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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1996/02/07 An Informal Meeting was held by the Mayor and Council of the Borough ofCarteret on Wednesday, February 7,1996,7:00 P.M., Council Office, Municipal Building, 61 Cooke Avenue, Carteret, New Jersey. Upon individual roll call, the following were noted present: Councilman James Failace n n Jack Fazekas n n William Feingold n n James O'Brien n n Sam Semenza Noted absent was Councilmember Deborah Bialowarczuk Also noted absent was Borough Attorney Robert A. Hedesh. Mailed to The Home News & Tribune, The Star Ledger and posted on the bulletin board on February 2, 1996 The purpose of the meeting was to discuss First Aid issues At approximately 7:01 P.M., Councilmember Bialowarczuk was noted present. Mayor Sica explained that he called this meeting in reference to a letter he got fTom the First Aid wanting to see if they can sit down and discuss some problems and how to resolve them David Wilson from the First Aid said that they have some financial concerns. They keep going into their supplemental fund, which is getting real low, for things such as repairing the building. It's in pretty horrendous shape. Because they only spend money for essential things, the building is in that condition He is trying to find out if there is any kind of funding available. They need some basic equipment such as pagers and they are looking to see if there is anything available for something like that so that they don't have to take that fTom their till. They have been trying to work something out with Woodbridge Twp. as far as day call is concerned. The day call now, is probably the worst it's been in a while. There are only a couple of people around. They are relying more and more on mutual aid fTom Woodbridge Twp. They are having their own problems there without having to come here also. He had a meeting with the Police Chief about getting the police to drive the rig when needed during the daytime. He was very cooperative. Mr. Wilson said that his only concern was that if there was a big incident, then they would be tied up, short staffed. They may possibly need to go into the paid Fire Department if they have an extra man. At approximately 7:04 P.M., Borough Attorney Hedesh was noted present. FEBRUARY 7, 1996 INFORMAL MEETING February 7, 1996 ROLL CALL STATEMENT OF MEETING NOTICE Purpose of Meeting Councilrnernber Bialowarczuk - Noted Present DISCUSSION Attorney Hedesh -Noted Present FEBRUARY 7, 1996 INFORMAL MEETING -Continued Mayor Sica said that it will never work with the Police Department. In our main firehouse, we always have 2 firemen on duty there and 1 in West Carteret. It's conceivable that we can always let one of them go. A lot of the guys in the Fire Department have EMT training. Mike Holowchuk said that they have advanced First Aid. They have an instructor coming in the middle of February to instruct them in First Responder. The Mayor said that they can draw from the Fire Department. Mayor Sica asked how many ambulances they have. Mr. Wilson said that they will have 3 in April. The Mayor said that it is conceivable that we can even park an ambulance at the firehouse. If the First Aid can't respond to it, then a fireman can take the rig to the First Aid call or to the First Aid building and wait for an assistant to ride with. If necessary, we can then throw a police officer in it if we have to. We always have the ability of releasing at least 1 fireman. Councilman Failace asked if EMT training is needed to drive the ambulance. Mr. Wilson said no. The Mayor again stated that the best way to go is to use the Fire Department. Mr. Wilson said that they would have to meet with their executive board and the FMBA. Mayor Sica said that if it would require an additional insurance, the City would pick up that cost. The logistics can be worked out with the Fire Department and the Police Department. Ifwe have a major fire or something that the firemen are not there and it comes in, the police are next door and they can take the vehicle and respond and help in any way they can. It can work with all 3 of them. Number 1 will be the Fire Department and number 2 will be the Police Department. If for some reason they couldn't send anybody, then they'll take a cop and a fireman. We will do all that is humanly possible to man that truck for them in the daytime hours. He wouldn't want to do it on a 24 hour basis but the truck an stay there 24 hours. If at 11:00 P.M., they have a problem getting a second crew or something like that, that fireman will respond because there are 2 fireman there at all times. Fortunately, the volunteer Fire Department and the paid Fire Department work hand in hand now and the volunteers are trained on all of those trucks. If something happens and we have to roll another truck until a paid guy comes in, a volunteer can take that truck and man that truck An unidentified man said that a lot of volunteers are also on the First Aid Squad 2 Mayor Sica said that as far as money, they have a lot of problems in their building. Attorney Hedesh said that he has spoken to them. The Mayor told Attorney Hedesh to see if there is some way that we can assist them in repairing that building. If that doesn't work, then he will go to Trenton with the Urban Enterprise Zone and indicate to the people in Trenton that we have a couple of hundred thousand dollars sitting there right now. He said that he will indicate that we are a growing community of retail and industrial and a good portion of the First Aid calls are to industry and they are. He said that he will need the documentation necessary. He will go down there personally and appeal to that board to allow us to use some of that money to repair that building. Attorney Hedesh stated that there may be a way to do it without doing all of that. Mayor Sica said that maybe we can bond or make an in-kind contribution. Attorney Hedesh said that we can't bond because we don't own the building. He said that his gut reaction is that the Borough cannot provide repairs to that building because it is a private building. They do allow certain contributions to be made or a system to be made.(inaudible). That takes the burden fTom that one and...(inaudible). Mayor Sica said that he is sure that he can go to Trenton and get some of our Urban Enterprise Zone money to repair some of the building if they supply them with what has to be done to the building, some estimates. He said that he needs some kind of documentation of how many industrial calls are made in the course of a year, how many calls at all are made in the enterprise zone area. Councilman Fazekas said that he agrees but he would like to see the heads of the departments... the First Aid Squad with the Chief here. Mayor Sica agreed and said rather than have a big meeting like this, they should get Richard Greenberg, the paid career guys, the Police Chief and Councilman Fazekas together, after the First Aid Executive Board discusses this. If the Executive Board wants this, they will have a smaller meeting and put the logistics into motion to do it. Attorney Hedesh suggested that the Mayor and 2 Councilmembers meet so that there is a workshop. Mayor Sica asked Councilmembers Fazekas and Bialowarczuk to be at the meeting. Councilman Fazekas asked if there are any procedures in place now for a temporary solution. David Wilson said that their temporary procedures are crazy. This goes back to Woodbridge. 3 Councilman Fazekas asked if there is a problem with coverage in the afternoon right now. David Wilson said that they have some problem. Councilman Fazekas said that all he wants to know right now is if they have a temporary solution David Wilson said pretty much so. He will not state that its 100%. It's a 90% solution. FEBRUARY 7, 1996 INFORMAL MEETING -Continued FEBRUARY 7, 1996 INFORMAL MEETING -Continued Mayor Sica told Mr. Wilson that it is imperative that he and his Executive Board meet as soon as possible. He said that he will call another meeting for next Monday night. Councilman Semenza asked Mr. Wilson if he has any reason to think that the Executive Board won't go along with a recommendation to improve the response time. Mr. Wilson said that it is hard to say. Councilman Semenza said that something will be done if the Executive Board doesn't go with it. We know we have a problem and we're going to have to correct it. Mr. Wilson said that the possibility exists. It's an Executive Board, it's 8 people. Mayor Sica said to tell them that the City of Carteret is not going to allow delays in first aid. If it becomes necessary, we will make an emergency appropriation, buy our own ambulance and man it at our own firehouse. Then they'll be the second responder. We want to work with the First Aid. We can never pay them for what they do or give them enough credit for what they do. We want to work with them 100%, dollar wise, manpower wise... whatever it's going to take. The Carteret First Aid Squad has always been recognized as one of the best in the State and we're going to keep it that way. An unidentified man asked if grant monies were available. Mayor Sica said that there are no grant monies out there. David Wilson asked if it is possible for the town to pick up the workman's compensation insurance for their members. Mayor Sica said that it can't be done. They are not employees. What they can do is request additional funding. David Wilson said that they need something to help push the industries and warehouses into donating to them. Perhaps they can get a letter fTom the Mayor and Council. They are getting very little cooperation and yet they have a lot of calls to warehouses. The Mayor asked him for the records of their responses to the various companies. He said that he will sit down and write a letter to them. He said that he guarantees that every single industry that they've responded to will give them a substantial contribution or they will start assessing them something. 4 Councilman Failace asked why we can't charge them something. The Mayor said that it is against the law but there are other ways to assess them. There being no further discussion, upon MMS&C, by Councilmembers Semenza and O'Brien and unanimous affirmative vote of the full membership present, the meeting adjourned at approximately 7:30 P.M. Respectfully submitted, ~~~~C') Municipal Clerk ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ 5 ------------------------------------------------------------ FEBRUARY 7, 1996 INFORMAL MEETING -Continued