The Falcon Fire Protection District held its regular board meeting Feb. 15 at the meeting room of the new Falcon Fire Administration Building at 7030 Old Meridian Road. Directors Thomas Kerby, Dan Kupferer and Ray Hawkins were present. Cory Galicia, Mike Collins and attorney Joan Fritsche, legal counsel for the district, teleconferenced in. Also present was Fire Chief Trent Harwig.Treasurerís reportChief Harwig presented the treasurerís report and stated that 8.3% of the fiscal year was complete as of Jan. 31. The General Fund had received 1% of its budgeted revenues. Harwig said the district is tax based and tax revenues do not come in for a few months, so the revenues for the several months at the beginning of the year will be low. Expenditures across the categories were at 6%. No transfers from fund to fund have happened at this point, and those will bring the totals up. The Ambulance Transport Fund has received 4% of budgeted revenues. Across all expenditure categories, the expenses were at 7%. The Capital Projects Fund was at 1% of budgeted revenue. Total expenses across all categories are at 13%.Staff/operations reportsDeputy Chief Jeff Petersma reported that the department had 390 calls in December, bringing the year-to-date number of calls to a total of 4,232. Response times improved in December in District 5. The overall response time was 9 minutes, 31 seconds for 2022, as compared to 9 minutes, 26 seconds for 2021, despite a significant call volume increase for 2022. Attorney reportJoan Fritsche reported that the FFPD has received a petition for an exclusion request for multiple parcels that have recently been annexed to the City of Colorado Springs. However, at this time, the paperwork related to the exclusion is incomplete; it will be brought to the board upon completion. The directors discussed the requirements for how the petition needs to be structured. Fritsche said the description of the parcels attached to the petition was insufficient and irrelevant to the proceedings as it related to the metropolitan district boundaries for five different metropolitan districts. The required surveys or plats were not submitted; thus, the board could not confirm the property had been annexed to the Springs. The district requires a legal description since it is mandated to publish a notice on the public hearing.2022 audit proposalHarwig presented the engagement letter from Erickson, Brown and Kloster LLC for the 2022 audit of the districtís financial statements to the board, and mentioned that the firm requires both management and governance to sign it. The cost of the audit will be $14,000, and Harwig said it is consistent with what the district has paid in the past. The board accepted the motion to approve pending legal review by Fritsche. The auditors are scheduled to do the field work of the audit the last week of March and first week of April.2023 directors electionKerby said standard procedure calls for a 2023 directors election and the appointment of a designated election official. Mandi Kirk has been designated as the districtís election official. The election, if held, would be scheduled for May 2.Board meetings are held the third Wednesday of each month at 3 p.m. in the meeting room at the Falcon Fire Administration building, 7030 Old Meridian Road. All meetings are open to the public, except for executive sessions.Stay connected with the Falcon Fire Protection DistrictWebsite: http://www.falconfirepd.orgFacebook: Falcon Fire DepartmentTwitter: @FalconFireDeptNextDoor.com
