Fire Chief Banner presents safety proposal to Ritzville City Council

Ritzville Fire Chief Bill Banner and Assistant Fire Chief Joel Bell requested the Ritzville City Council’s permission to purchase head sets for use on city fire calls during the meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

The headsets have multiple uses and benefits, Banner said.

The two presented an informational video to the Council explaining the variety of uses the headsets would have such as: improving communication, preventing long-term damaged hearing abilities, reduce backing incidents, push to talk radio and listen through technology.

Bell explained the headsets would make it easier for the crew to communicate with each other despite any background noise surrounding normal fire call scenes. He said it could be extremely difficult to hear instructions from crew members due to sirens and other noise, which can cause miscommunication and lead to accidents in some cases.

The headsets allow for firefighters riding in the same trucks, to communicate with each other up to 1,600 feet away.

He added the easier communication would help specifically with maneuvering the large trucks in tight spaces by being able to have the driver listen to his crewmember who is instructing him without constantly looking back and forth to his direction.

The radios allow the fire crew to contact dispatch, the sheriff’s office or the incident commander directly if needed. This would assist in faster communication during emergency situations.

Banner said the current system they have in their ladder truck is similar to the system provided with the headsets but only half of it works.

The current system is also not connected to the radio system so they have been using main radio channels to communicate.

He also explained the headsets would make communicating to a firefighter in charge of attaching hoses to hydrants a lot simpler.

Banner informed the Council he has had miscommunications to hydrant operators due to lack of hearing ability, which has resulted in hoses being charged too soon.

With the wireless headsets, the crew could turn a corner and leave the hydrant operator out of site and be able to communicate with them.

Banner presented the Council with quotes for the purchase and installation of the system in two of their trucks, the ladder truck and one engine truck.

In order to purchase all the proper equipment needed for the installation, Banner requested a payment of $8,399.75 for the ladder truck and $6,409.75 for the engine truck totaling $14,809.50.

He informed the Council about a conversation he had with Clerk/Treasurer Kris Robbins regarding the Emergency Response and Removal (ER&R) fund, which the system may qualify for.

Even though the cost may seem high, the systems would be a long-term investment, Banner said. He explained the systems would be easy to remove from the trucks and if needed, they can reinstall the radios.

“If there was one improvement I could make for our trucks, it would be this system,” said Banner.

Councilmember Dennis Chamberlain suggested the request be referred to the finance committee to discuss and decide if there is room in the 2017 budget for the system. The council came to a consensus on Chamberlain’s suggestion.

Robbins then discussed with the Council a prior request from CenturyLink for an easement area behind the Ag shop for fiber lines to be installed throughout the city allowing all CenturyLink users to have Internet Service.

At the last city council meeting on Aug. 16, the Council had denied the request because of the lack of specifics.

Robbins informed council she contacted CenturyLink and asked them to relocate the easement area to the north side of the Ag shop, which is located on a city owned parcel.

She told Council due to an existing easement on the location suggested, they would not be able to allow full ownership of the area to CenturyLink.

The Council still had concerns about the specifics of the request and suggested Robbins request CenturyLink to provide a more specific agreement, as well as a map exhibiting where the easement area would be located.

They also discussed a negotiation with the company to provide Internet to the Courthouse, which does not currently have it, as well as suggesting they pay more than the $2,000 requested for the easement area.

Mayor Gary Cook then informed Council of a request for a letter of support from the People for People organization.

People for People is a nonprofit organization who provides transportation services to the general public of Washington and the special needs population. They emphasize the importance of their services to the elderly and people with special needs in order for them to maintain independence and easy accessibility to health care services.

The letter of support would be regarding an application for a grant the organization is submitting to the Washington State Department of Transportation to sustain transportation services in Adams, Grant, and Lincoln counties. The Council approved the request.

Cook then presented the Council with a letter of support the City had received from Jim Connolly regarding the Diggs Golf Tournament, which took place the weekend of Aug. 21. In the letter, Connolly described the tournament as an, “excellent event and well attended”.

Mark Weigand from the Ritzville Golf Association informed council of the 72 players who attended the Digg’s golf tournament, 36 of them were from out of town. He added, over half of the out-of-town players stayed all three days of the tournament and the total revenue collected by the City during the event totaled around $3,000.

Police Chief Dave McCormick informed the Council of an arrest made of a suspect from Florida who had threatened the city district judge and county prosecutor about nine months ago.

The suspect returned to Ritzville around 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 5, at Love’s and began harassing people about the prior threats.

The man then called McCormick and began threatening government officials in another county. He said he received a call from the sheriff of the county notifying him the suspect had been arrested.

The Ritzville City Council meets again on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.