| BOARD MEETING MINUTES February 16, 2010 1. Call to order. The Board meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. Roll Call of the Board Members. Board Members Present: Jerry Loynachan Gary Selig Jim Doskocil Dan Atkinson Rick Parker Board Members Absent: None 4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES a. Approval of the regular meeting minutes of January 19th, 2010. There was a motion to approve the Board Meeting minutes of January 19, 2010 by Gary Selig and a second by Dan Atkinson. The vote in favor was unanimous. 5. REPORTS a. Financial Reports The Financial Report was given by Tina Dillahunty. By the end of January all Fort Valley Fire District funds were transferred to the Summit Fire District accounts to appropriate categories. The State of Arizona still owes for the Water Wheel Fire from September 2009. Tina will be billing approximately $28,000 for Storm Support in Holbrook (FEMA). Some of the FEMA expenses were in January and a few will show in the February report. Tina explained about combining the budgets. b. Administration Report We have received a check from a Class Action Lawsuit by Daisy Mountain against Microsoft. There was a settlement. Summit Is a settlement members and we have received $718.00 from the settlement. The lawsuit was against Microsoft for overcharging for purchases or licenses of Microsoft Windows or MS-Dos operating systems and Word or Excel software in violation of Arizona State antitrust statutes. Microsoft agreed on a settlement of $ 4,415,258 to be distributed to members of the Settlement Class in exchange for a release by all class members of all claims for overcharges from May 1994 through December 2008. Distribution amount is based on number of employees on 2007 Census. The check is required to be used for the purchase of a computer or computer software. We are putting the check towards the purchase of QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 2010. This will give us the capability to use QuickBooks to track assets and will allow for a larger data base. This should eliminate the problems we have had due to the data base being too large. Gary asked if we could outgrow QuickBooks capabilities. This size of QuickBooks is double what we have now, and that program was purchased in 2001. Tina has managed the system by compacting previous years. Don believes this will take us well into the future. There was a discussion held about other software programs and the needs of Summit Fire. c. Auxiliary Report The Auxiliary Report was given by Tina Dillahunty. Julie Weishapl-Drinkard is the new Auxiliary President. There was a meeting held in February. The Auxiliary voted to have a Cinco de Mayo Taco Dinner on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at Station 33. The Auxiliary voted to pay Titan Propane $300.00 to help a resident with her propane bill of $750.00. This woman is a widow and former member of the auxiliary. She is having a hard time paying this bill, and Titan Propane informed her the entire bill must be paid by the months end. The Auxiliary also voted not to have the Swap Meets during the summer and an article will be put in the newsletter to inform the Summit Residents. We would like to thank Peggy McClure for her hard work and determination as the President in 2009. She did a wonderful job. d. Local 1505 Report The Local 1505 Report was given by Preston Slayton. Members have been meeting with the Chiefs on SOG’s and SOP’s for review, completion and approval. There has been much accomplished. Don Howard told the board how the Union delivers food boxes to needy families. Flagstaff Fire Department, Summit Fire District and Munds Park all deliver two to three times a year to residents in the city and county. 6. CALL TO THE PUBLIC There was no response to the call to the public. 7. PURCHASE REQUESTS There were no purchase requests. 8. CHIEF’S REPORT a. Run Report: The Run Report was given by Battalion Chief Mike Boehm. There were 92 calls to service for the month of January, and he gave a number breakout of calls for each station, including those calls which were out-of-district. One out-of-district call was to cover Flagstaff Station 3 during the fire at the cement plant. A number of calls were chimney fires and flue obstruction, some due to snow. On January19th there was a double fatality from a rollover on I-40. A few calls were for slide-offs on the roads. Chief Howard said it is surprising there were not more calls on flue fires because of the high snow and wind. Chief Boehm also talked about training within the department. In January the department completed Fitness Training with a peer fitness evaluation to determine strengths and weakness. Peer Fitness training is done in January and June every year. Additionally, EMS, ventilation, and officer development training are done via computer. Every month a chapter is completed and the crew meets for review, questions and discussion. The leadership information keeps the captain on the engine up to par with changes while teaching others on leadership and Captain responsibilities. Structural aspects are also tied in. Jim Doskocil asked if Summit Fire uses video conferencing for training. Summit Fire has the Skype conferencing program, but use power-point for desktop education, with the interaction coming from discussion groups. Dan Atkinson commented his appreciation for Mike’s summarization of the run reports. He likes to hear about the calls during the month, especially the significant events. Mike explained to the board members what a ‘good intent’ call is. Rick Parker talked about the cause of the fire at the cement plant in the city last month. b. Review of the ADEM response to the Navajo and Hopi Nations Chief Howard discussed the FEMA call for relief to isolated people during the winter storm. Don, Tina Dillahunty and Martin Johns were called out. The briefing was in Holbrook, and Don chose to go to Tuba City. Don spoke of the challenges, frustrations and hopeful solutions working under FEMA. The only way into isolated areas was by snow cat or snow mobile. Hay was never dropped from FEMA helicopters because its purchase or delivery would not be authorized. Private Grand Canyon helicopter companies, Papillion and Maverick, donated their services to drop food for livestock. Black Hawks flew at $5,000 an hour with only 10% capacity on board. Don got an education of what makes the Navajo people who they are. It was a very frustrating time for these people; spending huge sums of money and not really helping. Also, the Navajo Nation does not understand emergency management, so both FEMA and Nation politics were very dysfunctional. Don spoke of the commodity warehouses run by the Department of Agriculture on the reservation which provide boxes of food on a subsistence level. Don did not find out about these boxes until 5 days into the storm, and FEMA could not let them use the boxes until day 9. So much could have been done for so much less money. Don feels that good will come from the frustration. Don met with U. S. Representative of Arizona Ann Kirkpatrick yesterday at the Command Center in Tuba City and spoke with her about the problems and hopeful solutions during ‘Winter Storm’. He hopes she can have some impact with Dennis Paulson, head of FEMA. Ms Kirkpatrick was even given an MRE (meal-ready-to-eat) to open and could not do it. He also spoke with Mandy Metzger about her ranch and the importance of isolated communities who live on their live- stock. The Chief of Staff of the President came out to talk to them also. By visiting they were also able to see how the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) was far away from the main post. Four team members have gone to Window Rock for 8 days to teach them the Incident Management Team system. Gary Selig asked Don how many folks were impacted and isolated. It was approximately 5000. When the Team left it was about a 10th of that amount. Gary talked about hay drops in the 1940’s and 50’s in U.S. remote areas. Sam Whitted said it has happened but not under FEMA, but rather by the Department of Emergency Management (DEM). FEMA is the National director. Tina spoke of the frustration of reimbursement from the agency. Sam said they (FEMA) have to reinvent themselves on how to be in response mode rather than recovery mode, as in Katrina, rather than just writing the checks at the end. Rick Parker spoke of the large amounts of food being dropped in Haiti. Don told the story of Van Bateman and his team going to New York City after 9-11. New York said they did not need help, but later this team was able to show New York how to use the Incident Command System. Tina said the team learned a lot on this trip. The Nation People saw ‘Black Hawk’ a joke. Tina said helicopters were looking for stranded people, calling out on bullhorns. The Hopi representative told the helicopters the people did not respond to the Black Hawk’s call for help because they were speaking English rather than Hopi or Navajo, and so the helicopter team went out again with someone who spoke both languages. Rick spoke of the article in the Daily Sun about the FEMA team. c. Discuss the passing of Dave Seery who was a vital member of our fire department. Dave and Carol Seery were founding members of the Timberline Fernwood Fire Department. In those days this department was truly a volunteer department. Dan Atkinson brought a picture to share with the board members and Summit employees of Dave and Carol and other volunteers in the early days. Dan said in those days if you joined the fire department your wife joined the fire dept too, or vice versa. Dan was also a volunteer fire fighter in the early days with Dave and Carol. Dan’s wife Polly was the first member of the auxiliary and took the EMS class offered. Dave Seery got cancer, later went into remission, and then 6 weeks ago they found cancer in his brain. He was a great asset to the community. Dan Atkinson gave his condolenscences from the fire department at the service outside of Albuquerque, and wished the Seery family good will. Don spoke of Chris Seery and his wife Joy who are very active members of this community today. d. Mark Sachara has been appointed as the new Fire Chief of the Ponderosa FD. Mark Sachara was appointed Fire Chief January 27th, 2010. Don said Mark is a very hard worker and will do a good job. Mark retired in 2009 from the City of Flagstaff. Rick Parker talked about Mark’s past. He started with Flag Fire and after 4 years went to war as a medic during the capture of Noriega, then came back to the City of Flagstaff as a firefighter. e. Update on legislative action that could impact fire districts (See email to Don from Jim Pond) Legislation is busy with the budget. Don spoke of the changes at the office of the Arizona State Fire Marshall’s office. State Fire Marshall Phil Mele is retireing, and State Fire Training Director Paul Wobosel has given his two week resignation (see Memo). Training Co-Directors Melina Joya and Jeff Johnston’s jobs were cut. A state cabinet level worker will now be the State Fire Marshall, and Governor Brewers past top aides will be in the Life Safety area. Chief Howard said they have decimated this sector. Arizona is now the only state with no certification from a state fire agency. Don talks about county areas being impacted with property tax changes. He thinks property owners may become more of the target for additional costs. f. Other: i. Don announced there will be a SURPRISE Birthday Party on Sunday, March 6th at Station 31 beginning at 11:00 am for Mickey Porter who is turning 80 years old. Julie Drinkard will bake a cake. ii. Jim Doskocil and Jerry Loynachan were requested to call Joe Canizales about having their photo taken on Tuesday, March 2nd, at 9:30 am. They will be meeting at the photographer’s home in Doney Park. Photos will be for the photo board at Station 32, and a new board will be put up at one of the stations on the Fort Valley Fire side. iii. Violation of Open Meeting Laws. There was a discussion held about the liabilities concerning violation of open meeting laws at the January Board Meeting. See email from Donna Rowden of Flagstaff Insurance in response to these concerns. 9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Discuss the Verizon Tower Project at Station 32 and possible new cell phone projects at other stations. Sam Whitted spoke about the cell towers and updates. Sam said it appears Verizon owes Summit Fire District (SFD) money from the contract we signed with them. The contract thus far would pay approximately $1800 for the agreement to move forward with putting up cell towers on our property. They have not started construction, but Sam believes this is because ALLTEL and Verizon are still in the merging process. Sam was recently approached by an AT&T representative about a cell tower being put at Station 33. Sam met with AT&T representative today. This is a 100 foot tower, but finding the setback space needed may make Station 33 property unusable. This is strictly investigative at this time. The proposed fee is the same - $800/month for 5 years. Rick Parker asked about guide wires. Sam explained no guide wires are needed on a monopole, even for 100’ high. b. Update on communications project: See letter from John Lindsay, representative of Niles Radio. Everything is running according to time frame, and appropriately, including the new FCC license. Don explained John Lindsay is a long term resident of our district, and everyone here at Summit Fire is excited for good communication. Dan asked about the time frame. Don believes everything should be set by mid-May. Tina said that all funding is in place for the purchase of the new communications equipment. c. Proposed maintenance facility: Don, Sam, Mike Apodaca and Keith Klassen all met about the layout for the proposed maintenance facility. (See layout) This was sent to Bill Towler at Coconino County Planning and Zoning. Don is waiting for his reply. The building will be an 80 x 80 structure, with additional paving, a test pit, and wash area. The drawings had to be reconfigured to fit all of these items in place on the plan sheet. Don reminded the board that Planning and Zoning are supportive of what we have given them more than 80% of the time. Don has spoken to the contractor who built the 80 x 80 maintenance facility at Mohave Fire District. (See Proposal Cal-Nev-Ari Construction, Inc.) In Flagstaff a number of additional items will be needed to add. Two bays will have drive through doors. Rick asked about the time frame. Don believes we are 5 to 6 weeks away from coming up with a cost. Mike Apodaca said the plans are in the right hands now. There was a discussion about the basketball court at Station 33. Coconino County funds paid for this court originally through a grant by Supervisor Liz Archuleta, and Don believes because of this the basketball court should stay. Rick Parker talked about it being used as a landing-sight for helicopters in the past. Don said after the maintenance facility is built it cannot be used as a landing-sight because the buildings will be too close to it. Rick asked if the court could be moved. There was a discussion about the possibility of the court being moved to the parking lot. Rick believes we need an alternative plan where the court could be moved, if needed. The test pit was moved to block the noise of an engine running for the folks who live around the station. Gary talked about the impact of losing the BB court, and how the community would look at loosing it. Mike Apodaca said in the spring and summer it is used every other day, but it is rarely used as a full court. Don believes we will most likely be requested to put up more fencing. Sam talked about Mike Garrison with Dick Reece’s office. Mike has looked into and given feedback about the lands zoning, but also does NOT call for anyone to work on trucks and similar work in this area. Towler is accessible per Atkinson. Rick asked about time line for building, stating his concerns about the next budget year when we may have more of a financial crunch and cut back on things. Don discussed the time line including the conditional use permit, detailed drawings, and breaking ground at the start of the next fiscal year. He believes the total will be around $330,000 - a good ball park to be paid off in the next 15 years. Dan said the acre is level so there will not be excessive charges in building it up, and what is there will fit nicely - there is room for the project. Don said the interior rooms can be built by the department. The test pit would be funded with initial construction money. Don asked them to look at the bid by Cal-Nev-Ari. Our building would have additional features of a higher roof, insulation, more doors, and extra concrete. Dan wants to look into additional savings. He said this quote does not include electrical. It is just a shell. Dan talked about architects wanting to add items on and why. Mike Apodaca said the only item upgraded was the stem walls. Don will send a note to all the board members on Bill Towler’s response. If this area does not work then we will have to look at Station 31. Jim Doskocil asked about the time frame for the response. Don should have it by the end of next week. d. Assessed Valuation – (See insert from Coconino County Assessor’s Office and homeowners 2011 Assessed Valuations) The Summit Fire District Assessed Valuation for 2011 is just under 163 million dollars. Sedona Fire District’s total valuation has been reduced. SFD now has 50% more parcels than Sedona. Highlands Fire is at 114 million. SFD has 5 fire stations while Highlands is running 2 stations with an administration building. Also in comparison, Highlands has 28 employees while SFD has 49. Overall our reduction is about 9% this year. Don talked about the personal assessed valuation (see inserts) for 2011 figures. All of these values have reduced, but at significant differences. Example #1 value is about the same, #2 drops 13.4 % and sample #3 drops 22%. In 2011/2012 SFD will start construction of the new maintenance facility, but next year’s valuations will still be on a downward slope. Don reminded everyone property taxes and impacts of assessed valuation is about 2.5 year behind. Don’s #1 priority that we don’t lose people. Gary said there could be a bad third year involved. There was a discussion of changes in taxing, individual property taxes going up in Phoenix on homeowners, and business taxes going down. Rick talked about the short sales that banks are more willing to do now, especially in the Phoenix area, and how this will affect the valuation prices of homes. There were further discussions of tax issues in the State of Arizona. There was a discussion of the Arizona Daily Sun article ‘Let’s keep an open mind on budget cuts’ from the Sunday February 15th paper. There was a discussion held on regional fire and/or police districts. Gary talked the statues concerning these types of districts in California and New Mexico. Don said this could certainly become discussion in the future. All options need to be looked at, and this may be something in the future, but the newspaper does not talk about what we have done; Timberline Fernwood, Doney Park and Fort Valley. Rick talked about the larger tax base within the city of Flagstaff, and the additional revenues the city receives, unlike SFD. Don talked about how much he enjoys the local newspaper, and misses the local news on television, but it is important to remember the entire story is not always there. Preston Slayton mentioned other folks who wrote letters to the editor that were not published. Don reads the paper knowing the full story is not always there and reminded the board of what Mark Twain said, “Never get into an argument with someone who buys ink by the barrel.” 10. New Business There was no new business to be discussed. 11. Action Items a. Discuss and possible action on setting a date for the 2010-2011 Budget Workshop. Don would like to set the first 2010-2011 Budget Workshop for Thursday, March 11th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Station 32. Joann Benninghoff will call Jim Doskocil to make sure that date works for him. All other board members were available for March 11th. 12. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Dan Atkinson would like to send a letter to Ponderosa Fire from the Summit Fire District Board Members to congratulate him on his new position and note the boards’ confidence in him. Also, Dan would like SFD and the board members to extend our help in whatever means we might be able to assist Ponderosa Fire. The board members and Don thought this was a good idea and it will be done. 13. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion to adjourn the meeting by Rick Parker and a second by Jerry Loynachan. The vote was unanimous and the meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Joann Benninghoff |
8905 N. Koch Field Rd. Flagstaff, AZ 86004 E-mail: sfdadm@infomagic.net
Phone: (928) 526-9537
Fax: (928) 526-2750
Fax: (928) 526-2750