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Chief Kapler stated, as far as equipment, he did not feel we would really have to buy anything so <br />there is no real cost involved. One issue is if one of our existing people does not pass. Chief <br />Kapler stated he is of the opinion that he would try to give that person whatever assistance <br />possible, but eventually they would have to be able to do this. <br /> <br />Mr. Schroeder inquired what "eventually" would be - three months? six months? <br /> <br />Chief Kapler did not feel you would want to make it a real short time period. <br /> <br />Boardmember Weiss mentioned 90 days. It depends on the situation. If someone has a problem <br />doing something, what if they have to do that same thing out on the scene. <br /> <br />Mr. Schroeder asked what if the person who did not pass the test is a great command officer, they <br />have been on the fire department for 19 years and this boots them off the department? <br /> <br />Chief Kapler responded that the way we are set up right now, we do not have pump operation or <br />ventilation people, etc. Who's to say what will happen in the future. Most departments out here <br />operate that way; career people will have assignments. <br /> <br />Boardmember McLaughlin stated that any one of us could be asked to do one of these operations <br />and if we cannot do that, we are endangering other people. This is a tough issue. <br /> <br />Chief Kapler felt there is value in being up front with these requirements. <br /> <br />Mr. Schroeder commented that you can make whatever rules you want for any new hires. He <br />stated he is talking about the ones already here that bought in under a different program. Maybe <br />there should be a phase in portion of the tests. However, after a period of time, the three months <br />goes away. That's a benefit to the ones here before January 1, 1997. <br /> <br />Chief Kapler asked if he should put together a draft with a clause and put a date of January 1, for <br />example, for two periods or whatever the period is. <br /> <br />Councilmember Beyer thought it would be good for each firefighter to know that each person can <br />be depended on. <br /> <br />Chief Kapler stated that the Department has talked about this several times so he will provide a <br />draft copy to this group prior to the next meeting. <br /> <br />Boardmember McLaughlin commented on a minor controversy in the Fire Department. <br /> <br />Chief Kapler stated that one person brought up the fact that most things we do as a team. It's true, <br />but in his (Kapler's) opinion, each person should be responsible to be able to do a number of tasks <br />by themselves. <br /> <br />Councilmember Beyer added that you never know who will be able to respond to a fire call either. <br /> <br />Chief Kapler was directed to draft a testing procedure. <br /> <br />Case #2: Fire Department Storm Teams <br /> <br />Fire Chief Kapler disseminated a draft of criteria relating to storm coverage. He stated that the <br />purpose of this suggestion is if we get a condition of weather that would severely hamper our <br />travel time here, our response time would be severely hampered. That would not be acceptable in <br /> <br />Fire Board/February 4, 1997 <br /> Page 2 of 6 <br /> <br /> <br />