FFPD October board meeting

The Falcon Fire Protection District held its regular board meeting Oct. 17. All directors were present except for Henry Allen. Attorneys Richard Shearer and Alan Call, legal counsel for the district, were also present.Public commentFormer FFPD Battalion Chief Cory Galicia read a prepared statement in which he questioned the board on why they havenít yet taken action to investigate or discipline other FFPD firefighters accused of a range of infractions. Galicia said these alleged infractions were mentioned in the Mountain States Employers Council investigation report. He agreed to provide a copy of his statement to the department for legal counsel to review.Membersí handbookThe updated membersí handbook has been emailed to directors twice, but not all members received it. They now have hard copies in preparation for a special board meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. Nov. 2 at station No. 3 to review the handbook.Once the board approves the handbook, attorneys Shearer and Call will conduct training for employees on the new handbook. Shearer said, ìOne of the things that came out during this recent assessment was that it appears that some employees do not know about some of the rules already existing or they just don’t understand them.î Because of recent legal expenses, the attorneys will provide the employee training as part of their retainer fee, and there will be no additional charge to the district.Treasurer’s reportChief Trent Harwig reported that, with 75 percent of the budget year complete, the district has received 98 percent of anticipated revenue and is at 74 percent of expenditures, which is 1 percent below budget. The Rural Water Fund has received 181 percent of anticipated revenues.The district has received $8,974 in donations, which Harwig called ìsignificantly higherî than normal. The Woodmen Hills open house fundraiser garnered $6,000 of the total donations, with the remainder from donations received during the Black Forest fire.The Mountain States Employers Council investigation bill has not yet been paid, but it was negotiated down to $29,531. Attorneys Shearer and Call met with a representative of the Mountain States Employers Council. Shearer said the discussion highlighted ìsome deficienciesî in on their end, and acknowledged that the FFPD could have done some things a ìlittle betterî as well. He did not provide any further details. The end result was a 10 percent discount on the investigation invoice. Shearer said he and Call spoke to MSEC at no charge to the district.2009 International Fire CodeThe county attorney has put FFPD on the county board meeting agenda for Dec. 12 regarding the adoption of the code. The FFPD will schedule meetings between now and then with the county commissioners. The FFPD, Black Forest Fire/Rescue and Wescott Fire Protection District are adopting identical code requirements.The FFPD has applied for a $6,000 grant from El Pomar to purchase 14 ìnext generationî wildland fire shelters to be kept on apparatus. Board president Kelly Starkman expressed gratitude for firefighter Amy Webbís work on this project. 2014 budget updateHarwig presented the 2014 preliminary budget he developed with assistance from Mike Smaldino, board treasurer. The preliminary budget was submitted to the board by the Oct. 15 statutory deadline.Harwig noted several impacts to projected revenue for next year:

• Revenue from assessed values, as reported by the county, will decrease by just over 1 percent.
• Revenue from special ownership taxes can only be estimated, but those projected revenues were also reduced by 1 percent for budgeting purposes.
• Fidelity Towers is now saying they will install the station No. 2 cell tower in the fourth quarter of 2014, reducing the potential revenue from that lease.

Harwig noted some specific expenses anticipated in 2014:

• Board elections in 2014
• Increased utility costs
• Health benefit costs have increased about 9.5 percent for both the district and employees.
• Salaries include a 3 percent cost of living raise but do not include filling the vacant battalion chief and deputy chief positions.
• Vehicle maintenance has increased because of an aging fleet, and some repairs that have to be sent out.
• The district now pays for three EMS trainings per month (one per shift).

Harwig said the board needs to discuss the staffing of chief officer positions. The district established five chief positions: three battalion chiefs, a deputy chief of operations and a division chief/fire marshal. Current revenue projections will accommodate four chiefs but not five. Harwig said department members have expressed an interest in keeping the training chief position, which was consolidated into the deputy chief role.Harwig also discussed the need to maintain a balanced and sustainable budget. Calculations project that current budget levels are not sustainable based on an economic growth rate of 3 percent, which is the rate the state is using to calculate its budget. At current levels, the budgetís annual beginning balance will begin to decrease in 2018. ìIt sustains and maintains what we have right now,î Harwig said. ìThe same number of firefighters, same number of officers, same number of staff … we can only do what growth will allow us to do.îPrior to adjourning into executive session, director Dan Kupferer expressed his concern that discussions tend to stray from topics delegated to executive sessions. ìIíll go into executive session,î Kupferer said. ìBut if itís not what itís supposed to be, then it will be discussed in open session.î