I would like to call this meeting to order, a special ordinance committee meeting on Monday, December 22nd at 550 PM.

Clerk, can you please take a roll?

Council Vice President Heroyan.

Present.

Council Banano.

Present.

Councilman Graziano.

Present.

Council President Wall.

Here.

At this time I would like to open up the public comment section.

Is there anyone in chambers that would like to speak on documented items only?

Seeing none in chambers.

Tom, is there anyone online?

There is no public comment online.

At this time I'd like to close public comment, moving on to new matters before the committee.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Any discussion.

Mr.

Director, thank you for coming.

If you would like to speak on this.

We've discussed it before in prior um public meetings.

But uh at least a verbal agreement, whereas on a voluntary basis for the day daytime shift, that that rescue unit uh uh out of um uh station three would be staffed uh you know to be able to respond in essence as a fifth rescue.

So it's a a part-time uh uh it was a uh yeah a part part-time rescue in terms of shifts uh staffed with us with saying volunteers, we're staffed purely on overtime.

And uh in a minute, uh Chief uh Green's gonna come up and uh give I think a pretty compelling argument over some statistics uh um regarding uh the number of rescue calls and and uh and other valuable information.

Uh it's not an easy decision, frankly.

Uh you know, that this was made.

It's been it's been taking eight years.

It came to a head uh during our last firefighter negotiation.

Uh that was uh ratified and in effective July first this prior year.

Um the uh fire administration, the firefighters uh made a pretty compelling argument to let's make a decision on this and and uh and give it an all-out effort to make a decision to you know do it or don't do it.

And uh we had established a uh an agreement of uh October 1st to come to that to agreement on that.

Yes or no.

Uh uh in October, I believe we came forward and said that we had such an agreement.

We outlined that the mayor will support and and uh present to the council uh a full-time fully staffed rescue five round the clock um by adding eight incremental permanent head counts to the firefighters roster.

Um that's what we hear this evening about.

Uh so uh this evening the ordinance that you have in front of you uh changes the head head count complement per rank uh in the in the department leading.

That's one of the the most uh one of the most important documents or approvals uh required to do so by this uh uh not required to do so by the council, but required to enable this uh rescue to come into effect if the council approves that this evening.

And uh so that's what's presented to you.

Uh it comes it comes in multi-parts.

Um uh uh complementing uh or augmenting this uh ordinance is another ordinance or two actually that's been introduced at the last council meeting that's gonna be uh discussed, I believe, uh in the first week in January to this council.

Um is the actual ordinance that's going to modify or proposing to modify the current year fiscal budget uh in order to bring you know to bring that rescue on before the next fiscal year.

Uh that's already been introduced and to be discussed uh and I forget if it's finance or ordinance, but the first week in uh in uh in uh January.

Um along with that, uh there's actually to fund that, and we'll talk a little bit more about funding.

There's a sister ordinance uh uh that to provide for that funding uh for the sale of a property that's owned by the city of Cranston to pay for that for this fiscal year.

Uh, you'll see that.

Uh this evening, along with that ordinance that we just I discussed a moment ago.

There's a fiscal note prepared by the finance director to show how that would be paid for.

I'll focus on uh the for the house can be paid for for this fiscal year.

I'll discuss that in a moment.

And then the other document is uh an MOA memorandum of agreement uh to be executed between the administration and the uh firefighters uh to propose to this council to be introduced uh very soon uh uh to be to be heard and and reviewed by you folks uh early January.

And that is actually, in essence, it's if you cut through it, it's really either an amendment of the contract or the MOA, which is really an adjunct of the contract.

There's a lot of paperwork, a few moving parts, but that's kind of the process.

Um, but this evening it's is the it's the vote to uh increase the permanent uh staffing uh of the firefighters.

That's what that's what it's about.

Um as I said, Chief Green would be here in a moment to explain, uh explain I'll say a lot of the numbers, a lot of the very impressive will be some statistics about when rescue four, the most prior uh full-time rescue was approved and implemented, what uh status of rescue calls at that point in time and how that's changed over the years.

And I think that's the one that kind of pulled it over the top.

In addition to a personal story that the chief had shared with us, uh, basically saying if we didn't have this rescue five, uh certain people's lives wouldn't, they wouldn't be here today.

And I think given those two very compelling reasons along with several others, that's uh that got the mayor's air to want to sponsor this wholeheartedly.