HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-07-minutes-fire-marshal-structure-follow-up2017-03-07 MINUTES 1
COMMISSIONERS’ MINUTES
KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
COMMISSIONERS CONFERENCE ROOM
ELLENSBURG, WASHINGTON
MONDAY 3:30 P.M. MARCH 7, 2017
Board members present: Chairman Paul Jewell and Vice-Chairman
Laura Osiadacz; Commissioner Obie O’Brien.
Others: Mandy Buchholz, Deputy Clerk of the Board II; Lisa
Young, HR Director.
SPECIAL MEETING FIRE MARSHAL STRUCTURE FOLLOW UP BOCC
At 3:30 p.m. Chairman Jewell opened a Special Meeting to follow
up on the discussions during Special Meetings held Friday March
3, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Commissioner Osiadacz indicated that she was in favor of keeping
the Fire Marshal position in-house and under CDS. She stated
reasons she was in support of this option over the option of the
Fire Marshal going to Kittitas Valley Fire & Rescue (KVFR). She
said she felt the process can be streamlined and more efficient
then turning additional work load over to KVFR. She felt this
would give the citizens of Kittitas County the best product. She
also indicated that the cost for KVFR to take over the work was
a concern as well as losing any control over the County’s needs.
Commissioner O’Brien expressed concerns that KVFR won’t be able
to provide the level of service that the County expects. He also
expressed some concern for a lack of effort from KVFR. He stated
that he is supportive of combining CDS/FM. He stated that he
feels the support will be there for Mr. Hink (Interim Fire
Marshal) and it’s an advantage to the County’s citizens and he
stated that he is aware that the City & KVFR sends a lot of work
to the State Patrol and that delays turnaround time.
Chairman Jewell stated that he was in favor of keeping the Fire
Marshal in-house for now. He stated that later on it may be
beneficial to merge with KVFR but due to some of the discussions
that took place on Friday he felt that waiting was the best
option for the County’s citizens. He stated that KVFR has a good
model and he would like to keep up on changes and other mergers
that may take place but for now it’s not the right direction for
the County.
2017-03-07 MINUTES 2
Chairman Jewell was asked to implement the changes with CDS. He
stated he will meet with Dan Carlson, CDS Director and have him
meet with Mr. Hink to create strategy, new org chart, trainings,
expense and impacts, etc., and present the information at a CDS
Study Session.
The Board indicated that they were in favor of all the Building
Inspectors getting certified to do inspections to assist the
Fire Marshal. It was noted that Mr. Hink will assume the title
of Fire Marshal but salary work will need to be done by HR by
looking at Counties that are similar to Kittitas County and see
if the scale is appropriate or not. It was noted that once the
appropriate parties were notified of the change then
Commissioner Osiadacz would notify KVFR of the direction the
County is planning to go.
Commissioner Osiadacz offered to take on the Event Center
Department Head Meetings since she is losing the Fire Marshal.
She stated that understanding Commissioner O’Brien is out of
town a lot for work, if it would help him she would be happy to
do so. Chairman Jewell and Commissioner O’Brien were supportive
of the offer and Staff was directed to notify Staff immediately
of that change.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m.
KITTITAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
DEPUTY CLERK OF THE BOARD KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Mandy Buchholz Chairman, Paul Jewell