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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
MARCH 14, 2002
A joint meeting between the Enfield Town Council and EMS Advisory Board was held in the Council Chambers of the Enfield Town Hall on Thursday, March 14, 2002. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Vayda at 7:30 p.m.
ROLL-CALL Present were Councilmen Edgar, Hall, Mangini, Strom, Tait, Tallarita and Vayda. Councilmen Egan, Falk, and Fiore were absent. Councilman Kaupin entered the meeting at 7:41 p.m. Also present were Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni and Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Present from the EMS Advisory Commission were Everett Gamble, Stanley Halgas, Earl Provencher, Paul Wentworth, and Thomas Yakoubian. Note: Carol Hall and John Tait are Council Liaisons and Daniel Vindigni is the Town Staff representative on the Commission.
Mr. Provencher stated the EMS Advisory Commission has not met because they did not know exactly what the agenda was. He noted they did not have anything specific prepared, but can respond to questions. He went on to state the Commission feels they met the two charges given them by the Council, and they look forward to doing additional work toward the progress of EMS in Enfield. He noted they would like this charge to be relatively broad because there are a lot of different issues they need to look at.
Chairman Vayda agreed and stated his belief they need to come up with a new charge for this Commission to identify what they should be working on or how they want this structured.
Councilman Hall stated the Commission had discussed using the recommendation of the study as its guideline. She read recommendations in that study as follows: The Town Council should appoint an EMS Advisory Commission which would provide recommendations, help to establish policy and provide direction for the provision of emergency medical services throughout the entire Town of Enfield. The establishment of an EMS Advisory Commission should be done in a manner consistent with Connecticut State law and Town Charter. The EMS Advisory Commission should be a seven member group consisting of a Town official, a Council Member, Police Chief Member, Enfield Fire Chiefs Association, a representative of Johnson Memorial, a representative from the Maciolek American Legion Post and a citizen in the community familiar with the EMS system. Councilman Hall stated her belief this outlines a guideline and leaves things general. She went on to state she doesnt necessarily agree with the makeup of the Commission and she feels it could be tweaked a little. She questioned if there are any state laws that govern EMS Advisory Commissions.
Mr. Vindigni stated the Town Charter does allow the Town Council to create boards and commissions. He noted one of the items that has been mandated by the State of Connecticut is an EMS plan that each municipality must implement and adopt. He stated that EMS plan does fall within the State statute that requires an advisory commission. He went on to note the submission date of that EMS plan is July 1, 2002.
Councilman Tait stated his belief the complexion of the current EMS Advisory Commission is good. He referred to the job description for EMS Director and the functions of this advisory commission and noted they are redundant and overlap. He questioned what the Commission believes its role is vis-à-vis the EMS Coordinator and how they see themselves interacting. He stated his belief there needs to be some clear definition of responsibilities between what the Commission is going to do and what the EMS Coordinator is going to do and how they will interact.
Councilman Strom stated rather than questioning what the responsibilities are, perhaps they should find out what types of things the Commission would like to work on with the EMS Coordinator.
Mr. Halgas stated the EMS Advisory Commission is comprised of policeman, fireman, American Legion and the public. He stated his belief they can work with the EMS Coordinator to bounce off ideas and give this person some guidance as to what the people of Enfield are looking for.
Mr. Halgas stated a couple weeks ago he was approached by the Town Manager, and he met with their lawyer, Attorney Berger. He noted the Town Manager would like the ambulance committee to turn over the license to the Town, and the Town will start paying for all the bills, etc. He stated the public is confused, and its very evident in their fund drive because its down drastically. He noted they cant keep up with some of the expenses. He stated before the Ambulance Committee relinquishes its license, they would like to have some assurance that the ambulance program will be properly funded and managed in the future, and the way to start that is to get the support of the Council. He noted he has not heard anything from the Council as yet as to whether they do or dont support it. He added hes not even sure if the Council has agreed to hire an EMS Coordinator. He stated his belief they need someone to pull this together and hes in favor of the EMS Director.
Chairman Vayda stated hes absolutely in favor of this program and he believes they need to fund it properly. He noted he also feels this is a function of the Town. He stated his belief the recommendations of the study are an appropriate set of recommendations, and he feels the vision theyre trying to come up with is appropriate. He added he does not know of any Council Member that was opposed to hiring the EMS Director.
Mr. Halgas stated there was some talk about hiring a consultant rather than an EMS Director, and he feels that would be a mistake.
Councilman Strom stated her belief the idea of a consultant only came up when there was confusion as to what direction this was going to go in. She noted the Council has had its discussions and to the best of her knowledge they decided the best way to go was hiring an EMS Director.
Mr. Gamble stated the EMS Advisory Commission could act as a sounding board for the EMS Director as well as help form a vision statement, follow proper procedure, and write a procedure manual.
Chairman Vayda raised the questions of how will they develop a vision that they want for this organization; how will they move forward; who has the authority to do certain things.
Councilman Mangini questioned whether it would be advisable for the EMS Advisory Committee to come forward with their mission statement and goals and idea of their own to present to the Council. Mr. Provencher stated his belief thats a good idea, but he also thinks there are a lot of questions that need to be answered at some point. He stated his hope theyll have an EMS Director on board soon. He pointed out they have been on a temporary fix for six years and he hopes they can move forward.
Councilman Edgar agreed with Mr. Provencher and stated he would like to see the EMS Coordinator on board as soon as possible. He stated hes not sure at this time whether the license should go from the Maciolek Post to the Town. He noted he does not want to exclude the fire chiefs and/or the Maciolek Post in any way from any future decisions. He added if the Committee is willing to take on some of this responsibility, the Council should move forward as soon as possible.
Mr. Halgas stated the Maciolek Post doesnt intend to exclude themselves completely, but rather they will just step aside and let someone else take care of the expenditures and day-to-day operations. He noted the Maciolek Post would set up an endowment fund that would solicit funds strictly for new equipment. He went on to note last year they spent over $200,000 in cash, and they only collected $75,000. He stated theyre not keeping up with the expenses. He noted only 15% of the public is supporting this service, i.e., they mailed out 20,000 letters, and they only got 3,000 back.
Councilman Edgar questioned whether all the fire chiefs and commissioners are in agreement to take this responsibility. Mr. Provencher stated his belief he is speaking for the fire chiefs that are present this evening when he says theyre all in favor of advancing the system, and if it comes as part of the fire service, then he feels theyre willing to take that on. He went on to state he agrees that the Maciolek Post should stay involved with this.
Councilman Edgar questioned whether the Committee or part of the Committee could meet with the liaisons, Councilmen Hall and Tait, to draw up a charge so that they can get that to the Council so that it can be passed as soon as possible. Mr. Provencher responded theyd be glad to be a part of that. He pointed out the Committee needs direction from the Council as to where they want to go with this.
Chairman Vayda stated the Town Council doesnt have the expertise to answer a lot of the questions that need to be answered. He noted the Council needs guidance from the Committee. He suggested perhaps they need to identify their bottom line, i.e., what authorities are they not willing to grant; what things are they not going to relinquish from Town control; how do they foresee the organizational structure.
Mr. Gamble stated they have discussed what they should and should not do, and he always felt they should not go into too much detail without an EMS Director.
Councilman Strom stated her belief getting the EMS Coordinator on board is key. She noted a Coordinator could sit down with the EMS Advisory Committee and come up with some kind of outline to bring back to the Town Council.
As concerns the status of the EMS Director recruitment, Mr. Vindigni noted they have identified some lead candidates. He stated he anticipates the Town Manager will be able to communicate something in the near future. He pointed out this is actively being worked on.
Councilman Hall agreed with Councilman Strom in that a Director has to be on board before the Committee can move forward. She stated she would like to see the Council push to get the Director on board. Mr. Vindigni pointed out to date what has been done has been fast tracked. Councilman Hall questioned whether second interviews have taken place, and Mr. Vindigni responded yes.
Councilman Kaupin stated his belief that getting the Director on board should take top priority. He suggested Mr. Vindigni tell the Town Manager this has to move faster. He pointed out they need to have the EMS Director on board now in order to make an impact in the coming year.
Chairman Vayda stated his understanding Town staff has been working as rapidly as possible concerning the EMS Director position.
Councilman Tait stated if they dont have the Director on board on time for the budget process, perhaps they can charge this Committee to look at some of the big picture items.
Mr. Provencher stated in a general discussion with the Town Manger, it was his understanding he was thinking of funding some areas for Council consideration.
Chairman Vayda stated they want the EMS Director able to hit the ground running when he starts working and also to make sure that the Council has budgeted funding to do some of the things that would be necessary. He noted this needs to be communicated to the Town Manager so that it can be built into the budget process.
Councilman Edgar questioned if Town staff can come up with something for Monday night that would provide some direction. Mr. Vindigni stated something can be drafted up for discussion purposes. Chairman Vayda suggested including items from the EMS report.
Chairman Strom stated she has heard concern about budgetary items and what they need to include in this years budget. She questioned if the Town would be looking for things such as paramedic training, or would the Town contract with the fire departments to do that. Mr. Vindigni indicated he would check into this.
Mr. Halgas stated in discussions with the Town Manager and also in a letter the Town Manager sent him, he states at the end of the month the Town budget will include an Emergency Medical Service Account that account will include costs for maintenance and fuel, currently the responsibility of the Maciolek Post. Mr. Halgas stated this basically means the Town Manager is including a line item in the proposed budget to take over all the operating expenditures. He noted there are other expenses, i.e., defibrillators; do they start charging for basic life support; do they have to pay for firemen due to the lack of firemen.
Chairman Vayda stated he has a hard time understanding why the license would not come under the Town under this scenario as theyre going forward. Mr. Halgas stated before they give up the license to anyone, they want some assurance that it will be properly funded, managed and carried forward into the future. Chairman Vayda stated they would not be going forward to hire a director, if they were not going to do all the other pieces.
Mr. Provencher noted Council Members are invited to ride along in the ambulance. Chairman Vayda and Councilmen Mangini and Tait expressed their interest in riding along.
Chairman Vayda questioned if the Committee is comfortable waiting for the new EMS Director and also doing some prep work up front. Mr. Provencher responded yes, they will try to get a meeting together relatively soon. He stated his belief they can do some preliminary work before the Director is on board. He added they look forward to working with the new Director to improve the EMS program in the future.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #5764 by Councilman Mangini, seconded by Councilman Strom to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #5764 adopted 8-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 8:26 p.m.
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