White River Township Fire Protection District

 

Pre-Meeting Report for February 2, 2004

 

Compiled January 28, 2004

 

 

 

  1. First off, I’ll start with some good news.  The county income tax generated more tax dollars than were needed so they made special distributions to each of the units.  Our share was just over $84,000!  The catch is though it has to be deposited into the Rainy Day Fund (which it was) by state law.

 

  1. Speaking of banking, we finally closed out the last remaining “outside” bank account which was through Fifth/Third Bank.  All of our banking is now done exclusively through Union Federal Bank.  Thanks to Jon and Paul for helping me get this done.  It is now much simpler to reconcile and keeps the reports much cleaner.  It also helps our cash flow position by having all the cash in one pot.

 

  1. We now have had 4 or five Strategic Planning sessions over the last few months.  They are currently scheduled for every Thursday at Headquarters at 1pm for anyone wanting to attend.  We are currently only concentrating on the 2004 plan because of the significant changes taking place.  Once things are on track here, we’ll get working on the long range plan (2005-2009) which will hopefully be sometime in March.  Our goal is to have the 2004 plan complete and ready for District Board approval at the March meeting.

 

  1. At the last Strategic Planning session, Butch, along with Curt Coonrod, made some recommendations on how to re-tool the current budget.  That has been done and forwarded off to Curt’s office and I’ve also attached copies of it in this e-mail as well.  I’ve included the detailed 2004 General Fund Budget along with a month-by-month budget and also an overview of all five Fund Budgets.  Note that the budgets are based on several items taking place at certain times throughout the year, all of which are noted on the second page of the detailed General Fund Budget.  Also, per recommendations from Butch, all items previously marked for the Cumulative Fund have been moved to the General Fund under Capital Outlays (Section 40000).  A detailed description is included in the detailed General Fund Budget file.  The expenses for the 2004 Cumulative Fund are now zero (with the exception of the $268,000 for replacement of the engine lost in the accident almost three years ago – which is currently due to be delivered in April).

 

  1. One of the more time critical elements of the entire 2004 budget is the hiring of additional personnel.  After working with Steve Savinsky’s group, the Indianapolis Fire Department, and the Wayne Township Fire Department, a time line for the hiring process was developed.  Under the best case scenario, which is based on a successful approval from the Board at this upcoming meeting, our new full-time personnel will not be street-ready until mid-December.  According to the time line the process would get under way by the end of February and be essentially completed by August.  The next four months are for physicals, PERF acceptance, and the eight-week recruit school.  All of the costs associated with the entire process have been calculated out and are included in the budgets mentioned above.  Chief Thacker will be on hand at the District Board meeting to explain the process in detail as well as provide literature and answer questions.

 

  1. Along the lines of the hiring process, we are also seeking approval to proceed immediately with the selection process for the new receptionist.  A separate time line for this project has been established with a tentative orientation date of April 19th.  The workload this year has nearly doubled with all of the new projects going on and additional help sooner would be helpful.  This too has been accounted for in the above budgets.

 

  1. As you know, we currently are running four-person crews out of Station 51 and Station 53.  Station 52, our busiest fire station, only runs three.  This essentially was due to previous budget constraints and the thought that four-person crews would be better suited on the truck and rescue companies.  We are asking to staff the fourth position at Station 52 with our current part-time personnel starting in March.  This will be until December when the new full-time group is ready to work and will require no additional staff.  In December, we will drop back to eight part-time positions (2 of each of the four crews).  As before, this has been accounted for as well in the above budgets.

 

  1. The 2003 Fire Loan Projects are proceeding on schedule.  Most of the projects will done later in the spring as the weather improves.  As you know, the Hurst Tool project was declared an urgent situation at the last meeting and the purchase was approved.  The equipment should begin to arrive within the next few weeks.  Lieutenant Joe Settles has submitted the three letters per the state code to the three vendors and has received written quotes.  We have contracted with the lowest most responsive and responsible offer.

 

    1. We are however this month seeking approval to proceed with the Automatic Defibrillator project.  As you recall, this project puts an AED on every piece of rolling stock the department owns.  The idea here is that these defibrillators will be distributed throughout the township anytime a vehicle is on the road allowing improved arrest-to-defibrillation times, which ultimately is what saves lives.  Lieutenant Mark Hart will be at the meeting to discuss the project and answer any questions.

 

    1. The current budge does not allow for any additional lease payments for the copy machine at Headquarters.  It was determined last fall that it would be more feasible and less expensive to buy the lease out instead of making payments for the next 3.5 years.  We will get an updated quote from the lease company, but at last we checked back in October it was for $15,500.  Our current payment is $441 per month plus copy overage charges.  We would like permission to officially buy out the lease.

 

    1. We intend to have detailed computer system purchase information to you at the March meeting for approval.  After the purchase, it will take several months to implement the new system as well as sell the existing equipment.

 

  1. Just FYI, the new Tactical Truck contract has been signed and the manufacturing days are counting down.

 

  1.   Also, FYI, Jeff Stainfield has still not produced a check in the amount of $17,821.61 that he still owes us from the tornado damage bills we paid almost a year and a half ago.  He has made two promises since the last go around, but we’re still waiting.  He continues to blame “the mother office”.

 

  1.   I am unsure of the status of the land deal with Greg Allen’s office.  Chief Eric Brown will be at the meeting to discuss the latest with everyone.

 

  1.   The following is the verbatim excerpt from the department’s policy regarding vacation for full-time personnel.  The highlighted section is the proposed change:

 

Staff personnel may carry a maximum of twenty-four forty (24) (40) hours of unused vacation time forward into the next calendar year.  Shift personnel may carry forty-eight (48) hours forward into the next calendar year.

 

  1.   Be ready to finalize meeting dates for the rest of 2004.

 

  1.   Just for your information, this is the last official business I am conducting before leaving for vacation.  I will be back in the office on February 16th.  Please direct any questions to Chief Tibbetts at mtibbetts@wrtfd.org.

 

  1. The minutes from the January 8th District meeting are available for viewing on our website, or by following this link: http://www.wrtfd.org/downloads/minutes/fpdb/2004/0108.htm

 

  1. The agenda for the February 2nd District meeting is available for viewing on our website, or by following this link:  http://www.wrtfd.org/downloads/agendas/fpdb/2004/0202.htm

 

  1. This agenda will be updated as needed.  Copies will be available the night of the meeting.  The December newsletter is available for viewing on our website, or by following this link:  http://www.wrtfd.org/downloads/newsletters/2004/Jan04news.doc