Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2000DRAFT - NOT APPROVED 'MINUTES EMERGENCY TELEPIIONE SYSTEM BOARD July 22, t999 Members Present: Alderman Moran. alderman Rainey; John Wilkinson, Fire Chief; Max Rubin. Director ESDA and Facilities Management; Frank Kaminski. Police Chief; Dennis Nilsson, Polio Commander; Staff Present: Sgt. Curt Kuempel. Police Department; Alan Berkowsky, Fire Department; Patricia Casey Presiding Official: Alderman Moran Summary of Action: Introduction Communication Coordinator Commander Nillson introduces Perry Polinski as the communication coordinator Perry has been in our communication center for eighteen years, he's continuously upgraded himself, he has continuously learned about the systems, took time to learn about the new system that we have in place for the past four or five years. He always worked with the software and the Computer Aided Dispatch System and the upgrade of it and keeping it running for us. Alderman Rainey asked when the job was officially offered. Staff responded that the job was offered a week and a half before July I2`h. Mr. Polinski was asked if he had any comments? Perry stated that he is starting his nineteenth year in January and has seen a lot of changes and he will give the job 110% as he always has. A question was asked of Pem, "What if anything would he do to or add to the communication, software. hardware, furniture anything we might need to help you do the job better, what would you suggest? Perry replied that his predecessor did a wonderful job, off the top of my head Sgt. Schoolmaster had mentioned earlier that there's a net clock that in the past has caused a probl= in time w6c. Thrre are alx)ut a u div- different computer systems that this %vouM help kc'rp the time Constant and than when a report is taken to court or your listening to a tape and your tr}zng to get a picture of a events as then Nvere occurring at the time, it presents a huge problem when you've got different times ran three or ft:lur different systems. Outside of that 1 can't really think of anything else that we don't have: we're on the state of the an facility. Chief Kaminski and Commander Nillson added that Communication Operators are hard to keep and it was suggested that Perry be given an assistant, someone to back him up. This would allow some upward mobility in the communications center and may help encourage people to stay if there was an opportunity to move up. Alderman Rainey asked for an update of activities since the last meeting. Tim Schoolmaster gave an update of things that have been done since the last meeting • Station #1 is completely equipped and ready to go. • Upgraded and new antennas have been installed on the Northwest and Southwest Water Tower and also on the Bank building. • Y2K compliance issues have been addressed and are nearing completion • Two new TDD units have been ordered so that each workstation will have one. • Ten new MDT's which have been approved; they're being installed this week. • And we've upgraded the software on eighteen of Police and ten Fire units. • The center has been cleaned and painted_ • We're working on finishing the upgrade of the computers, including the purchasing, and staffing of course. Staff was asked about the status of Y2K. Remediation for Y2K is 95% complete. There still are a couple of computer basic issues that we thought we had covered but we started 2 early enough to get these things straighter out. We have a 1147 gallon dicscl furl generator that burns 7 gallons per hour, t\,c'rc at 50%, capacity so even. ir\\t couldn't gas fuel for 2 days the center would still be vivrational. StatT has been working together going over the Y2K issues and putting tl: a Y2K plans down. N\lc're going to publicize the: materials to the public in September alkvct�g with the City. Alderman Rainey inquired about the remaining debt service. Staff responded that the bond was issued in 1993/94 and the last payment is due in 2003/04. The annual debt service is approximately $225,000. StaiTcommented that when the 2000.'Ol Budget is presented it would include a long-term capital plan and a projection of revenues vs. expenditures. Mr. Casey gave an update on the surcharges revenues. A letter from Ameritech was presented showing our Imes have increased from 51,000 to 53,000 lines increase — good for our surcharge, bad for our costs, meaning that we have to pay a little more monthly fee. We have collected S300,000 through April of this year and 2.4 million dollars since January of 1996. EMD Legislation Chief Berkowsky reviewed the EMD legislation and the issues previously discussed. The Board was hesitant to implement EMD without full telecommunication staffing. Sergeant Kuemple stated at the last meeting that we might be getting to far ahead of ourselves by jumping both feet forward in this. It is the sense of the board that we should head in this direction but the question is when. The program to provide emergency medical dispatch training, communicators can means that they can help. v.-hen a call comes in they can help, it's not a increase in work load for the individual handling it you go on breaks, and in-house calls, and information flows so that they can do more than one task at a time during this process. There might be a heart attack victim out them, the FNID's promol if it .N-as in place would require that a person could sea} on a call ntitrti longer than they would Nvith the average 911 calls. A dispatcher may have to spend more time in certain situations an tfu phone with the caller they're only going to ice• on the phone until the emergency equipment gets there. The Fire department is generil1% on the scene in ; minutes 50 seconds. That is that we're short and %%e're already ha%ing a difficult time getting qualified people and keeping them Mr. Poliaski was asked his opinion of the situation. Mr. Polinski responded that EMD is a %vonderfW thing but if the dispatcher doesn't have time to stay on the phone because there `s only two people working and ones handling a in progress police call and the other left «ith the in progress baby choking example, while those two things are happening a fire alarm comes in which can't be ignored, then the burden is on the dispatcher to decide at that point and they are trained to prioritize everything and in a case like that the fire alarm would have to wait. Mr. Polinski was asked if Evanston has less than what is required in terms of number of people on duty during any given shift? Mr. Polinski responded that with the rotating day off pattern or someone takes a day off or calls in sick, we try to maintain the minimum of 3 if we go below that 1 feel that's unacceptable. Is it frequent when we only have two working? Yes. Out of Seven days, 21 shifts, how frequent? I would say at this moment 50-50.50% of the time we have two people working and 50% we have three. The Board viewed a video about EMD response. PBX Leeislation Tim Schoolmaster discussed the fact that PBX was mandated in June of 1999 and those PBX operators, like big companies or something would have equipment that would show a number where they were calling from and a location as to where they were. The enforcement on that matter was pushed back. and there is a new bill that is also sitting on 4 the governors desk which he is likely to sign which completely exempts hospitals aW medical facilities. Mr. Casey mentioned the fact thin last year it w;te disctmscd w-heth s the City should be pro -active or not and if they wanted to send any comntunicalion = tv,, local businesses and hospitals, and Universities reminding them that this is a Ic-gislatkv matter. Fire Radios Chief Wilkinson discussed the need for remote radio controls for the new fire station flux matter was brought up in a previous meeting, it was recommendation to see if there v%as funding left in the capital improvement plan. The Chief checked with Mr. Rubin and determined that there was not. The cost for each remote station is about S350.00 a piece, and $150.00 for installation. Alderman Rainey requested an explanation as to how the controls work. Chief Wilkinson replied that the radio can only be accessed from the watch office in the very front of the station, so if they are in other areas of the station they can hear it but are unable to respond to the call without going to the watch office, which is a delayed response, in order to knowledge the call so the dispatcher knows that they arc aware of the call. A motion was moved to purchase the remote radio controls for Eire station 41. The motion was passed by all. Wireless Leeislation Mr. Casey informed the Board of recently passed House Bill 1383 that addresses wireless 9-1-1 calls. The bill authorizes the creation of a State Wireless Enhanced 9-1-1 Board. The State Board is charged with determining the surcharge on wireless phones. The maximum surcharge the Board can authorize is S.75 per connection. The surcharge will be split in two ways, one third will go to reimburse the wireless carriers and the remaining two thirds Kill be placed in a fund for distribution to k al E =;.. -�.=Cv Telephone System Boards, governmental agencies, and the State 11olic .. Tt,3.- funds a� not guaranteed and are subject to annual ,tppropriation. \tonics will be di-�,^:l utci w tftse local authority bases on the number of wireless subscribers in rach po- �-1 zip ,�odc_ Iti tfna surcharge was established at $35 the \\ircless providens would rt-ceivr S-25 and the letra ETSB would receive S.54. However, the S.50 cents is not a guaranteed- If the State rums into financial problems it is possible that the monies could be vOthheld cT miirected by the legislature. The legislation also allows the Local Board decide if it wishes to answer wireless 9-1-1 calls. The Board is allowed to let this responsibility def „ t to the State Police. If a wireless call is made from Evanston the call would go to the State Police and then be forwarded to our dispatch center. The question is do we Kant control of the calls and can we afford the necessary equipment and possible staff increases to handle these calls. It was asked about the amount of time we have to decide. The Board has si.K months after the effective date of the legislation to inform the State if it is going to taste or refuse responsibility for wireless calls. The effective date is January 1, 2000. Questions were raised considering the amount of the surcharge vs. the amount of expenditures necessary to implement wireless communications. Mr. Casey responded that they're maybe a great deal of expense to implement a wireless system. It is unknown at this time what equipment is necessary and what the additional call volume will be. It is a real possibility that additional staff will be necessary to handle wireless 9-1-1 calls Sergeant Schoolmaster stated that the costs to receive these calls could be in the hundred thousands, no one knows. We have no idea, so we're tying into some major equipment that calls for all kinds of resources, financially unit and otherwise. It is not known what 6 the volume of calls would be; we don't know how many aunlmnics provide equipment out there or the cost of the equipment. It was stated that the Board should wait to see if the governor :sign. the legislation and then discuss our participation in the wireless response system. The Board discussed their position on House bill 1383 and then directed state to forwaal a letter to the Governor expressing its concerns and request a %vto of this legislation. Annual Conference Mr. Casey informed the Board about the annual 9-1-1 conference Decatur, IL. Those interested should contact Mr. Casey for reservation and conference information. Being no further business the Board voted to adjourn. 7 DRAFT -NOT APPROVED - NIINLh'ES- EMERGENCY TELF.PNON£ SYST01 BOARD 28 OCTOBER 1999 Members Present: Alderman Moran; Frank Kaminski, Police Chief; Max Rubin, Director ESDA and Facilities Management; Paul Finnegan, Appointed Member Staff Present: Alan Berkows"-, Fire Department; Sgt.Timothy Schoolmaster, 911 Center Perry Polinski, 911 Center Communications Coordinator (Berkowsky and Schoolmaster also appearing for absent members Fire Chief John WMdnson And Police Commander Dennis Nilsson, respectneh•, and Schoolmaster taking the minutes for Patrick Casey) Presiding Official: Alderman Moran SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS: Alderman Moran called the meeting to order at 7:31p.m. On a motion by Chief Kaminski. seconded by Chief Berkowsky, the minutes of the 22 July 1999 meeting were unanimously approved by the Board. Alderman Moran asked that the Board move to the third item on the agenda, a presentation by Northwestern University concerning their PBX (private business exchange telephone system) and PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). Appearing for Northwestern University were: Saul CHAFIN, Chief of Police. Northwestern University; Dan %,IcAlcer, Assistant Chief at NU; Sgt. Merrill SILVERMAN, Technical Services Sgt. At NU; and Holly King, NU Information Technology assigned as E911 Coordinator for this project. There followed a presentation by Northwestern, followed by some questions by Board Members and Staff. Chief Chafrn related in a letter to Chief Kaminski on October 21 ` an overview of his proposal for handling emergency calls on the NU campus, and that NU wanted to establish their o%vn PSAP, but had to have the approval of EPD to do so. I folly King spoke to technical issues -the urgency presented by the June 30ei. 2000 deadline for the Public Residential Switch :act. the behind the scenes budget necessities and expenses involving additional trunk lines and associated equipment (which may run into the high six figures); NU is seeking priman. PSAP status within the Evanston E911 System , which will require Board approval, since Northwestern University does not fit the definition of an E911 System, because technically, right now, NU should be sending all of its calls to EPD. This would require Evanston to amend its application with the Illinois Commerce Commission, which would involve public hearings, and even if the amended application were to be submitted immediately, the hearing before the ICC would probably not be held before January. Even though the June 30's, 2000 deadline looks like a long way away, ordering equipment from MOTOROLA, and designing/ordering. installation -of cinuits by A\. tl:Rl I ?C'l l (r cents-y• merged with SBC) will probably involve at least four unonths even if everything goes as planned, so if NU is to have their own PSAII they n,td:di Stan moving on it now. Al&-,-n vt Moran stated that would involve a number of issue l-m-eert the City and the I Iniversit% that would have to be resolved, what the City \\veld ha\c to do for the I ni\crsity to stake th:as happen, what perhaps would the University ha\e to do ::-ir the City, and issue, such as ti:a Iity, licensing, NU timelines, capital and infr.Lstructurc issue;: etc, so he would want to know exactly what the University wanted to do. IIoll% ling. srvaking fwnl a technical stand -..mint, said this would involve installation of trunking equipment front MOI�OROLA to their si:k which would provide the ANUALI displays, and the other necessary equipment required ember PART 725.505 (83 Illinois Administrative Code. Part -25, STANDARDS OF SERVICE APPLICABLE TO 9-1-1 EMERGENCY SYSTEMS). as \kell as the necessary UPSs, b=kup generators, etc. NU currently has a 900rnhz trunked radio system that is suitable. NU Aould have to build a database for every phone line in their system. Chief Berkowsky asked whether NU currently has an ANIIALI display for calls going to their 436 emergency number, King stated that the current system they operate shows a room number and location for studem li%ing facilities when they dial 911, but not for administrative buildings. Max Rubin inquired how the numbers were trunked-King stated that they were allocated by number series -Rubin was concerned that if NU had the 4500 series of phone numbers, that 4501 might be allocated to a private residence in Evanston, and be misdirected to NU. King stated that it was possible to screen to the ones level, and NU purchased their number series in blocks of a thousand numbers. Max Rubin inquired, if NU becomes a PSAP. %,•ill they be eligible for any of the surcharge monies? Sgt. Sitverman stated that if they %%ere granted this center, it would be all NU money, that they had no designs on City or 911 Funds for this purpose.. ,Max Rubin and Chief Berkowsky on the number of trunks NU currently has, and the number of surcharge lines currently in place. Holly King thought there were a few hundred such lines, on which they currently pay the surcharge, and expect to do so in the future. They have two trunks, currently routed inside. Chief Berkowsky asked KING about her understanding of how the application would have to be modified; she thought the only change would be if something catastrophic happened to NUPD, then Evanston would get the 911 calls. Sgt.Silverman rephrased the question for KfNG. and she then expressed the opinion that Marci Schroll at the ICC would guide the City through the changes. and pointed out the list of exhibits that would have to be modified, which were contained in a packet of documents from the ICC. Holly- King and Sgt. Silverman described NU's primary and backup system; the City would be Ni 's backup in case of failure, but ``-U could not be the City's backup, because they lack the Fire and EMS dispatch capability to be a true PSAP. Alderman MORAN raised questions of liability: If NU had to Beet the City's permission to be a PSAP, and NU does not meet the definition of a PSAP, if this were granted, would the City not bear any liability for NU calls? Holl% King stated that if NU did not become a PSAP, then the City would assume liability; if they were granted this, then the City would bear no liability, which was questioned by Alderman INIORAN. Chief Chafin asked if all of the 911 calls went to the City, and EPD had to respond to them in a timely manner, wouldn't that create liability for the City? Alderman MORAN was not sure; Sgt. Schoolmaster understood from his conversations with the ICC that the City could transfer the calls to N-U w-ith the one -button transfer, if that had been the prior agreement. Alderman MORAN expressed his concern about the possible complications for both parties, were this to be approved by the Board. Holly King asked wfiat exactl.% -was Alderman Moran lox*king for. what did hr Viva= to see? Alderman Moran said he really had not u-rn an%thing yet, and did not know whuc -%-zs in the manila folders King kept touching ohc said it %gas the law on the subject). what al` ma liability, what are we taking on. what : -c %ou gaining. is there any interface between th+: tuao systems, does this Ft with any of the c zwnt discussion_; with the City about the 1xilice department? King related that if this "-suld not be worked out, all of the calls would OX-M to City. Alderman MDRAti said he %%:L.:ed to sec• a proposal on %what N�� grants. that h4 ally has nothing to go on. Questions from the Board about the current setup at `U: Sgt. SU'venman said that one currently gets the Univmhy Police when dialing 911 from the campus sy sa=n, that he did not know how many emergence calls the% receive on the average day, but d�_y do have about 20-30 misconnect. Alderman MORAN clarified his previous statement, thaz a proposal was needed, a written document, that spells out exactly what is being proposed- There were questions from Chaffin and King about documentation requested for the application process, as well as information about the residenttalfbuslness switch distinctions. Sgt- Schoolmaster was to provide a copy of the application and other paperwork to Chief Clbafim The NU representatives left the meeting at 8:15pm. There was some discussion about the presentation between Rubin, Kaminski, Moran. Berkowsky, Schoolmaster: about how. at the previous meeting with NU, they had been asked to bring a written proposal on this topic, and had not done so, and how the issues presented this evening may have been oversimplified. Alderman NIORAN stated that after a comprehensive written proposal had been received, then an outline of issues to be resolved could be made. There followed a general discussion about backup centers, and also about alarm billing. Budget Discussion- Sgt. Schoolmaster asked the Board to consider adding a civilian assistant to the budget, who would assist Communications Coordinator Polinski in running the 911 Center. He had quickly become aware, as had Sgt. Kuempel before him, that the 911 Center supervisor was struggling to keep up with what amounted to two positions: one that dealt full-time- %kith personnel, scheduling and training issues, and the other that dealt with equipment, supplies, and contract repair/service personnel. It was estimated that this position would cost about 560.000. (including all benefits) There was a general discussion of surcharge revenues and projected budget shortfalls after 2007 (Moran, Finnegan, Rubin. Berkowsky. et. al.) Chief Berkowsky suggested that the S40,000. In account 052000 for computer replacement be broken into two segments of 520,000. each, as many of the 911 Center computers had been replaced/upgraded as part of the citywide rernediation program. There was further discussion about revenues. and funds applied by various budget categories. There were several budget figures that were not clear, and require futher clarification by staff (i.e. Pat Casey). Alderman Moran thought another meeting; would be helpful to further discuss the budget and NU issues; Max Rubin suggested November 10' at 7:30pm. Other issues on the agenda., especially the wireless 911 surcharge (a copy of H.B. 1383 and Governor Ryan's proposed changes which had sent back to the Illinois House, are a part of the packet) might also be further discussed, and Alderman Moran suggested that the Board explore contacting State Representatives and expressing Board concerns on the issues. (The Governor specificJlly questioned whether the bill permitted a %%fireless surcharge of Sa.7S per phone in addition to the S1.25 per phone already collected by the City of Chicago, And �rantcd to make sure that the public had input into determining the appropriate rate). At the last Board meeting; in lull, the Board had decided to keep itself removed from the vdreless 911 issue. due to the fact than there were too many unanswered liability and equipment cost issues. Chief Berkowsky had information available for any members «fishing to Attend the pho= number portability seminar in St. Louis. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15p.m.. tls DRAFT - NOT APPROVED I%IlNtrrFS EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM BOARD November 11, 1999 Members Present: Alderman Moran, Alderman Raincy; ,lohn Wilki7nson, Fire Chief; Max Rubin, Director £SDA and Facilities Management; Frank Kaminski, Police Chief; Dennis Nilsson, Police Commander, Staff Present: SgL Curt Kuempel, Police Department; Man Berkowsky, Fire Department; Perry Polinski, Police Department, Patrick Casey Presiding Official: Alderman Moran Summary of Action: The previous minutes of October 28, 1999 were approved. 2000/01 Proposed Budeet, H.B. 1383 Wireless Communication Surcharpe Mr. Casey discussed the updated spreadsheet. The new spreadsheet shows that we begin to budget S 100,000 for the design of a back-up center and $500,000 the next two rears for the construction of the back-up center and the third year is an additional 500,000 for dispatch software up -grade. The back-up center is something the Board has discussed in the past and has had in future expenditure plans. Mr. Casey presented another projection indicating the impact of a I.7 million -dollar bond was issued for this purpose. This would allow the fund t o remain in a positive balance until 2014. Mr. Casey thinks that we are in good shape as far as the fund balance looks, we're good until 2006, or longer than that again these are conservative estimates of funds made by Mr. Casey. Alderman Moran asked staff if there was any aspect of the budget that should be highlighted so that people can focus on it, do we have anything that looks like a bump in the road? Mr. Casey answered that the wireless issue was a biggest bump in the road, we haven't decided what we're going to do or how we're going; to approach it or if we're going to do it. Mr. Casey stated that he had communicated a letter to the Governor letting him know our objections to the H.B. 1383. Fire Chief Wilkenson indicted that he had a letter twenty or thirty Fire chiefs that are recommending its passage, It seems the Fire Chiefs believe that it is best to get something rather than nothing. H.B. 1383 caps the wireless surcharge at &. 75 with the local Telephone Board getting 2/3 of the surcharge. The Board needs to decide by June of next year, whether we're opting in or opt out. We have six months from the effective date; the legislation says January 1, 2000. A decision does not have to be made tonight but the 11olicr and Fire dcpa=ients have to be able to measure the impact of this legislation. Impact 011 the tuamhcr of CATS -Ind tNT c• of additional rcs-ponse that may be necessary. The board suggested that research tr done u.. to dt:;,- mine the data an the registrations for the wireless phones. Also suggested was to rese arvh the &,uTiside of having the State Police to relay the calls to us. Alderman Rainey raised a question concerning whether or not wt are tulle ctatli-d. StatTrt-sponded that there are still openings for Tele-communicators :and that the City is const;=tly recruiting for this position. The Police Chief suggested an additional supervisory position be added to this ycar's budget. The position won't be open for a while but that also depends in Human Resourzif they felt it is one of those positions that we had to open to the public, or whether it internal or Lhev go outside and do the advertisement, like they did with your position. fir. Casey states it's more also of long-term, what you want the position to be and do you want it to be something: for dispatchers and if you want to attract dispatchers so they have a place to go upward. It was stated by staff that = internal posting would be fine, and if nothing was found then your could go outside. Max Rubin stated the position was appropriate for that, and that it would be a big boast if you could find someone %%ith manager qualifications and they could use our board. Then the downside is that you're shorter than you were before you hired them. Commander Nilsson stated that if he had a choose he would keep it internal he also stated that lie does not want to go outside but would like to reward someone inside just as they did Perry. We lost two people to Chicago. Because of the fact that in Chicago they knew they were going in, they started at a lower salary but they knew their salary would eventually %vould be higher but they also saw there were numerous opportunities in that 911 center to go up and be promoted. That was one of the things they told us in their exit interview. A motion %as made to add this position into the budget. Motion passed. The Fire Department requested an increase of S15,000 for replacement of radios. The price of the radios are $1,000 for portables, mobiles are S2.500 right now there are a total or 10 radio 50 portables, the department would like to replace as many of possible. The Fire Department also requested that the $40,000 indicated for the purchase of personal computers be split to S20.000 in FY 2000/01 and $20,000 in 2001/02. No further issues were presented to the Budget. Budget was approved as amended. Northwestern Universitv PBXIPublic Safetv Answerine Point Mr. Casey presented the board with a letter from Northwestern University PBX. Mr. Casey showed concerns about the liability considerations The Board is the authority and any other PSAP would be under the Board's jurisdiction Mr. Casey expressed his opinion in order to make this a success that both agencies should be on the same radio frequency. This would be a great advantage to the mutual aide pacts and agreements that will need to be signed. That both agencies will act as each other's back up center. The Ciry could easily be a back up enter but the University would need to upgrade to be the City's backup center. Mr. Casey continued that a minimum would be a joint radio system, %%-e've talked for years about how inadequate our frequencies are, we've always looked to go to a paperless system, which can not happen unless one of m-o things happen. One you go \\ith alerts and they finally get things up to :speed or we go to our own high band system where we can do it ourselves. I would be afraid they would go down and we'd be responsible for dispatching sure we could throw a radio on to one dispatch consols but is that good or adequate enough to talk to their center o r all their cars and viscera, versa. I just think we have to. be careful about what we do. 1 would suggest to the board that we ask for a full functioning back-up center. Some type of connection to their radio system and some insurance or liability. Alderman Moran suggested that the Board develop a position paper that summarizes concerns regarding this issue. The University should be contacted to let them know how the Board feels and that we are willing to work with them on this and we'll try to accomplish the objectives that you have set out but we have something that we think will make it a void effort and also help our system along with their system. I feel some obligation to move fairly quietly on this, I 'm uncomfortable with the fact the University only has until June 30th, I don't want us to get to the point that they want to flip this over to us. Mr. Casey indicated that he would draft a response from the Board. 2000 meeting schedule Mr. Casey presented a meeting schedule for the 2000. Being no further business the Board voted to adjourn.