02/21/2024 - Regular Monthly Meeting

Minutes

1. Paul called the meeting to order at 6:00p.

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Roll Call - Present: P a u ldel Toro, Allen Schultz, Dave Groat, & LeAnne Spicer. Judy Dunn was excused. We have a quorum and the Chief is present.

4. Treasurer's Report: LeAnne provided reports (attached). The Balance Sheet shows our current on-hand balances of the 4 bank accounts of $254,192.57. The old account, #7340, is closed and funds were moved to a new operating account. No property tax monies have been received yet. Budget vs. Actual (2nd column is the annual budget) - bank fees are higher because of wire fees to move funds from the hacked account to QuickBooks to cover the year-end payroll. 

   • 6121 Education / Firefighter reflects the Advanced M T classes.
   • 6470 Uniforms - are the high-visibility coats &gloves ordered in 2023 but received in 2024. 
   • 6500 Office Supplies- a couple expenses need to be moved to Maintenance & FireCorps. 
   • 6550 Info Tech- extra security cameras. 
   • 7110 Maintenance - new heater control board for Station 1. 
   • 7200 is the replacement hot water heater for Station 2. 
   • 9220 Legal - Annual SDA & DOLA filings (known expenses). 

   LeAnne explained when she reviews these reports she looks at large, unusual or questionable items, she found none of concern. Shout out to Capt. Sebring making some changes to unused modules on the ESO subscription and reducing that cost, likewise to the Chief & Carolyne for getting 5 vehicles off the insurance bill which resulted in a refund of $969.

5. President's Report: Paul stated Judy is absent tonight for a death in the family. He reported the check fraud case is still under TCSO investigation and reminded everyone we did not suffer any loss of funds.

6. Chief's Report: See attached report which was shared with Board Members, detailing statistics &activities & meetings he's attended, since the last meeting. Chief Quick mentioned our volunteers receive accolades from supporting agencies on scenes for the number of responders and their skills and abilities. There were over 962 hours of volunteer time since the last meeting - amazing! He thanked everyone who has shown up early & often, snow shovels in hand, and cleared the bays so we could get out on calls quickly &safely. He said that FireCorps. cleaned & organized the kitchen; sealing food for safety & sustainability. The refrigerators have been sorted and cabinets labeled. He talked about the Virtual Fire Extinguisher which is on-loan to us and how it was used at the 2/17 Fire Blanket event. We can borrow it again - possibly at the pancake breakfast. Regarding vehicles, Jonah, the NETCO mechanic wil try to be with us for a month this summer toevaluate our rigs & provide repairs. R-50 is in Colorado Springs at Mile Hi Stress & Suspension for a front-end alignment. Squad -
   51-- it may be practical to make those $5k repairs & put it back inservice, esp. when we have two support vehicles out of service at the same time. The electrical short in the Chief's vehicle has been repaired. Chief reported on the ICE Rescue training; 3 were certified, 5 more earned hours and the drone was used to capture images of the event. Training is now on Thursday nights at 6:30p. Jackets have been received and we'll be getting patches with Velcro (so they can beremoved when gear is turned in). Paul requested a group photo of volunteers wearing the new jackets to be posted on our website, on Facebook and shared with Thetford Realty. The Training Center was used for 4 CERT trainings and one Community Event - fire extinguisher/fire blanket education & sales. Chief asked if the Board would begin paying the Captains and District Administrator, as provided in the 2024 budget. LeAnne said there are no contracts or payment structures yet, Paul said he would work on that this week. She stated the gray area of paying volunteer captains, and as this is not on tonight's agenda, it will be in the March Meeting new business.

7. Old Business: 

   1. Bylaws review: Dave shared the corrections which were made. A motion was made, seconded and passed t o accept the new (2/21/2024) District Bylaws document. The Board thanked the Bylaws Committee for their hard work in getting this into place! Members signed the new document. 
   2. Hiring Committee Update: Allen, Robin, Karen & Dave drafted and revised a job description for the Fire Chief. Allen stated that persons paid with taxpayer dollars fall under specific requirements regarding postings, interviews, etc. The draft is on the website & Facebook. The committee is also utilizing Indeed & Monster, etc. The board is hoping Interim Chief Quick will submit an application. Robin asked who does the actual hiring and Allen explained the committee is made up of himself, Don Moore, Jordan Moon, Michael Bailey, Chris Walters and Dave Groat. They will do the preliminary sorting then make suggestions to the Board. Former Chief Michael Bailey is on the committee because of his extensive knowledge and experience in our particular District. It was suggested that the Chief at Hartsel could be a good resource. Chief will get his contact information for the Board to contact. Paul reminded members that we are all on the same team, we just have different roles & responsibilities. He encouraged everyone to be mindful of what's posted on WhatsApp. backstabbing won't be tolerated. 
   3. Update on progress of Website: Dave stated that the volunteer who's revamping this for us told him most of the functionality is in place. It should be nearly complete in another couple of weeks. Paul felt we should offer to pay for any extra features- like Widgets for an interactive calendar, address sign requests, or a possible donation system. Our website will be ADA compliant when finished.
      NOT on AGENDA: A motion was made, seconded and approved to accept the minutes from the 1/17/2024 regular monthly meeting.

8. Grant Committee: Bonnie has completed a grant application for a matching grant for a new EMT vehicle. The committee is working on a Fire Adaptive Colorado for signage on Hwy 24 regarding forest fire information. It will be a reminder of what causes forest fires. This will be a good starting point for the committee members who aren't familiar with the process of grant writing. Toni would like to see it posted on department property from time to time, when it's not on private property. Paul will try to find a mock-up before asking for Board approval.

9. Friends of Florissant Fire: It was clarified that the Friends are a committee, under theBoard. LeAnne said we need "lane definition" and Terri shared some of the FireCorps tasks and specialties. It was stated that Friends will be in charge of fundraising. There was discussion about the Toy Drive, the Holiday Parade and the Annual Banquet which were historically handled by the FireCorps. But it was noted that the purpose of the FireCorps is to support the Firefighters. All other events, fund raising efforts, community education, etc. are the responsibility of the Friends Committee. Cross-over is welcome! FireCorps members may join the Friends and vice-versa. Invitations and notifications need to go out to ALL VOLUNTEERS for inclusion and best response. Be sure to include Board Members and the District Administrator so that evervone knows what's going on and can stay on the same page. (It was noted that we should have a Permanent Budget Committee.) Paul said our goal is to establish the roles and functions of committees within our organization, the person in charge of a Committee has to communicate with EVERYONE.

   Chief Quick asked for clarification on an email from Allen regarding the handling of FireCorps, which was brought up in an email thread. Allen admitted to writing the email to the Chief and the Board and preferred not to address publicly. He spoke of comments on the FireCorps. WhatsApp. regarding Friends who had resigned. Paul stated there are multiple sides to this story and blaming the Chief or the FireCorps is not helpful. Let's try to move forward and improve our communication. The finger-pointing has to stop. LeAnne agreed that rumors, hearsay & gossip need to stop. She said we need to remember our goal and ask ourselves "is my decision/action supporting the Mission Statement of the District?". There is on-going work on the Board Procedural Document, but further discussion was tabled.

   Paul went over the remainder of the agenda, as it is after 9:00pm. March 23rd event - Cabin Fever in Florissant fundraiser dinner for an automated compression device, hopefully fund one, possibly two. Dave will get details and post on the website.

10. Adjournment- Paul adjourned the meeting at 9:15 p.m.
    Respectfully submitted, Carolyne Forster, Volunteer Administrator