The atmosphere at the Falcon Fire Protection District November meeting reflected the election outcome regarding the mill levy increase: relief. By a hair, those who voted for the increase prevailed.Fire Chief Trent Harwig said 11,882 ballots were mailed and 6,373 were returned. Falcon had a 54 percent return rate, while the county’s rate was 49 percent, he said. The official tally was 3,184 votes for the mill levy increase and 3,105 against it. An automatic recount would have occurred if the percentage difference was less than one half, but the results showed a 1.25 percent difference, Harwig said.ìI want to thank the constituents for their support,î he said.ìA lot of people put a lot of energy into this, and everyone had something to add,î said Matt Suebe, firefighter and member of the Friends of Falcon Fire District organization.î Suebe said the Friends group would like to provide continuing education to the community on issues like mill levies.ìI want to say thank you to everybody who got out there doing this,î said Mike Collins, FFPD board president. ìThey spent a lot of off-duty hours on this. It was a great family effort in that the FFPD is a family. It may not have been a good looking win, but it was a win.îAverage response timeHarwig presented the average response times for each district. Response times are right at or below the goals in almost all the districts, he said. Harwig added that the response times are faster than the data shows because of the 20 to 30 second electronic delay between the time the call is received and the time firefighters are notified. ìWe don’t know we have a call until we’re notified,î he said.Pension board meetingThe pension board met at the November meeting as well. Two new members to the board were appointed: FFPD Battalion Chief Cory Galicia and Tri-Lakes Fire Department Fire Marshal Curtis Kauffman. Galicia is vested in the pension plan with 10 years as a FFPD volunteer prior to his hire date. Kauffman is vested with 11 years.The board also increased the monthly retirement amount ñ from $380 to $400 ñ for past volunteer members with 20 or more years of service. An actuarial study found that the increase does not create additional costs to the district on an annual basis. Strategic plan updateBoard Treasurer Phil Theodore recommended the following for the increase in revenue for 2012: necessary maintenance on Station 3; snow stops on the roof of Station 1; pension fund increases to cover losses from previous years; salary and benefits increase; and more training.Theodore also recommended that the board consider the potential to pay off Station 1, which could happen in two years. It could amount to a six-figure savings in interest, he said.ìWe should look at budgeting for future refurbishment on apparatuses, rather than replacement of those vehicles,î said Dan Kupferer, board director. He said refurbishment would be a cost-effective way to keep their fleet properly stocked.Budget discussionHarwig said that the 2012 budget was originally drafted under the assumption there would be no mill levy increase. The original budget left three positions open and three other partially funded positions. With the tax increase, the budget could be adjusted to fill the open positions and fund all positions for the entire year ñ all of which would be included in the salary and benefits increase recommendation in the new budget, he said. The new budget draft will be posted and discussed at the budget hearing Dec. 14.
