White River Township Fire Protection District
Board Meeting Minutes
November 3, 1999  ~  7:00 p.m.

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District Members Present:  Butch Sutton, Jon Raker, Paul Kite, Chuck Shufflebarger, and Bill Patterson. 

District Employees Present:  Mike Dutton, Mike Tibbetts, Eric Brown, and Kim Clawson. 

Corporation Members Present: Scott Alexander. 

Others Present: Eric Reedy and Brian Bosma. 

1.        Meeting called to order at 7:09 p.m. 

2.        Kim read minutes from September 7th meeting.  Motion by Bill and 2nd by Butch to approve minutes as written.  All in favor and motion carries.  Minutes stand. 

3.        Kim read minutes from October 1st meeting.  Motion by Chuck and 2nd by Bill to approve minutes as written.  All in favor and motion carries.  Minutes stand. 

4.        Eric Reedy gave financial report.  Total = $960,190.00 

5.        Brian Bosma gave an update on the station 51 sewer project.  The neighbors have requested a 1/3 to 2/3 split, with the fire department assuming obligation for the 2/3 portion.  Brian sees no problem with this and recommended we move forward with the project.  Motion by Bill and 2nd by Chuck to approve the 1/3 to 2/3 split.  All in favor and motion carries. 

6.        Chief Dutton stated that the $200, 000 appropriation check is stuck in the auditor’s office.  It’s been approved and now we are just waiting for the check. 

7.        Mike Tibbetts and Joel Thacker will be traveling to Pennsylvania early next week for a pre paint inspection on the new aerial truck. 

8.        Scott Alexander gave an update on volunteer corporation issues.  They feel that they have a good handle on the budget.  They hope to have a copy of the proposed contract ready to go in December.  (Brian Bosma asked that a copy of this be faxed to him for his review.)  Scott informed everyone that, due to time commitments, Kevin Skipper has resigned from the Board of Directors.  Scott mentioned that since the regular election is coming up soon anyway (January) the Board doesn’t feel the need to hold a special election to fill that spot.  

9.        PERF discussion.  The District opted NOT to enter PERF as an expansion of Johnson County.  It would be a significant financial impact to the county and it brought several other issues into light, one being who would be allowed to set salaries.  Therefore, the District has opted to enter PERF as its own entity.  Motion by Chuck and 2nd by Bill to establish our own PERF entity at 6.25%.  All in favor and motion carries.  

10.     Deferred compensation will be discussed at the next meeting. 

11.     After a recent election, Joel Thacker will be representing the employees in the Pension Board.  That Board now consists of Chuck Shufflebarger, Mike Dutton, and Joel Thacker.  Their function is to approve future hiring processes and report any pension requests to PERF. 

12.     Chief Dutton has been receiving numerous complaints lately regarding PMT Ambulance.  Neither PMT nor Rural Metro accept Medicare billing on 911 calls.  From now on, if PMT transports, EMAS will bill Medicare.  This will hopefully alleviate any future billing problems that may arise. 

13.     At last word, the Township Trustee is still giving thought to imposing an EMS tax in White River Township and providing an ambulance. 

14.     Terry Burnworth of Prince Alexander gave a presentation on the construction of Station 53.  Prince Alexander is the firm that the District approved to perform the feasibility study.

·         We still need to get zoning approval from the county commissioners, as well as formal approval for limited access to Smith Valley Road.

·         As a general rule of thumb, bay costs per square foot are $48-52, and office costs are approximately $75.

·         Motion by Paul and 2nd by Bill to allow Prince Alexander to perform the engineering study and various soil borings, with a total cost not to exceed $2,000.  All in favor and motion carries. 

15.     Butch reminded everyone present that formal approval has not been given to pursue the project of a new station. 

·         Motion by Paul and 2nd by Jon to pursue a new station.  All in favor and motion carries.

·         Scott Alexander will pursue title issues with the property located on Mullinix Road.

·         Eric Reedy and Brian Bosma will pursue financing issues/options.

·         Paul and Bill will continue to work with Chief Dutton with the planning phase. 

16.     Brian Bosma announced that we will need to have a meeting prior to the advertisement of the Notice for Incurrence of Debt.  Brian cautioned to plan for construction costs of $1.4M to $1.6M, but also not to under estimate what we need. 

17.     Eric Reedy announced that in order to get funding by the end of March, we must advertise by the first part of December.  Upcoming meeting dates are as follows:

·         November 23 at 7pm

·         December 14 at 7pm.  (Discussion of temporary loan if needed.) 

18.     Butch stated that he has been notified that Paramedic Pay should have been included in the benefits package offered to District employees.  He directed this to Jon and Paul.  Both Jon & Paul agreed that it had been discussed, and approved, during the benefits subcommittee meetings, although they are not sure why it was left out at the final draft that was approved.  Jon & Paul agreed that it is an industry standard.  Eric Reedy stated that if this is approved, it must be included in the salary resolution.  Motion by Bill and 2nd by Paul for Eric Reedy to make a new salary resolution to include this annual paramedic stipend, as well as prorating it for 1999.  All in favor and motion carries.