Official blog of the Orland Fire Protection District President & Board reflecting news, information, clarifications to news media stories and links.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
OFPD Chief Ken Brucki responds to inaccurate news report on District Pension Funds
Orland Fire Prevention District Chief Ken Brucki responds to an inaccurate story which suggested recently that the District had failed to provide information to the Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas on the district's Pension Fund. In fact, the district provided the correct information but the county system isn't built to accommodate pension fund data that is "fully funded." The OFPD Pension Fund is fully funded at 101 percent. It is one of the best maintained pension funds in the MidWest. Very few pension funds can claim to be fully funded and to have a cash reserve on hand. Over the past four years, the district has consolidated expenditures, eliminated wasteful spending and held the OFPD budget to under $30 million for the past few years, only slightly growing this past year. The District's Budget management has saved taxpayers more than $5 million over the past four years by holding the line ons pending and eliminating waste. One of the jewels of the OFPD budget management is the maintenance of the Pension Fund which is one of the best in the MidWest and possibly the country. In this video, Brucki also discusses the impact of the severe weather on the fire department.
Friday, December 20, 2013
OFPD pushes use of AEDs in retail and public locations at Rotary Club speech
OFPD pushes use of AEDs in retail and public locations at Rotary Club speech
On December 19, 2013 the Orland Park Rotary Club hosted an
Orland Fire Protection District presentation on Community CARE at Silver Lakes
Country Club. Approximately 30 members
of the Rotary Club were present to hear Battalion Chief Raymond Kay speak about
the districts program to save lives.
Community CARE is a program geared toward saving victims of Sudden
Cardiac Arrest (SCA).
Early CPR and use of an Automated External Defibrillator
(AED) are the key public components of the Community CARE program. State laws like the Colleen O'Sullivan Law,
which requires all indoor physical fitness facilities operated by any local
government to have an AED on premises, is complimentary with the Community CARE
program.
The program detailed how nearly 1,000 people each day in the
country experience SCA. While the
national average rate to save SCA victims is approximately 10%, the average
save rate in the Orland Fire District is approximately 46%.
The rate in the district is due in great part
to early CPR and AED use. Members also
had the opportunity to watch a CPR demonstration and to try CPR for themselves.
The Community CARE program is driven to work with community
service groups like the Rotary Club, and retail establishments, in order to share the message about SCA,
AEDs and how to sign up for FREE CPR classes.
To learn more about Community CARE go to the website at: www.Orlandfire.org
Pictured above is (left to right): Battalion Chief Kay of
the Orland Fire Protection District and John A. Bibeau, President of the Orland
Park Rotary Club
Monday, November 18, 2013
OFPD Board of Trustees announces new union contract that offers taxpayers significant longterm savings
OFPD announces new contract with
firefighters that cuts costs and reduces expenditures
Orland Fire Protection
District — The Orland Fire Protection District is proud to announce
the renewal of its contract with the firefighters union, holding the line on
pay raises to under 3 percent each year over the next three years and
significantly reducing longterm costs.
The new three-year contract, which
takes affect immediately, projects a reduction of ranking officers through
attrition and their replacement by firefighters, and savings in healthcare,
overtime and tougher requirements for drug testing and safety.
Members of the Orland Fire Protection
Board said the new contract, which does not require board action because it was
agreed to as a result of binding arbitration, would increase the number of
lower-paid firefighters by reducing the number of higher paid ranking officers
including lieutenants and engineers.
“This single change could save the
taxpayers as much as $1 million a year by putting more firefighters on the
force and less higher paid officers,” explained Orland Fire Trustee Chris Evoy,
who noted the change will come through attrition over the life of the contract.
The number of fire lieutenants, for example, will be reduced from 33 to 24, a
savings of about $300,000 a year when fully implemented.
Additional savings will come by
shifting the responsibility for overtime to senior management, a move OFPD
Trustees said they hope will cut overtime expenditures by 50 percent.
“We want to thank the union
leadership and negotiating team from Local 2754 for agreeing to these terms
that will help ease the pressure on the budget and help the district achieve
its goals of reigning in excessive spending,” Evoy added.
“The new contract will help the
district save money and reduce expenditures by allowing a tougher management of
overtime, shifting responsibility to battalion chiefs to better plan personnel
schedules.”
In the past overtime needs were often
slotted using higher paid ranking firefighters in ranking positions. Under the
new plan, lower paid firefighters will get the majority of the overtime
assignments when needed.
“We anticipate that this will be a
very large savings to the taxpayers,” Evoy said congratulating his colleagues
on the board including President Jim Hickey, and Trustees Blair Rhode, John
Brudnak and Jayne Schirmacher.
Other concessions include requiring
union members to increase their contributions, through payroll deductions, for
healthcare benefits, and to adhere to a tougher and more stringent Drug Policy,
lowering the tolerance level from .08 (which is the highest in the state) to
.02 (which is the lowest in the state).
Employee contributions will increase
from 7 percent to 9 percent in 2014 and 11 percent in 2015. And, he said, Kelly
Days (other paid leave days) will be required to be scheduled and will not be
permitted to be converted to sick days when not used.
“We think this reflects the best
interests of the residents and the taxpayers,” Rhode said. “I know the board
would like to express their gratitude to the leadership of the Local 2754 Union
for their support in helping to achieve the district’s budget goals.”
Hickey added, “The mandate of
the new board has been to maintain services while reducing the burden on
taxpayers and I and the board have been working hard to balance both. We have
saved many millions of dollars over the past few years that had we not acted,
costs would have skyrocketed. This new contract is very favorable to the
taxpayers and we’re proud that it achieves so much with their interests in
mind."
The contract went to binding
arbitration as a result of the union rejecting board offers. The arbitrator’s
decision is final and does not need to be ratified by the board of trustees,
Evoy explained. The contract is retroactive through Jan. 1, 2013.
# # #
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Statement from Orland Fire Protection District Fire Chief Ken Brucki
Statement from Orland
Fire Protection District Fire Chief Ken Brucki
Power lines, trees
down but no structural damage reported in Orland Park
“Our community of Orland Park was very fortunate. We skirted
the major brunt of the storm. It was headed towards us but turned to the east
before creating damage to our community. As of now, we are not seeing much
damage. We are investigating wires down, trees down and power outages on 143rd
Street between Wolf and West Avenue … but we have not received any reports to
the OFPD of damage to any structures.
“As a precaution, we were extremely prepared for this storm
and tracked this for quite some time, called in additional dispatchers to
handle a potential increase in calls from residents. We put up our backup
dispatch center just in case there was an interruption of our communications so
we could switch to our backup centers to keep our communications.
“We also went into ‘Storm Mode in our dispatch center to put
all of our equipment, vehicles and personnel on ready and radio communications
so our notification is instant. It puts all of our on-duty personnel on an immediate
notice in the event of putting out a call.
“Assistance has not been requested from the other
communities around us but are ready if there is a need.
“Our technical rescue teams are on standby and we are prepared
to respond if we receive a call for assistance.”
end
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Illinois American Water Distributes $1000 to Orland Fire Protection District
Illinois American Water Distributes $1000 to
Orland Fire Protection District
Woodridge, Ill. (October 28, 2013) – The Orland Fire Protection District will be able to purchase additional fire
equipment thanks to a grant by Illinois American Water (IAW). The IAW 2013 Firefighter Grant Program
provides financial assistance to fire and emergency organizations serving
communities in its service areas. Chief Ken Brucki recently accepted a check for
$1000 that will be used to design a training prop that will replicate all
different water delivery methods that fire personnel encounter in real
situations.
Approximately $72,975 will be
awarded to 75 fire departments through Illinois American Water’s 2013
Firefighter Grant Program. The program was created in 2010 to
provide financial assistance to fire and emergency organizations serving
customers in Illinois American Water’s service area. Since creation, the program has resulted in
over 220 grants totaling over $245,000 awarded across the state.
“We are committed to
supporting our local fire departments,” said Karla Olson Teasley, president of
Illinois American Water. “This program
enables us to further support fire protection in the communities we serve and
partner with our local fire fighters.”
Grants of up to $1,500 are awarded to cover
the costs associated with the following:
·
Personal
protective gear
·
Communications
equipment
·
Firefighting
tools
·
Water
handling equipment
·
Training
and related activities/materials used to support community fire protection
·
Reimbursement
for specific fire training classes, including training manuals and workbooks
Pictured from left to right: Henry Maradiaga, Operations Supervisor; Lieutenant David Piper, Training Supervisor; Chief Ken Brucki; Sue Gram, Municipal Advocate
About Illinois American
Water
Illinois
American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the
largest
investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to more than 1.2 million people. American Water also operates a customer service center in Alton and a quality control and research laboratory in Belleville. Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 14 million people in more than 30 states, as well as parts of Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.
investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to more than 1.2 million people. American Water also operates a customer service center in Alton and a quality control and research laboratory in Belleville. Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 14 million people in more than 30 states, as well as parts of Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.
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