Garden City Fire District
Board Meeting
July 18, 2013
Board Members in Attendance: Terry Allen, Christina Gracey, Travis Hobbs, Randall Knight
Others in Attendance:
Approval of Past Minutes: Motion to approve minutes of July 10, 2013 special meeting with changes submitted by Randall, 2nd by Christina, vote was unanimous.
Motion to approve minutes of June board meeting with the changes submitted by Christina, 2nd by Travis, vote was unanimous.
Items for Follow-Up: Fire boat is now running fine and is in the water. Was used at the last training. There is a seat still on order. When it comes in, another layer of the decking will be applied and the seat will be replaced. Randall asked if the routine maintenance has been done.
IC 40: Mike did not know about this item. The board had gotten bids on this and approved the repair. The repair is done, it is just waiting
Brush 40: The pump has not yet been installed. The pump has been in for a month. There are some special fittings that need to be purchased from EVCO. The board stated that this is pretty critical. They asked Mike to work with Dan to get the parts here and get it fixed.
Electronic Meetings: Christina and Ben would like to amend the policy so that a person calling in can be counting towards the quorum. Travis stated he did not have an issue with the change. If a person is willing to call in and take the time to do so, they should be able to attend. Travis asked that the board use the speaker phone that was discussed. The cell phone on speaker does not work so that everyone can hear. He also asked that the person attending stay for the entire meeting. Travis would like to see a resolution typed up to review and vote on. Christina also asked that there be two phones available, rather than just one. This motion was put off until the next morning and Christina will ask Ben to type up a resolution and the revised bylaw with this change to vote on.
Report on financial statements: Ryan Child from Wood, Richards & Associates attended to report on the 2012 reviewed financial statements. Ryan mentioned that a review is much different than an audit. An audit is only required if the revenues are over $500,000, so the fire district does not have an audit. In 2013, the review is no longer required, rather there will be agreed upon procedures. The financial statements are no longer required. Wood, Richards would be happy to prepare the statements if the board likes to have those. Ryan mentioned that they usually make several adjustments in the course of a review but have not had to make adjustments to the fire district since Tiffany gets them pretty clean before she sends the information over.
The two year comparison shows that current assets are up by about $56,000 from the prior year, other assets, which is the property tax receivable are also up. There are very few current liabilities, and the long-term debt has been paid off. Property tax revenue was up from the prior year, grants were very similar to the other year, fire service income increased over the prior year. Most expenses were very close to the prior year, however maintenance was quite a bit higher. Purchases for 2012 included extrication equipment and some smaller equipment. The debt service fund owes the general fund and those amounts will be repaid from impact fees. Expenditures in total were below the budget for the year as required.
Board Member Training: Christina Gracey stated she had done the online training as required. This training is required every year for all governing bodies. Terry feels that there are enough board members in Bear Lake now that they may be able to
GRAMA Training: Ben needs to do this. Terry will contact him to make sure he has done this. Travis mentioned that there was a lot of GRAMA information in the general board member training that Ben attended. Terry stated that this is a separate training, but it can be done online.
Wildland Grant: Mike stated he was not aware of this one yet. Dan had stated last meeting that he had gotten an unofficial yes, but the board wants to make sure the official approval had been received and that the spending is taking place.
DMV reports & Firefighter Drug Testing: This was discussed at the last meeting, but Ben wanted to look into it a little more, so a vote was put off until this meeting. Mike mentioned that the district has more equipment and nicer equipment. Also there have been some discussion with all the firefighters as to how they should be responding to calls and under what situations it would be appropriate. He feels the testing would be good. Travis stated that his random tests have been with 1 hour notice and has had to go to WorkMed to do it. He would like to know how this would be done. Mike mentioned it could be done at the clinic locally. Also, the sheriff’s office carries tests with them and could do it. Travis asked what the cost would be. Mike mentioned that it would be roughly $25-35 each test. Terry discussed this with Ben. The sheriff’s department has drug testing kits that they would be willing to give the department. The discussion with Ben was that they would like to see everyone tested first. If anyone is tested positive, they would be sent to a location to be tested further. Terry stated he would also be willing to be tested. Mike stated that had been discussed in their captain’s meeting and they were in agreement. The Motor Vehicle Report would be $6, and then the drug test. These results would not be distributed, but the chief, assistant chief, and captains would discuss and then adjust roles until the issue has been resolved. Even some prescription drugs may cause a reassignment of roles. After the initial testing, there would be random testing. Chris Coray asked if the firefighters would be notified of the day and time of the testing. The board all stated no. Chris mentioned it would still be random in timing then, just not in who was tested. Travis mentioned that if any of them were involved in an accident, Worker’s Comp will immediately test the person and if they test positive, the chief and district would have liability unless this has been addressed in some way. Travis stated he is in favor of it, except that he does not want them to have to leave their jobs to go to a random drug test and he will be very opposed to do so. Mike stated that would not be done. Travis also wants to make sure that a procedure is in place and followed, not just Dan taking them in the bathroom to do a test. It will either be the sheriff’s department or the clinic doing the tests. Travis stated that he has always been searched, then the restroom has been searched, and they supervise the test. Mike stated it would be structured. Travis’ preference would be to have it done at the clinic. Terry felt that Ben’s concerns had been resolved. Travis would like to see the details before final approval. He would also like to see what would be looked at on the MVR. Mike stated he would like to see them follow the same standards as commercial drivers or other fire departments. Travis wanted to make sure there would be clear standards so that everyone would be treated the same. Mike stated the standards would be added to the SOPs. Terry stated this would only be approval to move forward. The chief, captains and firefighters would put together the details and it would come back to the board for final approval. Motion to have the chief, assistant chief and captains put together a policy on drug testing and DMV reports by Christina, 2nd by Randall, vote was unanimous.
Motion to transfer funds to savings: The budget had transfers from checking to vehicle of $10,000 and from checking to general savings of $6,000. The motion to do these needs to be made. Travis stated that this was for the tender and this has already been discussed. Travis asked how the money from this had been handled. This went into the general fund as other income. The amount that was spent shows on the financial statements as $15,000, but $11,000 was received on the sale, so the net expense was actually $4,000. Motion to transfer $10,000 from checking to vehicle PTIF and from the general fund to capital projects fund by Christina, 2nd by Randall. Motion to create a General Savings PTIF fund and transfer $6,000 from checking to the General Savings PTIF fund, 2nd by Travis, vote was unanimous.
Raspberry Day Breakfast: Based on comments from firefighters, there are some who show up easily and others who never do. Christina would like to see specific assignments. Mike stated that it usually gets moved around. Riley stated that would be too hard. Terry stated that if there was a fire call, the board would need to be willing to assist as well. Mike stated there were always volunteers and they usually have plenty of help. Terry stated they need to assign someone to the money, the others just rotate around. They stated that having a stamp and two lines help. Travis also stated that those who volunteer to help should at least get a t-shirt showing the district’s appreciation. The board all agreed. Christina has gotten a group of volunteers from the young women in her ward and would like to see if the district would be willing to provide a tent to them if they help. Chris Coray thought that had been done once in the past. The board stated that where they need to most help is in cleaning up the tables and keeping them rotated and stocked. The board would be very willing to help out with a tent. Randall also stated he would like to see the equipment out on display again. The board would also like to have a separate person doing t-shirts and hats because doing it as part of the breakfast ticket sale was too much. Mike stated they are purchasing up 5 extra stoves with the money from last year’s breakfast. Mike stated that they would start at about 5 or 5:30, but would like to see others there to help at about 6. The locks at the park have been changed due to vandalism, so Dan will not be able to get in using the key he has before.
Vehicle/Equipment/Station Service Requests: Wheel chocks for Rescue 40 and IC 40-did not have these on the extrication call. Travis asked if every vehicle was supposed to have them. Mike stated that yes and he assumed they had them. Other than IC 40, which typically does not get parked in the middle of things. Travis also thought that the tender did not have them. Mike stated that Rescue 40 did now have them. Dan told him they had been ordered for IC 40. The board asked that Tender 40 also get them. Mike will write up a purchase requisition for them.
Tire chains on engine were dragging. These have been fixed.
Relief Valve on Rescue 40-cleaned filter and reinstalled and it is now working.
Purchase Requisitions: These all come from the propane tank incident
Tender is not stocked well enough. Need 2-2 1/2″ gate valves so one can be hooked on each side of the hydrant; Hydrant wrench; short hose to go from hydrant to tender; sight glass; 2 pumps-one to offload water from tender and one to reload the tender from a ditch; snap tank; lights and sirens;
Travis though that the pumps had already been approved. Terry stated that we talked about it, but didn’t do final approval. The trash pump could also be used for flooded basements, etc. Travis asked how much the district would be paid for this incident. The district and other districts were on scene all night. Travis stated he thought Laketown receive $10,000. Travis would like to make sure that these funds are set aside for equipment, etc. It should be used for these items and others. Christina asked for a rough estimate on cost. Riley estimated about $3-5,000. The pump and snap tank are over the limit for needing a motion, but the others should definitely be done. Terry thought there was a pump on the brush truck that was going to be rebuilt and moved to the tender. There is a pump on the tender, but it has a rope pull start and is very old. Travis found one pump online for $1,400. The board would like to know the cost on the pump. Riley will follow up and let them know. The board would like to do the items that are under $1,000 immediately and a price on the pump and snap tank for the August meeting. Travis would also like to see it painted and stickers purchased. Will look at this at a future meeting.
Brush 42: Joe Sharky had been working on it, but was unable to do so. It has been taking to Logan for repairs, but still needs to be picked up if anyone is going over. The window and pump were fixed on it. The board asked Mike to make sure it got picked up
Equipment Status: All was included above
Responses: Field fire from fireworks, downed power line, truck struck by lightning, propane truck rollover, extrication on east side, 2 business, 6 short-term rental, 14 medical assists, and 2 alarm resets.
Mike stated that the extrication equipment worked very well. However it did not have enough cribbing. the engine was turned back by Dan and that is where the other cribbing is. Mike asked Dan if they had enough cribbing without it and Dan stated that there was, but there was only 6 pieces. Christina stated she was told the Engine was turned back because there were too many people responding. Mike stated that the SOPs state the Engine is called out on that type of call and he feels that the SOPs should be more important than what the EMTs, sheriff, or other departments think about how many vehicles are on scene. Travis felt that that vehicle should not have been turned back. Mike stated he did question it, but Dan was in charge on the scene, so he was responsible for making the decision. Mike stated that Dan told him the reason was because complaints have been made about the district taking too many vehicles and men to calls. Laketown Fire had been called out as well, but they do not have the extrication equipment that our district does. Without the equipment, there was a high likelihood that they would not have been able to get her out safely. They only had a car jack and some rocks. It was a very unstable situation. Mike stated that it went very well and the equipment was very necessary. The board stated they wanted the SOPs followed in all situations with no exceptions in the future. He also commended the firefighters for handling the situation the way they did and also for stopping the other districts from trying to extricate without the proper equipment. Mike stated that he felt there is a point where he doesn’t want to fight with Dan if he is in charge. He was told that there was enough cribbing and that is why he didn’t argue further. The board would like to know Dan’s reasoning because maybe he had a reason for it. However, the SOPs should have been followed and they want them followed going forward. Randall would like to make sure that if the board discusses it with Dan they should be done in a board meeting and not with just one board member. Randall stated that he feels there are way too many political squabbles between the districts, the EMTs, and the sheriff and that has to stop before someone dies over it. Riley, Mike, and the other board members stated that it has gotten a lot better, but it has further to go. Travis stated that he has heard several good comments from the sheriff department and the EMTs. Mike stated that overall it went very well. Everyone stated that as far as they know no one ever said anything, just that the concern had been there in the past. Travis stated that it definitely had been an issue in the past that too many would arrive on scene. That is why the SOPs are so important. There should be no second guessing what vehicles go and don’t go. The station should not be emptied for simple calls, but at the same time whatever the SOPs state should go because they are based on what should be needed.
Riley went over the propane tank rollover incident. The original page went out at about noon on Saturday. The propane truck had rolled in Laketown Canyon just passed the runaway truck ramp. Riley missed the original page, but when he got there, Logan Hazmat was on scene. The 10,000 gallon tanker carrying 9,700 was leaking liquid propane. The highway was shut down. There were not enough hazmat guys on scene, so they called guys who were working to come to the scene. The levels were at about 5%, which is at the lower explosive teams. The decision was made to pump as much propane as possible to Bear Lake Propane, while keeping the % levels low. Lightning picked up, so the teams were moved back. The propane at that point had been pumped low enough that it could not be pumped out anymore. The decision was then made to vent the tank. Chris Coray asked if that was dangerous. The teams monitored the % to make sure it stayed low but opened the valves to vent it. By about 11pm, many guys were released from the scene, but several guys volunteered to stay on scene overnight to continue venting. At about halfway, the propane got too cold to vent. The decision was made to spray the tank to warm it to continue venting. Once the propane had vented to about 1,000 gallons, the tank was patched and the tanker was righted and towed off. The scene was finally opened at about 3pm on Sunday. The driver had been transported by ambulance and was released before the
New or Miscellaneous Business: A motion had been made in the past to pay the assistant chief and captains quarterly, but since not many hours had been worked, they have been paid annually with everyone else. Lately they have been working more hours. Christina asked if they should be paid now. Especially with that scene. The board stated they would like Tiffany to write checks now and each quarter.
Christina also asked if Joe could be paid quarterly. The board had discussed this earlier. Joe has stated he would not like to be paid, however the board feels he should be compensated. He has been at the station for a lot of hours. He enjoys it and is not doing it for the money. Terry will talk to Joe.
Terry would like an agenda item for the next meeting. Terry suggested that it be discussed again to get a phone for the department. Christina stated that she was going to bring this up in the expenses. Dan already went and got a prepaid phone. Dan was receiving $75/month, but now he has the phone and has a $25 reimbursement on his check. Terry stated the prepaid is nice because you are not in a contract, but the board should look at the prices of plans. Christina will call to check rates. The phone does not need to be the newest best phone, just needs to have text and calling capabilities. A date plan will probably not be needed. It was mentioned that waterproof might be a good idea.
Review and Approval of Current Expense Invoices:
When looking at the credit card expense, the board was concerned with the amounts that were being purchased on the credit card. They would like to discuss some limits being placed on it.
Motion to adjourn by Travis, 2nd by Christina, vote was unanimous.
Items for follow-up:
Brush 40
Electronic Meeting Resolution
GRAMA Training
Wildland Grant
DMV and Drug Testing
Wheel Chocks (IC 40 and Tender)
Propane Tanker funds-best way to do this is to make a motion set funds aside as committed funds
Pump and Snap tank for tender
Tender paint and stickers
Pay for Joe Sharky
District Cell Phone
Reminder to note on checks when the expense was approved
Limit on Credit Card Expenses
Nov 26 2013
October Fire Board minutes
Garden City Fire District
Board Meeting
October 17, 2013
Board members in Attendance: Terry Allen, Randall Knight, Perry Wakefield, Christina Gracey, Travis Hobbs
Others in Attendance: See roll
Approval of Past Minutes: Motion to approve September 23 special meeting minutes by Christina, 2nd by Randall, vote was unanimous. Motion to approve September 19 board meeting minutes with Randall’s changes by Perry, 2nd by Christina, vote was unanimous. Motion to approve the September 30 special meeting minutes with Randall’s changes by Randall, 2nd by Perry. Motion to approve the September 23 closed session minutes by Travis, 2nd by Randall, vote was unanimous.
Items for Follow-Up:
Wildland Grant: There will be four sets of turnouts ordered, 2 of them will be generic sizes. There will also be 6 shelters, 6 sets of Wildland gear ordered.
Funds from Propane Tanker, Car Hauler, Breakfast: The fire fighters are still deciding what they want to purchase with these funds. This will be discussed again at a future meeting.
Electronic Meetings: There was some confusion on the electronic meetings as to whether they would count as attendance at a meeting. The decision has been made that there need to be at least 3 board members in the building in order to have the meeting. The policy will be re-written to make this clear and attendance will only be counted if the board member is physically in attendance. Special meetings will not count toward attendance.
DMV Records: Dan was under the impression that the district could get the records, however research has revealed that the fire fighters would need to get it personally and bring it back to the district. The district will then reimburse any cost with a receipt. Dan asked how the district can make it happen. He has stated that there are requirements and the fire fighters don’t always keep up on that. Mike mentioned that it is important and they should monitor it and then give the fire fighters 30 days to get the report turned in. Travis asked what the regulations would be. Mike stated that the regulations will be in the drug testing policy. Travis stated that he is opposed to requiring it until the board has seen the actually policies. Mike stated that the policies are still a work in progress. Terry stated that the board had already voted previously to make this part of the policy. Dan stated that the substance abuse policy has been written up. He gave a draft copy to the members of the board. The motor vehicle one will be written up next. The records won’t be required until the policy is actually in force. Terry asked the board members to read the draft drug testing policy and then the board will discuss it in November. He also asked Mike to have a draft of the DMV policy emailed to the board before the next meeting.
Drug Testing: See DMV Records
Budget Hearing and Amendment: Put off for next meeting
Website Update: Joey has been working on the new website. Dan stated the pictures aren’t coming up clearly. The new website address is www.gardencityfire.us.
Fire Chief Employment: Has been posted in 3 newspapers, the post office, city office and website, and the fire district office and website. It will be posted for 30 days and then the board will proceed with the decision. Dan’s last day is Friday and Mike will take over as interim chief at that time.
Christmas Party (Action Item): The opportunity to bid was given to Coopers, Jim McLaughlin, Paris Cafe, and Bear Trapper. The budget hearing will be held at 5 pm on December 4, and the party will be held at 7pm. Perry stated that the Bear Trapper was the cheapest and the only complaint he heard was that the booths would not work very well. He would like to go there. In the past the dinner was actually held in the pizza building to make room for tables. Christina stated that the board had discussed alternating to be fair. Even though they are a little cheaper, it might be better to alternate. Randall stated that he would have a hard time justifying going anywhere else when the price was much lower at the Bear Trapper. Last year the cheapest bid was not taken. Rather, they tried to move it around. However, there is a large difference in prices this year. Terry stated that they have not been to the Paris Grill before, and their price was about mid-range, comparable to the others. They also have plenty of room for everyone. Travis stated he does feel it should move around, provided the bids are close. Unfortunately Coopers is quite a bit more. Travis wanted to make sure they were bidding similar menus. Terry stated that he did ask them to bid the same and even told them about what was paid last year. Motion to have the Christmas Party at the Paris Grill by Christina, 2nd by Travis, vote was unanimous. Terry will contact them.
Homeland Security (discussion): Terry had a short meeting with Bryce Nielsen. He wants to make sure that with the changes in Fire Chief that the district continues to have a good relationship with the Homeland Security. He also wanted to make sure that the building arrangements would remain the same. Bryce does bring a lot of money into the county, so the board would like to continue working with him. The board was all in agreement.
Secretarial Duties (Action Item): Randall is the new secretary and wanted to make sure his duties were clear. He has taken the GRAMA certification training and has received the certification. The board had asked previously whether the secretarial duties that Dan has been handling should be moved back to the secretary. Randall stated that he had been working with Dan and Mike already. Randall will check with the board members to see if they need to add anything to the agenda and then work with the chief to get the agenda typed up and posted.
Lockable Secretary File Cabinet (Action Item): This was discussed at a previous meeting and the board all felt it was necessary. Chris Coray mentioned that the University has surplus sales all the time and this could be purchased by public entities. Randall will be going to Logan tomorrow and will stop by to look.
Draft Budget (Review): Dan, Mike, Tiffany, and Christina met and put together a draft budget based on the 2013 actual and recommendations by Dan and Mike as to items they would like to see accomplished.
Building Repairs-budgeted for carpet, windows and a little paint
Communications-this has been the same for the last several years
Retirement Expense-bumped up a little for the increase rates
Equipment Repairs-has been at this cost each of the last 3 years
Equipment replacement-
Fire Chief Salary-matches the posting
Insurance-bumped up a little for increased rates
Miscellanous-plug figure to balance the budget
PPE-planned to purchase 2 SCBAs each year, will need at least 4 to outfit a team, there are 10 that will eventually need to be replaced
Winter Fire School-budgeted for 6 guys, with each one having a fuel card
Training-bumped up a little to allow sending guys to Bridgerland if there are only 1 or 2 who want the training
CPA fees-same as 2013
Utilities-bumped a little based on the 2013 actual
Vehicle Fuel-lowered based on 2013 actual, Randall asked why this would be lower when prices have gone up. The 2013 was only $4200 and the budget was $8000. There is still a cushion.
Randall asked about budgeting for the grants and compensation for fires. Travis asked about putting money into the vehicle funds. There is $27,000 budgeted for equipment replacement and if this was not spent, then the remaining amount could be put into that PTIF. Also,
Web site (Input): Joe Stocking asked if the board would like to get their own hosting, which would cost about $5 per month, or he could handle the hosting for about $6 per month. Also, Joe has built the website. If they want him to maintain it would be $24 per month, which would give about 2 hours. Any additional would be at $30/hour. He would also do it on an as needed basis for the $30 per hour instead. Joe can create login credentials for others to add photos, etc. Mike and Dan mentioned that the photos would need to be approved prior, and then they could be emailed to Joe to add it. Motion by Perry to have Joe do the hosting and continue the monthly maintenance for $30 per month. The total bill so far was $650. He will send an invoice over. Joe will work with Mike and will train on how to add minutes and do some general updating.
Grama Cert. Status: Randall has done the certification.
Department Operational Data Transfer: Randall wanted to know how the transition is going and whether Dan has given the important information. He has also changed the password.
Fireman of the Year: Perry wanted to know what the qualifications were. The fire chief, assistant chief, and captains make this decision based on attendance, commitment, attitude, etc. They will receive a
Vehicle/Equipment/Station Service Requests: Clutch fluid was low on Ladder 40. It has been filled. Engine is down in Salt Lake getting the transmission fixed. It keeps popping out of gear. Freightliner fixed a few items, but it continued to do it. It is now at a specialist, who has done some major repairs and will be test driving it tomorrow. Laketown has been bringing their engine on calls lately. The backup has worked well.
Purchase Requisitions: None this time. Reimbursements for wildland boots were paid to 2 fire fighters.
Equipment Status: See above. Also, ladder 40 battery was dead. Mike found a faulty switch on the battery bank and he was able to fix it.
Responses: 2 structure fires, 1 false alarm, 1 CO call, burn permits-3 received and 1 denied, 1 fire pit inspection, 6 medical assists
New or Miscellaneous Business: Randall has received 1 application for Fire Chief. The board asked Randall to hold onto all of them until they have all been received.
Terry stated that his term is up in January. He wondered if the board wanted to post it in November so that the decision can be made in December. Randall, Travis and Terry would all be up in December. Randall asked if he would need to reapply. The position would still be posted, he would apply and go through the same application. Randall asked Tom if they would be too busy to make a decision in December. Tom stated that they would like to get all the letters and a recommendation. Travis stated that the city had approached him about whether they would be able to appoint someone. Dan and Tiffany stated that their understanding is that any municipality lying within the district has the right to appoint one member. Tom Weston stated that his understanding is that the county appoints it. Tom Weston will contact the county attorney for clarification. The city was given the chance a few years ago and they refused. Travis would like to assign that appointment to a specific board member, whose term would be 4 years. They would not have the choice every time a position opens up. They were given the chance to appoint when Christina was appointed and they deferred to the county. Tom Weston will look into it. The board will post it on November 1.
Review and Approval of Current Expense Invoices
Motion to close the meeting by Perry, 2nd by Randall, vote was unanimous
Items for follow-up:
Wildland Grant
Funds from Propane Tanker, Car Hauler, Breakfast
Electronic Meeting (Policy rewritten and voted on)
Drug Testing
DMV Records
2013 Budget Amendment (Needs to be posted 7 days in advance)
Fire Chief Employment
2014 Draft Budget Approval
Board Member Positions (3 openings)