplished through a local political figure, and Sal mentioned Bob Morabito; who tried to get an arrangement made, and it looked like we were going to be close. It fell at least one vote short. At that time the clock started to run because, as you yourself said, the Resolution that Port Chester passed on December Ah was pushing us out the door. That's what happened--they pushed us out the door. We stayed as long as we could. We need fire service, effective February 1st. We have no guarantee today, even if we were to sit down with the Village of Port Chester,that we would come to any kind of an agreement that would be satisfactory to us. The last speaker had mentioned various things... a firehouse in Rye Brook, even though Chief Gerardi wrote us a letter that said the Volunteer fire fighters would staff the house. The Village of Port Chester has never agreed to that. They agreed to consider it. They never agreed to staff it with paid men. They never agreed to station equipment in the house. They never said that even if they did station paid men,they never said whether we would need to hire extra paid men, whether we would need to buy new equipment, whether we would maintain five firehouses or four firehouses or three firehouses. None of those things were ever addressed in any way, shape or form. And those things are important to us. The Port Chester Board of Trustees is seeking to negotiate too late. Mr. Murphy offered again to initiate "closed door"negotiations and concluded his remarks. W. Jeff Kravat(?),resident of Rye Brook spoke next. He found it disheartening to hear Byram say they wouldn't respond to a mutual aid call. "As for service, I don't think anyone's first choice wasn't Port Chester, because they have been here forever and they are the best. The problem is we have no choice. You can't accuse the Rye Brook Board of not having done their job. In three years we will look at the picture again. The crowd commented "We should have our first choice." Next Michele Daly, former Trustee, asked about the total cost with regards to going with Rural/Metro and buying another piece of property. She asked, "Why can't we put a temporary structure on King Street to provide better service to the northern end of the Village? And what was the fire formula from Port Chester?" Trustee Pellino responded that Port Chester's former Mayor had responded that Rye Brook would be charged $950,000 within two years for the same fire service with no equity and no say. With regard to the site,the facilities committee is looking at other sites, and should the site on King Street not be used, that parcel may be sold. Having been on the Board since 1991,the response from Port Chester every year has been, 'Just sign the deal and we will work out the details next year.' You have heard that story yourself, we have been through that three times, and this year we have an alternative, and after Port Chester said, 'Pay up in five days or get out,'they forced our hand. They pushed us out." Trustee Strum answered that regardless of cost,Rye Brook must have a firehouse. Discussion followed on rumors and misinformation that had been circulating. Mrs. Sandy Cortese of Deer Run in Rye Brook spoke next and apologized for everyone in the room for the way the Rye Brook Board had been treated tonight. 13 006020 December 21, 1995 Mrs. Renee Fiedler resident of the Arbors repeated a similar message and was sorry to see such animosity. Chief Gerardi of the Port Chester Fire Department next spoke, and immediately disputed some statements of the Board. "We(Rye Brook and the Port Chester Fire Department) sat at the table for many hours and many nights. We agreed that if Rye Brook built a firehouse,we would man it. Port Chester agreed to that. You asked for a review board and we gave you a review board. We did not care how it was made up,how it worked, we were willing to work it out." Mayor Cresenzi noted, "There was a great deal of concern about who would be on it. We never got into those details, Was it going to have the advisory board? Was it going to have veto power? Those questions were never answered." Mr. Gerardi responded, "We have not gotten that far yet. We have got to get a contract before we can answer those questions." Mayor Cresenzi responded, "No,you have to iron that out before you get into a contract. We keep running into a wall every time we try to discuss things. Port Chester agreed to consider paid men. Your letter the three chiefs wrote and delivered on Sunday said that you would move men, volunteers and an engine or engines into a Rye Brook house. I know you can move the men. I don't know if you can move the equipment,because I think that's owned by Port Chester." Mr. Gerardi stated, "We had the message from Port Chester,that if you built the firehouse and we were under contract with you,the equipment and the men would man the house. You were at the same meeting I was at." Mayor Cresenzi responded, "I don't recall that, Bob (Gerardi). That's why Gary(Zuckerman)last Thursday asked for a clarification. It was never confirmed, or said flat out. It certainly never was endorsed by the Port Chester Board. The letter that we got Sunday from Bill, George and yourself, said you went on record as a fire department." Mr. Gerardi responded, "You can't say that we never answered your questions that you sent to us, with regards to the companies. We will man the firehouse, if you build it in Rye Brook." Mr. Pellino clarified, "Bob. The Resolution from December the 4th says that the Village of Port Chester'will consider'... that they'll consider it. They didn't agree to anything." Mayor Cresenzi stated that as far as for the firehouse, "We always said it needed a paid man." Contention followed on whether Rye Brook had stated it required a fire house, or a fire house with paid men. Chief Gerardi stated, "We said you needed a paid man, you said you needed a firehouse. If a firehouse was built,we agreed to man it, whether we would man it with paid men or volunteers, we would man it and the apparatus would respond." Mayor Cresenzi responded, "Bob, the meeting we had with the three chiefs, early on,when we first discussed this, it had just started early in the year,we discussed the firehouse in Rye Brook. I remember bringing it up at that meeting. We wanted it staffed by paid personnel...that was something we put on the table right away. And then obviously supplemented by volunteers. But 14 006021. December 21, 1995 that was never agreed to." (unknown speaker) Was that part of the first sessions? The paid men? The paid men staffing the firehouse? Chief Gerardi, "They asked for the station to be staffed by the Port Chester Fire Department. It was not descriptive as to whether it was volunteer or career. Secondary to the fact that since we are dealing with career personnel, that it's contract negotiations that would have to be worked out. Port Chester Fire Department suggested the placement of two career personnel supplemented by the volunteers. We're the ones who suggested that." Mr. Zuckerman stated, "The Village of Port Chester Fire never committed equipment. We, in Rye Brook,had volunteered to purchase equipment to be stationed there,to be operated by Port Chester personnel. I remember very vividly that former Mayor John Branca... (Chief Gerardi interrupted, 'This has nothing to do with John Branca. This is...')said that his legal counsel advised him that it would be illegal for the Village of Port Chester to permanently station Port Chester owned equipment outside the Village of Port Chester. Also, the subject came up again when your firehouse was subjected to the accident that befell it. The Village of Rye Brook volunteered to house equipment from South Main Street in the Highway Garage and Mayor Branca stated, 'We will not station equipment outside the Village of Port Chester.' That has never been changed by the current Mayor. There has never been a statement that has said paid men and Port Chester equipment will be stationed in Rye Brook." Chief Gerardi responded, "I gave the volunteer companies authorization to go to Rye Brook if they so choose. If we go our equipment comes with us. Without the equipment, we are not a company. You can't put out the fire without the equipment." Mr. Zuckerman responded that's why we suggested we would buy the equipment, since Port Chester owns the equipment. Chief Gerardi retorted, "We have our own equipment, and we will man, with that equipment. And that will be worked out. And your statement about the 2%money(insurance surcharge), you were incorrect. That money does not go to the Village. It goes to the Fire Company or the Fire Department for its use and their manning, not for the general fund, there is case law on that. Section 9104 and 9105 of the Insurance Law. Read it." Trustee Zuckerman asked, "Are you here as a representative of the Port Chester Board or the Port Chester Fire Department?" Mr. Gerardi responded, "I'm the Fire Chief, I'm here representing the Port Chester Fire Department." Discussion followed regarding the possibility of negotiations. Mr. Gerardi asserted that it boils down to money, and that the differential is "chump change." Mr. Zuckerman responded that it is not money. "You know very well that it is not money." Carl Soldler, 107 S. Regent Street, Port Chester volunteer fire fighter urged the Board to reconsider for the sake of safety. Bob Gianfrancisco, President of Local 1042, Greenwich Fire Fighters spoke next. "You're making a big mistake, You can say that it doesn't have anything to do with money,but what we're saying to you is that Rural/Metro is in it just for the money. They are not good fire fighters. You need to lookout for the people you represent." Some discussion followed as to the 15 00602 . December 21, 1995 local populations; Greenwich has 72 (thousand) people,Rye Brook represents seventy eight hundred and Port Chester thirty thousand. Mayor Cresenzi asked how many fire houses are in Greenwich. Mr. Gianfrancisco, "Five paid,two volunteer." The Mayor asked if those sixty men cover all of that square mileage. Mr. Gianfrancisco responded, "Yes (16 on a shift). And we're not going to give you mutual aid because you're not going to be able to give it to us." The next speaker was Duncan MacRae, Executive Vice President,New York State Professional Fire Fighters. "I am a career Fire Lieutenant(22 years) for the City of White Plains and I live in the City of Harrison." He gave a long speech, on the issues of fire protection, how Rural/Metro had been let go from nine communities in Arizona. He contended the issues of the fire insurance (it does not go into the general fund) and NY State Fire Fighter's Association having'dropped the ball.' He said, "I know a lot of work went on with regard to this topic." Mike DiVitorio, 395 Westchester Avenue, Port Chester noted that his concern is for public safety, not money. "I'd like to know if any member of this Board, or any Executive Officer of this Village currently owns or has been offered options for stock in Rural/Metro." Mayor Cresenzi responded, "The answer to the question is no, Flat out no." A call from the audience asked, "No for you or no for everybody?" The Mayor responded, "No for the whole Board. As a matter of fact,the first contact, someone asked the question did Rural/Metro contact this Board or did the Board contact Rural/Metro? I don't know if Michele is still here, but she is the person who initiated contact with Rural/Metro. The reason she did it is because she was fed up with the Port Chester Village Board and the fire contract. She went out and found someone that would listen. No one here, rest assured,has any interest(financial)in the contract." Mr. DiVitorio concluded that there is still an opportunity to make it work. Tom Morreale, resident of Rye Brook, spoke next. "It is the first Board meeting I have attended. Regardless of which service is picked, I am completely convinced that the Port Chester Board ought to be ashamed of itself. I am surprised to see the Port Chester Fire Department shocked by your Board. The Fire Department asked questions, and Port Chester responded that Rye Brook wouldn't talk about that. Why is there no mention of that today? I support my Board." Ed Quint, 19 Nueton Avenue,returned to the microphone to ask, "Will fire insurance premiums go up?" Mayor Cresenzi responded that insurance premiums would not go up. Bill Irwin spoke next. He questioned why the Board set such a short time for the debate of such a hot topic. "Why didn't Rye Brook send a check for March rather than set such a short time for the residents to debate this? What is the last possible moment that Rural/Metro can come in here --I demand to know this! Who will cover liability for injury or damage under a mutual aid call?" The Mayor responded, "Rye Brook requested a contract extension of 120-days,but the Port Chester Board only approved a Resolution on December 4, 1995, for a 90-day extension. As for the last start-up date for Rural/Metro, I would like Rural/Metro to answer that question." On the subject of liability, it was determined that Rye Brook would be ultimately responsible. An unidentified resident commented on the poor quality of the debate. He likened the debate to 16 000023 December 21, 1995 England, where factions of Parliament, "bang each other's heads... whatever one says,the other disagrees." Rye Brook tried,but Port Chester left. He urged the Board to reconsider. Bill Chancel (?), 32 year volunteer with Brooks Engine Hose Company(Port Chester) spoke next. "A statement was made earlier that Port Chester's former Mayor John Branca quoted a figure of $950,000 in costs for three years forward. What is the cost of your fire services for three years forward? Further, are we going to let the lack of response from one individual --Mayor Korff-- ruin the relationship of the Port Chester Fire Department and the community of Rye Town? Because both Villages belong to Rye Town. Will your new fire service be as good?" Goldie Solomon, spoke next, as Port Chester's Historian and as a volunteer nurse for the American Red Cross for the area, She made it known that Port Chester's Fire Department had served this community since 1823, also covering for the ambulance corps. "Will your fire department do the same? What about the I-287 truck disaster? You're very lucky if you can have the Port Chester fire department cover you. What is happening here is what is happening in Washington--there is an inability to compromise. Take a good look at what you are doing," An unidentified speaker asked why Rye Brook would not create a fire district with Port Chester. Trustee Pellino responded that the question was one of two issues discussed in a study that was dropped. "We wrote a letter regarding a request of the New York State Legislature for special legislation to establish a fire district, having discussed the matter. We sent a letter to Port Chester's attorney Anthony Cerreto, who responded with a two sentence letter along the lines of 'We received your letter. I must consult with my Board.' Rye Brook never heard back from him." The speaker expressed his belief that a fire district is still an option. Mayor Cresenzi responded that it would be another layer of government. Setting up a separate Fire District would give that district separate taxing powers, etc, A district would be a contract between Rye Brook and Port Chester and we can't even work out a simple contract extension and it is just not going to happen. 1. PRESENTATION BY RURAL/METRO (taken out of order): At this time,the Mayor introduced Rural/Metro to give a presentation on the establishment of the fire department in Rye Brook and address issues raised during the hearing. Rural/Metro's team included Marketing Vice President John Stewart,National Fire Chief Dave Bunce on fire suppression and coordination and Technical Chief Jim Ford on fire prevention. Rural/Metro started in 1952 in Scottsdale,Arizona and now employs fifty four hundred people in one hundred and fifty communities in fourteen states. The company's stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ. Rural works well in some places and traditionally does not seek large metropolitan fire districts. Rural/Metro is the only multi-state/multi-site private fire service in the United States and a leader in the private ambulance sector, with over thirteen hundred employees in New York State,mainly in Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. Rural currently serves four airports in four different states. Its private/public partnerships are based on a foundation of performance, which is a major factor in many communities' selection of Rural/Metro. Dave Bunce, career fire fighter with twenty one years of experience spoke next. As National Fire 17 006024 December 21, 1995 Chief he is responsible for twenty-three fire departments in five states and is in charge of operations and compliance with corporate and national standards such as those set by the National Fire Protection Association(NFPA). He explained Rural/Metro's proposal as a Chief(on 24-hour call), a three person staff at the station including a Captain and two EMT certified fire fighters, a with a minimum twenty-five and as many as fifty paid reserves trained to the level of"fire fighter' two or one." The "fire fighter two" certification would be required for all our full-time fire fighters. A study and model were done on the safety needs of the community. As for strikes, Rural/Metro has never had a strike in its forty-eight years. Rural/Metro recommends a "quint" for all its fire service contracts, because it is a ladder on a pumper,providing the best equipment and coverage for a fire. It will be equipped with a "1500 pump" able to pump 1500 gallons of water per minute and carrying "1901 equipment," a NFPA standard. The unit will also have extrication equipment. It is a model-year 1995 E-1 Pumper with a pumping capacity of 1,000 gallons of water per minute and a tank capacity of 1,000 gallons of water. These units will carry a full range supply line,hoses, etc. The third unit is a 1975 refurbished Seagrave 1,250 gallon per minute reserve pumper staffed with reservists, also equipped with NFPA 1901 equipment. Rural/Metro makes a full attack on fire prevention and suppression, including public education, safety surveys, inspections,working coalitions and developing community programs to improve safety. All operations include an auxiliary similar to the Boy Scouts, for young people between the ages of 14 and 21 who are interested in the fire service. They are not allowed to fight fires but they care for equipment and participate in other aspects of the program. A fire support of city/municipal employees who have to be in good standing, with an emphasis on training. Two hundred and forty(240)hours is the minimum training required for our reserves based on the NFPA 1001 requirements. In some areas it is as much as three hundred and twenty (320)hours. of training,with continuing education of 2 hours per month. Fire fighters now answer different calls, such as for emergency services or hazardous materials response. Tuition reimbursement is provided to all fire fighters who want a college education,which is better both for the employee and the community because it encourages employees to be educated in fire science. Rural requires physical examinations at least every other year and asks employees to work out at least one and a half hours per shift. Twice a year they are tested, once with a "combat challenge" and a cardiovascular test, which uses the target heart rate based on NFPA's training programs. Chief Jim Ford spoke next on the issue of fire prevention, noting that the attention and energies of the department are focused as much on pro-active fire protection(prevention) as on the historic stance of reactive fire fighting. Rural/Metro tries to be more pro-active in a reactive field, because not enough attention is addressed to fire prevention. He showed slides from last year's public education efforts,that included heavy public education not just in fire prevention but with school talks, practice school evacuations and targeted special-needs groups. When a fire occurs, Rural feels it is a failure that a fire occurs in the first place, as opposed to being prevented. Community based fire prevention focuses on three primary areas, including public education, engineering--through better designed buildings and the inclusion of better fire alarms and fire suppression systems, and compliance--through safety/fire inspections. Mr. John Stewart spoke next on Rural/Metro's qualifications and contracts. The turnover in Rural/Metro's fire fighter ranks is less than 4%nationwide, since Rural trains and develops its 18 006025 December 21, 1995 employees to keep them. Also,the cost is guaranteed for the length of the contract, so that municipalities are aware of the cost for the life of the contract. With that, the presentation concluded and opened up to a question and answer period. Mr. Pellino asked what Rural/Metro's plans would be to work with the local ambulance corps. Rural responded that the fire company members, who are usually first responders, are also EMTs. Port Chester Fire Chief William Barnes spoke next. He agreed with pro-active fire protection, but noted that the best pro-active fire protection is with adequate manpower. He asked what time frame would be acceptable to Rural/Metro for fire response. Chief Bunce said sixty seconds is the muster time during the day, and ninety seconds is the muster time at night, with contractual obligations of five minutes to begin water and nine and a half minutes to have water on a fire. Chief Barnes questioned whether Rural would indeed be able to have a response out and at a scene within four and a half minutes. Chief Bunce responded that with the equipment and preparations available they would meet that requirement. Discussions continued on equipment, the number of calls that are false alarms,manpower,high-rise fire coverage and equipment. Chief Barnes noted that he had spoken to County Fire Coordinator Groden and that Mr. Groden had said that Rural/Metro's customer(Rye Brook), to date, had not submitted a plan to the Westchester County Fire Chiefs in reference to Mutual Aid. Mayor Cresenzi spoke with regard to the issue of mutual aid, and noted that there had been correspondence back and forth, but that no plan had yet been submitted. The reason for the hearing was to establish the department, and then the plan would be submitted. Questions and discussions continued on pre-planning and disaster/hazardous materials planning/handling, handling of EMS calls vs, fire calls,handling of initial responses,with backup generally provided by the reserves. Chief Barnes questioned everything, including the training of the fire fighters and reserves, the training of the instructors, the cost of the training,whether New York State training standards would be complied with, whether the paid on-call fire fighters would be paid on-call or hourly (Chief Bunce responded that they would be paid hourly when on call and hourly when training),whether the reserves would be assigned on every call (they would), whether the cost of the beepers would be home by Rural/Metro (they would), the line the radios would be on, who would handle dispatch and request backup, who would supply paid on-call individuals with protective clothing (Rural/Metro),who would supply them with self-contained breathing apparatus (Rural/Metro), whether there would be enough breathing apparatus available (29 pieces for 25 fire fighters), who would cover the responsibilities for disabled or fired fire fighters (Rural/Metro)and what training facilities would be used(Rural was looking into it). Duncan MacRae, Executive Vice President of the New York State Fire Fighters Association, questioned Rural/Metro next,regarding training, fire response,water capability and compliance with OSHA regulations. An unidentified speaker disputed the need for the contract and asserted that despite any short- term successes by Rural/Metro, "it's not going to work in the long run." 19 006026 December 21, 1995 The next speaker disputed the viability of the plan to contract with Rural/Metro because the issue had not been resolved regarding whether the County Fire Coordinator would allow the Village of Rye Brook to join the County mutual aid agreement. He asked why the issue would not be put out to referendum,to which the Mayor responded that it was not authorized under state law. Said Mayor Cresenzi, "The law states that we are in charge of making these decisions. This is something we have the responsibility to decide on, and we must decide on it under the law. The state does not want any government entity, when it comes to hard choices, to say... and just put everything out to referendum. It's only on specific issues, for example, bond resolutions." Trustee Tunis noticed that no resident had called to complain about the Board's decision. An angry citizen yelled, "You know Ma'am,you raised your hand before when they turned around and they asked 'Who's going to take responsibility for the citizens.' You did. And I hope every citizen of Rye Brook gets a copy of that tape, because when these guys are up at the airport and there's a call down here, and somethin'happens and it's a ten minute delay, it's gonna'be your butt that's on the wagon, not the Port Chester Fire Department's!" The last question was whether a'91 P call would be answered by the Police or the Fire Department. Rural/Metro assured him that it would be answered by the Fire Department. Trustee Zuckerman asked Chief Gerardi, "When Rye Brook forms its fire department, and applies for mutual aid, how are you going to vote?" While the crowd urged "no," Chief Gerardi refused to comment. At that,the Board--on the request of Mayor Cresenzi--moved to close the public hearing and comments by Rural/Metro. On the motion by Trustee Zuckerman, seconded by the Mayor,the Board voted unanimously to close the public hearing. RESOLUTIONS 3. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION ADOPTING LOCAL LAW INTRODUCTORY#5- 1995 RYE BROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT. The resolution that "Local Law Introductory No. 5 - 1995 establishing the Rye Brook Fire Department" is enacted into law, was read as follows: LOCAL LAW INTRODUCTORY#5- 1995 A LOCAL LAW amending the Code of the Village of Rye Brook to add a new Chapter 30 to establish the Fire Department of the Village of Rye Brook. BE IT ENACTED by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Rye Brook as follows: Section 1. The Code of the Village of Rye Brook is amended to add a new Chapter 30 to read as follows: 20 00602 1 December 21, 1995 Chapter 30 Fire Department §30-1. Fire Department established. §30-2. Firefighting services. §30-1. Fire Department established. The Rye Brook Fire Department is established to serve the fire protection needs of the Village of Rye Brook. § 30-2. Firefighting services. The operations of the Rye Brook Fire Department may include paid and volunteer firefighters together with firefighting and related services from public and/or private sources acquired by contract. If there are paid firefighters,they shall have charge of all apparatus and other equipment and any voluntary department shall act under the orders of such paid firefighters. Section 2. This local law shall take effect immediately upon filing in the office of the Secretary of State. moved and seconded,the roll call was read: Trustee Strum Voting Aye Trustee Tunis Voting Aye Trustee Zuckerman Voting Aye Trustee Pellino Voting Aye Mayor Cresenzi Voting Yes 4. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION ON A FIRE SERVICE CONTRACT WITH RURAL/METRO. RESOLUTION FIRE SERVICE CONTRACT RURAL/METRO FIRE DEPARTMENT, INC. On the motion of Trustee Pellino, seconded by Trustee Zuckerman, the following Resolution was hereby adopted: WHEREAS, on December 4, 1995 the Board of Trustees of the Village of Port Chester adopted a resolution issuing an ultimatum requiring the agreement of the Village of Rye Brook in 5 days to terms and conditions of a fire service contract unilaterally determined by the Village of Port Chester following approximately one year of attempted negotiations; and 21 006028 December 21, 1995 WHEREAS, on December 14, 1995 the Board of Trustees of the Village of Rye Brook adopted a resolution in response to Port Chester's ultimatum determining that it could not accept the terms dictated by Port Chester,requested a short extension of service, necessitating that arrangements immediately be made for the provision of alternate fire service. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Village of Rye Brook is authorized to enter into a three year contract with Rural/Metro Fire Department, Inc. for the provision of fire protection and related emergency services, for a first year cost of$755,600.00, with annual CPI related adjustments no less than 2% and no greater than 6%, and with Rye Brook being granted the option for two annual extensions; and it is further RESOLVED, that revenue derived from an annual solicitation, and other revenues,may be utilized to offset the contract price; and it is further RESOLVED, that the Mayor is authorized to execute and deliver all documents necessary or appropriate to accomplish the purposes of this Resolution. Discussion from Trustee Strum covered the ultimatum from Port Chester,with a five day response time for Rye Brook and how Rye Brook had to provide fire services within the time frame set by Port Chester. He noted that he highly endorsed the resolution as the only viable option to continue fire protection at the level of protection that the people of Rye Brook deserve. TRUSTEE STRUM VOTING AYE TRUSTEE TUNIS VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE 5. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION BY THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK IN THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY FIRE MUTUAL AID SYSTEM. RESOLUTION BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK IN RESPECT TO PARTICIPATION OF THE RYE BROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT IN THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY FIRE MUTUAL AID PLAN On the motion of Trustee Zuckerman, seconded by Trustee Strum,the following Resolution was hereby adopted: RESOLVED, that this Board encourages the participation by the Rye Brook Fire Department in the Westchester County Fire Mutual Aid Plan as now in force and as amended from time to time 22 00602) December 21, 1995 and certifies to the Westchester County Board of Legislators through its County Fire Coordinator that no restrictions exist against"outside service"by such fire department named herein within the meaning of Section 209 of the General Municipal Law which would affect the power of such fire department to participate in such plan; and be it further RESOLVED,that a copy of this Resolution be filed with the County Fire Coordinator; and be it further RESOLVED,that this Resolution supersedes all previous Resolutions. After no discussion, the roll call was held: TRUSTEE STRUM VOTING AYE TRUSTEE TUNIS VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE 6. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION ON BEHALF OF THE RYE BROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT,ELECTING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY FIRE MUTUAL AID PLAN. RESOLUTION BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK IN RESPECT TO THE RYE BROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT ELECTING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY FIRE MUTUAL AID PLAN On Motion made by Trustee Zuckerman, seconded by Mayor Cresenzi,the following Resolution was hereby adopted: RESOLVED,that Rye Brook Fire Department elects to participate in the Westchester County Fire Mutual Aid Plan, will agree to recognize a call for assistance through the County Control Center, and will comply with the provisions of such plan as now in force and as amended from time to time; and be it further RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be filed with the County Fire Coordinator; and be it further RESOLVED, that this Resolution supersedes all previous Resolutions. After no discussion, the roll call was held: TRUSTEE STRUM VOTING AYE TRUSTEE TUNIS VOTING AYE TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE 23 006030 December 21, 1995 TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE At approximately 11 P.M. the Meeting of the Rye Brook Board of Trustees was adjourned by a unanimous vote of the Board. Respectfully submitted, Christopher J. Rusgo' Village Clerk 24