COLUMBIA COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT Minutes of the Board of Directors Regular Meeting February 28, 2019

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1 COLUMBIA COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT Minutes of the Board of Directors Regular Meeting February 28, 2019 MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: MEMBERS PRESENT: Board President Anderson called the Board of Directors Regular Meeting to order on Thursday, February 28, 2019, at 9:01am at the C911CD Meeting Room, St. Helens, Oregon. Dave Crawford, Sean Clark, Henry Heimuller, Rob Anderson and Dee Wooley via speakerphone Staff Present: Mike Fletcher, Nancy Edwards, Lara Marzilli, Maryjo Beck, Chandra Egan and Cindi Turula GUESTS PRESENT: Mark Kreutzer, CRFR Board Member Tyler Miller, citizen Roll call was done. PUBLIC COMMENT: Kreutzer stated that he d like to have a conversation with Fletcher about the legislation in Salem about the increase in the tax. Fletcher agreed, stating that he d like Kreutzer s perspective on another bill regarding ASA and fire districts. 9:02am Miller arrived. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: No additions/changes were made. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: January 24, 2019 Regular Meeting Minutes: Heimuller moved and Crawford seconded to approve the 1/24/19 Workshop and Regular Meeting minutes as presented. Motion carried unanimously. FINANCIAL REPORTS: Acceptance of Budget Variance Reports January: Heimuller moved and Crawford seconded to accept the Budget Variance Report for the month of January as presented. Discussion followed. Motion carried unanimously. Approval of Expenditures: Clark moved and Wooley seconded to approve the expenditures starting with check #28755 through #28814 including the electronic payments in the amount of $270, Discussion followed. Motion carried unanimously. Appointment of Budget Officer: Heimuller moved and Crawford seconded to appoint Edwards as the Budget Officer. Motion carried unanimously. 1

2 Appointment of Budget Committee Members: Edwards stated that the terms for budget members in zones 2, 3 and 5 have expired. She asked that Heimuller and Clark get in touch with the budget members in their zones to determine if they re willing to serve another term. Anderson will need to find a budget member in his zone willing to serve as well. Wooley noted that he will also look to find a replacement since Brian Fawcett no longer lives in his zone. Budget Committee members will need to be appointed at next month s meeting. OPERATIONS MANAGER REPORT: Marzilli reported on the following: A new employee will be staring with the District on March 12 th. A contingent offer has been extended to another applicant who is in the process of completing his medical and psychiatric evaluation. A hiring recruitment for Communications Specialists will begin in March. Received five external inquiries (2 training, 1 behavior), 2 unfounded Received one internal inquiry (self-reported) was sustained (training). Group continues to work on SOPs; will need input from partners Bullard Law still has the District Personnel Policies The kickoff bargaining meeting with the union took place where ground rules and future dates were set up. Resuscitation Academy training will begin in mid-march. OLD BUSINESS: Radio System: Fletcher stated that his meetings with our user partners are about half way done; it s going exceedingly well. Fletcher s very pleased with the level of participation and interest. He will be speaking with Rainier and Clatskanie next and then finishing with Mist-Birkenfeld and Vernonia. Dixie Mountain: Fletcher reported that we are still waiting to hear back from the FAA. Clatskanie Mountain Washington State Patrol (WSP): The parts for our tower reinforcement were delivered to Day Wireless. WSP s operations group will be picking up the parts and taking them to the site to begin construction and installation of their equipment. This week, WSP requested to put their own shelter within the fence perimeter on the site. Fletcher asked for the Board s input regarding the request. Discussion followed. Edwards stated that we ll have to charge WSP per our agreement with Weyerhaeuser, but that has not been negotiated yet. Heimuller stated that we need to ensure that we re getting the value of the property. Wooley inquired if there may be an issue with Evenson. Fletcher stated that he would look into any roadway issue and space rent. Earlier this week Fletcher had a joint meeting with Day Wireless and Microwave Networks, Inc. (MNI) to discuss a plan for improving the microwave path between Clatskanie Mountain and Green Mountain. This will require new dishes at both sites in order to develop a diverse path. Fletcher is waiting on final numbers from MNI. Meissner Site Improvement: Fletcher reported that the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has not given any restrictions on the amount of space we will use; they just need to know how much we need before they replant at that site. Initially a 100 footprint was discussed, but it will most likely be reduced to a 75 footprint after 2

3 construction to allow for a fire break. This will provide enough space for a new shelter and constructing a tower. While the tower will be free, there will be a cost to have it re-inspected and recertified. We also have a lead on a surplus shelter that was used by Trans Canada Pipeline and is sitting in Central Oregon. Fletcher is getting conformation that it s still available. If so, the only cost for the shelter will be transporting it to the site. The biggest expense for improving this site will be the tower construction and concrete. Fletcher is waiting on the final numbers to bring back to the Board. Fletcher noted that FirstNet is no longer looking at Meissner since they already have coverage along Highway 30. Fletcher has asked them to consider the Corey Hill and Clatskanie Mountain sites. Local Option Levy: Fletcher reported that Form SEL805 (Request for Ballet title) was submitted to the County on Monday. There s a 10-day waiting period for any challenges and then Fletcher will submit Form SEL803 (Notice of Measure). Fletcher reminded Crawford, Clark and Wooley that they need to submit their paperwork to the County if they plan on running for their Board position again. HVAC Repair/Replacement: Fletcher reported that the Bard units have been ordered by Pyramid. Columbia NW was here this week doing the quarterly maintenance on all of our HVAC units. Emergency Generators: Fletcher reported that the time clock components have arrived. Power West is scheduled to install them next week at this facility and at the Meissner site. Discussion followed. Oregon Emergency Management (OEM) Program Funding: Fletcher reported that we were notified last week of another item that OEM is no longer going to pay for maintenance on - the rollover switch or make busy switch. If staff had to leave the center, this allows us to flip a switch and have our calls redirected to another location. The State has determined that this switch is not necessary and will no longer be paying for it. The impact to the District is about $118/month. The biggest concern to the managers is that OEM is reporting that the State subaccount is broke. Discussions are taking place about what the community can do to rectify the situation. There have been talks about soliciting assistance from the state legislators, but with the Legislature in session, it is unlikely that the managers could get their attention. Also, there s some uncertainty of how to address the issue. OEM has established a new committee called the Sustainability Committee whose job it is to find ways to save money. The funds have been funding 23 staff members within the Military Department. Fletcher, the chapter president and one other agency director will be heading to Salem within the next two weeks to meet with the Director of OEM and the Deputy Director before the quarterly APCO/NENA meeting that is coming up in Hood River. At this meeting last year, is when the State opened up the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) and began changing the rules of what they d fund without the Manager s knowledge. 3

4 Heimuller expressed his concern in not speaking to a state legislator as soon as possible. Discussion followed. Fletcher stated that part of the dilemma is that the managers are trying to determine how they ask for support when they know the funds are being mismanaged. The legislators who sponsored House Bill 2449 are proposing to double the tax. Over the last month the managers have learned that those State Senators and Representatives are very well informed of the problems within OEM and the Military Department. They would prefer to get the money coming in since that s the most immediate issue and then address the management issue. They are taking steps towards accountability stating that they should be audited and should be providing quarterly reports to managers and the legislators indicating exactly what funds are coming in and what funds are going out. These State Senators and Representatives are also actively involved with communications directly with the PSAPs. They have already eliminated the funding of the 23 positions from the tax; effective immediately. Fletcher stated that the bill has been receiving a lot of support and there is some level of confidence that it will pass. Fletcher will know more by the end of the month and will update the Board at that time. Crawford asked Fletcher to be on the list of managers who are being directly communicated with in order to keep current with all of the happenings. TriTech Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Interface: Fletcher stated that a demo was supposed to take place yesterday with Smart Horizons, but due to the weather it has been rescheduled for Monday. Fletcher explained that the District uses APCO for the actual EMD flip cards; our staff is also certified through APCO for the EMD process. Over the years APCO contracted with Smart Horizons to create the software version of their EMD cards. APCO and Smart Horizons have recently decided to split and APCO is developing their own version of the EMD software. Last week it was determined that our staff is certified through DPSST. If we need to change or edit our existing EMD cards, the changes have to be approved by our physician assistant and then sent to Smart Horizons to update the software. The underlying problem is having a physical card set to fall back on if CAD should go down. The APCO cards can t be used because they no longer work with Smart Horizons, plus they are copyrighted. APCO has told WCCCA that they can t use their cards if they re not using their software. Fletcher hopes to have more answers after Monday s meeting and will follow up with the Board at the March meeting. Fletcher stated that the Board approved the Smart Horizons product as well as the interface that the District shared with WCCCA s purchase. However, we underestimated the amount by about five dollars. Fletcher asked the Board to reapprove the invoice for the TriTech interface for clarification and transparency. The District s portion is $4, Heimuller moved and Crawford seconded to approve the modification to the TriTech interface invoice amount as stated. Motion carried unanimously. Scappoose Urban Renewal Area: Fletcher stated that the committee met this week. Discussion continues regarding the projects portion of their development, but they will be taking it to the city council in March to get their approval. 4

5 NEW BUSINESS: Appointment of New Advisory Committee Members: Fletcher presented the following changes to the Advisory Committee: Columbia City Police: Primary Sgt. Jerry Bartolomucci, Alternate Alex Bubar Columbia County Sheriff: Primary Sheriff Brian Pixley, Alternate Steve Salle St. Helens Police: Primary Chief Brian Greenway, Alternate Lt. Joe Hogue Heimuller moved and Crawford seconded to approve the appointment of the new members of the Advisory Committee as presented. Discussion followed. Clark inquired about Emergency Management s alternate. Fletcher will check with the Director and confirm next month. Motion carried unanimously. National Funding Infrastructure: Fletcher reported that as part of his State ACPO/NENA duties, he traveled to Washington DC two weeks ago to talk about funding on a national level. The group met with all of our state representatives, with the exception of Greg Walden. Fletcher suggested that instead of the normal talking points, that the group ask what s changed in the last year and how we can help them to help us make changes. There is currently a bill dealing with national infrastructure where NextGen is actually written into the bill. It s a one trillion-dollar bill, but the dollar amount associated to the programs nationally is somewhere between billion dollars. We know who the sponsor of the bill is and NENA, along with all of our state reps, are funneling input to that sponsor. NENA is also making a concerted effort to remain in contact with our local Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor that bill have to wait and see what happens. Heimuller asked Fletcher to forward the bill information to him, he will be going to Washington DC tomorrow for County business. First Budget Meeting Budget Priorities: Edwards stated that the first budget meeting will be April 25 th. Members agreed to have the Board meeting begin at 10am, break for lunch and then follow with the Budget meeting at 1pm. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR S UPDATES: Fletcher reported that our Technical Manager, Nathan Hughes, starts tomorrow. Fletcher provided a brief background on Hughes. He will be a huge asset to the District and our user agencies. Agenda Items March 28, 2019: Nothing added at this time. OTHER BUSINESS AND MEMBERS COMMENTS: Heimuller: Appreciate all the hard work that s happening and the good information that s being passed along. Wooley: Sorry to have to miss being at the meeting in person. Will do his best to find another budget committee member right away. Clark: Expressed concern about a Portland city council member with 911 dispatch under her authority who is looking at drastic changes for dispatchers with regard to mental health training. Fletcher stated that the District Attorney has convened a meeting that he and 5

6 Kreutzer: Marzilli will be attending with all public safety at Columbia County Mental Health tomorrow this may be part of the conversation. Discussion followed. Appreciates staff reports and minutes. The Oregon Fire District Director would be more than willing to send some information to the legislators to help bring attention to the problems at OEM. Expressed the importance of being involved with the Scappoose Urban Renewal meetings in order to be aware of what exactly is going on. Senator Betsy Johnson sponsored SB529 which allows firefighters, both volunteer and career, who are killed in the line of duty to have highways named in their honor; can provide information on the bill to those interested. There were no further comments. Next meeting will take place Thursday, March 28 th at the C911CD meeting room. 10:22am Board Adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Maryjo E. Beck Date Approved 6