May 10, 2018 Minutes

Fire District Commissioner Meeting

Dallin called the meeting to order at 8:01. The opening prayer was offered by Blaine Ker. Those present were: Commissioners Jim Deuel, Roger Anderson, Mike Miller, Gordon Ball, and Dallin Gambles; Interim Fire Chief Carl Anderson; Battalion Chiefs Blaine Ker, Jim Kelly, Nic White, and Mitch Bingham. Melanie Sullivan recorded the minutes. There were a handful of patrons present.

Agenda Approval: The only change was to the date that the Full-time position was approved. It should read April and not January. Mike moved to accept the correction. Roger 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. Gordon seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.

Budget Review: Melanie reviewed the budget. We are under budget at this time in the fiscal year.

Approval of Expenditures: Dallin reviewed the expenditures of $257,469.36 of which $224,888.40 was for the Menan building. Jim moved to accept the expenditures. Gordon seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.

Patron Input (3-minute time limit): Jill Cameron was concerned that Brian Owens had been made a lieutenant as well as an advisor to the explorer scout program. When it was explained to her that he has not been made a lieutenant, she had no other concerns.

OLD BUSINESS:

  1. Menan station progress –Dustin reported that they are working on the parking lot. The tree root situation under the parking lot was not a bad as he had initially thought, but he will still bring in a paper for the commissioners to sign stating that they know about the potential problem. They are still on target to be done by the end of the month. Carl asked if training on the old station will slow down finishing the building. Dustin thinks that won’t be a problem.

Graham said that they don’t have the price back yet from the exhaust system. As soon as they get back those numbers, they will bring it before the commissioners. He said that the exhaust system will not be in by the end of the month. He thinks that since the trucks don’t idle in the bay without the doors open, an expensive system may not be necessary.

Graham also reported that all the locks in the district are keyed under a master system. The locks he put into the building is a higher-end system than the system used throughout the district. He proposed a couple of different locking systems, one where only the outer doors are under the grandmaster key system and one where all the doors in the district get new locks. The first option would cost $2000 and the second would cost $6000, however, the second option would be compatible with crash bars. The first option would require a second key to access janitor closets and such. It was agreed that the first option would be used.

Graham suggested different options for the lettering for the sign of the building.   The options are to mount individual letters or put four pieces of steel with the letters cut out. They will price it both ways and let the Menan Building Committee know so they can make a decision.

  1. Ririe water tender delivery date: Carl reported that the truck is ready to be picked up. Carl and Blaine are looking to fly out on June 2 to bring back the truck.
  2. SCBA technicians and PIO hire introductions: Carl introduced Victor Gallego and Vaughn Ball as the SCBA techs and Courtney Youngstrom as the PIO.
  3. Rescind approval of additional captain’s position: At the last meeting, the commissioners approved the creation a new captain’s position in station one. Carl asked that this be rescinded. Jim moved to rescind the creation of the position. Roger seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous
  4. Discussion of the full-time position approved from April 12th, 2018 meeting: Carl said that he would still like to hire a full-time position as an assistant to the chief who would serve wherever needed. The battalion chiefs are in agreement with wanting this position. Jim asked if this should be done before a new chief is hired. The consensus is that Carl needs the help now. He is hoping to get this positioned filled within the next few weeks. Carl will talk with Dennis Wilkinson about how to pay this employee if he/she responds to calls outside of his 40 hours.

Carl is also asking for a volunteer position to be over training coordination.

The commissioners will put a timeline for getting a new chief on the agenda for next month.

NEW BUSINESS:

  1. Budget of soft costs for new Menan station: Carl had a list of office furniture and supplies for the new Menan building. The commissioners agreed to set a budget at a maximum of $8000 for the soft costs. Jim moved to accept an $8000 maximum budget for soft costs. Mike seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.

FIRE CHIEF REPORT: Carl reported that USIWG is having a drill in Driggs that is open to all the firefighters. He offered the new Menan station for another USIWG meeting on June 14th.

The district will be getting reimbursed $20,000 for the Henry Creek Fire.

Carl has been made the chairman of the LEPC.

They had help from the city of Rigby to pump out a drain on city property in front of the Menan station.

PIO REPORT: Courtney reported that this Saturday they are going throughout the county do some fire prevention teaching with the Red Cross.

Next week, the 14,15, and 16th, she will be attending the critical incidence stress debriefing class.

She has made some good contacts within the emergency response community.

She read a list of volunteer rights in an effort to unify the district.

B.C. REPORTS:

Station 1. Jim: 70 EMS calls, 12 fire calls. There is a power pole that frequently gets hit that they responded to calls at. The volunteers do a fabulous job and are getting proficient at what they do. Morale has gone up.

Station 2. Blaine: 9 EMS 13 fire calls. They responded to a call of someone falling off a cliff. Morale is improving.

Station 3. Nic: 1 Fire and 3 EMS calls. Nothing too serious. He asked if they are good to add gravel to the station grounds. Gordon said they have the deed and they can probably go ahead.

Station 4. Mitch: 7 EMS and 4 fire calls. He asked when they should do the open house for the station. This will be added to the agenda fort he next meeting. Morale is good.

COMMISSIONER REPORT: Dallin adjourned the meeting at 9:20.

Mike moved to adjourn. Jim seconded. The vote by Jim, Mike, Dallin, Roger, and Gordon was unanimous.

Roger-EMS & Training/Gordon-Equipment /Dallin-Facilities/Jim-Budget/Mike-PR