Garden City Fire District

Board Meeting

April 18, 2013

Board Members in Attendance:  Terry Allen, Randall Knight, Travis Hobbs (electronic)

Others in Attendance:  Anita Weston, Tom Wahlberg, Bruce Willden, Tyler Lloyd, Nick Jarman, Jackson Ballingham, and Cameron Calder.

Approval of Past Minutes: Motion to approve minutes for March meeting and April Workshop with minor changes suggested by Randall, 2nd by Travis, Vote was unanimous.

 Items for Follow-Up:

Comp Time:  There was a workshop on Monday to discuss this.  The policies and procedures already allow for

Website:  Dan let Chuck and Joey know that they will be doing it.  It will be a little while before he gets to it.

Employee Contract-was this signed?  Where is the signed copy? :  Has not been signed.  Terry and Dan signed it at the meeting.  A copy will be with the minutes and in Dan’s folder.

Firefighter I / Hazmat Class (Update):  Fire I and Hazmat Awareness classes have been completed and tested.  Of the 14 that tested, 4 did not pass and will need to retest.  Hazmat Ops will begin next week.

Short Term Rentals Inspection Form (Action Item):  Terry, Travis, and Dan met with the city and came up with a form for these inspections.  Joe Chambers read over the agreement and was good with it, however he would recommend that the city put in place an ordinance requiring re-inspection every year or two years.  Randall Knight had some suggestions.  Terry stated that the items he suggested would be the city’s responsibility, but he would pass it on to them.  Randall would like for the rental units to provide a flashlight and an escape plan.  Terry will pass these items on to the city.  The other recommended changes will be made.  Motion to approve short-term rental inspection form with the minor changes by Travis, 2nd by Randall, vote was unanimous.  Terry mentioned that the board will need to come up with a fee amount.  The city will collect this fee and pass it on to the district.  Since the city will be collecting the fee, the district does not need to have a resolution.  The board will vote on this at next month’s meeting, since many of the board members are absent.

 2012 UFRA Grant Balance Training Equipment (Action Item):  After receiving the grant and funds from sale of the truck and paying all the bills, there will be around $1,000 left.  Dan would like to purchase a training dummy with the remaining funds.  The district would need to put in about $300.  Motion to purchase a training dummy with the remaining funds and for the district to provide the additional $300 by Randall, 2nd by Travis, vote was unanimous.

2013 UFRA Grant( Update):  Dan applied for 4 pairs of turnouts for the new firefighters.  Everyone else on the department has been given the new turnouts.  He also put in for wildland gear for the remaining funds.  The total grant would be $14,900.

 Brush 40 pump replacement ( Update):  Dan got some bids for the pump.  The bids came in at $4800, $5900, and $4200.  This was voted on in a prior meeting.  Larsen Pump was the $4200 bid, so Dan had him order it.

Vehicle/Equipment/Station Service Requests:  Siren on Ladder 40-Dan reconnected the wires and it is now working.  Pass devices came in, so Dan replaced the one that wasn’t working.

Purchase Requisitions:  None this month.

Equipment Status:  Brush 44 has a blown hose on the one reel.  Dan picked some up today.  Everything else is up and running.  Terry asked for an update on the boat.  Dan will be bringing it back to the station next week and then they will be redoing the decking and adding boxes.

Responses:  3 fire alarms, 3 business inspections, 6 burn permits, 4 medical assists.  Dan has a list of short-term rental inspections to do now that the form is completed.

 New or Miscellaneous Business: 

 Utah Local Governments Trust has a training meeting in Logan.

Dan had Miller’s Autobody and Wolford’s look at some dents.  Wolford’s quoted $1500 and Miller’s quoted $2000.  Terry asked Dan to get a quote from Steve Hislop.  Dan will have that for next meeting.

Randall mentioned that one of the board members on the swan creek HOA board is a fire chief.  He said that they follow a guideline that they can carry a maximum of 480 comp time hours.  The problem is that if it builds up then the district would need to have the cash available.  Terry stated that he feels like the way we are handling things will keep it that way.

There is quite a bit extra in savings.  There is a limit to carrying over funds to future years without allocating it to Capital Projects.  Dan would like to get asphalt bid out so that the funds will stay below that amount.  The board would like to wait until the year is further along before making that decision.  Terry said if Dan wants to get bids that would be fine, but he feels they would need to wait until August to see what the funds look like.

 Review and Approval of Current Expense Invoices

Items for follow-up: 

            Short-Term Rental Inspection Fee

Quote on Dent Repair from Steve Hislop

Motion to adjourn by Randall, 2nd by Terry

Garden City Fire District

Workshop

April 15, 2013

 Board Members in Attendance:  Terry Allen, Travis Hobbs, Randall Knight

Others in Attendance:  Dan Kurek, Tiffany Wahlberg, Anita Weston, Chris Coray, John Spuhler, Mark Hislop, Kathy Hislop, Bruce Willden, Mike Leonhardt, Wendy Cronin, Brian House, Chuck Stocking

Compensatory (Comp) Time:  At a previous board meeting, the board had decided that at the end of each quarter, the comp time would be cleared up.  However, at the end of the quarter issues came up and the comp time was not used.  Some board members felt that the issue is due to time management.  Terry felt that was not the issue this time, but that there were many things happening that saved the district more money than what the comp time would have cost the department.  Randall brought up the point that there should be some sort of provision so that the board could make adjustments if needed.  At board meeting, the board decided to allow Dan to carry his time into the next quarter this time.  Travis said his biggest concern is that the quarter is a great idea, except that for the last week of the quarter this does not allow for any leeway.  Mike Leonhardt asked how the city managed their comp time.  The city used to have a big problem with comp time.  The city now manages that very closely.  The city limits the number of hours and the employees watch their time very closely.  Bruce mentioned that the fire chief is going to be doing the short term rental inspections as well, so that would add to his over time.  The board just wants the time managed as well it can be managed.  The policy as written allows the board to judge whether it was mismanagement of time or a necessary desire.  The board does not want to punish Dan for working hard.  Travis asked that Dan give the board as much warning as possible.  Dan stated he calls Terry.  Travis asked that maybe Dan could notify the board at the board meeting as much as possible.  Randall stated that the board made the decision to make Dan a non-exempt employee and that was a big mistake.  Travis stated that it is not the board’s decision, but a federal law.  Randall stated that he disagreed and feels Dan qualifies as an exempt employee.  He also stated that in his research the FLSA shows that comp time should be allowed over 26 pay periods, so he should be allowed to use it over that time.  Dan stated he feels that it is unfair to say that the board has the discretion, because at the last meeting it was almost voted that he would lose everything.  Dan would like to be able to use his comp time over the next month following the quarter.  Tiffany mentioned that Ben and Christina asked that the board contact them if giving 3 extra months was discussed.  They would like to be involved in that discussion.  Terry would like to leave it at the month for now and see if it worked, but anything more than that would be discussed and voted on in a board meeting.  Terry would like to see Dan manage his time to ensure that it did not become an issue in future quarters.  Dan stated that he has been scheduling his hours so that he is working here during the training course to open and close the building, but not teach the course.  He has adjusted his other hours.  Terry stated that if Dan has a lot of comp time at the end of the next quarter the board would want to discuss it anyways.  So for now it will stay the same.  It will be discussed again in June.  Dan stated he will have last quarter’s hours used up by next week.  Randall stated that his main concern is that in watching his time, Dan will short-change the department in writing grants, etc.  Terry stated that is the reason this issue is being discussed.  Randall stated that there will be more grants.  Terry stated that there should be time in his normal hours to write those grants in most cases.  Bruce stated that he would like to learn the grant writing process and assist Dan with those.  Travis stated that the board is very appreciative of all the firefighters who are willing to put in hours and for all the training that has been taking place.  Wendy Cronin mentioned that all the instructors have been very helpful and dedicated to helping them learn.

 Short Term Rental Inspections:  At the last meeting, the question was brought up as to what code these inspections have been done under.  The answer is that the inspections were being done under both commercial and residential code.  The board did not feel that the guidelines were clear enough and therefore, asked Dan to not perform inspections until this could be clarified.  Terry contacted the county attorney’s assistant, Joe Chambers, who told him that the inspections should be done under commercial code, however some cities will exempt some portion of the commercial code if they felt it was appropriate.  Travis stated that he feels it would be impossible for these rentals to meet all the commercial codes.  The problem is that the residential is at one extreme and the commercial is at the other end.  These businesses can’t meet the commercial code.  Travis stated that we need to follow the guideline from the attorney and make sure we are not creating liability.  John Spuhler asked the city attorney for a response.  The letter is attached to the minutes.  The letter basically said that they were inspecting under the IRC (International Residential Code).

Dan Kurek contacted the Park City Fire Marshall.  He said they use a commercial inspection form, but exempt fire sprinklers (unless already installed or required) and ADA.  Phil Mosier from Moab inspects as residential, but must have all life safety issues and have a written plan for changing out detectors, etc.  Inspect as R3 unless the building inspector changes it to and R1.  Logan City also inspects as an R3.  They use the same form as what Dan has been using.  Brianhead public safety also uses the same requirements we have been using.  Dan also called the State Fire Marshall.  He said there is more liability by not inspecting them than by doing the inspections as currently taking place.  Bruce Willden asked how the short-term rental $100 fee is divided.  The fire district has not been currently charging.  This is how this came about.  The fire district was discussing charging a fee, however they wanted to make sure the inspections had been performed correctly.  John Spuhler said it would only be reasonable to compensate the district if it was taking a lot of time.  Travis asked if this is better done by the city building inspector.  John Spuhler felt that Dan does a very good job and fire issues are his specialty.  Mike Leonhardt asked how often the inspection takes place.  Dan inspects only the first year, unless something has changed.  Randall asked if there should be a biannual inspection to ensure that everything is in good working order.  John Spuhler stated that this is a growing industry, so to have these inspections annually or biannually would take up a lot of time for the city and fire employees.  Terry Allen also stated that Joe Chambers stated that many of these homes have not notified their insurance companies that they are renting.  The city stated that they do require a statement that this has been done.  Terry Allen said that Richard Moseley from the Fire Marshalls office also stated that many short-term rentals in rural areas are being rented out on a weekly basis and then people are cooking meth in them.  He warned that this is something to watch out for.  John Spuhler stated that the homeowners are required to sign that they are keeping up on the items and therefore, they are responsible for it.  Travis asked if the city would be willing to give us a specific checklist.  Tiffany Wahlberg asked if there could be some clarifications as to what Dan inspects versus what Geo inspects.  John stated that the list from the attorney is pretty rough based on 3 towns.  Dan went through the list and explained what he currently inspects and what Geo currently inspects.  Terry stated he would like to see Dan get together with the city and go through the international building code to set up a checklist.  Travis stated his preference would be that Geo handle all of it.  Terry explained that he would rather Dan handle the fire items.  The board stated that once a checklist was put together and reviewed by Dan and the board, they would be great with the inspections resuming.  The city would also be willing to collect the fee.  Mark Hislop explained that he appreciates Dan doing the inspection because he does catch things that the homeowners are missing.  Mike Leonhardt stated that the benefit to having Dan do this is that Dan has been in the home and knows the layout so that if something does happen he will have prior knowledge that will help.  Travis asked how many inspections we are talking about.  Dan stated he has about 10 waiting on inspections now.  There are 25-30/year.  Most in April, May and June.  Dan said he averages 2-3 times before all items are met.  A fee around $30 should cover the costs of Dan’s salary and fuel.  The city could collect it.  Randall mentioned that perhaps there should be an additional fee for more than 2-3 inspections.  That would encourage them to finish everything before calling for a re-inspection.  Kathy asked that the city only bill for the initial fee, but the Fire District invoice for the additional amounts, if needed.  The city could state that over 3 inspections, the homeowner will be billed for additional inspections from the Fire District.  Terry, John and Dan will meet Wednesday at 2pm with Geo to come up with a checklist, then the fire board will vote on this at board meeting Thursday night.