April 12, 2018 Minutes
Fire District Commissioner Meeting
Opening Prayer: Dallin called the meeting to order at 8:15. Melanie Sullivan offered the opening prayer. There were a few patrons present. Melanie recorded the minutes. Those present were: Commissioners Jim Deuel, Roger Anderson, Mike Miller, Gordon Ball, and Dallin Gambles; Chief Bill Pope and Assistant Fire Chief Carl Anderson; Battalion Chiefs Blaine Ker, Jim Kelly, Nic White, and Mitch Bingham. CFD Attorney Dennis Wilkinson was also present.
Agenda Approval: Chief Pope suggested that 4 and 5 under new business be deleted because they have been already discussed. Dallin moved to accept the agenda with the deletions. Mike seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.
Minutes: The minutes were reviewed previously by the commissioners. Roger moved to accept the minutes. Mike seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.
Budget Review: Melanie reviewed the budget. We are under budget at this point in the year.
Approval of Expenditures: Jim reviewed the expenditures and moved to accept the amount of $305,897.11. Gordon seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.
Patron Input (3 minute time limit): There was no patron input.
OLD BUSINESS:
- Menan station progress – Dustin Stibal reported that they are putting in the front doors this week. The weather has slowed down the work on the outside. He is concerned about the neighbor’s trees on the east side of the building ruining the asphalt. They are on schedule for a completion date at the end of May. He had two change orders: one for the paint and one for the materials testing.
- Open house to meet Chief Pope: Roger said that on April 25, there will be an open house to meet the new chief at station 2 from 6:30-8:30.
- Explorer program update: Chief Pope said the explorer program is set to go with an open house on April 14th. The incoming and outgoing finances for the program will be entered as a separate line item in the current accounting process. Nic White did caution the program leaders to make sure that tax payer money is not being used to pay for this scouting program.
- Menan Planning & Zoning radio tower ordinance: Mike reported that not a lot has happened on that. The ordinance needs to be revised to allow a variance to allow the radio tower.
NEW BUSINESS:
- BLM/IDL cost sharing exercise for commissioners April 13th: At Madison fire station at 9 am on April 13.
- Discussion for creation and hiring of Volunteer Services/Training Position: This is the full-time position that Chief Pope is asking to create to improve volunteer recruitment and retention, standardize training, and keep the wildland paperwork current.
After getting approval from Dennis Wilkinson, Jim move to have a brief executive session. Mike seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.
After the executive session was adjourned and the open meeting resumed, Roger moved to accept the proposal for the creation and hiring of the new position. Dallin seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.
- Discussion for creation and hiring of additional SCBA Technician and station Lieutenant positions: Chief Pope is still working on the organization flow, but the way he is envisioning it, it would create a new captains position in station 1 and division chief positions. The new captains position would be done immediately but the other positions would be done as the need arises. Jim moved to create the new captains position at station 1. Gordon seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.
Discussion and approval to enter into Memorandum of Understanding with Idaho Department of Lands for FFP (formerly FEPP) Equipment ProgramDiscussion on Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) – Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER)- New Ririe tender delivery: Chief Pope said the delivery will be sometime in May. Someone will need to fly out and drive the truck back.
- Lewisville property deed: The property deed has been signed and a copy given to the fire district.
FIRE CHIEF REPORT: Chief Pope said that the we have had 636 (317) calls 3 months into this year, which is half of the total calls received last year. He brings this to the commissioner’s attention so they can be thinking about the future needs of the district.
He continues to work on getting the SOG’s revised. Part of what he is working on is fiscal control: Chief Pope wants to make sure that the credit cards purchases and invoices are approved by him.
He has created a point value system to help decide when equipment should be replaced.
He has made some technology updates, such as Microsoft Exchange. He has also started migrating the data from Firehouse to Emergency Reporting, which is internet based. This will allow volunteers to fill out reports in their own station rather than handwriting one and sending it into the district office for recording and will speed up paperwork on fire and EMS calls.
ASST. CHIEF REPORT: Carl reported that they got the TICs placed in the stations. He reported that Idahoan Food is installing sprinklers, including installing hydrants. Challenger Pallet is also putting in a hydrant.
They are working with planning and zoning more than ever to get necessary inspections going to help make local business fire safe.
B.C. REPORTS:
Station 1. Jim reported that they had 71 EMS calls and 10 Fire calls. They responded to a large house fire. A couple of volunteers are taking the EMS course. He said his volunteers do an awesome job and are dedicated. He suggests that the district implement a reward system for those who go above and beyond. He is not in favor of the new responsibility flow charts and would like to have had more input on it.
Station 2. Blaine: 10 EMS calls and 2 Fire calls. His station is awaiting the organizational changes that Blaine says will “reinvent the wheel”.
Station 3. Nic: 3 EMS calls and 2 fire calls. He has a couple of volunteers preparing to be EMTs.
Station 4. Mitch: 3 EMS calls and 3 fire calls. They responded to a large fire call. They hired a new fire fighter and have one volunteer preparing to be an EMT. They are excited for the new building.
COMMISSIONER REPORT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:29. Gordon moved to adjourn. Roger seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.
Roger-EMS & Training/Gordon-Equipment /Dallin-Facilities/Jim-Budget/Mike-PR