BOARD MEETING MINUTES
April 15, 2009
1. Call to order.
The Board meeting was called to order at 6:04 pm.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call of the Board Members.
Board Members Present:
Dan Atkinson Gary Selig Rick Parker
William Dunlap Sr Randy James
Board Members Absent:
None
4. Approval of the Minutes: March 24, 2009
There was a motion by Randy James to approve the minutes of the regular Board Meeting of March 24, 2009. There was a second by Gary Selig and the vote was unanimous.
5. REPORTS
a. Financial Report
The Financial Reports were presented by Tina Dillahunty. Tina apologized for not getting the report out sooner. The report was finished this afternoon. Tina went over the reports.
b. Administration Report
The Administration Report was given by Tina Dillahunty. Tina stated that she has been on vacation for three weeks. She has been getting caught up with working on the budget and will be working on the quarterly reports. We
now have a window in Peggy’s office so she can see people when they come in. Tina just received a letter from IRS stating that the 941C reports that were done to get credit for Social Security on Stoddard and Whitted needs to
be on a 941X. Tina stated that she used the 941C because that is what the IRS Government representative, Kim Savage, said she needed to use. Tina will transfer the information to the 941X and resubmit it. Tina will be
attending a class on April 27th on the new COBRA changes in the stimulus package.
c. Auxiliary Report
The Auxiliary Report was given by Tina Dillahunty. Tina stated that Peggy gave her the report to give to the Board. The Easter Egg Hunt and Ice Cream Social on April 11th went very well despite the cold and snowy weather.
We have had many nice comments about the event.
Thanks to Tina for providing some of the eggs, Gary Selig and Randy James for helping out, and to all the guys who helped us get ready for the event and cleaned up afterwards.
Very special thanks to Chief Howard and the firefighters who participated in the egg-on-a-spoon races. We are not sure who won that race but thanks to all of you for being such great sports
The Auxiliary is working on another fund-raiser, Summer Swap Meet, and we will provide more information once we have worked out all the details.
d. Local 1505 Report
The Local 1505 Report was given by Preston Slayton. Preston stated that everything is moving along. They are working on the budget and the car show will be June 12th and 13th.
e. Firefighter’s Association Report
There was no Firefighter Association report.
.
6. CALL TO THE PUBLIC
There was no answer to the call to the public.
7. PURCHASE REQUESTS
a. Nozzle and Hose purchase request
Chief Howard made a request to purchase hose, nozzles, fittings and tools for Engine 310 at a cost of $125.00. Don stated that these are budgeted items. Don stated that about $6,000 will be funded through grants and this will
allow Engine 310 to be up and functional. This is the engine that we purchased from the Mesa Fire Dept. There was a motion by Rick Parker to purchase the items for Engine 310 at a cost of $13,125 considering the $6,000
grant funding. There was a second by Dan Atkinson and the vote was unanimous in favor.
8. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
a. Run Report
The run report was given by Chief Don Howard. There were 80 calls to service for the month of March. Randy James asked the Chief why Station 32 has more calls than the other station and Don stated that there is more
population in this district. Sam Whitted discussed a structural fire. Sam stated that there were high winds and this was a substantial fire. The guys did an outstanding job of knocking the fire down. There was no structural damage
but there was smoke damage. There was one minor injury that required a firefighter to be sent to the hospital to be checked out. Sam discussed the injuries. We are using Engine 317 due to repairs on the first out engine. This is
the first time water has been pumped from this engine on a fire and the guys were pleased with the performance.
b. Citizen Survey
Chief Howard stated that the survey was in the newsletter. We have received five responses. Don presented the surveys to the Board for them to look at.
c. Alltel Tower Update
Chief Howard stated that Bill Towler came out Monday because he was concerned about the location. He wanted it closer to the building until he walked the property. Don discussed the different placement options. Mr. Towler
will make a determination and submit it back to us. Don stated that a public meeting was held about the tower and there was no public in attendance. Don stated that he feels people out here would like better cell phone service.
d. Easter Egg Hunt
Don Howard stated that we had a great Easter egg hunt. It was a great day and everyone enjoyed it. There was an excellent turnout.
e. Captain’s Promotional Testing
Chief Howard stated that we will be starting a new Captain’s promotional testing process May 15, 116 and 17. The following week there will be oral interviews. Don stated that there were issues with the prior testing process so
it was put on hold.
f. PFAC Drill
Don stated that April 25th there will be an area wide drill. This is a wildland fire drill that involves all fire agencies, law enforcement agencies, public health, Cert teams and Coconino County. The Board is welcome to come out.
The Incident Command Post will be at the Pinewood Fire Station in Munds Park.
g. Other
Don Howard stated that there is a repaving project on Hwy 89. We thought to look at getting a right hand turn lane for Station 33. This is a project from the Economic Stimulus Package. This is strictly for paving and not for
new construction. We have been put on a wish list. Don discussed the project. Don stated that they have asked about the possibility of acquiring milling for the parking lot.
9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Budget Advisory Sub-committee
Randy James is Chairman for the Committee. Randy stated that they had the third meeting today and talked for about two hours. Many good things were said. We are an advisory committee and will bring a written
recommendation to the Board. Randy discussed the composition of the committee. Randy stated that they went around and everyone had a chance to speak. Randy stated that he was impressed with the comments that come out
of the process. It went well but they ran out of time. Hopefully the last meeting will be next Tuesday. Don Howard stated that it has been a good process and it gets everyone thinking with various points of view. We are looking
primarily at next year with the understanding that the next two years will be very eventful for us. We look forward in a year to see what 2010/2011 will look like. Tonight we would like to see if the Board would like to provide us
with direction. Bruce Johnson stated that this has been a good process. Bruce stated that if you continue the process it would be nice to have a wider range of citizen input. Bill Dunlap stated that he appreciates Bruce’s
participation.
b. Joint Board Meeting of April 10th
Chief Howard stated that he asked for the joint meeting so the Boards can talk directly to each other. Don stated that he appreciated that attendance of everyone. It is good to have open dialog to see if we are on board with
some of the issues facing both departments. Don stated that from the meeting minutes it looked like there were other options that were being considered other than merging. It seemed that of the options Fort Valley would prefer
to merge. Bill Dunlap stated that this was a good opportunity for both Boards to present their view on the process and how it should go. It was a good meeting. Gary Selig stated that he thought it was a good meeting. There are
so many unknowns now he is not sure if we can resolve anything. We are still on track to move in that direction. Don stated that we targeted the August meeting to take a vote. The Summit meeting is a little earlier than the Fort
Valley meeting. Thirty days after that we will look to be one department. Sam Whitted stated that it was helpful to have both Boards discuss a shared vision. We might think about a joint meeting before the August meeting to
bring the departments together as one.
c. 2009/2010 Budget
There was a discussion of the draft budget. Don stated that this draft reflects a salary freeze. Don stated that at the meeting today there was a lot of discussion about a salary freeze. One point that came up was the
Communications Plan to update and upgrade the communication system. This is something we feel we need to move forward with. This is a $140,000 project. Don discussed the project and the grant that we applied for. Randy
James stated that there are about 7 or 8 bullet points that came up in the committee meeting. Randy discussed the format of the meeting. Randy stated that some of the things they discussed were a hiring freeze, cost of living, step
increase. Randy stated that they came to the conclusion that a salary freeze means the salaries are frozen. Randy stated that other topics were the maintenance facility and staffing. Randy stated that in the general budget they are
satisfied with the hard costs. We want to continue to pull things together and get recommendations and a minority report. There was a discussion of the proposed budgets. Don discussed some of the comments from the Budget
meetings. By the next meeting we should have enough to make an intelligent decision. Randy James asked if there was any direction from the rest of the Board. Rick Parker stated the feels the committee is doing a great job.
There was a discussion of the possibility of a possible Honor Guard in conjunction with the City of Flagstaff and Highlands. Rick Parker asked about travel expense with the Honor Guard and Don stated that there would be some
travel expense if we choose to have an Honor Guard. Rick requested the Chief to find out what the cost per year would be. Dan Atkinson asked about the Educational Policy pay. Don stated that at the last meeting it was
suggested that it be put in the budget. Randy James stated that it was his suggestion to put it in the budget in case it is needed. Don stated that a major item we have added is to acquire alternative power through solar/wind. We
currently have one proposal. A ballpark figure of savings over five stations is about $15,000 per year. There may be some grant funding available for this project and we will pursue that funding source. There was a discussion of
the project. Rick Parker discussed his concerns that we don’t get into that type of project too soon. Rick feels the technology is changing and does not want to be stuck with old technology. Don stated that we have three
vendors interested and they are advising that solar power would be most efficient. Gary Selig stated that there were issues with solar in the mid 80s. Sam Whitted stated that the vendors are prepared to make presentations at a
Board meeting. There was further discussion of the project.
10. NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.
11. ACTION ITEMS
a. Set date for Special Board Meeting prior to May 7th
Chief Howard stated he feels there is a need to set a special meeting to deal with the budget. The County wants the budget by June 10th. The Board discussed times when Board members would be unavailable due to vacations.
Don stated that by law we don’t have to have it to the County until July 10th. We have to publish and post it for 30 days. There was a discussion of the dates. There was a discussion of the reports the Summit Budget Advisory
Sub Committee will submit to the Board. It was decided that they would finalize the budget for publishing and posting at the regular meeting on May 20th.
b. Personnel issue on grievance filed
Bill Dunlap stated that the Summit Fire District Fire Board may choose to go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel issue of filing a grievance. A. R. S. 38-431.03(A)(1) allows for this. The member filing the Grievance has
the right to hold this discussion as a part of the public meeting if he so chooses. Bill Dunlap asked Joe Canizales if he wished to hold this discussion in the public meeting. Joe indicated that he would like to do this in executive
session. There was a motion by Gary Selig to go into executive session to handle a personnel grievance and a second by Rick Parker. The vote in favor was unanimous. The meeting went into executive session at 7:26 pm.
The meeting was called to order out of Executive Session at 8:53 pm.
Bill Dunlap stated and it was agreed by all Board members that in the case of the grievance regarding the discipline of Joe Canizales the following would apply:
Joe Canizales would not be on probation
Joe Canizales would be repaid for 24 of the 48 hours of time off without pay.
Joe Canizales would be sent a letter signed by the Board Chairman stating the decision of the Fire Board.
12. ADJOURNMENT
There was a motion to adjourn by Rick Parker and a second by Gary Selig. The vote was unanimous and the meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Tina Dillahunty
