 | | | Mobile Training Tower Photo provided
| | | | | | At the Moraga Orinda Fire District (MOFD) Board of Directors meeting held February 15, the Board voted to extend Fire Chief Randy Bradley's Contract and accepted two FEMA grants for training, EMS, safety and communications equipment.
Chief Bradley was hired in November 2009 and his original contract extended through November of 2012. This contract extension, approved by a vote of 3 to 2, will be for 19 months. Dissenting votes came from Richard Olsen and Brook Mancinelli. When questioned later as to the reason for the negative vote, both declined to comment.
According to Board President Fred Weil, the unusual length of his contract is to align the Chief's next contract discussion with the standard budgeting process. The new contract is set to end on June 30, 2014.
"In my opinion, the Chief earned the extension," said Weil. (With regards to MOFD's budget,) There were tough decisions to make and he made them. Although he found ways to cut operating costs, he did so without reducing services." Weil went on to say Bradley is not afraid to explore new ideas and feels he communicates well with community members.
The Fire District has also been awarded two grants through FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. The first grant presented was for the purchase of equipment including a Mobile Training Tower, two CPR compression devices and seven Rad 57 Co-Oximeters, a non-invasive unit that can assess a firefighter's condition, including carbon dioxide levels in the blood system. In his staff report, Bradley stated that the total cost for this equipment would be $292,500. MOFD's matching fund requirement would be ten percent or $29,250.
The Fire District was also awarded a FEMA AFG for the purchase of portable and mobile radios to help transition into the new East Bay Regional Communication System (EBRCS). According to Bradley, many emergency service providers were using dissimilar devices and varying signals, often making it difficult to communicate between agencies. The EBRCS system, developed by the East Bay Regional Communications System Authority, features an interoperable radio communications system. The FEMA award grant will go toward the purchase of 51 portable radios and 35 mobile radios, including installation. The total cost of the radios is $464,700. MOFD's matching grant portion would equal 20 percent or $92,940, with the remainder being funded by the FEMA grant.
The Board had previously approved $244,000 to go toward the purchase of the portable and mobile radios for the EBRCS system. Now that the grants have been awarded, Bradley requested that the total matching funds required by MOFD for these two grants, $122,190, be taken from the previously budgeted funds, and the remainder be returned to the Capital Reserve fund.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA