MINUTES Disaster & Fire Safety Commission Regular Meeting Wednesday, October 28, Cedar Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

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1 MINUTES Disaster & Fire Safety Commission Regular Meeting Wednesday, October 28, Cedar Street, Berkeley, CA Present: Trudy Washburn, Lynn Zummo, Roger Sharpe, John Caner, Matt Mitchell, Jesse Townley, Bruce Carleton Absent: Richard White Staff: Khin Chin, Debra Pryor, Public: Norine Smith, Jordan Hayes, Grace Smith, Michael Curry, Sabina Imrie, Adam Hardy, Sean McCarthy I. Call to Order M. Mitchell called meeting to order at 7:01 pm. II. Public Comment M. Mitchell says that Bruce Carleton has been appointed to the commission from District 3. Adam Hardy, a UC Berkeley student, said that he is working on setting up an EMS Club on campus. M. Mitchell said that since the last meeting, Alvarado Bridge group participated in the Radio Drill. He also spoke to Doris Nassiry who was interested in the drill and in how to get organized for a cache. She was hoping to come this evening but could not make it. He also went to the Vicente Neighborhood Association meeting in Oakland. There was a discussion of interference of FRS/GMRS radio communications on the same channels that Berkeley residents would be using. III. Minutes of Meeting of September 23, 2009

2 Jesse Townley arrived at 7:07pm Motion: To approve the minutes as submitted: R. Sharpe Second: T. Washburn Vote: (7 Ayes, 0 Noes, Absent: R. White ) IV. Staff Report Debra Pryor arrived at 7:10pm M. Mitchell asked Chief Pryor if she could give a report and discuss the general staff report as well as discuss items V and VI. Debra Pryor said that there was a vegetation fire at panoramic in a MRA. Oakland and Berkeley both responded. This was likely caused by a tree being removed came down on a powerline. October 20, there was a hazmat callout at Chilton and Blake. Engine 3 responded. There was a scorched area at the scene. BPD bomb squad and Toxics all responded. There were no specifics that caused additional alarm. There is a suspicion that it was a flour bomb. Private contractor removed residue. No injuries or property damage. On October 24, there was a 71 y/o cardiac save during the football game. 3 UC PD officers initiated CPR. A physician also responded. 911 was called. BFD had a quick response as we staff each football game due to limited access issues. Follow-up reports is that the patient is doing very well. October 17, the disaster cache application was released. The application period ends in January and awards are expected in March. This provides ample opportunity for

3 neighborhoods to get involved. The great shakeout drill was a statewide drill. Internally to the city, the city did a duck cover and hold drill at 10:15am on 10/15 through the all employee phone messaging system. BENS and Itrezzo EOC notification systems were tested, 1610 AM was tested, callout and emergency contact lists were updated. There have been two Assistant Chiefs hired that will both be starting this coming Monday. Sabina Imrie introduced herself. She indicated that she had 19 years of experience in the fire service with 15 years of service at Livermore Pleasanton managing the emergency medical services. In addition, she is returning to Berkeley as she was previously employed as a civilian coordinating emergency medical services in the Fire Department. John Fitch has been hired as the new Fire Marshal. He has 20 years of fire service and fire prevention experience with 12 years as firefighter, fire inspector, and arson investigator with Contra Costa County Fire District. He spent 5 years as assistant fire marshal with Vacaville and most recently as Fire Marshal for about 1 year for American Canyon. V. Great Shakeout Drill Evaluation T. Washburn said she was asked to participate in Oakland for a shakeout drill at a school. She observed the first floor of the school. School was in session. She did a hazard assessment and noted that teachers did not go under the desk as the others did.

4 After the duck cover and hold drill, there was an evacuation to an adjacent park. The overall evaluation was good. VI. Emergency Radio Communications Drill Evaluation Khin Chin provided an overview of the communications drill and the pending after action report. 26 neighborhoods participated. Overall, it was a successful drill and a lot was learned. Issues with reception and transmission, frequencies and radio end user practice were discussed. In addition, Radio 1610 AM output power and reception was described as limited. Instead of the traffic and safety message, a religious channel being picked up was mentioned by several participants. T. Washburn reported regarding the blackout in the Berkeley Hills this past Sunday. Having a landline phone that was not cordless helped in this situation. VII. Current Disaster Preparedness Literature Status M. Mitchell asked about the Disaster Preparedness Handbook and the availability of a printed version of the document. Khin Chin said that these are no longer printed but that each section is available in each specific class. Other literature is available at the fire stations. M. Mitchell asked about the general origin and status of current public education literature.

5 T. Washburn asked about literature being created as a reminder of requirements for property owners. D. Pryor said that in-house within the city printing is possible. A suggestion would be to look for opportunities to do inserts in other city mailings. J. Townley said that a Berkeley Animal Control pamphlet that is available. VIII. Current CERT and Cache Status M. Mitchell said that all but one of the classes are full. At one time there was a relatively long list of courses and the current offering is more limited. Earthquake retrofit is no longer offered. D. Pryor said that Earthquake Retrofitting is no longer offered. In addition, other departments teach some of the current CERT curriculum. M. Mitchell asked about the statistics regarding CERT classes. Khin Chin said that the city keeps statistics on number of attendees. M. Mitchell commented on the breadth of courses in the past that were held offsite. He asked about the possibility of offering classes off site. D. Pryor indicated that safety concerns were an issue as the training grounds are a controlled environment at the Fire Department Training center and also that limited resources to put on the class limited this type of offering. Bruce Carleton asked about training with the hose provided in caches. D. Pryor said that there were a variety of issues. One limitation was the availability of resources and staff. Second, the issue of storm water runoff violations is of concern.

6 IX. Utility Undergrounding and Rule 20A There were no updates on this item. X. Signage and Notification Requirements for Soft Story Buildings T. Washburn commented regarding John Caner s draft memorandum from the commission to council and said that charging for signs might discourage property owners from putting the signs up. J. Caner said that he did not feel particularly strongly regarding charging or not. M. Mitchell mentioned the memorandum from Dick White showing a photo of a collapsed soft story that Dick recommended for soft story signage. J. Townley said that he did not feel particularly strongly about the image. From his experience on the Rent Board, he believes the specifics of the signage would more than likely be worked out at the City Council level after general recommendations about content from the commissions. Legal and planning Department input would be taken into account for the specific language. In terms of installing the signs, how an inventory could be done is in question. Generally, the initial walkthrough could be hindered by signage placed in locked areas. Jesse indicated that he would provide communication regarding the progress on this topic from the Rent Board. B. Carleton asked about which city departments already make annual inspections of the properties in question. Chief Pryor indicated that the Fire Department does annual fire inspections for 3 unit or more occupancy buildings but that this is specifically a fire inspection.

7 M. Mitchell said that the requirement that disclosure before a lease is signed is important. J. Caner said that the photo requirement might be left to council for consideration. In addition, his discussion with Dan Lambert indicated that letters were not being sent out to tenants or new lessees. J. Townley said that enforcement procedures is another issue that might be left for the City Council. He said, however, that this might be a good time to send this report to Council considering. M. Mitchell said that the annual report to council would be coming up. He asked about historical report submissions to council. In addition, coordination with the Rent Board s report might be considered. Motion to create a report and submit to Council based on the memorandum drafted by John Caner with amendment of and/or charging for signs on behalf of the Commission: T. Washburn Second: J. Townley Vote: (7 Ayes, 0 Noes, 1 Absent: R. White ) XI. Annual Report to Council M. Mitchell said that this process should begin as soon as possible and commissioners should begin planning for this.

8 J. Caner left the meeting at 8:15pm. XII. East Bay Regional Park District Draft EIR M. Mitchell commented that the length of time for this the comment period was long. XIII. UC Berkeley Disaster Planning There was no update on this item. XIV. BUSD Disaster Planning There was no update on this item. XV. Seismic Building Safety Programs This was covered in item X. XVI. Disaster Planning for Pets Chabot will be hosting a disaster planning for pets program for CPR for the animals sponsored by EBRPD. XVII. Fire Safety and Disaster Preparedness in ES-R Zone There was no update on this item. XVIII. Berkeley Disaster Prep Neighborhood Network (BDPNN)

9 N. Smith provided the commission with an update on the BDPNN. is the newly activated website. There is also a Yahoo! Group that is the primary place for interactive discussion. There was an article in the Daily Planet. The next meeting is November 5, pm at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship on Cedar St. A mentoring program will be launched and more volunteers are needed. A mentoring handbook is expected to be completed by the end of January. A group purchase program is also being developed with a vendor in Oakland. A communications committee is being discussed as well as a project for the coming year. XIX. CARD Presentation, October 14, 2009 Khin Chin provided a brief description of the program that CARD provided on October 14 at the North Berkeley Senior Center. This event was sponsored by Easy Does It Emergency Services. Anna Marie Jones, the executive director of CARD, presented and there were approximately attendees. M. Mitchell said that there was a long standing issue regarding emergency power for wheelchairs. There was a suggestion that outlets be placed in a visible space where power could be turned on and off. Also, as vulnerable populations, other emergencies besides earthquakes can have disproportionate impact on disabled and senior populations. J. Townley said that historically there was a discussion about emergency generators at shelters and fire stations.

10 XX. Letter from Martin J. Alperen Regarding Measure GG M. Mitchell said that he had a conversation with Mr. Alperin. He said that Mr. Alperin was interested in making a presentation to the commission. He is critical of the City of Berkeley s operations in the Office of Emergency Services and its organization. B. Carleton asked about Mr. Alperin s premise that the position was in the wrong place. He said that the BMC indicates that the Director of Emergency Services was identified as the City Manager. Is the position some sort of a deputy? D. Pryor said that no it is not. The classification was created and approved by the Personnel Board and by Council to accomplished the goals of the Office of Emergency Services. There have been different philosophies in the past on the organizational structure of the division. B. Carleton said that the letter s implication of an agency separate from the Fire Department was not supported by the rest of the letter. M. Mitchell asked if there was any commissioners interested in having the individual make a presentation? J. Townley said that he agrees that there are differing philosophies about organizational structure on these issues. If funding was available, he would support an individual department.

11 M. Mitchell said that it is evident that budget limitations dictate some aspects of Fire Department operations and the organizational structure of the department. XXI. Future Agenda Items and Meeting Dates December 2 nd is the next meeting. B. Carleton suggested a 2010 workplan agenda item be put on the agenda. M. Mitchell indicated that the Annual Report to Council is the major work product of the commission as a recommendation to Council. M. Mitchell said that City-Wide Disaster Drill for Cache Groups could be another agenda item J. Townley Soft Story and Signage should again be placed on the agenda. L. Zummo said that there is a PhD candidate at Cal that might be a viable candidate for K. Worthington. Khin Chin said that public notice on agenda items should be clearer and more specific in order to meet the intent of the Brown Act. M. Mitchell indicated a concern about the necessary flexibility for the commission to examine and learn through discussion and through staff regarding the areas of discussion. Norine Smith said that she does not know what will be discussed at meetings based on the agendas currently posted by the commission and that the public would more

12 likely participate if more specific agenda titles provided them with an idea of what was going to be discussed by the commission. J. Caner re-entered the meeting at 8:50pm XXII. Adjourn Move to Adjourn: R. Sharpe Second: L. Zummo Vote: (7 Ayes 0 Noes, 1 Absent: R. White) Meeting Adjourned at 8:55pm

Administrative Procedure

Administrative Procedure Number: 408 Effective: Interim Supersedes: 07/28/1998 Page: 1 of 7 Subject: EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN 1.0. PURPOSE: To establish procedures for the evacuation of University buildings