At the 7-12-12 CFPD Board meeting new Chief Steve Kovacs made his first presentation to the board. He gave a general outline of his plan of action with regards to the operations of the department stating he was curretly assessing the operation and determining where it could be more streamlined, "What we can do better and what we are doing well." He also informed the board of grants that have been written and submitted: for exhaust systems for the engines to keep the exhaust emissions from entering the bay and subsequent living quarters and offices of CPFD personnel; and a multi department grant written in conjunction with Central Fire, Altaville, Mokelumne and CFPD for breathing apparatus.
In his address he notified the board that multiple CalFire overhead teams, CalFire strike teams and Forest Service strike teams had been disbursed throughout California to fight the many wildland fires. He felt that currently the CalFire coverage for our largely SRA area was currently sufficient but that keeping abreast of the possible future manpower shortage from the state was critical.
He completed his presentation by stating, "This will be an ongoing
process. In 3 years we may still be addressing the issues. It's a
journey."
A question was posed as to whether CFPD would attempt to recoup the expense to the department for the extra personnel on duty and utilized for the BUMP V party and it was stated that at this time this was still in discussion and that there was an understanding that the county had a study session involving the public safety costs for large events and the permitting process. However, this was stated as an understanding of the events as no official documents had been presented to CFPD at the time of the board meeting.
Engineer Paramedic Joe Butler addressed the board as the lead negotiator, and announced his tentative departure from CFPD informing the board that Engineer Nick Maness would be stepping up to fill that position.
