White River Township Fire Protection District

 

Pre-Meeting Report for October 5, 2004

 

Compiled August 26, 2004

 

 

Need resolution for PERF to add “Receptionist” to list of job titles.

 

Mention that we may be receiving a successful grant (need $24,633)

  

 

 

 

  1. Career hiring process update
    1. The career hiring process for Lieutenants and Engineers is still on schedule with all applicants in the process of getting physicals, etc.
    2. The captain’s process is underway.  After testing and interviews throughout September, the 3 finalists will be named at the September FPDB meeting for final approval.
    3. Upon completion of the Captain’s process, one of the successful candidates will be appointed to the position of Battalion Chief to fill the vacancy left by Don Young.  We will then move the person who finished fourth in the Captain’s process up into the open Captain position.
    4. There has been some more discussion by the staff regarding the M-F Training Chief position that is slated for 2005.  This position may need to take on some additional staff responsibilities relating to EMS because of the large workload in that area.  Also, no timeline has yet been set on the process for this promotion, but it looks like it will begin in the next few months and ready by January 1st.  This will be an internal process.

 

  1. Building construction updates. 

 

    1. Station 51 (new building)
      1. Nothing new to report from our end.  Trish should have a presentation regarding the latest information at the meeting.

 

    1. Station 52 (addition)
      1. The building plan has been revised to fit within the allotted budget amount.  The plans have been finalized by Senefeld and Associates and are ready for the next step.  Representatives from Senefeld and Associates will be at the meeting to discuss the plans and a timeline to get this project underway.
      2. The new restroom in the main bunk room is now complete.  Thanks to Lt. Jeff Smith for getting this project completed well under budget!

 

    1. Station 53 (minor improvements)
      1. Stair treads and cove base molding has arrived and will be installed within the next few weeks.
      2. Work is beginning on installation of the deck.  Permits have been secured and work should begin any day.

 

  1. Trish and I (mainly Trish) have been working on the consolidation of the volunteer corporation and the Fire Protection District with regards to part-time employees.  Trish should have a presentation regarding this issue at the meeting.

 

  1. The three new staff vehicles (two to replace two on rotation and a 3rd for a second pool car) have been ordered.  The senior staff researched and test drove the new Explorers and compared them to the Expeditions.  With the advances in the new Explorers and all the advantages of them (small vehicle, better gas mileage, etc), it was determined that this would be the better vehicle.  Thanks to the diligence of Chief Eric Brown we were able to get all three for under $79,000.  With the selling of our two oldest Tahoes, we should be around $21,000 UNDER budget for this project!

 

  1. Lt. Jeff Smith and a few others have been working over the past few months on trying to improve our health insurance package.  The intent was to improve this in two fronts:  1) Provide better coverages for the employees, and 2) Reduce the amount paid by the department on an annual basis.  After a lot of research, Jeff has accomplished this goal.  He presented the plan to the entire full-time staff at a recent union meeting where all in attendance were in agreement and happy with the proposal.  Jeff was then instructed to be ready to present a brief description of the plan with documentation at the FPDB meeting.

 

  1. There are still a few outstanding capital projects that have not been budgeted.  One is the radio tower upgrade project ($22,699).  Another involves the new tactical unit, which is still scheduled to arrive around the end of the year.  As you may recall, the fire loan for this particular project was under-funded, therefore all of the loan proceeds went into the truck itself.  This leaves about $19,000 of equipment (less than the $30K originally sought earlier this year) that needs to be purchased for the truck.  Chief Slauter will have more specific information available at the meeting.  Just as a side note, there is currently $489,783 in uncommitted funds from this year’s budget available.

 

  1. Speaking of budgets, I have included two budget reports with this mailing.  The first one is a full Year-to-Date (Y-T-D) budget report spanning all funds.  The second report is simply a recap of the General Fund and a current balance sheet.  Overall, the General Fund budget is under budget by over $180,000.  Within this budget, however, is the “Other Services & Charges” line item that is over budget by over $157,000.  This is almost entirely due to the overages incurred by the volunteer corporation (they have been filling the vacancies left by career personnel).  Building and truck maintenance continue to run high as well.

 

  1. I will unfortunately once again be out of town for this meeting.  My wife and I are celebrating the completion of our Master’s Degrees and therefore taking a much needed break! (I know I just took one last month, but hey, this stuff is stressful J)  Kim will have financial report copies ready for your review in my absence.

 

  1. The minutes from the August 3rd District meeting are available for viewing on our website, or by following this link: http://www.wrtfd.org/downloads/minutes/fpdb/2004/0803.htm

 

  1. The agenda for the September 7th District meeting is available for viewing on our website, or by following this link:  http://www.wrtfd.org/downloads/agendas/fpdb/2004/0907.htm

 

  1. This agenda will be updated as needed.  Copies will be available the night of the meeting.  The September newsletter is available for viewing on our website, or by following this link:  http://www.wrtfd.org/downloads/newsletters/2004/Sep04news.doc