INTER-NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
Making Better Neighborhoods
Minutes of Meeting
of July 24th, 2001
MEMBERS PRESENT
Cheryl Sweeney Northgate Park NA
Dewey Davis Latta Road NA
Dierdre Shipman Old West Durham NA
R. Gaye Weaver Old West Durham NA
Johnea Kelley Duke Park NA
Shela Wilson Parkside NA
Lynwood D. Best City of Durham Housing & Comm. Dev.
Pressley Lorbacher Oak Grove
Dale Stouch Placid Valley
Chief Otis Cooper City of Durham Fire Department
Karen Hassall Northgate Park NA
Erick Larson City Council, Tuscaloosa/Lakewood NA
John Dagenhart Trinity Park NA
Julie Ann Kase Rockwood NA
Rob Larson Grove Park NA
Pat Carstensen Cross Country NA
Mike Shiflett Watts/Hillandale NA
Pat Stubbing Lakewood NA
The meeting was called to order at 7:10PM. Each member present introduced his or herself with a brief background of where they came from and why they were here.
The June meeting minutes were approved as written.
Chief Otis Cooper of the Durham Fire Department began his program with a PowerPoint show indicating the location of all 13 fire stations currently operational in Durham and also the 2 sites planned for stations in the near future. The department’s goal is a 4-minute maximum arrival time anywhere in Durham. The determination criteria for possible new station locations is:
Travel time
Square miles covered
Population
Special hazards
Response request history
Availability of property for a station.
The emergency response units currently within the department are the EMT’s which are certified to D Level, which includes the use of difibulators, and the EMS’s certified to EMTT that serve as intermediate assistance providers.
Chief Cooper pointed out that personal time constraints have reduced the number of volunteer fire fighters and that better compensation is necessary to fill work positions now. He also explained how fire stations vary in equipment needs based on conditions in the given area. Natural terrain and the built environment will influence what equipment will actually be supplied to a given station. (FYI-stations #1 & #2 still have fire poles.)
The chief noted that station #15 for the Treyburn area will not be needed until the developed areas have aged and require more protection.
The fire department has three major divisions; Operations, Training, and Prevention.
OSHA in North Carolina does not have a standard for fire fighters however the NFPA
has made recommendations for minimal staffing. Please note that these are recom-mendations, not requirements. As an example, pumpers have a minimum of 3 personnel whereas the NFPA standard would request 4, 5 or 6 depending on the hazards.
Firefighters are trained to handle hazardous materials
spills. A Hazardous Materials Team is
located here in Durham. The fire
department prefers that they be alerted in any situation involving hazardous
materials rather than having citizens attempt to deal with the emergency
themselves.
The Adequate Public Facilities Task Force is still working on financial solutions.
Mike suggested that the August meeting of INC feature information on the upcoming Bond issues.
Mike announced that volunteers are needed to fill various Board and Commission positions. Anyone interested should go to the City’s Website for complete listings.
A discussion about whether INC should endorse TTA’s project culminated with a motion to formally recognize TTA’s research efforts on public transit and their total commitment to providing the best system possible. We also would declare our support of Phase 1, the current positions of rail stations and their proposal to build a double track. The motion, made by Dierdre Shipman and seconded by Shela Wilson passed.
In other business, John Dagenhart agreed to lead the nominations committee and is looking for volunteers to assist him.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:20PM.