The Falcon Fire Protection District held its regular board meeting March 19. Directors Kelly Starkman, Dan Kupferer and Greg Heule were present. Mike Smaldino participated via conference call, and Henry Allen was absent. Richard Shearer, legal counsel for the district, was also present.New EMS reservist sworn inKatie Conn has completed her Emergency Medical Service task book and orientation classes. Fire Chief Trent Harwig swore her in as the newest EMS reservist.Donation to the districtThe owners of D&J Quality Electric donated $1,910 worth of electrical work to the district as a thank you for saving their home during the Black Forest fire.Treasurerís reportWith 17 percent of the fiscal year complete, revenue as of Feb. 28 was at 4 percent. Harwig noted that special ownership taxes and property taxes for the month of February hadnít been received and werenít included in the report. Total expenditures, which include the annual lease-purchase payment for Station 1, are at 27 percent. Total operational expenses are 2 percent under budget.Cell phone tower at Station 2Fidelity Towers still anticipates installing a cell tower at FFPD Station 2 in the fourth quarter of 2014. Its current one-year option to lease that site has expired, but the company has requested a one-year extension. Harwig said no other companies have expressed interest in the Station 2 site.New county ballot boxThe El Paso County elections department is installing a permanent drop-off box for mail-in ballots in the parking lot of FFPD Station 3. Security cameras will also be installed to monitor the box.County ambulance contractHarwig reported that AMR was the only bidder for the countywide ambulance contract, and the new county ambulance board is still working to finalize the contract. FFPD is also working on a separate agreement with AMR to continue housing an ambulance in the district. The biggest difference from the current agreement with AMR is that FFPD personnel will no longer staff the ambulance, but the district has budgeted to keep these employees. Harwig said district residents should see no change from the service currently provided. ìIt will be pretty good for Falcon and our citizens,î he said.Reserve standby hoursReserve standby hours totaled 767 hours for January and 582 hours for February. FFPD responded to 158 alarms in February, for a year-to-date total of 323 alarms as of Feb. 28. That total is slightly higher than the same period in 2013.Workerís compensation grantBecause the district has had no chargeable workerís compensation claims, the district will receive a $2,447 safety and loss prevention grant to be used as a 50 percent match toward eligible safety and loss prevention purchase. The board commended the districtís chief officers and crews for their attention to safety.Board election updateLeon Gomes, FFPD Designated Election Official, reported that 14 self-nomination forms were received, but two were deemed to be nonsufficient and were rejected. No write-in nominations were received. Of the 12 remaining candidates, four withdrew their names from consideration. Six candidates are vying for the two four-year positions: Cory Galicia, Thomas A. Kirby, Fred S. Little, Marcos Ramirez, David Rocco, and D.K. Starkman. Two candidates are running for the two-year seat: Joan Hathcock and Michael Smaldino.The May 6 election is a polling place election. Gomes said ballots will be mailed March 21 to eligible voters who are listed by the county as out of state. Applications for absentee ballots will be available at FFPD Station 3, and those ballots will be mailed out starting April 14.Heule recallA petition to recall director Greg Heule was approved ìas to formî March 10. The petition must have sufficient signatures for the recall to go forward. Gomes said itís difficult to establish a timeline for the recall since each step of the recall process relies on the previous requirement being fulfilled. Shearer said itís possible but ìhighly unlikelyî the recall process will be completed in time to be included in the May 6 election. No estimate was available for the cost of a recall election, but as a comparison, Harwig said about $7,000 was budgeted for this yearís regular board election.
