CITY OF BISHOP
City Council Special Joint Meeting with the Bishop Rural Fire Protection District Board of Commissioners Minutes WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2023
6:00
P.M.
1. CALL TO ORDER – 6:00 P.M. Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Mayor Ellis called the special joint meeting of the Bishop City Council and the Bishop Rural Fire Protection District Board of Commissioners to order at 6:01 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 301 West Line Street, Bishop, California.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Ellis.
3. ROLL CALL
PRESENT:
Councilmember Kong, Councilmember Schwartz, Councilmember Muchovej, Mayor Pro Tem Garcia, Mayor Ellis, Commissioner Kunze, Commissioner Metz, Commissioner Steinwand, and Vice-Chairperson Butler ABSENT:
Chairperson Holland
ALSO PRESENT:
Deston Dishion, City Administrator
Robin Picken, City Clerk
Joe Dell, Fire Chief
Kristina Blum Justice, Fire Department Administrative Assistant
4. PUBLIC COMMENT – NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: This time is set aside to receive public comment on matters not calendared on the agenda. When recognized by the Mayor, please state your name and address for the record and please limit your comments to three minutes. Under California law the City Council is prohibited from generally discussing or taking action on items not included in the agenda; however, the City Council may briefly respond to comments or questions from members of the public. Therefore, the City Council will listen to all public comment but will not generally discuss the matter or take action on it.
Public comments were made by:
Ana Tobio, a Bishop resident, expressed her appreciation of the Bishop Fire Department personnel, and spoke in favor of discontinuing the loud fire siren "horn" in Bishop. Ana Tobio felt it would be appropriate to continue to maintain and test the siren as a back up method of communications, but should use more efficient forms of communication that are available.
No further public comments were made.
5. NEW BUSINESS
A.
A DISCUSSION ON THE BISHOP FIRE SIREN – Council and Commissioners will discuss the fire siren in Bishop.
Item 5A
Fire Chief Dell reviewed this item with the Council and the Board of Commissioners.
Public comments were made by:
Ana Tobio - see public comments received and noted above.
Jim Rossini, a Bishop resident, agreed with Ana Tobio's comments and asked for some kind of compromise. Jim Rossini agreed the siren can be used as a back up, but perhaps not at night since that is when it is most impactful.
Councilmember Muchovej asked the volunteers present at the meeting for their comments.
Bishop Fire Department Volunteer Firefighter Mandi Grisham spoke in support of continuing to use the siren and as a volunteer firefighter finds it helpful to have the siren as a back up form of communication.
Councilmember Garcia asked Scott Marcelin, who was present at the meeting, to provide his knowledge on this item and his opinion on the siren.
Scott Marcelin, a resident of Bishop, spoke in support of the siren and how he feels it is a valuable device to maintain and use to help save lives. Once you discontinue using the siren, you will not be able to turn it back on due to Environmental Protection Act (EPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements.
Lisa Davis, a resident of Bishop and the Reach Air Medical Services Clinical Manager, spoke in support of the continued use of the siren since the siren notifies her to turn on the scanner to hear what she needs to do to take care of the community in her capacity at Reach.
No further public comments were made.
After a detailed discussion by the Council and the Board, there was consensus to not discontinue the use of the siren, but to do a sound/decibel survey of the siren. The Council and the Board asked that staff report back to each of them with the results from the requested siren decibel survey, with the results from the requested Fire Department Volunteer Firefighter survey on their use and their reliability of the current fire siren and for their vote to keep or not keep the fire siren, to provide both Ana Tobio and Jim Rossini with the results of the decibel survey, and what the cost would be to lower the decibels of the current siren.
B.
A DISCUSSION ON THE BISHOP FIRE DEPARTMENT BUDGET AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS – Council and Commissioners will discuss the Bishop Fire Department Budget and Capital Improvement Projects.
Item 5B
Fire Chief Dell reviewed this item with the Council and the Board of Commissioners.
No public comments were made.
After a discussion by the Council and the Board, the Council and the Board directed staff to pursue Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the Fire Department’s upcoming major projects before the end of this fiscal year.
C.
A DISCUSSION ON EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES – Council and Commissioners will discuss Emergency Medical Services.
Item 5C
City Administrator Dishion reviewed this item with the Council and the Board of Commissioners.
Inyo County Health and Human Services Director Marilyn Mann, Inyo County Health and Human Services Deputy Director for Public Health & Prevention Anna Scott, Coast to Coast Representative Jason Villa, and Reach Air Medical Services Mike Patterson were all present at this meeting to add to the discussion on how to address Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the Bishop area with Symons Emergency Specialties, Inc. discontinuing their exclusive operating area ambulance and emergency medical services for the County of Inyo and the City of Bishop as of April 22, 2023.
Public comment was made by:
Rick Pucci, a local resident, commented that some of these issues have been happening for many years. He thanked the volunteers, the Board, and the Council for recognizing that this can be done with cooperation. Aspendell and Starlite have been an issue for years. He encouraged the two entities to declare a state of emergency, if possible, because this is an emergency. Most residents won’t even know that there is an issue until an ambulance does not show up when they need one.
No further public comments were made.
After a thorough discussion between the Council and the Board, the Council and the Board directed staff to speak to their respective attorneys to see if there was a need to declare an EMS closure emergency, and to see what the City and the District could do; Fire Department Administrative Assistant Justice was directed to communicate with the Rural Fire Protection District Board to keep them updated on the situation; and staff was directed to call another special meeting of both the Council and the Board if necessary.
D.
A DISCUSSION ON A DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF POSITION – Council and Commissioners will discuss a Deputy Fire Chief position.
Item 5D
Fire Chief Dell reviewed this item with the Council and the Board of Commissioners.
Public comments were made by:
Gabe Gamino, a local resident, spoke in support of Fire Chief Dell and having worked in partnership with the Bishop Fire Department and the quality of people working for Fire Chief Dell, he advised the Council and the Board to, “Give Joe everything he wants.” No further public comments were made.
After a brief discussion, the Council and the Board directed staff to bring the Deputy Fire Chief job description to the next City Council and Rural Fire Protection District Board meetings for approval.
6. ADJOURNMENT Monday, March 13, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Regular Meeting in the City Council Chambers.
The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:10 p.m. to the City Council Meeting scheduled for Monday, March 13, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. _______________________________________
Jim Ellis, Mayor
Attest: ______________________________
Robin Picken, City Clerk