| BOARD MEETING MINUTES October 20, 2009 1. Call to order. The Board meeting was called to order at 6:08 pm. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGANCE 3. Roll Call of the Board Members. Board Members Present: Jerry Loynachan Gary Selig Dan Atkinson Rick Parker Board Members Absent: Jim Doskocil Dan Atkinson stated that he had spoken to Jim Doskocil and Jim was unable to be at the meeting and asked Dan to run the meeting. 4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES a. Approval of the Summit minutes of September 14, 2009 There was a motion to approve Summit minutes of September 14, 2009 by Gary Selig and a second by Rick Parker. The vote in favor was unanimous. b. Approval of the Fort Valley minutes of September 14,2009 There was a motion to approve the Fort Valley minutes of September 14, 2009 by Gary Selig and a second by Jerry Loynachan. The vote in favor was unanimous. c. Approval of the New Board minutes of September 14, 2009 There was a motion to approve the minutes of the new Summit Fire District meeting of September 14, 2009 by Rick Parker and a second by Gary Selig. The vote in favor was unanimous. 5. REPORTS a. Financial Reports Tina Dillahunty gave the Financial Reports for Summit and Fort Valley. Tina presented the Board with the reports for August and September for both districts. Tina stated to the Board that she would like to go over the September reports because the amounts included the August amounts. The Board agreed and Tina gave the September Board Reports for Summit and Fort Valley. The Out of District report included the amount from Fort Valley Report. b. Administration Report Tina Dillahunty gave the Administration Report. We are still in the process of the Audit. We have worked out the problem with IRS regarding the Social Security issue with the two employees that were refunded Social Security from when they were in the Arizona State Retirement System and then we were told they were not allowed to be in it. IRS has abated the penalties and everything is cleared up. We are working on policies. I should have the budgets consolidated for the next Board Meeting and it will be reflected on the Board Report. I will be working on Board Books that will have all the Lease Purchase agreements, budgets, etc for each Board Member. c. Auxiliary Report The Auxiliary Report was given by Tina Dillahunty. The Auxiliary had the last of the Summer Swap Meets on September 26th that made a profit of $242.50. The total profit for all for was a little over $1100. The Legends of Country Music Concert is going to be held December 4th at 7:30 at the Orpheum. Tickets are $15 each and are available in the office. Santa’s Run is going to be on Saturday, December 5th and the Auxiliary is accepting any candy donations. If you know of any families that could use some help for the holidays please let Peggy know. d. Local 1505 Report The Local 1505 Report was given by Preston Slayton. Preston stated that they have been working Chief Howard on some minor issues and are moving forward. 6. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Joanne Loynachan stated that she is interested in the Auxiliary and she was told that the Auxiliary meets the second Wednesday of the month at Station 33. Peggy is the contact person. She asked about the e-mail list for the Fort Valley district and there was some and the Chief instructed her to send the list. We will look to inform the residents to look to the website for information and the minutes that are posted on the website. 7. PURCHASE REQUESTS NONE 8. CHIEF’S REPORT a. Run Report. The Run Report was given by Chief Howard. Chief Howard stated that it has taken a while to get to this point. This is the first meeting of the new fire district. We have been through this before with a couple of other mergers. We have had a good and solid past and have a good and solid future. There were 99 calls to service for the month of September. Don stated that there have been some unusual incidents recently. None of the on shift employees had any calls to discuss. b. Appreciation Dinner Chief Howard stated that we are planning an appreciation dinner in January or February. If the Board has any dates they would like please let us know. We will be having this dinner instead of a Christmas dinner. Last year we had so many thing going on in December that it was difficult. December 5th will be Santa’s Ride and December 12th is the Light Parade. We feel December 19th is too close to Christmas so we are looking at an Appreciation dinner in January or February. There was a discussion of there it might be held and where dinners where held in the past. c. USA Firewise designation Chief Howard stated that we are working with the Sunset Vista residents to acquire a USA Firewise designation. This would be the first community in Summit that has made this application. There are 24 homes Sunset Vista. There are a lot of different hoops to jump through. Don stated that the State give that designation. We are working with Bruce Banky from State Forestry. Dan Atkinson asked what motivated them. Don stated that they wanted to get everyone in that subdivision to protect their property. It is one of the strategies of our Fuels Program. Don discussed the areas of concern in our District. Don stated that it protects the homes and protects income the District receives. Don stated that after the Rodeo Chediski Fire the Heber-Overguard Fire District lost 51% of their budget. d. Arizona State Mutual Aid Plan test Chief Howard stated that the International Association of Fire Chief’s (IAFC) is testing the Arizona State Mutual Aid Plan. Don stated that this is the first time they tested an interstate mutual aid plan in the country. This scenario will be of one of the largest disasters to hit the United States. Don stated that he is surprised they chose Coconino County to test it. Don discussed the scenario. Don stated that he is the primary Coconino County Fire Resource Coordinator. This will be a good test and we will run out of the community room at Station 32. It will go from 9:00 to 12:00. Don discussed how the scenario will be handled. Don stated that the Sheriff Department and Search and Rescue have been left out of the equation. Some of those things will be addressed in the after action review. e. New Roof at Station 33 Community Room Don stated that we are moving forward with the new roof at the community room at Station 33. The bid was for $4,800 and it is for 50 year shingles. We are excited about taking a step up with higher grade shingles. That station is in a wind tunnel. The work starts next week. f. Legislative Update Chief Howard stated that at a meeting last Thursday they discussed that the State Fire Marshal Office is losing jobs in their office. Don discussed the State budget reductions. Gary Selig asked if Proposition 13 Arizona is still an issue. Don stated that they talked about it but there doesn’t seem to be the level of interest to get it on the ballot next year. That could change by next year if they get some funding. Don stated that other people had offered tax reform initiatives. ATRA does not support Proposition 13 Arizona. They need 230,000 signatures to get it on the ballot. g. CAFS Update Chief Howard stated that Fort Valley voted to move forward with adding a compressor and CAFS unit to Engine 317. Keith Klassen gave an update. Keith stated that by going through Waterous we were able to use a class to teach tech how to retrofit a CAFS unit. The class is from November 30th to December 4th. The class is in Phoenix. We will have the work done for no labor cost and it will be done in one week. Waterous is providing the CAFS unit at their cost. It will cost just under $22,000 which is about half of the normal cost. That cost includes a proportioning system. This work will be done on the 1992 Pierce engine. Rick Parker asked if any of our people are in the class. Keith stated that Mike Apodaca, Bill Dunlap and Fernando Hernandez are helping and he is teaching the class. Don discussed the two engines we purchased from the City of Mesa. Don stated we got these engines through Mike Apodaca’s understanding of these engines. Don stated that for $30,000 we acquired two type 1 engines. Don stated that this $22,000 is cost effective and a beneficial move for Summit Fire. h. Proposals for Communications upgrade We have sent out Requests for Proposals (RFP) to vendors on the Communications upgrade. Don stated that we are trying to move forward with the grant request. We did not get the grant for Summit but we have not yet heard about the Fort Valley grant. Don stated that we are starting tomorrow afternoon with meetings with two of the vendors. Gary Selig asked if we are still looking to go with the Sedona techs. Don stated that we sent them a request for a proposal. They have had some issues with two of the Board members and they currently have an acting Chief. i. Verizon Cell Tower Deputy Chief Sam Whitted gave an update on the Verizon cell tower. Sam stated that he spoke to Mike Campbell and they have the go ahead to have the architect do the updated drawings. Sam stated that the School District thought it was too close to the play ground. The merger of Alltel and Verizon slowed things down. Mike thinks they will go back to the County the middle of next week and he feels it will pass. They target construction in the fourth quarter of this year. There was a discussion of the construction change. This is a mono pole tower. Sam stated that it is still alive and moving forward. The Department still has access to the upper six feet of the pole. j. Other There was no other item. 9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Summit and Fort Valley Budgets Chief Howard stated that he put this on the agenda because we through a lot of information at the Board. They have both the Summit and the Fort Valley Budgets. Dan Atkinson asked the Chief when we should start the budget meetings. Don stated that it should be late February. Dan stated that he feels this year we should have budget workshops instead of a budget committee. Dan stated that he felt the Board members who were not on the committee were left out of the discussions. There was a discussion of how we did the budget workshops for budgets in the past. 10. NEW BUSINESS a. Loyalty Oaths for New Board Loyalty oaths were given to the board members. Chief Howard administered the Oath of Office for all the Board Members present. Each of the Board Members signed the Loyalty Oaths. 3. ACTION ITEMS a. CUP for Maintenance Facility Chief Howard stated that he has brought this back to the Board because of we have changed the size on what we originally requested and wanted to make sure we are all on board with where we are headed. Don stated that the size is 60’ x 80’. The cost estimate from Straight Line is about $460,000. It was mentioned that we should look at commercial property in town. We looked at some commercial property. Don presented the Board with a list of commercial properties and discussed some of the properties. Don stated that our purpose for trying to build is to provide a facility that Mike Apodaca can work in safely. One that is large enough to work on the larger engines indoors. There was a discussion about at some point looking to take on work from outside our District. Don discussed Mike Apodaca’s qualifications and that he is one of the few qualified Emergency Vehicle Technicians in Northern Arizona. Don stated that we have changed the configuration of the building. We still feel it is best at Station 31 and we want to move forward with something of this size. We had built into the budget a cost of $200,000 with a lease purchase of 10 years at 5% and one payment for this fiscal year. This cost would be about $460,000. Don stated that tonight we just need approval to move forward with the Conditional Use Permit (CUP). Don wanted the Board to understand the financing would be different than what was budgeted. Don stated that we have provided amortization schedules for 10 years, 15 years and 20 years. Don discussed the different payment amounts and went over the amortization schedules. Rick Parker stated that the building would be $457,000 and want to know how much would the amenities bring up the cost. Don stated that the cost includes the asphalt. Rick stated that he is referring to equipment such as lifts, etc. Mike Apodaca stated that equipment is something they did not budget for. They will budget and acquire equipment from year to year. Rick asked Mike what the estimate is for the first year. Mike stated that right now they are not looking to acquire equipment and that they are looking at square footage. Rick stated that he does not have a problem getting equipment if we can afford it. Rick stated that he would prefer to tie the equipment into the loan. Keith Klassen stated that we have acquired shop equipment over the last few years. Gary Selig stated that as we work through this process that information will come out. We are trying to get to the minimum needs for the CUP. Keith stated that a set of big truck lifts, light lifts and a crane will cost approximately $65,000. We would need a test pit that would cost about $30,000. Keith Klassen, Mike Apodaca and Bill Dunlap Jr. gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Board for an 80’ x 80” shop. Keith stated that eighteen of our trucks have 50,000 mile or more. Keith stated that there are some regional needs out there and we might be in a good position to handle some of that work if we have the facility to work in. Keith showed the in how fabrication of a truck and how we were able to do it cost effectively. Keith discussed the current facility and the safety issues. We need facilities that will accommodate future apparatus and equipment maintenance needs. Keith stated that we are looking at square footage. It will need to be 24’ wall height for rising the cabs and we will need to have an overhead crane at a later time. Keith gave a list of basic shop specifications. Keith discussed the Pump Test Facility and the layout they would like to see at the shop. Rick Parker asked Keith what the cost would be on a facility that would be 80 x 80. Keith stated that the only cost they have is from Olympia that is included in the packet. Rick stated that the building would need air control and an exhaust system. Rick stated that the requested in floor heat would talk longer to heat the building. Rick stated that you are looking to putting the building at Station 31. Why not put it at Station 33? Don stated that he felt the visibility at Station 33 would detract from people’s view and it would have more citizen opposition. Station 33 is in a wind tunnel. Station 31 is set back so it would not be noticed as much. Rick stated that if it was at Station 33 they could use the other building as additional space. Rick stated that the wind is an issue. We could use the current building for storage and fabrication. Rick stated that if we went for a smaller building and keep the other building for fabrication we might be able to afford other equipment. Don stated that when we first talked about the Maintenance Facility we talked about Station 31 and Station 33. Don stated that Station 33 might be a better way to go. There was a discussion of how to use the current shop. There was a discussion of what they want to do with small tools. Mike Apodaca discussed the need for three pays to dedicate jobs when they have trucks waiting for parts and projects being done. Don stated that there is a concrete fabricated test pit vendor in Phoenix and they can build one for about $30,000. Dan Atkinson asked Mike how many vehicles he works on at a time. Mike stated that it varies. Keith stated that at times they have stacked up three deep at the station. Dan asked if they have considered building smaller and adding on later. It is expensive going from sixty to eighty. Keith discussed how he felt it could be hard to add on and it would depend on how it was laid out initially. Keith explained that Mike is not always the only person working in the shop. Many times the crew and Keith are in the shop helping. Dan stated that he is worried that if we build a big building and bring in other department’s equipment our equipment will take a back seat. Dan stated that he doesn’t want to overbuild. Dan stated that he is curious what the minimum size would be. Dan stated that using Station 33 might have more problems with the CUP. Don stated that he looks at things a little differently. Don stated that he does not think we will get as much outside work as Mike and Keith think we will. Don discussed what he thinks on the differences on the size of the structure. Don stated that every engine we ever bought the thought had enough cabinet space until we started using it. We are working through difficult times and there are economic questions. If we had unlimited funding an 80x80 would be perfect. Finances are a real concern. Gary Selig stated that as a point of discussion the building size and location are needed. Don stated that there are advantages and disadvantages to both locations. Gary asked if we can’t make a decision can we apply for a CUP at both locations. Don stated that is a $600 filing fee plus copies of each location. Jerry Loynachan asked if it requires a public meeting and Don responded that it does prior to the CUP. Rick Parker stated that we might want to make a pro and con list. There was a discussion of where the shop would be if it were at Station 33 and a discussion of the noise from pump testing. Keith stated that there would only be pump testing during the day. There was further discussion of the size and the location. There was discussion of possible public opposition to a facility at Station 33. Don stated that we can follow up with a public meeting in that area to see if we would have much opposition. Dan Atkinson stated that if we submit for the CUP we should know what size we want. We haven’t had discussions on cost and we are not sure what lot we want to put it on. Don stated that one of the things we need to do is look at the projections and look at comparisons with figures and what that will cost. We need to see where it will put us at in our overall budget picture. Dan stated that he is in favor of getting a shop especially because of safety. We need the vehicles in a heated space. We don’t need to wait until next month to get all the information. The biggest question is where we want it. Rick stated that Station 33 makes the most sense to him. Rick discussed the reasons he feels this is the best location. Jerry stated that Keith and Mike need to make a priority list and cost list to give the Board an idea of what is needed. Dan Atkinson recommended this discussion be tabled until the next meeting. We need to have a pro and con for each property. There was a discussion of other possible uses there could be for Station 33.5. Don stated that we can have further discussion and get information to the Board before the next meeting. There was a motion by Gary Selig to table the discussion for more information until the next Board Meeting and there was a second by Rick Parker. The vote in favor was unanimous. b. Wells Fargo Escrow Account Tina Dillahunty explained to the Board that the Wells Fargo Escrow Account was funds from the Fort Valley Wells Fargo Lease Purchase Agreement that was to be used to purchase land for a second station. They were unable to locate land and purchased a house that was converted. Some of the Escrow Account was used to purchase the engines and tender. Included in the packet is the register listing the income from interest and the uses of the escrow account. Tina stated that if you look at the interest you can see for the last several months we have received less that $1 interest on these funds. We are paying 5% interest on the funds. Tina suggested that we might want to consider using the funds to pay down the loan and reduce the debt. There was a motion by Rick Parker to give Tina Dillahunty permission to have the balance of the Wells Fargo Escrow account paid back on the Lease Purchase Agreement if that is feasible. There was a second by Gary Selig and the vote in favor was unanimous. c. Wells Fargo Lease Agreement There was a discussion of the Wells Fargo Lease Purchase Agreement. Tina Dillahunty stated that this will need to be refinanced before December of 2011. There was a discussion of all the capital items incorporated into this lease. Tina stated that it would be smart to separate the equipment from the building and make the equipment on a shorter lease agreement. Tina stated that we should start the process and refinance this loan. Separating the apparatus from the building could be a time consuming process. There was a motion by Rick Parker to look into refinancing the Wells Fargo Lease Purchase Agreement and a Second by Gary Selig. The vote was unanimous in favor. d. Request to go into Executive Session There was a request to go into Executive Session to deal with a personnel issue pursuant to ARS 38-431.03(A)(1). Dan Atkinson will keep the minutes for the Executive Session. There was a motion to adjourn the regular meeting to go to Executive Session by Rick Parker and a second by Gary Selig. The vote was unanimous. The regular meeting adjourned at 8:35 pm. Regular meeting was called to order at 10:11pm. e. Chief Howard’s Contract. Dan Atkinson stated that the Board will table the discussion of Chief Howard’s contract until next month. They would like the Chairman, Jim Doskocil, in attendance for the discussion. Dan instructed this item to be put on the agenda for the meeting next month. 4. CALL TO THE PUBLIC There was no answer to the call to the public. 5. 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 10:13 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Tina Dillahunty |
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