Garden City Fire District

Special Board Meeting

September 9, 2013

 Board Members in Attendance:  Travis Hobbs, Christina Gracey, Terry Allen, Perry Wakefield, Randall Knight

Others in Attendance:  Dan Kurek, Tiffany Wahlberg

Call to Order at 12:00pm

Approval of new board Member: Motion to approve Perry Wakefield as the newest board member by Christina, 2nd by Travis.  Randall asked when Perry received his Fire I certification.  Perry stated it was early this year.  Randall asked if he was aware he would have to quit as a firefighter.  Perry stated that yes he was and at the time he got his certification he had no aspirations to be on the board.  Vote to accept Perry was unanimous.

 Vote on Officers:  Because Ben was the secretary, there need to be elections for officers.  Terry stated that his term was up in December, and he did not plan on continuing at that time, so he asked if the board wanted to do both now.  The board felt that they should hold off until January to replace the chairman.  Travis nominated Randall for the secretary, 2nd by Christina, vote was unanimous.

 Approval of asphalt bid:  Dan went to 5 companies for the asphalt bid.  3 of them stated they were too busy.  MJM Construction was given until today at noon, and did not turn in a bid.  The sewer district did the concrete pad between the buildings, and the fire district did not contribute to the cost.  Therefore, the fire district is covering a portion of the sewer district asphalt cost ($5,611, which brings their portion to their budgeted amount).  Since the only bid returned was from Watterson Excavation.  Christina asked what the timing was.  Dan stated he wanted to finish it by the end of the month.  Randall asked if the permitting had been completed.  Dan has applied for and receive the state permitting.  Dan also stated that they are missing about 10 feet of property, so Dan has asked JSH to survey the whole area.  He will try to get to it this week.  The budget currently includes $25,000 for building supplies and repairs, although some of that has been spent.  The total fire district portion is $35,174.  Travis stated that he would like to see where the 10 feet is at, and maybe the asphalt should be put on hold until spring.  Dan will have JSH mark all property corners for the 3 entities.  Tiffany mentioned that we need to have proof that the bids were sent out and the companies declined to bid.  Also, the $10,000 can be borrowed from another category in the budget, but at some point, the budget may need to be raised in total, which would require a budget hearing.  Randall stated that it would be proper courtesy to inform the two property owners that a survey is being completed and inviting them to be present if they desire.  Dan will contact both of them.  Motion by Travis to accept the bid from Watterson, pending receipt of emails declining opportunity to bid, as well as pending the results of the survey.  2nd by Christina, vote was unanimous.

 New or Miscellaneous Business:  None

Review and Approval of Current Expense Invoices:  None

Motion to close by Christina, 2nd by Randall

Meeting closed at 12:24pm

Garden City Fire District

Board Meeting

August 15, 2013

Board Members in Attendance:  Ben Negus, Terry Allen, Randall Knight

Board Members Excused:  Christina Gracey, Travis Hobbs

Others in Attendance:  Dan Kurek, Tiffany Wahlberg, Chris Coray, Kathy Anderson, Anita Weston, Nadine Sprouse, Tom Wahlberg, DeWayne Gifford

 Approval of Past Minutes:  Randall emailed some changes.  Dan also had a few changes after listening to the recording.  Motion was made by Randall to approve the minutes with the changes, 2nd by Ben, vote was unanimous.

Items for Follow-Up:

Brush 40:  Is done and back in service.

GRAMA Training:  Ben has completed his GRAMA training.  Ben has stated it will be difficult for him to be at the board meetings due to his driving semi, so he emailed a resignation letter to Terry.  It will be in effect once a replacement has been found.  The position will be advertised and the board will discuss the applicants.  Randall asked whether this was required by others.  It is only required for the secretary, but anyone else is welcome to take the training.

Wildland Grant:  UFDAG Grant was awarded for $14,900, of which $6,480 is for wildland PPE and $8,420 is for structural PPE.  Dan spoke with the state today.  He was told that all of the hours for Fire I training will be counted as matching funds, so there will not be any additional out of pocket funds.  The district will have until the first part of November to order everything, but Dan will begin working on it now.

Wheel Chocks (IC 40 and Tender):  Dan has them all on the vehicles now.

Pump for tender:  This has been purchased and installed.  Terry mentioned that Travis and Riley spent a lot of time working to get this truck ready.  The board would like to compensate them for their time.  Riley is on the payroll already, but Travis, as a board member would need to be approved for the compensation and a rate would need to be set.  Randall felt that if individuals were willing to volunteer their time, the district would accept it and he does not think that they were expecting to be paid for their time.  Terry stated that neither one of them would have volunteered if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.  Terry stated that neither of them cared.  Tom Wahlberg stated that even they weren’t compensated the hours should be documented because there is a value.  Dan asked about getting a gift certificate.  The board was all in agreement to give $50 gift cards to Travis, Riley, and Joe.  Ben also stated that the board needs to make it known that they are willing to pay, especially for the type of hours that Joe has been putting in.  Tiffany mentioned that donation income should be tracked.  The reason why this is necessary is because if that person did not volunteer their time, someone would need to be paid to do that work.  It could cause major budgeting issues if the person left and suddenly the board was faced with paying someone, when it had not been documented and budgeted for.

Tender paint and stickers:  It would be about $1000 for stickers or it can be painted on.  The tank would need to be sandblasted and it would be 4-6 hours and a pallet of sand.  Then there would also be the costs of painting.  Dan asked if anyone knew about walnut shell blasting.  Tom stated that it would not be very effective.  Dan estimated the total cost would be about $1500.  Motion was made by Ben to proceed with sandblasting, painting and stickers.  2nd by Randall, vote was unanimous.  Dan will plan on

Pay for Joe Sharkey:  See above under pump for tender

District Cell Phone:  Dan got a phone that will stay with whoever is in charge.  The cost is $50/month.  Christina was going to price this out, but she was not at the meeting.   Dan asked the board to remember that he needs to have signal at his home as well.  The board decided to stick with this for now.  Dan’s reimbursement was lowered from $75 to $25.  Ben asked why this was done, since the board had discussed this and Dan has declined to carry a separate phone at that time.  Dan stated that he just got to the point he was getting a lot of phone calls when he was on vacation, so he decided to get one.  Motion was made to lower the reimbursement from $75 to $25 and to pay the prepaid

Reminder to note on checks when the expense was approved:  This is to help with the review.  Anytime an expense is approved in a board meeting

Limit on Credit Card Expenses:  Terry stated that on the credit card and other expenses, the board will just sign off on expenses, and not pay close attention to what was being approved, especially on the credit card where there are a lot of expenses with one signature.  Randall asked why the limit is set at $1500.  He feels that is very low.  He wondered if the board should revisit this.  Dan mentioned that there is an allowance for an emergency.  Randall just asked if that limit could be raised.  Tiffany mentioned that it could be, but the limits are pretty close to inline with the state recommendations.  The board can revisit this, but it would require rewriting the policies and procedures.  They will look at this at the budget meeting at the end of the year.

Snap Tank For Tender (Action Item):  The bids came in from $1331.50 up to $2334.  This is for a 3,000 gallon tank.  There will need to be rack built.  There is a 1,000 gallon tank on the truck, but the firefighters felt that it was not large enough.  Dan stated it would not be.  The lowest bid was from The Supply Cache.  It included shipping and handling.  Motion was made to purchase the tank from The Supply Cache and build a rack to hold it by Randall, 2nd by Ben, vote was unanimous.

 Propane Tanker Funds (Action Item):  Invoice was for $20,335.26.  Dan spoke to the insurance company today and we should have a check within 10 days.  Out of those funds, Dan feels that $157 for food, $536 for fuel, and $3390 for a hazmat kit should go back into the general fund to reimburse the expenses.  He also feels that the snap tank purchase could come from these funds.  The funds used to stock the tender should also come these funds.  Terry asked if there were other equipment needs for the firefighters.  Dan would like to allow each firefighter to purchase boots and the department will reimburse up to $250 per pair.  That way they can each purchase what works for them.  Dan also stated that 3 sections of hose have holes in them.  He is taking them to EVCO to have them fixed.  Each section is $100-150.  Dan would like to purchase some extra hose to have available.  Motion to use the $20,335.26 to pay for the expenses for the propane tanker rollover and commit the remain funds for equipment purchase.  2nd by Ben, vote was unanimous.

 Electronic Meetings (Action Item):  Terry has researched the issue.  The board has allowed electronic meetings, however the way it was done was incorrect.  The district has a resolution, however the resolution is stated so that it is vague as to whether the person calling in can count toward a quorum.  Also, the person calling in has not always stayed on the phone through the entire meeting.  The resolution either needs to be changed, or there needs to be a quorum in place prior to the phone call.  Terry feels that there needs to be a quorum in the building.  It is too difficult to hear on the phone.  Ben stated that it is difficult to understand the meeting without being in the building.  He agrees that there should be a quorum in the building.  If a quorum is not present in the building, than the meeting should be rescheduled.  Randall agreed.  Sometimes an individual’s needs change.  If they cannot attend regularly they should step down, unless it is an unforeseen circumstance.  However, there should be the ability to call in for the special meetings, and if there is a specific issue that an individual wants to discuss.  Terry feels that the resolution can be left in place, but there should be a quorum in the building.  He also feels that the person calling in should not be counted as attending.  Ben feels the topic should be tabled.  He will most likely will not vote, because he will be leaving the board.  The board tabled this for next meeting.

 Firefighter Drug Testing (Action Item):  Dan is putting together the policy using Logan’s for an example.  The district can have the sheriff’s office test or send the individual’s to a location.  Once the individuals have been tested, the district will go with random testing, but the policy also states that the district can test if the individual acts odd, or there is another reason to be concerned.  Ben stated the reason he asked for it to be tabled was because he wanted to make sure that individuals do not have to take time off their full-time jobs to be tested.  The district had also asked Dan to write up a policy on DMV records.  Dan stated this policy took a while to research, and he felt this was the more important of the two.  He will work on both policies for next meeting.  The board felt that the district could use the sheriff’s office tests.  The board will read the policy at the next meeting, then vote at the October meeting.

 Asphalt around station (Action Item):  Steve Watterson bid just repaving would be $30,000.00.  If the ground under the asphalt would need to be prepared, it would be higher.  Dan has been working with Mark, because the sewer district wants to do their portion as well.  Dan will also work with the city to see if they will do their portion.  Dan’s question is how the cost would be split between the city, sewer, and fire.  DeWayne stated the sewer district is planning to do around their building and one side in from the street.  The fire district felt that if the sewer did one side and the fire did the other side, that would be fair.  They would also ask the city to do a portion in the back.  Dan will draw out a map and get the city and sewer to sign off on it.  Then he will get bids based on the drawings and bring it to the board meeting.  Randall stated that when Swan Creek paved their entrance, the state did make them dig down 36″ and prep on the state owned portion.  Dan will work with the state to see what the requirements would be for the section they own.

 Raspberry Day Breakfast (report):  Went very well.  The separate table for condiments helped a lot, however, some people asked if there could be another table, because it was difficult to set your plate down to put the condiments on.  The profit was roughly $4,000.  Dan has been discussing the use of funds with the firefighters.  Some of the firefighters would like to replace their helmets with lighter helmets.  Dan and Tom felt the helmets were fine, and they are the only ones that have a built in light without snag points.  The firefighters would like to do a chest light and go with a different helmet.  Tom felt a string light would be better than the chest light.  Tom did say that the light in the helmet does not point the right direction.  The firefighters would also like to have a cooler and ice available at the station.  Ben stated he felt that the district can’t go out and purchase new equipment every time that someone does not like it.  However, the breakfast funds should be spent on the items that the firefighters want.  The firefighters did feel that those who helped at the breakfast should have more input than those who did not.  The board asked Dan to discuss with those who were there and bring back a plan to the next meeting.  Dan also asked that Christina let him know what tent the young women would like so that he can purchase it.

 Vehicle/Equipment/Station Service Requests:

            Mirror needs to be replaced on Brush 40:  Tom tightened the bolt and it is good now.

Purchase Requisitions:

Battery backup on all bay doors.  The doors won’t go up if the power is out.  Dan stated that if they push both buttons at once, it overloads them.  Dan tested them when he got back.  Dan looked at the battery backup (EPC   or XPC).   The cost would $150-175 each door.  Batteries could be replaced when they go bad.  Tom stated that there is a pin to release the door, so just manually opening it is not a good option.  Currently the ladder and brush truck can’t be accessed when the power is out.  There would need to be 3 additional battery backups.  The board also felt that the ring to allow the doors to be manually opened would be a good idea.  The board felt the rings should be installed, and 3 additional battery backups should be purchased.

Wildland Boots:  The board discussed this above.  The district will reimburse up to $250 per firefighters for boots.  Dan asked if he could do checks during the month when receipts were turned in so the firefighters don’t have to wait for the reimbursement.

 Equipment Status:  Brush 43 has some damage to the steering and shock dampener from a Box Elder County Fire.  Dan stated that the truck also came back very dirty.  Dan feels that the repair should be reimbursed and the equipment should come back in good repair.  Dan also stated that the firefighters were packing hose packs for all of their training last night.  This means that Riley took more hose packs than what the truck held and left the district short on hose packs.  The board felt that the damage should be taken care of by the state.  The board also felt that it was Dan’s responsibility to make sure that the person taking the truck brings it back in good order.  Dan stated he told Riley he could not take another truck to the fire this weekend if he did not clean up the first one.  The board also did not want another truck to go on a fire until the state approved repairing the vehicle.

Everything else is up and running well.  Dan stated that he really appreciated the help with the tender and the pump and it looked good.

 Responses:  18 fire pit, 3 short term rental inspections, 1 business inspection, 1 field fire, 1 possible church fire, 1 semi rollover.  The semi rollover was called out as a hazmat incident, so it is a billable incident.  Dan has spoke with the insurance company.  The invoice will be for $2898.84.  Tom asked Dan to make sure he billed for the lost hook as well unless it was found.

 New or Miscellaneous Business: 

Zions Bank wants to renew the line of credit.  The cost is roughly $250/year.  If it is cancelled, the district would need to reapply, but Zions would likely approve it.  Tiffany felt that the district has built up

Ben stated that he noticed that on Dan’s time cards, he had 2 hours for the church fire, but he was in California.  Dan stated that he was taking a lot of phone calls, prior to the page going out.  Randall asked why it mattered if Dan is now an exempt employee.  Ben stated he was just curious and he told Dan to enjoy his vacation and send the phone calls to the new fire phone.

Dan brought up the discussion from last month regarding following SOPs.  He wanted to explain why he cancelled the engine.  The reason the SOPs state that the engine needs to go is so that an engine is on scene if there is a fire.  Dan stated that he called and was told that Laketown engine was going.  That is why he cancelled.  Dan has also stated that the SOPs are for our district, and this was out of the district.  Tom stated that he felt it should still apply because Rescue does not carry all of the equipment needed.  Terry also felt that our district has the equipment and Laketown did not.  Also, Garden City was working the scene and they were familiar with our truck not Laketown’s.  Dan stated there is a lot of extrication equipment on the engine.  Dan stated he added more cribbing to Rescue.  Tom stated that he felt that Rescue could not hold all of the cribbing needed.  The board felt that the SOPs should be followed.  Dan stated that Cache County would call for help and ask for only certain vehicles.  The board stated that if that is the case, Dan needed to get it in writing from Cache County and then the SOPs should be changed to allow for that and explain the specifics of when it would be allowed and what vehicles would go.

Review and Approval of Current Expense Invoices

Items for follow-up: 

Wildland Grant

Tender Funds

Electronic Meetings

Tender Snap Tank, Paint, etc.

Drug Testing (actually policy written so it can be read)

DMV Records

Asphalt around station (have drawings approved by sewer and city, get 3 bids before meeting), may need budget hearing

Breakfast Funds

Budget Hearing (for compensation for fires, breakfast funds, and asphalt) (agenda at least 7 days prior)

Motion to adjourn by Randall, 2nd by Ben, vote was unanimous.