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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-02-21 - Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes 00608? MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK BOARD OF TRUSTEES 90 SOUTH RIDGE STREET RYE BROOK, NEW YORK FEBRUARY 21, 1996 CONVENE MEETING: Mayor Cresenzi convened the meeting at 7:40 p.m. in the Meeting Room and the Pledge of Allegiance followed. Present were the following members of the Board: Mayor Salvatore M. Cresenzi Trustee Joseph Pellino Trustee Eugene R. Strum Trustee Gary J. Zuckerman Trustee Nancy Stein Tunis was not in attendance at this meeting. Also present were: Christopher J. Russo, Village Administrator Kenneth E. Powell, Village Attorney Robert Santoro, Police Chief William Dee McCluskey,Fire Chief Lisa B. Marinaccio, Secretary to the Village Board 1. PUBLIC HEARING: Mayor Cresenzi asked Attorney Powell to begin the meeting with a brief opening remark. Attorney Powell explained that this is a public hearing on an amendment to the contract with Rural/Metro Fire Department Inc., and a public hearing on the original contract approved on December 21, 1995. Attorney Powell added that this public hearing was without prejudice to all prior proceedings, including the public hearing held on December 21, 1995. Mayor Cresenzi opened the floor to speakers. Former Port Chester Mayor John Branca, 17 Austin Place, came forward to address the Board. Mr. Branca stated that he was involved since 1982 with the long term negotiations between Rye Brook and Port Chester. Mr. Branca reported that since he left his position as Mayor, he has been hoping that the current boards would resolve this dispute. He denied that he had once quoted a one million dollar figure, saying that it had been quoted in August, 1994,by Trustee Zuckerman. Mr. Branca stated his dismay that negotiations between the two Villages broke down since the last meeting he attended with Mayor Cresenzi, Trustee Zuckerman and Administrator Russo,when a"cap" proposal on the table was received favorably. Mr. Branca claimed, "The 00608J February 21, 1996 number considered at that time was much less than what Rye Brook is paying Rural/Metro." He asked why the cap was never pursued. Mayor Cresenzi recalled from the meeting mentioned by Mr, Branca that he took issue with the proposal which included Rye Brook building a fire house, buying apparatus and hiring men because he felt it would reduce income to the Village of Port Chester. Mr. Branca disagreed and said New York State Law precluded Port Chester from building a Rye Brook fire house, purchasing equipment or placing its men in Rye Brook. He added that Port Chester supported Rye Brook's efforts to change that particular State Law, but it is still in effect. Mayor Cresenzi mentioned discussions about the initial concept of the fire house,which set the annual costs to Rye Brook at between $800,000 and$950,000, phased in over a three year period. He added that he did not remember the cap that Mr. Branca referred to. Mr. Branca conveyed that the cap was agreed on by both Boards. He and Mayor Cresenzi (who checked his chronology of events)could not agree that it had been so. Mayor Cresenzi pointed out that when Rye Brook attempted to go forward with negotiations the proposal from Port Chester always included the same formula based on assessed value with no flexibility from Port Chester. Mayor Cresenzi added that the assessed value formula proposed became cast in stone, which was the main stumbling block in the negotiations. Trustee Pellino interjected, recalling a conversation with former Mayor Branca in 1994 in which Mr. Branca gave the distinct impression that Rye Brook's fire service costs would escalate over a three year period to approximately $950,000. Trustee Zuckerman said when the potential fire budget increase was discussed, then-Mayor Branca and Village Manager Michael Graessle said Rye Brook's fire costs would increase because of settlements with the paid fire fighters and increased insurance costs. He said the difference between what was said and what transpired was Rye Brook was requested to make a substantial, immediate leap to assessed value rather than over two or three years. Rye Brook had no way of knowing what the fire budget might contain next year. He said that Rye Brook still disagrees with Port Chester on the law with respect to stationing Port Chester equipment and men in Rye Brook. A back and forth discussion ensued, Trustee Pellino told Mr. Branca that a fire district between two Villages would be illegal because there is no contiguous,unincorporated area. Mr. Branca disagreed, stating that all reports from Albany indicated that the only way Port Chester could station men and equipment in Rye Brook was to form a fire district. He brought up a public meeting held in early September with an Attorney from Albany invited by the Port Chester Fire Fighters to address both Village Boards. That Attorney stated in public the problem with creating a fire district. Trustee Zuckerman reported that the Attorney representing the Association of Fire Districts was not aware before the meeting that there was no contiguous unincorporated area. Mr. Branca requested that the Rye Brook Board reconsider the previously mentioned cap. Mrs. Marcia Rogull of 65 Talcott Road asked if there is a cap in the Rural/Metro contract what is the term of the contract with Rural/Metro. 2 006084 February 21, 1996 Attorney Powell explained that the price could increase by a minimum of two percent each year and a maximum of six percent each year and that there is a three year term of the contract. Ms. Susan Glass of 153 Brushhollow Crescent reported that Port Chester's Mayor stated that Port Chester has been subsidizing Rye Brook for fire protection. She asked if that was valid. Trustee Pellino answered Ms. Glass's question, stating, "No. I don't think we were subsidizing. I disagree with that premise." Mr. Tom Murphy, President of Port Chester Professional Fire Fighters Association, came forward and introduced himself. Trustee Strum interjected and asked Mr. Murphy if he lives in Rye Brook. Mr. Murphy answered no. Trustee Strum asked Mr. Murphy to state his address for the record. Mr. Murphy stated his address --4 Mosier Street, Greenwich, Connecticut-- and asked if one of the new pieces of apparatus was out of service since February 1, 1996. Fire Chief William Dee McCluskey explained that one fire truck was out of service with a throttle problem from the factory. He stated the problem was solved and the truck was back in service. Fire fighter Murphy asked Chief McCluskey if it was true that he went to the City of Rye and offered Mutual Aid. Chief McCluskey stated that was untrue and explained that he-went to view the Rye City fire as an interested person(interested in seeing how the volunteer system works here.) Fire fighter Murphy asked if the Village of Rye Brook's Mayor or Board of Trustees had contacted any of the communities in Arizona that canceled service with Rural/Metro to find out why service was canceled. Mayor Cresenzi stated that question had been answered many times in the past, and the answer is yes. Fire fighter Murphy said that it was interesting how Rye Brook was willing to spend more money for less service. Fire fighter Murphy stated that Rye Brook is spending approximately $750,000 with Rural/Metro, when Port Chester wanted$725,000. Mr. Murphy continued on the subject of response times, and how he felt Port Chester's response times were better than Rural/Metro's. Trustee Zuckerman asked Fire Fighter Murphy if the volunteers have the same level of training that the paid men do. Fire Fighter Murphy was unable to answer his question. Mr. Kenneth Heller of 22 Lincoln Avenue came forward and expressed his belief that Rye Brook was founded on the assumption of citizen input, and asked why the fire service issue was not put before the public as a referendum. Mr. Heller brought up a recent meeting with New York State Comptroller Carl McCall in which the concept of the meeting was sharing services to cut costs. He reported that in all of New York State only Rye Brook is increasing its own services while other communities are trying to work with adjacent communities to share services and reduce costs to taxpayers. He stated concerns about the inadequacy of the contract fire service. Mr. Heller voiced his displeasure that Section 808 of the New York State ethics law is being violated by people with public responsibilities who are buying stock in this company, Mr. Heller brought up that Rural/Metro has indicated in their annual report that Rye Brook will be giving them over $1,000,000 per year which is something that the residents of Rye Brook are unaware of to date. Trustee Pellino interjected and asked Mr. Heller what he was alleging. 3 006,0-8b February 21, 1996 Mr. Heller, after a heated verbal volley with Mr. Pellino, explained that names (of Rye Brook officials) appeared on a Rural/Metro stockholders list. He questioned the veracity of Rural/Metro's annual report, since, "If Rural/Metro is stating in their report that they are going to get $1,000,000 plus from Rye Brook, and that is not true, then it is a SEC. violation." He stated that Rural/Metro should step back until the dispute is resolved in court so that the taxpayers are not jeopardized by paying for two fire departments at the same time. Trustee Zuckerman asked Mr. Heller what he suggested the referendum be on--the contract or the creation of the Fire Department. Mr. Heller answered that it should be on the creation of the fire department. Mr. Zuckerman reminded everyone of the petition drive that occurred at the January 23, 1996 meeting to force a referendum but that it had too few signatures and they were presented too late. Mayor Cresenzi explained, on the issue of a referendum,that state law requires a referendum if you abolish a department. State law does not set forth guidelines for establishment and operation of a fire department; the State doesn't want governing boards to govern by referendum. Further, the public was given the opportunity to comment on the fire issue, since the Village solicited comments from the public. Mayor Cresenzi explained that the information was available to residents through cable T,V.,newspaper articles and Village newsletters that were mailed through the U.S. Mail. Mr. Mario Nardi of 11 Maywood Avenue came forward to discuss the matter of response times. He noted from reading articles in the news that the Port Chester Fire Department has 300 volunteers. He asked how many of those are actually active volunteers, and how many on average respond to a fire in Rye Brook, in comparison with the anticipated response from Rural/Metro. "Are some of the people on the roster in their 80's or 90's?" Mayor Cresenzi responded, "I don't know. I just don't know how many are active." Mr.Nardi asked this because we constantly hear that we are going to get less of a response and less protection. "I'm just trying to get some numbers. Do we know how many (volunteers)on average respond to fires in the incident reports?" Chief McCluskey answered, "Yes sir. So far we have statistics from February 1st to today, February 21st, in regards to the number of responses. We ran more than 18 E.M.S. calls and 15 fire related calls, Of those 15 fire related calls, we had an average of six people on the scene within the first five minutes of the call." Mr. Nardi, "I'm asking about the Port Chester Fire Department." Chief McCluskey noted the unsuccessful attempts to gather data that would confirm Port Chester's assertions on how fast they respond and that they provide between 30 and 40 people. Mr. Nardi asked, "Don't they keep records of how many fire fighters respond to a fire?" Chief McCluskey responded, "Again,we asked for it and the only records we received is documentation they provide to the State of New York which does not show that information." 4 006086 February 21, 1996 Mr. Nardi continued that incident reports should indicate the number of personnel who respond. Chief McCluskey said incident reports from a few years ago were reviewed. He explained that since reports are filed by number, they do not associate whether there was an actual fire or only an alarm. Based on the review it appears that six men make up Port Chester's first response, but there is no way to confirm any numbers asserted by the Port Chester Fire Department. Mr. Mike Viatorio, 395 Westchester Avenue,Port Chester, asked if any of the Rural/Metro reservists live in Port Chester or Rye Brook. Chief McCluskey responded that Rural/Metro has six reservists who live in Rye Brook,two who live in Port Chester,two who live in Byram, Connecticut, one who lives in Harrison, one who lives in Purchase,one who lives in Rye and four or five who live in Danbury, Connecticut, for a total of over 44 reservists,through the contract only calls for 25. Chief McCluskey explained that 25 of the first-responder reservists are located within a 12 minute range. Mr. George Szcerba of 84 Breckenridge Avenue, Second Assistant Fire Chief of the Port Chester Fire Department, came forward to give an example of the better service from Port Chester by a dryer fire in Rye Brook to which 5 pieces of apparatus, 3 chiefs and 41 men responded. Mrs. Sandy Cortese, 10 Deer Run, asked if there was a difference in the liability coverage between Port Chester and Rural/Metro. Mayor Cresenzi explained that the contract with Port Chester had a liability policy in effect at between 1,000,000 to $3,000,000, and the contract with Rural/Metro would have liability coverage of$25,000,000. Ms. Pam Ferraro, 17 Whittemore Place, asked if Rural/Metro fie fighters will have a minimum of 15 hours training. Chief McCluskey reported that no agency has provided them with minimum standards. Rural/Metro is attempting to get its fire fighters enrolled in a 229 hour course, but most of them already meet National Fire Protection Association 1001 standards. Ms. Ferraro asked for the minimum standard of training for a Rural/Metro Fire fighter who might respond to her house in an emergency. She asked whether Rural/Metro fire fighters are local residents who worked in other municipalities who now want to work for Rural/Metro in Rye Brook. She also inquired about statements from an article that said a state training agency indicated that they may not accept Rural/Metro because they are not municipal employees. Chief McCluskey stated that while Rural/Metro is currently working with the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control to obtain requirements, Rural/Metro's current training and adherence to National Fire Standards would most likely exceed those requirements by a few hundred hours. As for receiving training through the State agency,the issue has not been decided, but the letter stating Rural/Metro employees are not career municipal fire fighters is incorrect, because by definition,Rural/Metro's employees work for a municipality and they are paid. Chief McCluskey explained that the reservist employees were not paid firemen before being hired by Rural/Metro, but were volunteers from the region. He had received over 250 applications from people interested in becoming paid fire fighters and it was very difficult to choose between the applicants, Chief McCluskey stated that none of the volunteers in Westchester County currently has 229 hours of training, which worries him because volunteers 5 006087 February 2-1,'1996" can operate a truck and perform rescues with only 15 hours of training. Mrs. Amy Schoen of 73 Country Ridge Drive asked Chief McCluskey if Rye Brook received applications from any volunteers in Port Chester. Chief McCluskey answered yes. Mr. Brian Sury of 9 Sunset Road, a Municipal Fire Fighter for Port Chester Fire Department, brought up a public meeting that took place in December 1995 at which Chief Bunce was talking about response times of 12 minutes for reservists. Mr. Sury asked if that changed. Chief McCluskey answered that it had not changed. Fire fighter Sury asked if the Danbury Reservist's response times are still 12 minutes. Chief McCluskey said that the Danbury Reservists are not included in that ring. He explained that the Danbury reservists are not equipped with pagers, but they staff the trucks for eight hour days. Fire fighter Sury asked whether the Rural/Metro fire fighters go through a state-mandated testing process through Westchester County Civil Service. Chief McCluskey reported that applicants to Rural/Metro have to go through a similar testing process including a written exam with similar questions, an agility test(conducted at Ridge Street School) and an interview process to evaluate applicants and check qualifications. Fire fighter Sury noted that at the December meeting it was conveyed that by February 1, 1996, there would be staff working for Rye Brook with training comparable to a Civil Service certified fire fighter, which is not the case. Mayor Cresenzi explained that Rye Brook opted for the 1001 standard, which requires a higher level of training. Fire fighter Sury was under the impression that at entrance, the fire fighters would have 229 hours of training. Mayor Cresenzi stated that most of them have over 200 hours of training right now, and some as much as 400 hours. Chief McCluskey explained that currently a Port Chester volunteer can't get into the 229 training course in order to get New York State Certification, which makes fire fighters better able to support career fire fighting jobs. Mr. Sury asked why Chief McCluskey was taking videos of Rye Brook. Chief McCluskey answered that Rural/Metro takes videos to educate their fire fighters. Mr. Bruce Carlisle, Vice President of Fifth District of the New York State Professional Fire Fighters came forward. Trustee Strum,interjected to ask his address, Mr. Carlisle responded that he lives in Lake Carmel. Addressing Chief McCluskey, Mr. Carlisle reported that while some volunteers in this County may meet or exceed the level of training of professional fire fighters, there is a big difference between the two. Mr. Carlisle discussed the quality of civil service employees and the need for the civil service system to exist to prevent corruption and nepotism. He challenged Rural/Metro's testing standards and asked if Chief McCluskey had ever taken a New York State Civil Service test, Chief McCluskey responded that he has not Mr. Paul Copashanski, President of the New Rochelle Fire Fighters Association,made some negative comments about the Board of Trustees and Rural/Metro. Mr. Copashanski did not understand the thinking of the Rye Brook Board. He asked, "If the Rural/Metro Fire Department is so well qualified, why are they not accepted by New York State?" Trustee Pellino said, "Sir, I am not aware that Rural/Metro is not accepted by the State of New York. Do you know something that we do not?" 6 ®®6088 February 21, 1996 Mr. Copashanski, "I certainly do,and if you don't know, I feel sorry for you." Trustee Pellino responded, "Don't feel sorry for me." Mr. Copashanski stated that the Rye Brook Board's main goal should be to protect its residents. Ms. Barbara Solomon of 21 Pine Ridge Road, came forward to discuss the issue of building a fire house in Rye Brook regardless of who serves as the Rye Brook Fire Department. She wanted to know who would pay for the maintenance of that fire house. Mayor Cresenzi answered that if the fire house was built under the contract that expired in May, 1995,the insurance,maintenance, repairs, etc. would have been the responsibility of the Village of Rye Brook. He added that under the current contract, those financial responsibilities would shift to Rural/Metro. Mr. Mario Nardi of 11 Maywood Avenue came forward again and stated that he was troubled by what he had heard tonight. He asked if Rural/Metro is as bad as certain people indicated tonight, why are the professional fire fighters from Buffalo to New York City so afraid to give them a chance and see whether they succeed or fall on their faces. Mr.Nardi said the people that he heard speak tonight are not from Rye Brook. They are from outside areas representing special interests; either the professional fire fighter's union or the Village of Port Chester volunteers. He did not see an outpouring of Rye Brook residents against this decision like he had seen when Rye Brook tried to merge the Police Department with the City of Rye's Police Department. Mr. Tom Duffy, Secretary of Local 107, Mount Vernon, came forward and told the Board the last thing that he wanted to see was Rural/Metro fail because if they do, it will cost lives. Mr. Duffy said the people of Rye Brook seem to think that mutual aid will help them. From his experience, mutual aid does not save lives, it saves blocks and neighborhoods. Mr. Paul Copashanski came forward again and said that no one present would like to see anybody get hurt. He reported that he has videos of Rural/Metro's failures from communities down south. Mayor Cresenzi said he would be interested to see if those tapes are duplicates of ones that the Rye Brook has already been given. He requested that Mr. Copashanski give those tapes to the Board at his earliest convenience. Mr. Ed Quinn of 219 Neuron Avenue reported that when he became a fire fighter, he was asked to take an oath, He asked if Rural/Metro fire fighters take a similar oath. After a brief verbal exchange, Chief McCluskey responded that he does not have to take an oath to do his job, but that he automatically does his job in answer to God and his country. Mr. Quinn continued on, asking how much the Village had spent on establishing the fire department. He questioned the payments of so much taxpayer money for overtime and to purchase two fire trucks. He asked where the Board got that money(up to $125,000)because he had checked the budget and couldn't find budget lines for the expenditures. Attorney Powell responded that the financial budget should be checked,but since those issues are being raised in litigation, he suggested that they not be answered at this time. 7 006081 February 21, 1996 Mr. Quinn noted that at the meeting of December 21, 1995, a question was asked if Rural/Metro had ever been sued for operational work. At that time the answer was no. It has since been discovered that Rural/Metro has been in court in litigation in Knox County,Tennessee. Mayor Cresenzi clarified that Rural/Metro was never sued directly for failure to deliver service, but he recalled Chief Bunce stating that Rural/Metro had been involved in"shot gun lawsuits." Mr. Bill Irwin of 3 Phyllis Place, came forward and reported that in the original contract, Rural/Metro was to supply two pieces of apparatus and because of pressure from the volunteers and the uniformed fire fighters, Rye Brook purchased a third and a fourth apparatus. Mr. Irwin was very concerned about the reservist situation because he knows, from experience, what it takes to get out of bed at 2:30 a.m, on a snowy night, He suggested that fire fighters from outside of the community would not do it because their hearts are not in it. Mr. Tom Murphy,President of the Port Chester Professional Fire Fighters Association, came forward with an ad from the newspaper in which Rural/Metro stated that the fire department is now a local call. Chief McCluskey explained the ad as a Village policy decision since the 9-1-1 system changed. Fire fighter Murphy expressed that the ad seems deceptive because one could take it to mean that the Port Chester Fire Department was never a local call. Mayor Cresenzi asked if anyone else desired to speak. At no response from the floor,he asked for a motion to close the hearing. On the motion of Trustee Zuckerman, seconded by Trustee Strum,the hearing closed at 9:05 p.m. The vote was as follows: TRUSTEE STRUM VOTING AYE TRUSTEE TUNIS ABSENT TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE Mayor Cresenzi reconvened the meeting at 9:25 p.m. On the Motion of Trustee Pellino, seconded by Trustee Strum,the following Resolution was hereby adopted: 8 006090 February 21, 1996 RESOLUTION RURAL METRO FIRE DEPARTMENT INC. FIRE PROTECTION CONTRACT AND AMENDMENT WHEREAS, on February 10, 1996 a notice of public hearing was published on the contract with Rural/Metro Fire Department Inc. and an amendment; and WHEREAS, a public hearing was conducted thereon on February 21, 1996 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,that the contract with Rural/Metro Fire Department Inc. for fire protection services, originally approved on December 21, 1995, is ratified and approved; and it is further RESOLVED,that it is in the public interest to amend the agreement and the amendment to the contract with Rural/Metro Fire Department Inc. to revise the payment schedule is approved; and it is further RESOLVED,that the Mayor is authorized to execute and deliver all documents necessary or desirable to accomplish the purposes of this resolution. TRUSTEE STRUM VOTING AYE TRUSTEE TUNIS ABSENT TRUSTEE ZUCKERMAN VOTING AYE TRUSTEE PELLINO VOTING AYE MAYOR CRESENZI VOTING AYE Mayor Cresenzi asked if anyone else from the audience wanted to speak. Mr. Kenneth Heller of 22 Lincoln Avenue stated that he is concerned that tonight's public hearing process was not the proper way to have a public hearing. Attorney Powell stated that Mr. Heller was incorrect. The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m, Respectfully submitted, d Christopher J.Russo Village Clerk i i 9 006091, February 21, 1996 The following is the text of the amendment as approved by the preceding Resolution adopted on February 21, 1996: This amendment dated the day of.1996 by and between the Village of Rye Brook (Village) 90 South Ridge Street,Rye Brook,New York 10573, and Rural/Metro Fire Department Inc. (Rural/Metro) 8401 East Indian School Road, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. WHEREAS, by agreement dated December 21, 1995, the Village entered into a fire protection services agreement with Rural/Metro, effective as of February 1, 1996 (hereinafter called the "Agreement'); and WHEREAS, the Village and Rural/Metro wish to amend the fire protection services agreement to coordinate it with the Village fiscal year or June 1,to May 31st. NOW,THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual undertakings and promises contained herein and other good consideration,the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the Village and Rural/Metro agree as follows: FIRST: Section 2.1 of the Agreement is deleted in its entirety and the following is substituted therefor: 2.1 Term -The term of this agreement shall be for a period of three (3)years commencing on February 1, 1996 and ending on January 31, 1999. For purposes of ascertaining the Contract Price under Sections 2.7 and 2.8 and adjustments,the first term shall be from February 1, 1996 to May 31, 1997,the second term from June 1, 1997 to May 31, 1998, and the third term shall be from June 1, 1998 to January 31, 1999. The Agreement may be extended for two (2) successive one(1)year periods unless otherwise terminated as hereinafter provided,upon the terms and conditions hereof, upon the giving of written notice by Rye Brook to Rural/Metro at least 90 days prior to termination. SECOND: Except as-provided herein,the terms and conditions of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Amendment to be executed as of the day and year first above written. RURAL/METRO FIRE DEPARTMENT INC. THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK BY: BY: Salvatore M. Cresenzi, Mayor 10