The Falcon Fire Protection District held its regular monthly board meeting Sept. 21. All board members were present except for Mike Collins, who was attending a Special District Association conference, but he participated by telephone. Richard Shearer, legal counsel for the district, was also present.Treasurerís reportFire Chief Trent Harwig reported that the fiscal year is 66 percent complete as of Aug. 31. Ninety-six percent of anticipated revenue has been received, while general fund expenditures are at 55 percent.Harwig noted that deductibles for hail damage to district buildings and vehicles comprised a significant portion of expenses in maintenance categories.ISO review preliminary resultsHarwig said preliminary results from Augustís Insurance Services Office review indicate that insurance ratings could drop to as low as a ìthreeî for all areas in the fire district within 5 road miles of a fire station, regardless of the proximity of fire hydrants. The official results should be received by the end of the year and will likely be effective Jan. 1.Harwig said the ISO review covered all aspects of district operations ìfrom training records to staffing.î ISO also factored in staffing and equipment for Station 4, which will go into service in early 2017. Harwig said a number of things influenced the improved insurance rating, including formalized mutual aid and automatic aid agreements with neighboring fire departments, new water cisterns in the district and correction of an oversight regarding an area supplied with fire hydrants.Director Dan Kupferer said it is up to residents to alert their insurance companies of the lower ISO rating, as lower ratings generally mean lower insurance rates. Harwig said working to lower insurance rates is ìone of the most important thingsî the fire district can do. However, not all insurance companies use ISO ratings, and savings could be offset by premium increases as a result of this yearís hail storms.Harwig advised district residents to ask their insurance companies what fire protection class rating they have on file and which fire district they have listed. City names and zip codes can confuse insurance companies and agents unfamiliar with the area. Harwig said in some cases the Peyton 80831 mailing address has led insurance companies to believe residents of the Falcon Fire Protection District are in the Peyton Fire Protection District and live more than 5 miles from the Peyton fire station, which results in a higher ISO rating; thus, higher insurance costs.Assessed valuesHarwig said assessed property values received from the county in August show an increase of about 4.5 percent, which translates into about $140,000 in additional revenue for the district in 2017.Incident statisticsFFPD responded to 178 calls for service in August, which is a 5.3 percent increase over August 2015. The year-to-date total of 1,391 is 6.3 percent higher than last year. At this pace, the district could see a 2016 total of 2,100 alarms or more.Unmanned Aerial SystemsThe districtís data analyst has been researching fire service use of Unmanned Aerial Systems, more commonly called drones, and presented an overview to the board. Many fire departments across the country are already using UAS in structural and wildland firefighting, search and rescue missions, fire investigations, training and more. Director Kupferer asked the data analyst and chief officers to discuss whether a UAS would be beneficial to FFPD, and make any recommendations before the October budget hearing.Station 4The steel framework is up. Harwig said he feels the building should be dried in before most of the bad weather hits.Newport Center LLC exclusion requestNo representatives from Newport Center LLC were present. Richard Shearer, legal counsel for the fire district, advised that the hearing could proceed without them. Harwig noted that the property in question has already been annexed by the city and is close to the cityís Fire Station 21. The board voted to approve a resolution for the exclusion.
