White River Township Fire Protection District
	Board Meeting Minutes
	February 23, 1999  ~  7:00 p.m.
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FPDB Present:  Butch Sutton, Bill Patterson, Jon Raker, Chuck Shufflebarger and Paul Kite. 

FD Present:  Mike Dutton , Scott Cassin, Scott Alexander and Eric Brown. 

Others Present: Brian Bosma, Eric Reedy and Kim Clawson 

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1.        Meeting called to order at 7:06 p.m. 

2.        Minutes from meeting held 2/6/99 read.  Motion made by Bill and 2^nd by Paul to approve those minutes.  All in favor and motion carries.  Minutes stand as written. 

3.        Eric Reedy gave financial report.  Attachment F shows the breakdown of the transfer from the Volunteer Contract to the Career Budget:

Capital Projects Fund                          $   819,011.40    Key Bank

                                                                       21,163.02    NBD

Cumulative Fund                                         88,199.54

Debt Fund                                                    18,690.95

General Fund                                             278,687.85

TOTAL                                                  $ 1,225,752.76 

4.        Budget order is in and has been adopted by the FPDB.  Attachment A. 

5.        Brian Bosma has been in contact with Tim Schwartz of Hoosier Fire regarding Aerial contract, which seems to have been misplaced twice.  Brian requested that someone from the Fire Department contact Mr. Schwartz regarding the status of the contract. 

6.        Turnout gear is scheduled to arrive in April. 

7.        Contractors met with insurance adjustors regarding the status on Station 52’s roof problems.  The adjustors have denied the claim so the contractors will be fixing only the area that needs fixed, instead of replacing the entire roof.  

8.        Paul contacted the architect regarding the station 52 construction problems.  The architect was unable to fin any bid documents.  Brian’s direction is for the Fire Department to find the contract or research the building permit to determine builder’s actual name.   There may be some type of common law warranty that could be pursued. 

9.        Salary resolution presented for approval and signatures.  Motion made by Bill an 2^nd by Chuck to approve resolution as presented.  All in favor and motion carries. 

10.     Eric Reedy compared ADP and Accu Pay payroll services.  Both submitted similar bids, but ADP was slightly more than Accu Pay.  Accu Pay’s bid came back at $1,027.00.  Because the Department already has an established relationship with this payroll company, it was felt that Full Time Salaries for the District be administered through them as well.  Motion made by Chuck and 2^nd by Paul to award the bid to Accu Pay.  All in favor and motion carries. 

11.     Overtime policy presented and discussed.  AttachmentB.  Changes are:

-      212 hours in a 28 day cycle  for shift personnel.  (Instead of the original 56 hours per week.)

-          For civilian employees, all comp time shall be banked as such up to 96 hours.  Any comp hours worked over 96 shall be paid as Overtime on the employee’s paycheck.

Motion made by Chuck and 2^nd by Paul to accept overtime policy, pending these changes and final review by Brian Bosma.  All in favor and motion carries. 

12.     Discussion on Kim’s comp time.  Motion made by Chuck and 2^nd by Paul to NOT assume her current comp time bank (111+ hours) and to make an appropriation to the Volunteer Corporation for the payoff amount of that comp time at her regular rate, as it is accrued at time-and-a-half.  All in favor and motion carries.  Brian advised that check should be issued at the same time as her final check from the Department on March 5. 

13.     Distribution of duties discussed.  Brian stressed that, for liability reasons, the District must keep sight of Department functions/actions which directly affect the District, such as:

     Time cards – Kim can verify that the District money is being spent for the hours claimed by employees by verifying time cards against the schedule and entering them into the worksheet.  When the worksheet is printed, and before it is faxed to Accu Pay, a Department representative must verify the entries and sign the worksheet at the bottom.  It was decided that Eric Brown would do that until he moved to the District 7/1/99.

        Fee assessment – Eric can continue to assess the fees because he will continue to be a Department employee until 7/1/99.  At that time, he will continue to assess the fees, but they will need to be verified by a Board Member from the Volunteer Corporation prior to being mailed.

        Check signing – Department checks will be printed and signed by the Department’s Treasurer and District checks will be printed by Eric Reedy and signed by Jon Raker.  Vouchers will need to be completed for all District checks. 

14.     Discussion on Volunteer Contract.  Scott Alexander stated that the membership would like to see at least one designee from the Volunteer Corporation assist in the selection of a next Fire Chief. 

15.     Discussion on Paramedic Stipend tabled until next meeting because it is not a priority matter at this time. 

16.     It was decided that, until more substantial information could be obtained, Chief and Kim should continue with their current health insurance until at least 7/1/99.  This will be included in their Letters of Understanding. 

17.     Salaries discussed and copy of resolution attached.  Attachment C.  Motion made by Chuck and 2^nd by Paul to approve as presented.  All in favor and motion carries. 

18.     Benefits policy revisited.  Attachment D.  Brian would like to approve the final copy of the beneifts policy when it is ready.  Butch requested that, due to time constraints this evening, we table any items not immediately pertinent to Kim or Chief Dutton.

-          Vacation.  Be sure to notice that it is worded to show ‘after years completion’.  Also, add something showing that <1 year = 0 vacation.  Brian Bosma will add language to pro rate the time for those employees who are hired in the middle of the year.  There will be an inclusion in Kim’s Letter of Understanding that she will keep her original hire date as part time employee for the Department of 8/10/92.  There will be an inclusion in Chief Dutton’s Letter of Understanding that he will keep his original hire date as full time employee for the Department of 8/1/96.  Motion by Bill and 2^nd by Jon to approve based on these changes.  All in favor and motion carries. 

-          Pension.  Chief Dutton’s Letter of Understanding will include retirement benefits equal to 21% of the First Class Firefighter’s Salary + Maximum Longevity to be applied to a plan of his choice.  Also, 6% will be applied to life insurance and other benefits to be approved by the District.  Kim’s will include 15% of her salary to be applied to a plan of her choice.  Motion by Jon and 2^nd by Chuck to accept as written with inclusions on Chief’s and Kim’s Letters of Understanding.  All in  favor and motion carries.  Motion by Jon and 2^nd by Bill to have the District pay the entire 27% of the PERF allotment for career firefighting personnel.  All in favor and motion carries. 

19.     Hiring process discussion.

·         Motion by Bill and 2^nd by Paul to make the hiring process open to the public.  All in favor and motion carries.

·         Chief Dutton met with Jeff Savitsky last Thursday and has presented his proposal. 

Attachment E.  He will assess our needs and then write job descriptions/hiring processes based on his findings.  We will save money by doing the Battalion Chiefs and Lieutenants processes at the same time.  Brian said that this is legal, as long as a list is not kept for over one year.  The plan is for the Battalions hired to start 7/1/99 and for the Lieutenants hired to start 1/1/00.  Mr. Savitsky stated that we could use this same process to hire the second round of Lieutenants in the Fall of 2000 and save a substantial amount of money.  He would still monitor that process.

·         Motion by Bill and 2^nd by Chuck to authorize Chief Dutton and Paul Kite to work with Mr.Savitsky to negotiate a contract between his company and the District which would be brought to the next meeting for approval and signature of the FPDB. 

20.     Next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 10, 1999 at 7pm at station 51. 

21.     No further new business.  Motion by Jon and 2^nd by Bill to adjourn the meeting.  All in favor and motion carries.  Meeting adjourned at 2220 hours.