Attending Members: Mary Esther Putnam (Chair); Dall Winn; Jeff Gardner; John Nichols
Also Present: Gerald Schiefer (Fire Chief); George Cropper (Treasurer)
Guests: Fermin Esparza; Violet Esparza; Guin Winn; Donna Gardner; Mike Fluharty; Tamara Phillips; Fred Pendleton; Colleen Vance; Scott Vance; Jerry Self; Ben Wiluts (Pine Valley Lodge); Tim Graham (Pine Valley Lodge); Jack Scott; Kathy Pierce; Gary Wood; Linda Wood; Susan Black; Bob Herpel
Absent: Spence Beckstrom and Beverly Udell (Secretary)
1. General Business:
a/b. Welcome – Meeting was opened by Mary Esther (Chair)
c. Minutes: The minutes for the January 2, 2008 meeting were reviewed. Dall motioned to accept the Minutes as written, Jeff seconded that motion and all were in favor. There was not a meeting for February.
d. Pine Valley Building Permits Reviewed: No additional building permits were reviewed – Fire Chief Schiefer suggested that the following be added to any approved plans:
1- No burning on site
2 An on-site dumpster is required
3 No construction / demolition material can be placed in around the PV Community dump
4 Construction must be kept clean
5 Roads must be clear for fire equipment passage
6 Speed limits must be obeyed
e. Officer Positions for 2008: Discussion and voting on Board Officer positions was delayed until the April meeting when Spence would be present.
f. Pine Valley Lodge: Discussion about a proposed motel/condominiums/timeshares or other ideas at the present Lodge site. Tim Graham introduced Ben Willet, an Engineering Co. employee who led a conceptual description of the project. It was just conceptual and not much was specific. In general there would be 13 units separated into 5 two-story buildings spaced so that there are gaps between them. The road would be paved around the Lodge but would only be road base at the units. Low level pedestal type lighting is envisioned. A self-contained sewage treatment plant is envisioned. * Questions were raised by the board and members of the community. In general, the mood was against the project although the questions were asked respectfully. * The Fire Department was very concerned about fire safety and law enforcement. Worry was mentioned about not having sufficient water storage for fire suppression. Mary Esther thanked Tim and his Team for the presentation and said that we would have future discussions.
g. Impact Fees: The possibility of raising the Impact Fees to be more inline with other towns in Washington County was discussed. No definitive answers were decided upon. A public hearing possibly could be held on March 26 at 5:00 pm to discuss raising the impact fees to be in line with the actual impacts to the community. Mary Esther will get with Beverly to see about getting such a hearing scheduled.
f. Fee Letter: The annual fee letter prepared by Bev. was approved by the Board. Beverly plans to have the letter out within a week.
Board Member Reports:
Mary Esther:
Jeff: Jeff is working to get guardrails in the general Deadman’s Curve area where a number of accidents have occurred. * He will continue to push for re-surfacing the dirt roads with more cinders.
Dall: Dall complimented the Fire Department for its training and general work.
John: John will talk to the PV Forest Ranger about wood gathering in the tree thinning area. The thinning appears to be minimal.
Spence: Absent
Fire Chief – Gerald: Gerald recommended that he not be paid the usual $9,000 but that there be a petty cash fund of $3,000 be established for miscellaneous fire station and travel needs and that the remaining funds be dedicated to law enforcement or other PVSSD needs. * Still a possibility of a FEMA grant for Extrication Gear and PPE. May will be last unit of awards granted. * A grant writing seminar will be held tonight in Cedar City. It will cover the areas of State, USFS & FEMA grants. * The new truck is being slowly outfitted. Johnnie Nichols, Jeff Gardner and Jim Soltis are doing the work. Santa Clara donated a light bar and controls and the Sheriffs Dept donated a speaker system. Veyo has donated a hose and reel. A new slide – in unit for the truck will be on a State Grant if required. * Dall Winn, George Cropper , Ralph Brooks and Gerald are putting equipment needs and PPE needs into grant or purchase lists. * Engine 142 has been modified and repaired. * Fireman’s Supply out of Idaho would not pay $343.00 of the bill and we paid it. I am still working with Fireman’s Supply. They have not given us good support with this vehicle. They were a little belligerent with Gerald. * Contractors were burning construction material on a Lloyd Canyon site. Gerald reminded them of the law, which they knew. He asked them to put the fire out, which they did. * Our Fire Training is going well – 20 attended last Thurs night. USFS personnel, Cyndi and Micah, instructed us about fuels in general – and Pine Valley fuels specifically. It was very good. * We bought a load of sand, (located at the Fire Station) to fill our sand bags in case of flooding from the snow melt. * George Cropper and Golden Steele got our Fire Extinguishers inspected and updated. * Gae Robinson had an EMT call out this week. The patient had a severe back injury caused by her sledding at the reservoir site. * Our three EMTs in Training are doing well, however the instructors are not liked by any of those attending the class. * The sheriff dispatch had taken us off the first responder list because someone told them we didn’t have any EMT’s. When Gerald told them what we had current with Gae, EMTs in training and Wilderness Medicine people, they put us back on to be called out. We can get to accidents in PV 30-45 minutes before others. * State Grants are due by March 23. * There are two state bills that allow ATVs on any street. Gerald is working with the Governor’s office to make sure that we can maintain our local ordinance or to veto the bill. * Gerald has put Johnnie Nichols on the USDA e-mail list to pass that job on to him. * Gerald added updates to the fee letter at Bev’s request. * Gerald is very concerned about the possibility of a motel being built in Pine Valley (at the current Lodge site). As Fire Chief, he feels that we are not equipped for such a structure and it increases the fire danger immensely. The impact fees for that structure must allow us to have water storage and new trucks / equipment.
Treasurer’s Report – George: See his report – The State of Utah has approved the PVSSD budget submission for 2008. * A CPA to set up our Audit was approved. * George read the profit and loss paper and proposed that the $5,000 gift to the Fire Dept. be deposited
2 – Public Comments – None
Dall moved for the meeting to adjourn. Jeff seconded. All were in favor.
The next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 5:00 P.M.