Community Safety Committee Meeting Minutes - June 12, 2001

Date:

Tuesday, June 12^th, 2001

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Bill McNulty, Chair
Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Malcolm Brodie
Acting Mayor Linda Barnes

Absent:

Councillor Ken Johnston, Vice-Chair
Councillor Kiichi Kumagai

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m.

The Chair advised that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Thursday, July 12^th, 2001 rather than Tuesday, July 10^th.

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Committee held on Thursday, May 17^th, 2001, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Policing held on Tuesday, May 29, 2001, be received for information.

CARRIED

TERMS OF REFERENCE - YOUTH INTERVENTION PROGRAM
(Report: June 1/01, File No.: 3425-02) (REDMS No. 437216, 433897)

It was moved and seconded

That the proposed Terms of Reference for the Youth Intervention Program (attached to the report dated June 1, 2001 from the Manager, Finance and Administration) be adopted.

CARRIED

WATER-RESCUE
(Report: May 24/01, File No.: 5140-01) (REDMS No. 426397)

Fire Chief Jim Hancock referred to Recommendation 1 and advised that Option 3, if endorsed, would be implemented in 2001 rather than 2002 as the funding had already been included in the 2001 budget. The General Manager, Community Safety, Chuck Gale further advised that staff were not making any commitment to that the additional funding request to support Option 3 (Recommendation 2) with regard to funding for 2002 would be approved until Council had had the opportunity to review the request as part of the 2002 budget process. The Chief then introduced Deputy Chief Reg Smith, who reviewed the report and proposed recommendations with the Committee.

In response to questions, information was provided that:

Phase 1 of Option 3 would ensure that all members of the department would be trained and fully certified to undertake water rescues, while Phase 2 would ensure that all companies had fully trained certified staff, as well as the necessary protective equipment

the cost of training new recruits for water rescues would be included in the overall cost; advice was given that many of the recruits already had water rescue training at the time they were hired by the City

with reference to problems experienced in the Department previously with regard to maintaining training and certification requirements of the members, advice was given that the recent restructuring of the Department and the employment of two additional Training Officers had resulted in the creation of a training and maintenance schedule which should ensure that maintenance and certification requirements would be fulfilled on a regular basis

with reference to the possible need for additional watercraft in the future, the opinion was expressed that based on the level of training and number of calls received, it would not be necessary to provide boats simply to augment water rescue capabilities; however, the comment was made by the Fire Chief that as the level of skill of the Department increased, staff may request approval to acquire better boats; he stressed however that it was unlikely that the request would be immediate and was most likely a year or two away; the Fire Chief further indicated that the Department would also want to address the implications of undertaking dive rescues

with reference to surface water and dive rescues, advice was given that dive rescues required a higher level of training than surface water rescues; Richmond members were only trained to undertake surface water rescues

with reference to the ability to undertake fire suppression from the water, advice was given while there would be an advantage to applying water streams from different areas, if a fire was spreading to the water and there was no threat of the fire spreading to other businesses, then the fire would not present a problem as the burning building could be allowed to burn; it was noted that most buildings, with the exception of those in the Steveston area, were equipped with sprinklers (further advice was given that the water used to propel jet skis forward could also be sprayed onto a fire)

During the discussion, the Chair requested that a chart be provided on the level of training provided to each member from the time that that person joined the Department, and which showed the level of service needed to advance to the next rank.

Also during the discussion, in response to further questions, information was provided on the procedure which would be followed to respond to a water rescue. Mr. Gale, in referring to the use of jet skis to assist with fire fighting from the water, advised that every fire truck was equipped to allow the firefighters to respond to a water incident and had the capability to undertake some immediate intervention. He added however that there were only two boats available in the event of a water incident occurring.

It was moved and seconded

That:

Option 3, (as described in Table 1 in the Fire Chief’s report on Water-Rescue, dated May 24, 2001) be endorsed for implementation in 2002.

The funding request to support Option 3 ($30,000 minor capital and $3,200 additional level request), be included in the 2002 budget submission for consideration by General Purposes Committee for implementation in 2002.

A subsequent report be written addressing the issues surrounding emergency sub-surface response after the official review of the Canadian Coast Guard diving program.

CARRIED

THE HISTORY OF PHOTO RADAR IN RICHMOND
(Report: June 6/01, File No.: 6450-09)

Inspector Al Speevak, Acting OIC, Richmond Detachment, reviewed the report and possible alternatives with the Committee. Reference was made to the original report submitted to the Committee on May 17^th, 2001 and questions asked about the status of that report. As a result of the discussion, the following motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That the report (dated June 6, 2001 from OIC Inspector Al Speevak, RCMP), regarding the History of Photo Radar in Richmond, be received for information; and

That the report (dated April 26^th, 2001) be re-submitted to the Committee for consideration to determine if the report should be circulated to other municipalities.

The question on the motion was not called, as discussion continued on the use of photo radar in the City and whether there other ways could be found to reduce speeding. As a result of the discussion, the following referral motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That the report (dated June 6^th, 2001, from the Acting OIC Inspector A. Speevak), regarding the History of Photo Radar in Richmond, be referred to staff for a report to Committee on creative solutions to reduce speeding, which did not include the use of photo radar.

CARRIED

COMMUNITY SAFETY DIVISION - DEPARTMENT BRIEFINGS

Fire Chief Jim Hancock, with the assistance of Deputy Chief Wayne Stevens, Deputy Chief Reg Smith, and Deputy Chief Dave Scorgie, (through a PowerPoint presentation) provided an overview of the mission, the services provided by, and the goals, of the Richmond Fire-Rescue Division. A copy of the presentation is on file in the City Clerk’s Office.

During the presentation, the delegation responded to questions on such issues as the ability of the Department to train, maintain training and to certify firefighters on a regular basis.

MANAGER’S REPORT

Mr. Gale reported on the status of the request that representatives of the BC Ambulance Service meet with the Committee to discuss areas of mutual concern. He advised that a new Regional Director had been appointed; that the staff of the Ambulance Service and the City would be meeting to discuss mutual interests; and that Mr. Sanderson would be introduced to the Committee in the Fall of this year.

The Manager, Environmental Programs, Suzanne Bycraft, provided information on two recent chemical spills which had occurred in the City, the first at a City facility and the second on private property. In reporting on the events, Ms. Bycraft stressed the importance of managing these incidents correctly, because regulations require that the City be fined because it was the City’s storm sewer system which the materials would flow through to reach the Fraser River. She indicated that staff were working co-operatively with the appropriate officials to ensure that this type of event did not occur again.

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:14 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Tuesday, June 12^th, 2001.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Bill McNulty
Chair

Fran J. Ashton
Executive Assistant