FFPD January board meeting
By Jon Huang
The Falcon Fire Protection District held its monthly board meeting Jan. 17 at the Falcon Fire Administration Building on 7030 Old Meridian Road. Trent Harwig, the FFPD fire chief; Steve Podell, FFPD board vice-president; James Reid, president; Ray Hawkins, treasurer; Tom Kerby, assistant secretary; and Joan Fritsche, attorney, were all present. Dan Kupferer, vice president, was absent and excused.
There were no public comments
Jason Sobczak was sworn in as a firefighter for the FFPD.
Treasurer’s report
Chief Harwig reviewed the final report for 2023.
In the general fund, the total revenue was $502,000, with $200,000 of it coming from deposit interest, amounting to 105% of what was budgeted. Specific ownership tax came in at 97% of what was budgeted. Across all general expenditures, the department came in at 89% ($1,075,000 under budget).
The ambulance fund and transport fees were at 100%. Total revenues were at 121%, predominantly from Medicaid reimbursement ($435,000 over). The total expenses were at 84% ($465,000 under budget).
As far as the capital projects fund, the budgeted revenues were at 110% (all from unanticipated deposit interest), expenditures were 32% ($2,515,000 less) because the maintenance building was not built and was pushed back until 2024.
In the rural water fund, revenues were $432 in excess because of unanticipated interest. The total expenditures were $9,000 under (21% of the budgeted amount).
In summary, all funds brought in more than what was budgeted, and total expenditures came in under what was budgeted.
Staff report
Deputy Chief Jeff Petersma presented the operations report.
There was a total of 337 calls for the month of November. Call volume by district showed an increase in District 1 and District 5 responses. For the year through November, there were 3,604 calls (2,857 calls in Falcon district proper). Currently, yearly projections are fewer by 250 calls this year, which is consistent with other agencies.
Emergent response times were reviewed and there was no significant change.
The non-ambulance aid report was reviewed without significant change.
The ambulance aid report showed a couple of mutual aid cases due to calls from outside districts. The emergency services reports were reviewed for December and showed 142 transports, generating $99,865.76, with an average cash per trip at $703.28. For the year, there have been 1,584 transports with an average cash trip of $630.60.
Medicare and Medicaid continue to provide the bulk of reimbursements.
The 24-month totals for collections showed $1.9 million with an average cash trip of $598.53. With the added supplemental reimbursement, revenues totaled $2,632,000 with an $895 cash per trip collection, which was significantly greater than what was expected because of the supplemental reimbursement.
For the entire year, the department brought in $630.60 per trip without supplemental reimbursement.
Regarding fire inspections, Lt. Curtis Kauffman reported that numbers were down in December because he was out of state for a week. There were seven building inspections and nine follow-up inspections. Three new projects are planned. There were no fire finals (building completions, including sprinklers, emergency lighting, exit lighting, etc.) and five partial fire finals (granting temporary certificate of occupancy), including the new King Soopers that opened Jan. 24. There were three El Paso County Development Application Reviews. There were no Firewise evaluations (residential inspections). As per previous meetings, they are still waiting for Gov. Polis’s office to enact the 2021 fire codes.
Maintenance building project update
Petersma reported that they are currently in the design contract portion for the maintenance building and are actively working on the final design. They are ready to send the building to the contractors to get it on the schedule, which will take several months to be delivered. The department recently received the first draft of redrawing based on previous meetings. Petersma said they will be making changes on the drains, including a urinal in the bathroom, and sending it back to electricians, plumbers and mechanical professionals for a rebid. They are hoping to save about $250,000 off the original bid with Hammers Construction. Attorney Fritsche is working with them on the final contract. Construction is still on schedule for completion this coming October.
It was discussed that plans would likely be submitted to regional building sometime in March.
Tom Kerby asked whether the contractor had paid particular attention to the sewer outfall of the building to the sewer stub that is left. Petersma said with the preliminary drawings available, knowing where the farthest reaches of the plumbing are and having redesigned the drains, they can now come out to shoot grades (the process of testing the elevation of a construction project to level or slope it). They have not come out yet. He plans to follow up with that.
Sheriff’s office substation updates
Petersma had recently talked to Sheriff Roybal a few weeks ago, and they were picking interior finishes. No other definitive updates were available, and it was agreed to keep this on the future agenda.
Stay connected with the Falcon Fire Protection District
- Website: http://www.falconfirepd.org
- Facebook: Falcon Fire Department
- Twitter: @FalconFireDept
- NextDoor.com
