Red, White & Blue Fire District Minutes of Regular Meeting

Thursday, December 04, 2008

1.0 Call to Order / Roll Call
The Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Red, White & Blue Fire District was called to order by Director Griffin at 0702. In attendance were Director Perkins, Randall, Krugman and Griffin. Director Gothard was excused. Chief Green, Fire Marshal Nelson, Finance Officer Carmen Modglin, Deputy Chief Lori Miller, Battalion Chief Rosenberger, Captain Scott and Captain Lynch were all present. Wendy Peters served as Recording Secretary.

2.0 Approval of Minutes
M/S Randall, Krugman to approve the minutes from the November 13, 2008 Board meeting. Voice vote unanimous. Motion carried.

3.0 Citizen Comments and Other Communications
Chief Green stated that we have had some very good community feedback lately and will forward those to the Board. Director Perkins stated that she would like to see the feedback as it comes in.

4.0 Approval of Changes to the Agenda
None.

5.0 Chief’s Report & Discussion Topics
Emergency Response Data
Chief Green provided the board with a breakdown of calls by station, which was requested by Director Randall in the last meeting. Incidents are up for the year, although September and October were down. November incidents were up, especially during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Chief Rosenberger stated that at one point his shift responded to over 20 calls in a 48 hour period.

Chief Green stated that there was a multi-alarm structure fire at Wilderness last week and we had two crews there for six hours. There were six engines total. Captain Bergbauer, serving as Acting Battalion Chief at the time, wound up coordinating coverage for the entire county during this time. Director Randall asked how many units were lost, and Chief Green said he believed only three. Fire Marshal Nelson reported that he was advised that a plumber may have admitted to negligence in the case. Chief Green reported that the crew did a great job, and Chief Miller stated that there were no injuries. It was reported there may have been asbestos, and the crew was made aware of this and cleaned up appropriately. The crew wore respiratory protection the entire time.

EMS calls are up in total. Director Perkins asked which time of year was up, and Chief Green stated that the bulk of the increase was during the summer.

Ambulance Licensing Update / Schedule
Chief Green stated that there will be a meeting on December 12th to discuss the transition models. There will also be a meeting on December 9th in which Deputy Chief Miller and Captain Lynch will meet with Summit Country Ambulance Service and the other fire chiefs to discuss the transition models in detail for presentation. The County’s concern is that they will not be able to serve other parts of the county because of a loss of revenue. Chief Green stated that with one model we offered to charge at their rates and give them a portion of the revenue, but it would need a timeline of two to three years and the County was presented with two transition models. The first would be a fire-based EMS service for a three year period, while the second would be Red, White & Blue EMS and Summit Country Ambulance collaborative effort. Captain Lynch worked with the Summit County Ambulance Service on this and it seemed very promising at first. Captain Lynch is now disappointed that County opinions appear to have changed.

Chief Green stated that the December 12th meeting will be very telling as to whether the County is truly interested in working with all parties to find a solution for multiple licensed ambulance services in the County. Director Krugman asked which of the two models is better for us, and Chief Green stated that both would be good for us. Chief Green stated that we need the ambulance license to service the area, and we can recover costs by providing service through fees. Director Griffin summarized that we really just need to wait until the December 12th meeting to decide what we will do next. Chief Green stated that Summit County Government has said that neither model is acceptable, and we need to find out why. Director Randall noted that we need to be sure we have full documented support of the other agencies when we go into the meetings. Chief Green agreed and stated that we have a strong case and mentioned our offer to help support transition efforts with up to $800,000 a year according to current statistics, all recovered from services and fees in the Upper Blue Valley. Chief Green went on to note that we can provide these services for 60% of what the current charge. Director Perkins stated that she would like more information, but will sit with Chief Green and Captain Lynch at a later time.

Training
Chief Green stated that the department had "inclusion and professionalism" training. There was a session for all staff, and then a session just for officers and it went very well. Chief Miller stated that the sessions were taught by someone who has worked in the fire service for over twenty years and is very well respected.

Financial Notes

a. 2008 Budget Update
Chief Green stated that as the 2008 budget winds to a close, revenues look good and we will be contributing more than anticipated to the reserve fund. Our operating expenses will come in under budget.

The reserve fund balance was discussed, and Director Griffin stated that a figure equal to 30% of annual operating expenses is what we are looking for and we that we still have work to do in that regard.

b. Current Year’s Assessed Valuation
Chief Green stated that our assessed valuation has decreased 1/10%. Carmen stated that 2009 is the next full assessment year and we are projecting a modest increase.

Director Perkins asked if we would be able to get these projections earlier next year and asked if we should consider using a lower Mill levy to offset projected expenses. Director Randall asked if the potential ambulance services were in the projections and Chief Green said no. Director Griffin asked if $109,000 is right on and Chief Green stated that we are comfortable with this calculation for expenses specific to the patient transport component. We already provide initial responses whether we end up transporting patients or not and we have upgraded initial response with the hiring of paramedics over the last several years. Director Randall asked if we had calculated a cost per hour. Captain Lynch stated that the unit cost per hour for Summit County Ambulance is $128/hr and using the same calculation method ours came in at approximately $75/hr.

c. 2009 Proposed Budget Review 3rd Draft
Chief Green stated that he removed $300,000 in anticipated EMS revenues and removed related expenses. Chief Green discussed the revenue section, and talked about inter-governmental revenues bringing in money related to hazmat at $42,000. We have removed the $40,000 proposed from the Town of Breckenridge for the forester position and likewise removed the related much of the related expense due to opting to pursue a different route for these services. Fire Marshal Nelson stated that this will have minimal impact on us and we will be picking up around twelve inspections per month and can offer even better customer service to the public this way. We now require a fire mitigation sign-off which comes with an information packet. Fire Marhsal Nelson attended training with Paul Cada from Colorado State Forest Service along with Director Randall.

Chief Green met with the Town of Breckenridge and agreed we will have Red, White and Blue staff perform inspections rather than hire another position at this time. Our inspectors will be in charge of the code enforcement and we are already providing public education. Chief Green stated that this will be a more cost effective way to get this program off the ground. It is important that we become even more active on wildfire issues. Fire Marshal Nelson stated that Blue River is being pro-active in beetle management as well. We now issue burn permits for Blue River this year instead of having to go through the building official.

Director Perkins asked about the revenues and the costs associated with the SAFER Grant. Chief Green stated that this grant accounts for $150,000 of the $200,000 in revenue projected, and the rest is for grants we anticipate receiving. Chief Green stated that it includes just salary and benefits and we will track it in a separate line for the four year cycle. 70% of salary and benefits is covered the first year.

Chief Green stated that salary and benefits are up 8.7% over 2008 budget, 5% of which the Board authorized, promotions and dual-qualifications are also represented with this increase. The salary schedule is moving forward as planned and will begin stabilizing salary expenses for the foreseeable future. Director Randall asked how we might be able to freeze salaries if needed so as not to have a bad perception in the community during difficult financial times. It was discussed that, if necessary, we could always hold staff in their current grade.

Director Griffin stated that with revenues going up 3% and expenses going up 10%, this is something we need to control and get these two numbers closer. Chief Green agreed and acknowledged the percentage differences, and also stated that dollar-for-dollar we continue to bring in more revenue than we expense thus contributing more to the reserve. Managing expenses remains a year-to-year focus of staff.

Chief Green discussed the SCBA replacement purchase being built into the budget at $37,000 a year for five years. The $12,000 grant will pay for three SCBA’s. Deputy Chief Miller was able to get the vendors closer together and we will switch manufacturers, from MSA to Scott.

Director Perkins asked when we would start paying for a new ladder truck, and Chief Green stated not until 2011. Director Perkins also asked about replacing staff vehicles in the future and the need for more defined long range planning. Chief Green stated that we will soon be updating the capital replacement schedule and this could be discussed at a future meeting.

Director Griffin asked about the $27,000 decrease in benefits in Community Risk Management, and Chief Green explained this is because the front desk staff has no benefits. Director Griffin also questioned the increase in code enforcement supplies, and Fire Marshal Nelson explained that these are supplies for wildfire mitigation and new books, since 2009 is a code adoption year.

Director Griffin asked about IT/Communications and the 27% increase in facilities and requested to get this information earlier.

6.0 2009 Mill Levy Certification
Director Randall has no problems with the budget, but just reminded everyone to be conscious of the world’s financial crisis right now and to remember the taxpayers. Director Randall said we need to watch every dollar, and it is great that the reserve is back up.

Director Griffin stated that he spoke to Director Gothard and he was fine with the budget.

Carmen stated that we have until January to amend the budget. M/S Perkins, Krugman to certify the Mill levy at 8.5%. Voice vote unanimous. Motion carried.

7.0 Consent
November 2008 Bills List
Director Randall questioned the following item on the Bills list:
- Clarification needed on Show Me cables. Carmen explained that this is a company for IT equipment for the computer in the Battalion Chief’s vehicle.

Director Perkins questioned the following item:
- Clarification needed on Google Message Discovery and if this is just an annual fee. Chief Green believes it is a flat fee once a year, but will confirm.

Director Griffin asked for clarification on who donated the money that paid for the Garmin. He also questioned if check number 39298 was for repairs to a water main, or a water line, and it was for a water line.

M/S Griffin, Krugman to approve the November 2008 bills list as presented. Voice vote unanimous. Motion carried.

Fire Marshal Nelson discussed the new fee schedule, and that it will be presented at the next Board meeting in a public hearing.

Captain Scott stated that there was an article in the Summit Daily about CO detectors and we are the only agency in the county to have a CO medical monitor. Fire Marshal Nelson stated that 2009 codes require every level to have a detector.

8.0 Executive Session
Director Griffin requested an executive session at 8:28 am in accordance with 24-6-402(4)(e) C.R.S. and 24-6-402(4)(f) C.R.S. M/S Perkins, Krugman. Voice vote unanimous. Motion carried.

9.0
The Board came out of Executive Session at 8:45 am. Chief Green introduced Joel Cochran, Summit County Emergency Manager, to update us on evacuation plans in case of an emergency.

Joel Cochran stated he began working for the county in 2007. He was previously on the bark beetle task force and had experience surveying county emergency managers about preparedness. His work started in 2002 when they first conceived of a plan to create a color coded map with zones. This is a great tool for the incident commander and everyone uses the same map. He is trying to have many tools available. For the first time they ran a hospital evacuation plan and they learned a lot from this. They will run some school drills next year. They learned that in high density areas the fire and law enforcement can get there in 2.9 minutes, but in other areas such as Bills Ranch it would be 6.25 minutes, three times longer. There are some glitches to work out, but he is pleased that we do have a strong incident command here. It cost $10,000 to run this mock evacuation plan. From the citizens, he learned that 90% would evacuate if told to but 48% would take 15 - 30 minutes to do so, which is a problem. Only 24% would go to a public shelter, and 7% would need assistance so there is now a special needs advisory committee to address this. Only 21% of families currently have an evacuation plan. We need to continue to work on public education to get the message out there. Most of the information would get to citizens by the media, especially radio and television. The large animal evacuation plan will be in the next wave of planning, but uses the landfill and fairgrounds currently, which is good for short term use only.

There will be a meeting in early February, 2009. There are three plans that are in effect. First - the master federal agreement, second - the state agreement, and third - the annual operating plan which every county must have.

Public warning is a big issue. Currently the public can use reverse 911, the media and now the National Weather Service has an emergency alert system and the citizens just need to buy a weather radio. Summit County government recently purchased a text messaging system and so far has 1200 subscribers, 600 of which are in Breckenridge. Citizens can sign up for different groups and receive messages. The cost for this service will be $7500 next year which is quite cost effective. In the past 60 days they have already used this system to notify citizens about weather situations and road closures. They hope to get a lot more citizens to sign up for this voluntary service, including seasonal people.

10.0
Fire Marshal Nelson stated that a local business has been issued an Order to Comply. Chief Green stated they would be given one courtesy call, and then they will be cited into court.

Carmen addressed a question brought up in the previous meeting by Director Randall to see if pension contracts can be adjusted or not, in a worse case scenario only. Director Perkins said this could be discussed at the next pension board meeting.

11.0 Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 am. M/S Perkins, Krugman. Voice vote unanimous. Motion carried.

The next Board of Directors meeting will be held on Thursday January 22, 2009 at 7:00 am.

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