White River Township Fire Protection District
	Board Meeting Minutes
	July 8, 1999  ~  7:00 p.m.
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District Members Present:  Butch Sutton, Paul Kite, Bill Patterson, and Jon Raker. 

District Employees Present:  Mike Dutton and Kim Clawson. 

Corporation Members Present:  Scott Alexander, Eric Brown, and Joel Thacker. 

 1.        Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m. 

2.        Minutes from meeting held 06/02/99 read.  Motion made by Bill and 2^nd by Paul to approve minutes as written.  All in favor and motion carries. 

3.        Eric Reedy gave financial report.

Capital Projects Fund                          $      44,170.55    Key Bank

                                                                      674,999.68        Key Bank - CD

                                                                        21,163.02    NBD

Cumulative Fund                                          60,228.69

Debt Fund                                                     49,818.66

General Fund                                              362,043.87

TOTAL                                                  $ 1,212,424.79 

4.        Discussion on proposed 2000 District budget which will have a public hearing on July 28 and be fromally adopted August 9.  Chief Dutton stated that his biggest budget problems lie in the building maintenance and vehicle maintenance line items.  Attachment A. 

5.        Scott Alexander stated that the Department is addressing the overtime issue by scheduling everyone under 40 hours per week.  

6.        No new Aerial information. 

7.        Scott Cassin has been working with Eric Reedy to project the budget for the remainder of 1999.  Scott asked that the District address the cash flow issue as the Department is already severely behind. 

8.        Benefits update for full time District personnel:

-          Health Insurance.  We have not yet offered any type of official health insurance plan as we are waiting for all 8 people to be in place.  (3 Battalions, 2 Lieutenants, 1 Chief, 1 Fire Marshal, 1 Admin. Asst)

-          Retirement.  The 457 plan, which is vaguely similar to the 401K, allows a person to defer up to $8,000 or 25% of the salary, pre-income tax.  FICA is still withheld.  The District can choose whether they want to contribute or not.  The employee is not required to match what the employer contributes.  Butch is still waiting to hear what the cost of the plan is.  If we contribute over $30,000 annually, the administrative fees are waived.  We will be required to write our own plan description which Brian Bosma will do.  Brian mentioned that he felt it was a mistake to have District career employees who are eligible for the ’77 PERF fund choose not to enter into that fund in lieu of choosing the 457 (if that’s what we decide to go with).  Butch stated that something formal will be presented at the next meeting.

9.        Butch brought it to everyone’s attention that Kim has requested her retirement be given to her for March through July.  Butch asked her to use caution in requesting this check as taxes would be very high.  She said she would think about it and let Butch know. 

10.     Discussion on personnel issues.

-          Motion made by Jon and 2ndy by Paul to ratify the employment start date from July 1, 1999 to October 1, 1999.  No discussion.  All in favor and motion carries.

-          Due to financial concerns, we will only be extending two conditional offers of employment to the Lieutenant candidates.  Motion made by Paul and 2^nd by Bill to extend conditional offers of employment as Lieutenants to Bruce Alexander and Joel Thacker, contingent on their successful completion of PERF physicals and agility tests. No discussion.  All in favor and motion carries. 

11.     Chief Dutton stated that the career employees who start October 1, 1999 will not be given raises until October 1, 2000. 

12.     Scott Alexander gave an update on the Corporation’s Board of Directors.  Scott Cassin and Jeremy Pell have resigned from the Board so that they may accept their new positions as Battalion Chiefs with the District starting October 1.  He stated that the Board is considering dropping its directorship to three instead of five due to the reduced amount of duties it will have. 

13.     Scott also gave an update on the McCarty lease at our property at Smith Valley & SR 37.  He has sent them a letter requesting to know their crop status on the property and to let us know when approximately when this Fall they feel they will be able to vacate it.  

14.     Butch stated that Dan Maple (Twp. Trustee) originally wanted to consolidate some part of our fire department into the government center.  After a recent meeting with Chief White of Bargersville FD, there is no rush to combine or co-house a station between White River FD and Bargersville FD.  Mr. Maple suggested to Chief White that he allow White River to respond to 600 North.  He declined that suggestion. 

15.     Butch mentioned that he is on the White River Township Task Force, Public Safety Committee, that was recently established.  He hopes that it will serve to validate, in a public forum, the growth potential and the needs of public safety.  Their discussion may determine the location of our third station.  Their next meeting is in August. 

16.     Butch announced that the focus of the September meeting will be to proceed with discussion on the third station, determine its exact location, and update the Ten Year Plan. 

17.     No further business and meeting adjourned. 

NEXT MEETING IS JULY 28 AT 7:00 P.M. AT STATION 51
FOR PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 2000 BUDGET.