Falcon Fire Protection District intends to establish a fire authority with Cimarron Hills Fire Protection District. The plan was announced by the board’s new president, Mike Collins, at their Dec. 13 meeting.”A fire authority is a joint effort between two fire departments, where there is a higher level than the two departments.” Collins said.The fire authority will consist of board members from both districts’ boards, and it will have a controlling interest over both departments on issues like expenditures, hiring and goals.”It’s basically a move towards a merger,” Collins said. “If a merger never takes place, then the fire authority stays in place. If the fire authority doesn’t work, then it goes back to being two departments.”The two districts have been working on a merger for a year, operating under an intergovernmental agreement that was set to expire Dec. 31. The Falcon fire district board extended the IGA through March 31 at its December meeting to allow time to establish the fire authority.Fire authorities are popular in Colorado, Collins said. It’s more cost effective.”If you’ve got a fire authority, you don’t have to have two training chiefs,” he said. “One training chief under the fire authority can take care of both departments. That eliminates a $60,000 to $80,000 a year salary.”Budget approved, mill levy setThe FFPD board unanimously approved the district’s 2009 budget. Collins cited the following figures:
Current operating expenses of $1,450,645; debt service of $337,547 and capital outlay of $2,249,949 for a total general fund of $4,038,141 $1,665,263 as the amount of money needed from property taxes to balance the 2009 budget for general operations and capital improvement purposes $291,537,580 as the total valuation for the 2008 assessment year for the district as certified by the El Paso County assessorThe board voted unanimously to set the mill levy to 5.712 mills on each dollar of total valuation of all assessed taxable property within the district for 2009, the same as 2008.FFPD Chief Trent Harwig said the $337,547 of debt service will be used to pay off all lease purchase agreements, except the new lease purchase agreement that will be used to fund the new fire station. “All apparatus will be paid off,” he said.Appointment to the organizational chart committee causesAt the previous meeting, the board created a five-member committee to develop a new organizational chart – good for the next five years – for the district.The board previously appointed three members to the committee – Harwig, board member Larry Robley and former board member Dan Kupferer. The board decided to fill the two remaining seats from the career and volunteer ranks. The members voted last month.Harwig announced the results.Lt. Stephan McKenna received the most votes from the career staff, and the board appointed him to the committee by a vote of three to one. Board member Dena Bramhall opposed the appointment based on McKenna’s experience; board member Richard Martin abstained.Firefighter Kevin Janes received the most votes (five) from the volunteer staff, followed by Lt. Tom Resha, who received four votes.The board voted four to zero to appoint Resha to the committee, with Collins abstaining.The vote sparked contention among audience members.Some volunteers in the audience expressed surprise at the appointment of Resha to the committee because they said he hadn’t been visible. Some said Janes was a better candidate.”We’ve already asked Kevin [Janes] to do some extremely important work here on the department. I don’t want to overtax him,” Robley said.”Resha is the best man for the job,” he added. “That’s why I nominated him. Do I think that Kevin would do a bad job? Absolutely not.””If he [Resha] hasn’t met his training hours, he’s not a member in good standing. He’s not even qualified,” said Dick Stuart, a former board member and volunteer.Robley offered a compromise: “What if we appointed two members, you [Janes] and Resha?””You’re still going to end up with someone who’s not qualified,” said one audience member.”Whatever you all decide is fine. I’m not campaigning to do this,” Janes said. “I’m willing to do whatever is asked of me.”Bramhall said they need someone with strategic experience and “he [Resha] has that in spades,” adding that the appointment isn’t a “popularity contest.””If he [Resha] can’t meet his commitment to this agency for training, how could you put the burden on him to make a decision on the structure of this agency?” asked Falcon resident Ken Brown.”We value your opinion, but we also said in the last meeting that we would make the final decision on this based upon criteria we determined, and you keep questioning our criteria and agenda,” Bramhall said.Volunteer John Scorsine, Bramhall’s husband, said that Resha is a volunteer in good standing until determined otherwise on Dec. 31.Collins ended the discussion: “We need to let the committee get started. They can resolve this issue.” He asked Harwig to set up a meeting of the committee before the end of the year.Stuart asked the board to provide a copy of board member e-mails relative to the district between May 28 and Nov. 11. The e-mails, by law, should be available to the public, he said. He also gave the board written notice of his request.Collins said he would ask the district’s attorney, Dino Ross, about the proper procedure for releasing the e-mails.Editor’s note: Resha did not return NFH phone calls for comments on the meeting.
