BOARD MEETING MINUTES
April 20, 2010
1. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. ROLL CALL OF BOARD MEMBERS
a. Absent: Jim Doskocil - Jerry Loynachan will be Acting Chairperson
4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
a. Approval of the Regular Board Meeting of March 23, 2010. There was a motion by Gary Selig to approve the
minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of March 23th, 2010, and a second vote by Rick Parker. The vote was unanimous.
b. Approval of the minutes of the Budget Work Session of March 30, 2010. There was a motion by Gary Selig to
approve the minutes of the March 30th Budget Work Session, and a second vote by Rick Parker. The vote was
unanimous.
5. REPORTS
a. Financial Reports: The financial report was given by Tina Dillahunty. Tina discussed the money transfer of Fort
Valley Fire District (FVFD) funds to the Summit Fire District (SFD) county account. She recently billed for two small
fires in which SFD was initial attack. Other additional invoicing for Out of District billing is still due. Old contracts
with the Fuels Crew have been billed. These monies were not on the initial budget. There was a discussion about
Volunteer Pension Accounting. Board Members Gary Selig and Rick Parker asked questions pertaining to specific
budget items. There was a discussion about mileage and lodging because it was over budget. Don Howard said this is
why we talked about buying a sedan. Next years’ projected budget for mileage will be $875.00, which is a big
difference from last year. Rick said we can discuss more of this at the next budget meeting.
b. Administration Report: The Administration Report was given by Tina Dillahunty. She has been working on getting
the assets in the new QuickBooks program. Each asset we have must be entered individually. She will need to do this
for Summit and Fort Valley and then add the assets from Fort Valley to Summit effective November 1st. Joann has been
working on record retention. Chief Howard and I have been working on the budget and projections. We have the three
versions of the budget presented to you tonight.
c. Auxiliary Report: The Auxiliary Report was given by Joann Benninghoff. The Taco Dinner and raffle is scheduled
for Saturday, May 1st from 5:00 to 7:30 pm at Station 33 on North Hwy 89. The Administration Office has tickets for
sale. Cost is $5.00 for adult. Sandy Weishapl has done a great job of collecting donations, especially from vendors
from our district. One prize is $300.00 worth of propane from Titan Propane. We hope you will come and enjoy having
dinner with the people in our district.
d. Local 1505 Report – The Local 1505 Union Report was given by Mike Gillespie. The Union is preparing for their
annual Car Show June 18th and 19th. They are competing with another car show. The Union will be doing ice cream
scoops at Baskin Robbins on Wednesday, April 28, 2010. All proceeds will go to the Union.
6. CALL TO THE PUBLIC: There was no answer to the Call to the Public.
7. PURCHASE REQUESTS
a. None
8. CHIEF REPORT
a. Run Report: The run report was given by Battalion Chief Eric Lobstein. There were 75 calls to service for the
month of March. Eric gave a breakdown of each call per station and out of district. This was somewhat of a busy month,
but no real significant calls. This month in the Fort Valley area Unisource asked SFD to do a repair service for a gas
line that was sliced by ice at a district home. Eric spoke of the EMS training being done in the district to raise our
service by all firefighters. Eric said he is happy with the results.
b. The Surplus Auction has been set for May 15th. It will be held at the warehouse. We have not finalized if we will
be our own auctioneer or bring in a professional. The list should be out by end of next week. Rick will ask Brad Smith
if he would auctioneer. There will be a release of responsibility on all items.
c. Summit is sponsoring the PFAC Drill on Saturday. Date has been changed to May 8th. Gillespie is the incident
commander. The date was changed because of Bob Weber’s illness and possible funeral service for Saturday. Don
talked about Bob, and the Bob Weber Lifetime Achievement Award. Don spoke of the help Mr. Weber gave to our
department over the years. (The PFAC drill date was postponed until the PFAC group can vote on a date at the meeting
of April 28th, 2010.)
d. Update on Verizon tower. Deputy Chief Sam Whitted spoke of his conversations and letter to Mike Campbell of
Verizon. Sam believes the elongated time span for this project is due partly to the size of the corporation.
e. Update on our Communications System Upgrade. Don said we are being held up in acquiring proper frequencies
with Federal Communications. Don spoke of the history of Summit Fire and Timberline-Fernwood Fire Districts,
shared frequencies with another department, and the eventual loss because this department was given the frequency
exclusively. John Lindsay with Niles Radio has sent a new series of frequencies to Federal Communications, and we
are awaiting the outcome of this which is expected in 2 to 3 weeks. Captain Martin Johns, head of communications with
SFD, said this is a ‘wait and see game’. Gary asked about a federal mandate. Don explained why SFD wants to get
away from the frequencies we are leasing. All the equipment we have now is narrow band capable.
f. Update on our Training and Maintenance Facilities. BC Lobstein has taken the lead with a Summit Committee for the
training facility. Eric said they want to stay true to the design to keep from an additional approval process, while
keeping in mind budget and minimizing costs. The committee is looking at what they can do in-house by department
personnel. We want to build something that is very functional and will remain that way for a long time. Tomorrow a
meeting will be held with Community Development to see if they support SFD building this training sight. Don will be
making the presentation.
g. Other: Chief Howard spoke about the number of tragic events recently in the State of Arizona, many of whom are in
public safety. Some have died by their own hand, some by others. Don informed the Board of a fundraiser this Sunday
for one of the families.
9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. None
10. NEW BUSINESS
a. None
11. ACTION ITEMS
a. Review, discussion and possible action to acquire Bill Wittington as our attorney of record. Don asked for action on
Resolution 2010-02 to acquire Bill Wittington for an attorney. Our attorney Donna Aversa has taken ill and we need to
move forward. Bill Wittington has been at the AFDA meetings for the last 15 years. Bill resides in Prescott, Arizona.
Rick Parker made a motion to have Bill Wittington be the attorney of record for Summit Fire District. There was a
second vote by Dan Atkinson and the vote was unanimous.
b. Discussion of opening discussions with Lockett Ranches for contractual coverage. Don sent a letter to the Chairman
of Lockett Ranches Home Association. He is trying to inquire about all areas surrounding our district. Don explained
the history of Lockett Ranches and their choice to contract with the City of Flagstaff for fire protection. This year the
City has raised the contract by 18%. Don feels we might have an opportunity to speak with them about a contract with
Summit Fire District. This increase is also happening in the Flagstaff Ranch area. Summit Fire would not need any
additional stations or firefighters. Station 37 is 2.5 miles from the entrance of this subdivision. Don said his intentions
are not to undermine the City of Flagstaff, but Don sees this as a potential opportunity for funding. This would have to
move quickly. Rick questioned the area in Camp Townsend and the possibility of having the same type of conversation
about fire and EMS service. Don said that specific area is smaller, but our district wants to be as creative as we can.
Don would give recommendations for the contract, but it would be the boards’ final decision. City of Flagstaff Fire
Chief Mike Iacona brought this information to Chief Howard. Jerry Loynachan said it is great that Don is pursuing this.
c. Review, discussion and possible action on refinance of Wells Fargo Lease Purchase Agreement. Tina Dillahunty
talked about the list of items that are financed with Wells Fargo and the history of how these items all came to be under
this financial agreement. (See attached list) At the time this lease purchase was done, the goal was to have it refinanced
before the December 2011 balloon payment was due. Tina discussed the options. (See attached options) There was
open discussion about refinancing and the importance of getting liens off of equipment. Tina discussed interest rates and
the desire to have the Boards permission for funding for an appraisal. There was discussion about the refinancing of
Station 32 and/or Station 36. Station 32 is paid off and could work as collateral for these loans. Rick said without
appraisal, every one of these figures for the options could be wrong since we are unsure of how much appraisals will
come in at. Don and Tina both recommended Option 1. Rick said Board Chairman Jim Doskocil will want to review all
of this information. There was more discussion held about the original lease purchase agreement. At the time it was
called a ground lease. The funding paid for Station 36, the garage to be remodeled, plus extra money. With this extra
money engines were purchased leaving enough to pay for half of the remodel of the garage at Station 37. Jerry
Loynachan opts to investigate option 1. Tina would like to call for an appraisal, which would be approximately $500
for each station. Dan is in favor of option 1 for research purposes. Dan said the bank would probably have this done
with the loan. Gary Selig said he will ‘roll over on this item’ and not vote either way. Don told Gary if he feels
different later, he can talk to him about it. Refinancing gives us the opportunity to sell vehicles when we see fit. Rick
said if Option 1 is not available, then you move to Option 2. Next month we will have more information to know how to
proceed.
d. Review, discussion and possible action on the 2010/2011 Fiscal year budget.
Don gave an update about the Navajo Nation Casino. The first week of May representatives of the nation will meet with
Coconino County. Original plans were for completion in the fall of 2011. This date has been moved to Fall of 2012.
Looking at our projections long term, we have the ability to bring in an additional $200,000 in the future. Don met with
the County Supervisor, and the Navajo Nation has mentioned SFD on two occasions. He believes in the near future the I-
40 corridor is going to open up for a number of other businesses after the casino opens. He talked about Red Flag Ranch
development. How this area develops for SFD will be determined by the Navajo Nation. If they want fire and EMS we
would have to be on sight. Working with them could help development with the Padre Canyon subdivision of 1200
homes. There was a discussion about the past history of this subdivision, and how the future could change the Summit
Fire. Many options could play into the development of the casino. Our involvement would begin in about 6 months if
we were requested to be their fire and EMS service. At this time it is only the county and Navajo Nation negotiating.
Rick asked about the Hopi Nation. The county feels if the Navajo Nation builds that the Hopi’s would follow sometime
afterward within 10 years. Don talked about the OSB wood plant to open in Winslow in the future. Don says we have to
be creative on a daily basis to save money. Right now it costs the department approximately $250,000 a month to
operate.
e. Don tried to identify some of the processes we have gone through looking at this years’ budget and future budgets,
where we are headed, and recommendations. (See Objectives for the Coming Years Budgets/Levels of Identified
Reductions in Expenditures/Fire Chiefs Recommendations for the 2010/2011 Fiscal Year)
Don talked about the importance of the apparatus replacement program. This plan was put together by Keith Klassen,
Bill Dunlap and Mike Apodaca. This plan is very important for the department, the apparatus, and the future of both.
f. Review, discussion and possible action on setting a time and date for another Budget work session. Don asked the
Board how they wanted to proceed with going over the budgets. Tina broke down all budgets with different folders.
Jerry Loynachan asked about dates for another budget work session. Rick would like to see another budget meeting.
Don reminded the Board that July 7th is the latest the budget can be turned into the county. Rick discussed the time he
would be unavailable. It was decided the next regular scheduled Board Meeting would be held May 19th at Station 37
because of County voting issues and the third Budget Work Session would be held on Wednesday, May 12th, 6:00 pm at
Station 32. Don said Tina has done a tremendous amount of work on these three budgets and what they represent. Tina
reviewed the three different budgets and how color coding has been added for clarification purposes concerning mil
rates, salary freezes, etc. All three budgets go for 6 consecutive fiscal years. Tina said anyone can call her with
questions. Jerry suggested everyone do their homework.
12. CALL TO THE PUBLIC: No response to the call to the public
13. ADJOURNMENT
There was a motion made by Rick Parker to close the Board Meeting. There was a second by Gary Selig, and the vote
was unanimous. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Joann Benninghoff
| Phone: (928) 526-9537 Fax: (928) 526-2750 |
8905 N. Koch Field Rd. Flagstaff, AZ 86004 E-mail: sfdadm@infomagic.net