Minutes
Paul called the meeting to order at 6:00p.
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call - Present: Paul del Toro, Dave Groat, LeAnne Spicer, and Judy Dunn. Chief Quick was also present. Paul stated that Allen Schultz has resigned from the board for personal reasons. He said that Allen was the hardest working individual in the District; truly working 24/7 on our behalf. He mentioned that Allen had made tremendous contributions and wished him great peace, and hopes he remains a valued member of our Community.
Approval of minutes from the 2/21/24 meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: LeAnne provided reports (attached). The Balance Sheet shows our current on-hand balances of the 4 bank accounts of $437,599.74. Acct. 0168 is a $5,517.12 CD, Acct. 3461 is our operating account, balance is $32,402.06, Acct. 7340 has $1,899.74 and will be closing, and the Colorado Trust balance of $397,780.82 is where our property tax money gets deposited. The Budget vs. Actual report is a snapshot of where we’re at currently and we’re just about one-quarter into 2024. February through May will be our heaviest receipts. Specific Ownership is car registrations. Some fund-raising income is not reflected as the fire blanket event has not been recorded or deposited. Line 5211 Payroll Processing: we needed professional intervention for producing the 941 Federal Withholding, Social Security, Medicare, etc. and had to correct W-2s because of errors last year. They are now caught up and correct: THANK YOU, VICKY! Line 5691 Worker’s Comp went up by $500, LeAnne has a call in to them. Line 6121 Education reflects current EMR, EMT & AEMT class expenses. The Fire Corps. line item has been split into 6141 & 6142 for Friends to have a budget. Fire Corps funds are for kitchen & cleaning supplies (incident support is separate). Friends monies can be for fund-raising expenses. Line 6442 PPE $244.84 was for gloves and 6470 Uniforms for $640.99 went to red t-shirts. Line 6503 $393.42 for office supplies & stamps. Line 6550 I.T. was Allen’s line. LeAnne thanked Allen for making us stateof-the-art. Line 6822 Vehicle Repairs $1,233.99 was for Rescue 50. Line 7113 Station 1 Maintenance $2,076.18 reflects the heater control board and Line 7210 Station 2 Maintenance $554.00 for the new hot water heater. Line 9010 Communications $1,730.50 for the new radios: 5 – 800s, which are programmed and in service. LeAnne stated we’re at about 9% for total expenses. LeAnne said she uses her ‘Statement of Activity Detail’ report to look for large, unusual or questionable items and found none.
5.1 Next she mentioned the District By-Laws state a budget committee must be established and be made up of the Treasurer, Bookkeeper, Chief, another Board Member – Paul appointed himself, and an additional person. The purpose of this Permanent Committee is to work on preparing next year’s budget. A motion was made, seconded and carried to create a budget committee consisting of LeAnne Spicer, Vicky Collings, Chief Quick, and Paul del Toro – with another member of the community. Paul reminded the group that the Board is looking for a replacement for Allen and would like that to happen in the next two weeks. Folks were asked to submit letters of interest for either the Board position or the Budget Committee position to active board members; email BOARD@FLORISSANTFIRE.COM. This committee’s report will be part of the monthly Treasurer’s Report to the Board.
Chief’s Report: Chief reported that since the 2/21/2024 meeting we have had 37 calls with an average of 6 responders and an average response time of 14 minutes – this reflects the difficulty of travel during these past storms. Calls consisted of 1 smoke investigation, 4 structure fires; 1 included a mutual aid to Lake George and we returned the next day for mop up. Fire Corps did a great job feeding our own firefighters plus those from Lake George, Hartsel and Guffey. We had one carbon monoxide call; 2 citizen assists and 2 traffic accidents. Paul thought this low number reflected people being trapped in their driveways! We had 12 calls over the big storm, twice there were two simultaneous calls and once there were three. Saturday morning at 3:30a Capt. Sebring’s vehicle was the ONLY one to get in and shuttle patients out. Chief’s spoken to Jay Teague, OEM on a daily basis to discuss the county being in a state of emergency and offering help to citizens who call the fire dept. for help shoveling out.
6 EMRs completed their tests, just need the National certification. 1 in EMT class and Capt. Sebring in AEMT. S130/90 at 4-Mile was postponed due to snow, will be resuming this week. There were 570 volunteer hours, but this does not reflect time shoveling and plowing snow! [Terri wanted to acknowledge the Sheriff and County workers and Search & Rescue. Also, private citizens and neighbors who showed up to help each other out.] Chief & Capt. Sebring met with DFPC regarding the CRRF agreement to ensure if a wildland incident occurs and we go into an extended time (72+ hours) with a truck, there is reimbursement money for being on the incident.
Vehicles – B-51 has been serviced and passed inspection. B-53 is out for service but will be back in a couple of days. R-50 is still out of service but the mechanical work has been completed, need to get it to Divide Collision for the body work. UPRAD has an ambulance for sale that Chief is interested in as a Fire Corps. vehicle to take to incidents, store water and supplies, and provide a safe place for firefighter rehab. They’re asking $5,000. Judy asked him to get the year of manufacture, model and other stats so the Board can discuss the purchase. S-51 needs about $5,000 worth of repairs and Chief believes it would be worth it to repair it and have as an extra response vehicle when other vehicles are out of service. He’s still in contact with Cripple Creek regarding the vehicle they’re looking to donate.
There was a training on hypothermia which used the Life Pack 15, brush truck operations. Monthly UC Health medical training was for traumatic brain injuries. Life Pack 15’s and AED will be serviced next month.
The Cabin Fever fundraiser is this Saturday evening 5-7p, proceeds to be used for a LUCAS device. The auction will be March 30th, Friends will sell food and we’ll get a donation plus a percentage of the proceeds. There are several grants in the works, and Paul will look into chains for the quick response vehicles.
Old Business: 7.1 - Hiring Committee Update – Dave reported he’s got 20 applicants who are ready to meet with the Board and Chris & Jordan; he’ll narrow it down to 4 or 5. This will be in Executive Session maybe next Monday or Tuesday night. The SDA Rules state the list of finalists must be made public. 7.2. FFPD Procedural Authority Governing Operations – Dave didn’t bring the file so discussion is tabled until April meeting. 7.3 2024 CORA Requests – there have been 8 so far this year.
Public Comments – Jan expressed her thoughts on the benefits of maintaining the background check policy for ALL volunteers. She believes it gives a sense of security to the public. Deaune was asked to make a statement on the vetting process and she stated it’s a tremendous liability to not enforce background check procedures; all our volunteers have to be held accountable. Kathleen asked about how to get through the upcoming mud season. Best bet is to contact the County and request more road base be put down. Commissioners have stated we should see more rock being used.
9.1 - New Business – S-51 repair: discussed above.
9.2 – CPR class: A motion was made, seconded and passed for Chief & Capt. Sebring to be allowed to teach CPR classes here, up to 6 students each, for a donation of $35 each; monies go towards supplies for the class. There’s no need for Friends to assist and the District will be covered.
9.3 – Modify the required background check for Friends Volunteers – Judy first thanked everyone for their kindness when her Mom died, she appreciated being able to be away and take a break from District business. Judy presented information from individuals who chose to not support FFPD at all if they must submit to a background check. After extensive and intense discussion, it was decided that the policy in the bylaws stands: ALL VOLUNTEERS must complete an application, have a background check and be interviewed, prior to any volunteer activity. It was noted that if a background check revealed possibly negative information the interview process could determine appropriateness of being able to volunteer or not. Those present decided that a recruiting campaign should be conducted prior to the pancake breakfast to process any new volunteers specifically for that event.
9.4 – Friends Quarterly Report – none given. Judy requested the Pancake Committee meet next week.
Public Comment – ZOOM participant Starla Thompson commented on former Chief Bailey’s settlement with the District, Judy stated we would have no information on that. The Moores volunteered to help with both setting up the Auction and clearing up afterward. THANKS, Don & Toni!
Paul adjourned the meeting at 8:48 p.m.