Attending Members: Mary Esther Putnam (Chair); Dall Winn; Jeff Gardner; John Nichols
Also Present: Gerald Schiefer (Fire Chief); George Cropper (Treasurer) and Beverly Udell (Secretary)
Guests: Fermin Esparza; Violet Esparza; Guin Winn; Donna Gardner;
Absent: Spence Beckstrom
1. General Business:
a/b. Welcome – Mary Esther welcomed the guests in the audience and then announced our two new Board members – John Nichols and Jeff Gardner. (Mary Esther has also been reinstated for another term.) Mary Esther made the announcement that Gerald has officially been moved off of the Board because his term had been completed. Gerald is now in the position of our new Fire Chief. * The official meeting time is being changed from 6:00 to 5:00, at least for the next 3 months of winter.
c. Minutes: A few minutes were taken while the Board read the Minutes. Dall motioned that the Minutes be accepted as written, John seconded and all else were in favor.
d. Pine Valley Building Permits Reviewed: None
Board Member Reports:
Mary Esther: Mary Esther assigned new Board member responsibilities. John Nichols will be our liaison with the Forestry Department and the Five County Coordinators. Jeff was assigned to be our liaison for the roads. Mary Esther has called the County Road Department again asking for barricades to be placed along Dead Man’s Curve because of two more accidents there is the past month. It is a very dangerous situation, especially during the icy months. Ron Snow has asked for years, and Vicki Frei before him, but as of yet we still don’t have any barricades there. A petition letter to the County was passed around to request that barricades be placed, and Mary Esther will also keep pushing for them. Fermin made the suggestion that more caution signs also be placed in the area of Dead Man’s Curve. * Mary Esther brought up the subject of Impact Fees and asked again for the Board to consider raising them. George showed a proposal for raising the Impact Fees. Gerald thinks that the size of the structure being built should enter into the consideration of the fee structure because the size and height are certainly involved in protecting such a place. He asked about pricing being based on square footage. Jeff told how one of the people building on Lloyd Canyon had shared with Jeff that the reason he was building in Pine Valley was because it was so cheap to do so. Our Impact Fees are incredibly inexpensive compared to other areas. Mary Esther suggested some research be done into other communities to see how they are charging per square foot. George liked the idea of keeping the fees consistent, whether the building is a house, addition or extra structure. Mary Esther will make some calls researching pricing in other areas. George estimated that with our current Impact Fee structure, it would take roughly 20 years to make our wish list of needs.
Jeff: Jeff asked about the muddy condition of the roads during the spring season and how that would impact the accessibility of our fire trucks. Gerald stated that it is definitely a problem.
Dall: Gerald, Ralph Brooks, George and Dall all looked into one of the needs of the Fire Department being a small truck to haul our firemen in. This would also substitute as another Brush truck. Dall said that we should NOT be putting our fire fighters in their own vehicle to get them to a fire, as we are currently having to do. Dall brought up a truck to show us that is up for sale for $20,186. Dall suggested pulling the money from the Impact Fees. The truck will haul six people. Lately, with 32 fire fighters, many have had to drive their own private vehicles to fires. This constitues a hazard to them, their vehicles and also clogs parking space that you would normally want to keep clear in the area around a fire. Dall said that while we wanted to use the Impact Fee money toward a possible future station addition, right now it is agreed by all that being able to haul our people was more important. George reminded everyone that if the truck was purchased, we would also have to consider the additional insurance costs. Discussion ensued about whether to keep the current red brush truck because of its limit seating capacity, but George said that because the red truck was indeed smaller, that is exactly what makes it valuable to keep. There are times we need a smaller truck to be able to access smaller spaces, and that because it is smaller it also makes a great 1st responder Financially, we are somewhat tied up because of our money restricted in CDs, but we could possible pull from the regular saving account to pay for the truck. John asked about the cost of rigging the new truck, to which Gerald responded that with our immediate need being able to haul our people, we could certainly do that with the way the truck is now. He felt that any additional rigging could come later. He told John that we are also very, very good about getting our outfits rigged by using donated items. Right now the truck would need only a radio, light bar and siren. Mary Esther said we should look at this truck as insurance for our department. There is not a position on the agenda for a vote on a new truck, but St. George Ford will not hold the truck for another month just because of our agenda, so the Board feels that this warrants a special vote. Dall then motioned for the Board to purchase the 2001 Ford 350 Pickup at the cost of $20,186. John seconded the motion and all else were in favor. George proposed to take part of the purchase price from the Impact Fee savings account and the remainder from the general savings until the Impact Fee CD matures in 5 months, at which time the general saving account would be reimbursed. George was authorized to do that.
Spence: Absent
Fire Chief – Gerald: Report for December 2007 Most of our 32 firefighters have completed basic Wildland fire fighting training. * 15 firefighters / EMT are signed up for Utah State Winter Fire School on January 18 and 19. * Two EMT call outs – One false alarm – One sprained ankle slipping on ice. * Two Fire Call outs – Both were false alarms but it was still very good response training. * Feds completing a prescribed burn, and still have others to complete. We will continue to assist them on those prescribed burns. * Logging operations will continue through the month of January 2008. * New preliminary campground roads are being constructed. * We responded to two Propane tank leak concerns. * New US law –Volunteer firefighters remuneration’s are not taxable! * New OSHA requirement that all FF / EMT must be provided with complete PPE gear. * New NFPA requirement that rehab capabilities must be provided on line. * Gerald authorized purchase of EMT kit refills (bandages, wrappings etc). * We still do not have firm commitment on new EMT’s, but we are looking at Jamie Udell as being one of them. * Feds Dorm was broken into this month; Gerald went with Feds to investigate. * Snow is bringing many visitors with ATVs into the valley, with lots of inappropriate activity. Gerald is currently redoing the Fire Departments 5 and 10 year plan. * Still no word on our FEMA grant – grants are still being awarded * Grants will be prepared to provide more PPE and water backpacks. * Gerald is preparing final end-of year volunteer hours report.
Treasurer’s Report – George: See his report – The budget for 2008 has been sent to the Utah State Auditor. * Our checking account is down. George was hoping to get the delinquent fees from the County which would build that account back up. He may have to pull from savings until he gets those delinquent fees. * Jeff and John received copies of “Little Manuals for Board Members”.
2 – Public Comments – None
At 5:40 PM, Gerald moved for the meeting to adjourn. Dall seconded. All were in favor. * Note: Voting on Board Officer positions will take place at the next meeting.
The next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 6 , 2007 at 5:00 P.M.