The Falcon Fire Protection District Board of Directors held their first meeting of the new year on Jan. 19.Financial reportChief Trent Harwig informed the board that the district finished 2021 in good financial shape. He said all three major funds in the budget ó general fund, ambulance transport fund and capital projects fund ó ended the year with expenditures under budget. The Ambulance Transport Fund finished the year with more than the budgeted revenues due in large part to collections of transport fees. Expenditures in the Capital Projects Fund were 47% under the budgeted amount because the bulk of the $2.1 million in lease/purchase funds for the new administration building has not been expended.OperationsDeputy Chief Jeff Petersma reported that total calls for 2021 were 3,659, which amounted to 600 more calls than the previous year. Ambulance transports for December were 122; for the entire year, the total transports were 1,425, said Jon Webb, Emergency Medical Services division chief. There were two full-time paramedics hired in January, and the district plans to hire three more paramedics.Attorney’s reportAttorney Jane Fritsche reported that she was working on the same ongoing matters such as construction of the new administration building, the sheriff’s substation and the employee handbook.Construction projectsHarwig said he was having weekly meetings with the contractor on the rebuilding of the old station 3 into an administration building. He said all the asbestos had been removed from the old building. The board approved the first draw on that project, amounting to $137,000.The board spent some time discussing preliminary plans for the sheriff’s substation, which will be built at the site of station 1, and discussed the process of obtaining necessary permits and turning the property over to the sheriff’s office.
