Public Health, Safety & Environment Subcommittee - Regular Meeting

Good evening, Bloomfield. It is Wednesday, September 10th, 2025, 6 pm. This is the Public Health, Safety, and Environment Subcommittee. Thank you for joining us today. We will have uh a roll call of order first. And I see council mahan. We have myself, deputy mayor Lloyd, and hopefully we will have another subcommittee member joining us, councelor Cooper, as his schedule allows. So right now, we don't have a quorum, but I'm sure he'll be joining us shortly. In the meantime, we will proceed with the agenda. citing that at this point until we get a quorum we are unable to take any votes um or make decisions in formality. Moving on to the police department update. Welcome Deputy Chief.

Hi Dash. You have a report for us today. I do. Congratulations as well. Thank you. Thank you. be sharing the screen and uh here hopefully you can uh it comes up. Yes.

Okay. Awesome. Okay. So, our crime stats for August 2025, we had uh overall we are down 31% from this time last year and year to date we're down 27% in all. Our part one crimes were extremely uh low. We had one assault stemming from a a domestic dispute. It was a simple assault. We had one burglary which was in town which was a targeted burglary. Uh we don't exactly know the motive behind it all, but um we do have uh arrests in process uh arrest warrants and we have that one totally solved. Oh, I just lost my screen. Can you still hear me?

Yes, sir.

Oh, okay. Let's see. Not cooperating here. Uh, that was our one burglary. Larssonies were down significantly and shoplifting down in the plaza was down 41% uh which was significant. And uh so far uh our dispatch calls were lower than it was uh this time last year. and our uh arrest activities have increased. So, we're solving more crimes and making more arrests, which is obviously uh something we want to continue to focus on. Our personnel report, we still have four vacant positions that we'll be looking to hire. We are working with uh human resources with uh new oral boards coming out for more candidates. Uh we have two recruits that are in the police academy that uh are to graduate. I'm sorry you're talking but your screen isn't moving.

I'm unshare it. Can you unshare it and then reshare again? Share the screen. Share the screen. I'll redo. Okay. Thank you.

There you go. Back on track. Yep. Great. Uh we do have two uh recruits in the police academy and uh they are progressing along. They have a ways to go yet. We did have promotions in in last month in August. Uh Sergeant Adrien Liden was promoted. Captains De Mano, Clamberg, Galant, and Salvatore. And myself uh got promoted to the position of deputy chief.

Yay. Yes. Uh motor vehicle accidents uh seem to be up significantly. Uh we're trying to look into that to find what the main cause was. The the larger thoroughares kind of took the bulk of it between Cottage Grove Road and uh Blue Hills Avenue. So we will be uh working out with that and hopefully we can get our uh our grant on track which was kind of stalled a little bit because of reporting through to the state. So we haven't been spending details out there because until we got that worked out with them in finance and therefore consequence of that our motor vehicle stops seem to have been down and some of our motor vehicle details had to been curtailed because of that as well. Citizen traffic complaints. Uh we still have Maple Avenue and Burr uh for speeding. Bur road is going to be uh has the temporary signs have been put up there for the truck uh ordinance that was passed about um weighted trucks going down that uh road and uh the the hard signs will be up shortly by public works after we talk to them. Uh we are going to have the uh temporary signs moved for the uh for the food festival and then they'll be put back after the uh the food truck festival is over this week. So, uh, Brown and Mills continue to be a focus for us with 12 motor vehicle details there resulting in 15 motor vehicle stops and also Graanby and Toby is a one of our uh, focuses as always down in that area for uh, the stop sign violations. And we did have 11 motor vehicle details there resulting in 19 motor vehicle stops, but no ordinance violations were observed down there. And so no enforcement was was conducted on that side of it. Our citizen complaints, there were the two that came in in August. Both are being reviewed uh just today. One of the

complaintants withdrew their complaint because uh they mixed us up with another police department. So after we explained the uh and reviewed the uh the um camera details uh the complainer uh rescended and uh removed the complaint and there were no use of force incidents for this reporting period report from uh Captain Clberg for Bloomfield Voluntary Ambulance and Emergency Management side of things. Uh BVA attended the national night out celebration that we conducted. Um the CPR class was conducted for the staff at the ABB manufacturing on August 4th and CPR class information for the public was shared with uh BPD community services and we are looking to increase the dissemination of the fact that uh we are have classes available. The second of the three new fill-in AMR paramedics completed their BVA orientation here in Bloomfield. And also the Bloomfield Police Department bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan was updated and training had been completed by uh Captain Clownberg here at the PD. On the emergency services side of things, the Civic Plus account was created. We probably all experienced that uh the other day with the Mach training that uh took place that uh they were preparing for for the emergency response drill that was occurred uh on yesterday 99. And uh so message groups for all emergency alerts were set up and it was a test went through and it was highly successful on that side. And that's the uh report we have from the Blue Police Department for August 2025. Hey, thank you, Deputy Chief. Do we have any questions online? Any questions online?

Council Mahan, sorry, no question. But I do want to congratulate our deputy chief on his promotion and for uh the uh other members of the force that uh received promotions or earned rather promotions. Um, thank you very much for your service. I'm I'm glad to see uh you as our deputy chief. Thank you, sir. Much appreciated. I'll convey the message to the uh the other promotees. Thank you. Any questions in the room?

I do have a question. So, there was a substantial reduction in uh thefts at uh Capac. Could you detail to some extent what might have led to this reduction? Well, one of our focuses that we have tried to implement with our officers for their um I don't want to say their idle time, but if they took a call for service and um say they had to write a report with they have the capabilities of writing that in the car that they would go to the plaza comple um write the reports there to be more vigilant and more uh omniresent if you if you would on that side. And then also uh there was a significant uptick in our uh we call them uh park walking talks. So the officers stop, get out, walk the walk the plaza to step in with the uh the business owners and just check in on them. It seems as though they are uh you know reaping some benefits from that. So we hope to continue that as well as we go forward here.

Thank you.

Thank you for your question, Mr. Mayor. And I do um reiterate Council Mahan's sentiments. Thank you. I was going to recognize the promotions. Um Deputy Chief, so thank you for calling them out by name. I concur. And we're just so pleased that that you're able to have uh titles now that match the scope of what you actually do on a daily basis. It's not only important for daily recognition, but as some go on to endeavor careers after the career, it is certainly a boast to recognize and reflect the work that you guys actually do. So, I was very pleased to hear about these promotions and I congratulate you as well.

Yes, thank you. And I'll also convey that to the other remote. Thank you much.

Yes, thank you so much. And I'm also happy to hear that the park walk and talk and albeit a little bit uncomfortable having been in the same seat as your current officers a little uncomfortable sometimes to do your report in the car. Uh the park walk and talk is very effective that that old school community outreach. Um we don't necessarily have beats to walk like Harford but it certainly is really effective in making connections with not only the residents who are shopping but the business owners and to take that opportunity to sit spend a little time reports or not is absolutely creating an omniresence that will stave off sometimes criminal activity. So thank you so much for those continued efforts. Any other questions? Okay, moving on to the fire department. Center fire update. Deputy Chief Malone.

Good evening everyone. Uh Bloomfield Center Fire Department responded to 40 incidents including fire suppression, fire alarms, motor vehicle hazard material responses, and community safety activities. Our continued focus has been rapid response, effective incident management, and public safety education. For incident summary, there was a one authorized burn. We had two calls for fire suppression, motor vehicle accidents were seven, service calls were four, false alarms were 17, and the mutual aid calls were two, hazardous conditions were nine. for uh the we responded to the town of Simsbury for a multifamily building structure fire and also to Blue Hills for a fire inside of a building. For training and drills, we attended a tanker shuttle drill with the town of Simsbury Monday evening and Saturday. We did a cold water rescue training at the town pool. It was a victim rescue strategy such as reaching, throwing or using watercraft emphasizing on self-awareness and teamwork. Also did a radio communication training involving hands-on drills that simulate the noise, high stress in fireground environments to provide to improve, excuse me, improve practical skills. also did a uh SCBA drill which is the air park training involves hands-on practice to ensure firefighters can use maintain and escape entanglement in their SCBAs for public education. Attended the national night out with the Bloomfield PD participated in a parade in the town of Winstead. We attended a car show at

Dudleytown Brewery to benefit Tunnels to Towers Foundation. and for maintenance and equipment completed our regular apparatus inspection and preventive maintenance and did a third-party inspection and testing of all fire hose for NFPA 1962 and OSHA and that's it. Awesome. Thank you for your report. Are there any questions online? Any questions or comments online? Any questions or comments within the room? Yes. Yes, sir. Mayor Harrison,

how often uh does the fire department participate in uh assisting other towns?

So, it's whenever they need us. So, the town Simsbury for that instance, it was a large facility. Um they needed manpower apparatus. So they we have mutual mutual aid agreements between Simsbury, ourselves, the Blue Hills, Windsor, and uh East Grandandy. So if there's a situation where they need help for each other's mutual aid. So if we're in a tight spot, we need hands-on, Blue Hills is assisting, we'll bring other towns in as well to assist or just to cover the town while we're fighting a fire or whatever it may be. So, and how often would you say that person?

It's it varies. Probably once a month. Twice in a month is pretty out of the ordinary. Yeah. But yeah, I think once twice a month. Thank you. Yes, sir. Any other questions? Okay, thank you for your report. Moving on to Blue Hills Fire District, Chief Jones.

Okay. Um, for the month of August, the Blue Hills Fire Department responded to 39 incidents. Uh, there were no major incidents uh in the district during that period. We did go over the command aircraft for a small electrical related explosion. the fire marshall's office uh was on site to investigate the cause. Most of the other cause for the month were motor vehicle accidents with minor injuries and or fluids, activated fire alarms due to malfunctions or unintentional activations uh mainly due to cooking and things like that. Uh and uh incidents involving natural gas. Uh the fire department was dispatched to five dual responses andor mutual aid caused Bloomfield Center fire uh that included there was a structure fire at the swimming club on Duncaster Road. Bloomfield's firewad 4 was uh requested to stand by in South Wind fire while they battle a structure fire. Our roster of new applicants continue to grow for the month. at least uh three candidates showed interest in joining the department and currently undergoing the process. For uh Monday night training for the month of August uh August 4th, we conducted a walkthrough at Seabberry. August 11th, we conducted a walkthrough at Trader Joe's. August 18th, we conducted a walkthrough at Pepperage Farms. We concluded we conduct walkthroughs of buildings for both pre-inccident planning and fire safety inspections. These site visits gather crucial information to help us respond effectively during emergency and proactively

identify and fix potential hazards to uh prevent fires from happening. And uh it also to map the locations of the exits uh stairwells and barriers. Mhm.

Uh you know block gates, entryways. We also check the location and functionality of the fire suppression alarm systems such as sprinklers and stand pipes. um community outreach for August. August 5th, we participated in the Bloomfield Police Department National Night Out Event. August 7th, we conducted a fire extinguisher training at FMI Chemicals on uh Ford Northwood Drive. August 15th, we visited the Inquiring Minds Learning Academy daycare. Uh the children were excited to see the fire truck and we gave out the hats and pulling books. August 16th, we participated in the Greater Wesling Church Health Fair. August 17th, we participated in Rohead Ro Church International Day event. Upcoming community outreach, we do have planned the mass casualty incident drill which be will be Saturday, October 4th. the Blue Hills Fire Department in participation with Bloomfield Center Fire, Blueville Ambulance, Bloomfield Police, Public Works, Windsor Ambulance, East Windsor Ambulance, Lifesar, uh AMR Ambulance, St. Francis Hospital in North Central Semin'll be conducting the mass casualty drill scenarios. These scenarios will help uh emergency responders practice critical skills like triage, treatment, and communication in a simulated uh MCI controlled environment. The event is uh open to the public. It will be

Saturday, October 4th at uh 10:00, rain or shine. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Chief. Are there any questions online?

Any questions online? Any questions in the room? Any questions in the room?

I'm just gonna follow up earlier questions fire. Uh, so I I just wanted to to inform or let our residents know that our fire departments work cooperatively with our surrounding towns and that's probably something that a lot of people don't know that we all each other. That was my inquiry. Uh, you know, Deputy Chief Simone and I see that Blue Hills does the same. What other towns that that your department says? Well, mainly the towns that uh like Windsor, Bloomfield, we go to East Rambi, South Windsor. Well, whoever really requests us, we we'll be more than happy to uh to go. And that's pretty much a universal thing with all fire department. Whoever

whoever needs assistance will call people from various towns like I think that's a statewide Bangor all over the country. just that's what we do. We everyone helps everyone. We're just not just committed to Bloomfield, right? That's our to back up the chief. That's our priority. So if there's something that we're going out to another town, but something happens in Bloomfield, we're turning around and coming back. Yeah. Well, we're making sure that our residents are overseeing that. So

yeah, that's all over. Yeah. I mean, every Hartford does it. Yeah, everyone does it. It's It'd be impossible to try to staff the amount of firefighters you would need. Exactly. Yeah. Any other questions in the room? Okay, moving on to the EMS report. We have L Bloomfeld, the chair. And I do Hi, good evening. Do you want me to address this after your report out? Um, it could be after my report or when you get to the minutes.

Yes, sir. I will just read it out for you um after your report. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Um and good evening all. Uh the September EMS committee meeting uh had to be rescheduled to the 29th. So we have no report uh specifically on any activity. At that meeting, the committee will discuss possible recommendations for changes to the incentives paid to volunteers to EMTs. Um hopefully by the next uh meeting of this group I will have something to report and that's about it for this month. Okay. Thank you for your report out. Are there any questions online? Any questions online? Any questions in the room? Mr. Mayor? No. No.

No. Okay. Council Han. Yeah. Sorry. I do actually have a question that just came to mind. Um I I know we've been discussing this whole change in uh the incentives over the last couple months, I believe, or last few months now. Um I And you're going to be having a conversation soon. Is I was like, can you guys hear me? Okay. Yes. Yes.

Okay, good. Um is there uh what are you what are you thinking so far for change incentive or or do you not wish to reveal that now? I I I think the answer to that is that uh what I've been reporting for the last few months is that we're looking into some ideas uh to see if there should be changes in incentives um as a result of the um finance director's determination that 1099s had to be filed and thus the possibility that some of those who receive incentives will have to pay taxes on some of them. Um the notion is that that for those people would reduce how much they're getting. In fact, and the question is whether something should be done about that. In terms of any discussions so far, uh there have been no meetings, so we've had no discussions. And I really can't report on where we might be heading because I don't know where we might be heading. That good, Council Mahan?

Yes. Thank you very much.

Okay. Thank you. And Council Mahan, you asked kind of part of a question I was going to ask. I wasn't going to ask about um specifics, but to say that yeah, I know this has been discussed and has been of concern for a while because historically there were there are no taxes taken off of this incentive. And for our volunteers, our fire, as well as our EMS, I do greatly appreciate the work that you do. And so I understand that the change can be a bit of a concern when you're deincentivized, when you hear you have to have taxes taken out of it. But I do trust and and as well, I'm sure you guys do as well, that our finance department, if they have um discovered that there needs to be taxes taken out under certain conditions, that they can back it up in writing with some policy, state or federal standard. And that I also feel confident that the town will be working with you guys to come up with an immutable solution so that at a minimum our volunteers can have some incentive cuz realistically you know unless they're a paid department fire or EMS ambulance there's no way to really compensate you guys for the hours and the training and the time that you put in. So, I do thank you for that and I understand this is an ongoing conversation and I look forward to it. Councelor Mahan, follow up.

Yes. Uh, thank you very much, Deputy Mayor. Um, that that's kind of been my concern. I'm you I'm worried about of course folks losing ground with the with the incentive that they would receive because as you said there's no way for us to of course completely compensate but then to of course with that that reduction in um in the incentives. It it is something that has concerned me a bit but I'm sure I'm sure we'll we'll figure out a uh a solution where folks can uh come out of it whole. It it will be a bit Well, who knows? I'm not going to speculate, but I'm looking forward to see what that looks like.

Agreed. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay. Um, moving on. We were looking for the chair, Paula Jones, CEC. I know that um she has been tied up in some competing priorities, but if I go through my packet here, uh there is a bit of information that I'd like to share on their behalf. Um the first thing is that on September 21st, 2025, we have a Connecticut Sun Day Festival. And that's where uh they are coming together with communities from across Connecticut as we celebrate the unstoppable rise of clean renewable energy. We know that the environment is the the central driving force for CEC. And so we wanted to be sure and announce that event. It's at Central Connecticut State University, 1615 Stanley Street in New Britain. What to expect, tableabling from clean energy organizations, kids activities, space painting, which is always a fan favorite, electric vehicle demonstration, prizes, and more, guest speakers, music, magic shows, and as well voices from our retired Connecticut legislators, and the unstopped potential of the citizen voice. So, please do look for this event if you're interested. Sunday, September 21st, 2025. Thank you, Miss Rogers, for sharing. And if I can get my hands on their report, I will in brief summarize. They did not meet in August. The next meeting is September 11th from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Hybrid meeting, conference room 5 in the town hall held via Zoom. There's a fall shred day on November

8th, 9 to noon. Small electronics will also be available. Location will be in the Bloomfield High School parking lot. Remember, the Bloomfield High School parking lot is the changed location as it was this past spring. Um, we announced the Sunday and Miss Guardiac is working on the town on a drop in event at the town hall parking lot on Saturday, September 20th from 10 to noon where people can talk to fellow residents about their experiences with solar panels and electric vehicles. Um, and that will probably a very a very robust conversation from a number of angles. Um, the statewide Sunday event again September 21st at Central Connecticut State University. you have seen the flyer and if you have any other questions you can reach out to the conservation energy and environment committee chair Paula Jones and I do thank you for your report. Moving on we have a report from Amy Krauss the director of the West Robert Bloomfield Health Department. Amy, are you on?

Yep. Good evening.

Hello. So, the health district um has we started scheduling our flu vaccination sites uh probably in August. Um, we've actually already started administering some flu shots. Um, and we're going to be offering the seasonal flu, also highdosese vaccine, um, as well as the co na, uh, co 19 vaccinations this fall. And you can call our office to make an appointment. Um, or again, I'm going to be sending out a flyer with a list of all the dates and locations um, that we have scheduled. Again, you can check our social media page and the health district's website. um recent community outreach events um ongoing. We've continued to provide information at the Bloomfield Food Pantry um every other week just uh just again putting out re resource materials. Um we've been getting great feedback on that location. Um again ongoing we were also providing weekly nursing services at the senior center every Tuesday. Um on August 4th we held a youth mental health workshop at the Bloomfield Youth Services. In August 13th, we did a storytime tableabling at the McMahon Weintenberry Library um with resources shared with families as well. August 21st, we did a healthy living education workshop um hosted by again CHC at the library. August 28th, um we did our overdose kit distribution um at the Sicko gas station on Blue Hills A and Cottage Grove Road. Um some upcoming events that we have, again I've always talked about the sugar rush education program at the senior center that's being held um or was was held today. Um on September 12th, we're doing a drop in Nlloxxone training outside of Isaac's Bagels on Mountain A. And September 16th, we're also having our senior expo at the senior center again um offering again the flu and COVID vaccines and resource distribution materials. Um and

that's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. That is great information. Um I'll start with any questions online. Any questions online? Any questions in the room? Okay. Um I did want to say thank you for that report most in particularly um where you mentioned on August 28th there was an overdose kit and resource distribution at the Siko on Blue Hills. Um, I'd actually received um questions to whether those kits can be distributed to the the general public as opposed to in training with the police department or fire department. And so, you did answer that question for the public and we'll be sure to let them know ongoing if you have those dates coming up. We will be sure to share that on the Bloomfield website. I think that's really important because unfortunately we do know people who are having struggles with those issues and their families are really, really concerned. So to have done that and made a public distribution is great. And you also mentioned that there's a drop in Nlloxxone training outside of B uh Isaac's Babel Bagel on September 12th. Um is is really really good news um to meet the the needs of the public cuz they have been asking. So thank you for that. Um last call for any questions. Okay. Well, thank you so much Director Krauss for your report. greatly appreciated the work that you're doing in town as well. Are there any other public safety concerns online? Council Mahan in the room. Mayor Harrington question.

Yes, sir. I'm not sure if this is something that could be discussed now. There was an incident earlier today at Bl High School. Depends on how you receive the information and if it's under current investigation. I hadn't received it yet or haven't read it yet, so I'm not sure. It seems a bit fresh. Uh Chief, have you any We did put out a press release on it.

Yes, sir. But it is does involve uh juveniles. So a limited uh amount of information is still being investigated as we speak to say the truth. Um so we'll probably put out an updated um once we can uh press release if we get any more news. However, um you know, there was an incident and um we were notified by Hartford PD who came across the uh the victim of the incident over by uh Mount Si and they had transported the individual St. Francis and we had uh responded to St. Francis and started an investigation that the incident didn't occur uh over on River here in Bloomfield. So we did some preliminary investigation on it. The uh status of the victim was admitted to the hospital with non-life-threatening um puncture wounds and they were superficial according to hospital personnel but the individual is being kept um overnight as precaution and uh right now the detective division and the investigating officers are are working it. And so, um, you know, we are asking if the public has any, uh, information they'd like to to, uh, send to us, we'll gladly take it in further investigation. However, we're still actively pursuing right now.

Thank you, Deputy Chief. We appreciate that update. Thank you for your question, Mr. Mayor. Um, any other public safety concerns? Okay, we open the floor to public comments. Any public comments online? Any public comments in the room? I just want to know that council Cooper is um on the line under attendees. Okay. Is there a way to make him a panelist? Thank you. And Council Cooper, stand by. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Welcome. Welcome. Thank you, Council Cooper. Okay. So, thank you for having joined us. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you sooner. Um I didn't know earlier that you would be joining us. So, um now as a panelist, I can see you. So, hopefully you caught most of that. I'm sure you did. Um and so now having no public comments in the room, we'll move on to approval of the minutes for July 9th, 2025 and August 13th, 2025. And I will start with uh a correction that was recommended um from the EMS chair and wanted it noted that the summary of the July report is not correct. However, it would be better stated to say the EMS committee has not met since our last meeting, but we do have members looking into possible modifications to the incentives for volunteers that would address the finance director's decision to issue 1099s that could result in reduced payment to the volunteers. And that ends the correction. And so with that, do we have an approval of the minutes for July 9th, 2025?

Some moved. Second. Thank you. All in favor say I. I. I. Thank you. And with that amendment, can we take or have a motion for the August 13th, 2025 votes uh minutes acceptance? It's all moved. Second. Thank you both. All in favor say I. I. I. I. Abstensions. Okay. Well, motion carries on both. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? So moved.