Decreased revenue may lead to mill levy increaseThe El Paso County assessor’s office has told the Falcon Fire Protection District that property values in the district will decrease by 15 percent next year, which means a $250,000 decrease in the fire district’s budget for 2012.At the district’s Nov. 10 board meeting, Falcon fire chief Trent Harwig said the board should include money in the 2011 budget for holding an election to raise the district’s mill levy. “Unless something unforeseen happens, I don’t see that you’re going to have much choice,” Harwig said.He said the county’s elections department would charge the district $25,000 to $30,000 to mail ballots to the district’s 14,000 active voters.According to the minutes from the board’s Oct. 20 meeting, the district has already frozen salaries at 2010 levels in the 2011 budget, except for participants in the district’s step-up program.The district has also reduced or frozen every line item at its 2010 level.The board decided to discuss amending the budget at its next meeting Dec. 8.Banning Lewis Ranch exclusionThe board had planned to allow Banning Lewis Ranch to be excluded from the Falcon fire district, clearing the way for the Colorado Springs Fire Department to take over fire and emergency services in the development.In view of the impending revenue shortfall, the board decided to oppose the exclusion.”After telling the city we’d go with them on the exclusion and then facing our current revenue issues, it was difficult to tell them at the last minute that we weren’t going to agree to it,” said Richard Shearer, the fire district’s attorney.A hearing on the exclusion was held Nov. 5, Shearer said. The judge had not made a decision on the matter by the time The New Falcon Herald went to press.Rethinking Cimarron HillsUnder the terms of its agreement with the Cimarron Hills Fire Department, the Falcon district stationed a two-man, 24-hour crew at the Cimarron Hills fire station with the goal of reducing response times in Falcon’s district No. 4.Since stationing the crew at Cimarron Hills, response times in district No. 4 have decreased slightly, but response times in district No. 3 have increased, Harwig said. Thus, the crew stationed at Cimarron Hills will be reassigned to Falcon’s headquarters on Old Meridian Road, he said.The automatic mutual aid agreement with the Cimarron Hills Fire Department will remain in place, Harwig said.New truck ready for serviceThe district’s new pumper/tender truck is ready for service, Harwig said.The new truck replaces the truck that was stolen (and eventually wrecked) from station No. 3 on Jones Road last year.There’s no money in the budget to provide better security at station No. 3, so the new truck will be assigned to station No. 1, Harwig said.When it was built this year, station No. 1 was equipped with a keyless entry, which makes it easier to monitor who is coming and going, he said.It would cost $25,000 to install a keyless entry at the other stations right now, and there’s no room in the budget for that, Harwig added.Old truck finds home in EllicottThe truck that was wrecked by vandals last year had a long and proud history with the Falcon fire department.In 1989, the district purchased an over-the-road semi-truck and took it to Front Range Fire Apparatus, which installed the tank and pump, Harwig said.”It was the biggest, baddest thing around for a long time,” he said.The Ellicott fire department purchased the vandalized truck from the Falcon district’s insurance company.”The Ellicott folks been working on it, and I believe they’ll get it back on the road someday,” Harwig said. “How long it will last, I don’t know. It’s kind of neat that it got to stay in the area.”Exercise equipment on the moveA few years ago, the Falcon district received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to purchase about $107,000 worth of exercise equipment, Harwig said.Most of the equipment is in use at station No. 1, but about 20 percent of it has been in storage at station No. 3.”The plan was to put the equipment at a couple of stations, but we don’t know when we’ll have another station,” Harwig said. “We don’t have room for it.”Under the terms of the grant, the district can’t sell, lease or give the equipment away, he said.The district now plans to move the excess equipment to the new Black Forest Fire/Rescue station at the intersection of Hodgen Road and Black Forest Road, Harwig said.”I think it makes good sense, and I think that FEMA would agree,” he said. “It shows interoperability working between neighboring districts and that’s where it can be put to its best use. It’s certainly better than just sitting over there (at station No. 3) collecting dust.”
