September 12, 2024 - 3:00 PM - Fire Commission Board Meeting Minutes

10 + JOHNSTONCOUNTY FIRECOMMISSION September 12 , 2024 The JohnstonCountyFire Commissionmeetingwas heldonThursday , September 12 , 2024 at 3 00pm in the JohnstonCountyEmergencyServices EOC room Present Commissioner PatrickHarris , Kendall Hocutt , JeremeyDaughtry , Chris Ellington , ChadWard , BarryStanley , Alan Johnson Absent JohnBeasley AlsoPresent Director KevinHubbard JohnstonCountyEmergencyServices , Ryan Parker JohnstonCountyFire Marshal , JordanPiper JohnstonCounty DeputyFire Marshal , Jennifer Slusser JohnstonCountyAttorney , Jesse Massey JohnstonCountyAssistant Fire Marshal , Travis Johnson JohnstonCountyDeputyFire Marshal , DevinCreech Johnston CountyAdminAssistant , Al McCaskill Citizen 1 Meeting Called to Order CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser called the meeting toorder at 3 00pm 2 Approval Discussion of Agenda CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser presented the agenda to the board and asked for approval A motion to approve the agenda was made byChris Ellington and secondedbyChadWard 3 Welcome and Introductions RyanParker welcomed everyone and thanked them for their attendance and commitment to the fire service in JohnstonCounty Ryannext introduced the members of the Fire Commission Page+ 4 Fire Commission Overview CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser provided anoverviewof the JohnstonCountyFire Commission , including the resolution and rules of procedure There were noquestions regarding the rule of procedures nor charge of the board Chris Ellington asked if the minutes couldbe forwarded to the fire chiefs in the county after the meetings Ms Slusser repliedher recommendation is to send the minutes to themonce approvedby the Fire Commission She provided that the advisory committee couldonlyhave a quorum andvote bymeeting inperson , not virtually Ms Slusser further explained in regards to the subcommittees andminutes that since this is anofficial committee of the board , all workof the committee and subcommittees are public andopen , with anoptionof closed session The committee and subcommittee meetings shouldbe advertised48hours in advance JordanPiper asked if there was an issue with committee members havingmembershipon subcommittees Ms Slusser answered that there was not since those were subcommittees of the Fire Commission andwere public Fire Commissioner PatrickHarris thought the subcommittees are a goodopportunity toget other fire chiefs involved a CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser opened the floor tonominations for the Fire Commission board chair Amotionwas made by JeremeyDaughtry to elect Chris Ellington as the chairman , secondedbyChadWard Ms Slusser closed the nominations after confirming that no additional nominations were offered The nominationwas then approvedby acclamation b ChairmanChris Ellingtonopened the floor tonominations for the Fire Commissionboardvice chair Amotionwas made by JeremeyDaughtry to elect BarryStanley as the vice chairman , secondedbyAlan Johnson ChairmanChris Ellington closed the nominations after confirming that no additional nominations were offered The nominationwas then approvedby acclamation 5 Adopt Regular Meeting Schedule CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser requested a motion for the Fire Commission to adopt the proposed regular meeting schedule for the Fire Commission in accordance with the rules of procedure A motion to approve and adopt the Fire ProtectionService District CommissionSchedule 2024 - 2025was made by JeremeyDaughtry , with the clarification that changes couldbe made prior to48hours of the meeting The motionwas secondedbyAlan Johnson andwas carriedunanimouslyby the Fire Commission Page+ 6 Update on the Fire Service Strategic Plan JordanPiper presented to the committee the updatedFire Service Strategic Plan andprovided an informative update Fire Commissioner PatrickHarris asked if there will be opportunities for advance trainingonbudget planning for fire departments Jordan stated there have been conversations with the finance department on training and there is a plan tohave a standardizedbudget form ChairmanChris Ellington expressedhis impressionon seeing the documentedprogress of the plan ChairmanEllington added that goal four involving the budgetingprocess is his most pressing concern He askedFire Commissioner PatrickHarris if the Fire Service Strategic Planupdate couldbe reported at the JohnstonCountyBoardof Commissioners meeting inOctober Fire Commissioner PatrickHarris thought it was a great idea for the commissioners and the public 7 Staff Updates RyanParker thanked the JohnstonCountyCommissioners , JohnstonCountyAdministration , and JohnstonCountyEmergencyServices Administration , for allowing the Fire Marshals office topull JordanPiper’s focus todata collection for the Fire ProtectionService District Data that has been collected for the county includes full inventoryof all apparatus , call volume , call types , report times , etc Ryanprovided anupdate on the progress beingmade of both the Cost Share andStaffing Needs Compensation subcommittees 8 BoardMember Comments Fire Commissioner PatrickHarris thanked the committee for the time anddedication to the Fire Commissionboard , andwas excited as the fire service of the countywas moving in a positive direction Eachmember of the Fire Commissionboard took the time tovoice their appreciation and excitement for the vision ChairmanChris Ellington spoke on the hardword andpartnershipof all 23 fire chiefs in the county CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser thanked the chairman for the opportunity towork alongside the board and recommended the chairman to ask if there was any additional business of the board that needed tobe addressed Kendall Hocutt asked the committee if he couldpropose Chief LarryHodge as a replacement for his seat on the StaffingNeeds Compensation subcommittee ChairmanChris Ellington asked for directionon subcommittees and if these decisions had tobe decided in anopenmeeting CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser indicated for subcommittees the chairmanhas the ability tomake the decisiononbehalf of the board and that he could take under advisement anddecide whenworked for him She added that the chairman should establish and appoint the twoworkgroups to turn into subcommittees Vice Chairman BarryStanley stated that the members of the subcommittees were persons that volunteered tobe on thosePage+ boards Kendall Hocutt thought that having representation from all geographical areas of the countywas fair CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser advised that the board could table the decisionof whowould serve on subcommittees until a list of current members was provided and the board could also set a number of members JeremeyDaughtrymade a motion to approve the Cost Share subcommittee as well as the Staffing Needs Compensation subcommittee The motionwas secondedbyAlan Johnson andwas carried unanimouslyby the Fire Commission RyanParker askedwhen the draft agenda shouldbe presented CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser stated the draft agenda and supportingmaterials shouldbe presented to the boardpreferablywithin48hours before the next meeting She advisedDana Cuddington shouldbe includedon the committee and subcommittees schedules for advertisement purposes Ryan asked if Google Meet was appropriate for subcommittee meetings Ms Slusser replied that if all subcommittee members meet via Google Meet , theymust offer an invitation to the public In regards to a Public Comment section , Fire Commissioner PatrickHarris mentioned that this boarddid not have to accept public comments CountyAttorney Jennifer Slusser stated that public comments are not required , but a public comment section couldbe addedbasedon the boarddecision , its preferential that it is consistent andopen for anyperson She offered toprepare guidelines for public comments Ms Slusser alsomentioned that members of this board cannot meet andmake decisions pertaining to the Fire Commission at anyplace that is not a scheduled , advertisedFire Commissionmeeting There beingno further business , ChairmanChris Ellingtonmoved to adjourn the meeting Vice ChairmanBarryStanley seconded the motion , whichwas carriedbyunanimous vote The meeting adjourned at 4 15pm Page