White River Township Fire Protection District
Board Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, March 6, 2002  ~  7:00 p.m.

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

District Employees Present:  Mike Tibbetts, Eric Brown, Carey Slauter, Scott Cassin and Kim Clawson

Others Present:  Eric Reedy, Brian Bosma, Mike Hoffman, Mike Combs, Greg Maxwell, Kyle Brooks, Jim Engmark, Don Young, Jason Arkins, Jayson Combs, Scott Terry, Scott Wiegle and Scott Alexander.

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  1. Meeting called to order at 1905 hours.  Minutes from February 2002 meeting reviewed.   Motion made by Bill and 2nd by Jon to accept minutes as written.  All in favor and motion carries.
  1. Eric Reedy gave a financial update:

Cumulative Fund           299,200
            Debt                            295,845
            General                       -325,839
            Rainy Day Fund            101,654
            ’00 Capital                       3,911
            ’01 Capital                   370,824

TOTAL                       745,945  

                Eric feels that we still do not yet need a tax anticipation loan.

  1. Station 53 update.
    1. Reviewed E-mail sent to FPDB members by Chief Brown regarding outstanding items for Johnson County Planning and Zoning.  Motion by Chuck and 2nd by Butch to approve these items not to exceed $10,200.
    2. Brian reported that all construction matters which were contested have been resolved.  The only remaining items are the drainage ditch and floor issues.  Chief Brown will stay on top of getting these items fixed.
  1. Computer towers were grounded initially, but not like they should have been.  The total cost to re-ground all three towers is approximately $5428 +/- miscellaneous equipment.  Motion by Chuck and 2nd by Butch to spend up to $6500 from the Cumulative Fund to correctly ground the towers.
  1. Discussion on issue of Volunteer Corporation structure.  Brian referred back to his memo to the Board on July 10, 2001 where he suggested that the best option for a public agency was for the District Board to appoint majority of corporation board.  Joe Pitcher has still not returned phone calls, to either Brian or Scott Alexander.  Brian felt that if the District wanted to hire the part time “shift” personnel, they could do so by having them sign a release agreeing that they would not receive benefits.  Brian emphasized that there is some amount of risk involved in this process.  After some discussion, it was decided and agreed upon that the Corporation would continue as they currently are, and this item would be removed from further District Board Meeting agendas until such time that the Corporation is ready to re address this issue.
  1. Chief Tibbetts stated that he has not yet received the instructions for selling the zodiac on the closed bid system.  Brian will check on the status of this.  Brian will include wording for a minimum bid price of $3,000.
  1. Brian stated that he did see the Rural Metro contract today but has not yet had time to fully review it.  Motion by Bill and 2nd by Butch to allow Chief Tibbetts to sign the contract, pursuant to legal review, and providing that there are no costs to the District.  All in favor and motion carries.
  1. Chief Tibbetts stated that we have been paying FLSA overtime incorrectly.  It should be paid every 28 days and we have been paying it every pay day.  Motion by Butch and 2nd by Jon to correct the problem starting with this payroll start on March 10th with no request for compensation to the District by the employees.  All in favor and motion carries.  Brian will draft a release for each employee to sign.
  1. Chief Tibbetts presented the District Board with a handout showing the current unfounded liability in sick time, compensation time, vacation time, and PL / PA days.  Federal statute states that a) the employee has the right to use comp time at a reasonable time and b) the employer can require the employee to take comp time at any given time.  “Flex” time must be taken within the same week.  The District Board now realizes the extent of the liability and requested that Chief Tibbetts work on reducing this as much as he is able.
  1. Butch stated that he is on a committee that is studying the possibility of an East-West corridor linking State Road 37 with I-74 in Shelby County.  He just wanted to make everyone aware of this and asked that we begin thinking of the potential impact this will have on the fire department to provide emergency services.
  1. It was agreed that due to Spring Break schedules, the District Board meeting would be moved from April 2 to April 17.
  1. Chief Tibbetts stated the he has received three estimates, at Paul’s request, for work needed at station 53 to include a utility sink, plumbing, and additional heating for station bays.  Motion by Chuck and 2nd by Jon to have this work completed at a cost not to exceed $5,000 which will be deducted from the Cumulative Fund.
  1. Discussion on a quartermaster system.  Any payroll deduction must be signed for (once).  Eric Reedy will prepare a transfer resolution for our next meeting.  Chief Brown will forward cost to Eric Reedy.  Quartermaster policy needs to be written.
  1. No further new business and meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

 

NEXT DISTRICT MEETING WILL BE ON
MARCH 6, 2002 AT 7:00 P.M.
AT WHITE RIVER FIRE HEADQUARTERS,
850 SOUTH MULLINIX ROAD, GREENWOOD.