White River Township Fire Protection District

Board Meeting Minutes

April 5, 2005 

 

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

 

District Career Employees Present:  Joel Thacker, Carey Slauter, Eric Brown, Scott Tichenor, Tony Slusher, Joe Settles and Kim Clawson.

 

District Reserves Present:  none.  

 

Others Present: Tricia Leminger, Steve Dyson, Curt Coonrod, Scott Senefeld, and Dudley Senefeld..

 

 

 

  1. Chuck called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

 

  1. Minutes from March meeting were reviewed.  No changes or discussion.  Motion by Paul and 2nd by Jim to accept the minutes as written.  All in favor and motion carries.

 

  1. Chief Thacker stated that Chief Tibbetts is absent tonight.  He had surgery a couple of weeks ago, then his mother passed away this afternoon from open heart surgery complications.  Chuck asked Joel to send funeral information to them all once he had it.

 

  1. Financial reports are in the packet handed out tonight.  There is no verbal report due to Chief Cassin’s absence.  Chuck stated that Scott had emailed everyone the financial report and stated that he would provide a month-end report when he returned.

 

  1. Station 52 project update.
    1. Scott Senefeld reported that they will soon be submitting the bid packet to Tricia’s office for review.
    2. They are suggesting one unified bid due to the small size and minimal complexity of this project.
    3. There is no possible way for Tricia to be able to review this document and provide the required advertising in time to have these out by the next meeting.  Once the bid packet is approved and they go out, the Senefeld’s will be able to provide a more reasonable timeline for the project.

 

  1. Station 51 project update
    1. Scott Senefeld distributed an information packet to the District Board members.  No packets were available for the Chiefs or for the file. 
    2. Tricia feels that the project cost will be over $3 million because of administrative costs that are not shown in the soft costs section in the packet.
    3. Chuck stated that we need to decide how much of our “reserve” funds we are willing to contribute.
    4. Tricia distributed copies of her proposed timeline for this project.  Attachment A.
    5. Tricia stated that this will definitely be a “controlled” project under the Department of Local Government Finance.
    6. She suggested retaining a bond advisor to work with Coonrod’s office in administering the financial aspects of this project.  She estimated that the costs for this advisor could be around $30,000 - $40,000.
    7. Chuck stated that we need to establish what ALL of the soft costs are going to be for this project and be able to present them at the next meeting.  He also wants to see a schedule of capital outlays so that a decision can be made regarding use of “reserve” funds.
    8. Butch expressed his concerns over the department’s perceived “protection” of “reserve” funds.
    9. Butch asked if a 2nd piece of property (for station 53 eventual replacement) was included in the station 51 costs.  Everyone believes that it was originally but it later had to be cut for financial purposes.  Tricia will check on this and report at the next meeting.

 

  1. Chief Thacker reported that the performance review plan is nearly complete, with the exception of the reviews for the Fire Chief and  Deputy Chief.  He hopes to have this finalized soon with a report to be given at the next meeting.

 

  1. The Safety Board Document is still being worked on.  Tricia had some questions for Mark Hart and Chief Tibbetts.  Chief Thacker reported that Mark is working on the Qualifications Document that will be an addendum to the Safety Board Document.  Tricia’s questions were concerning the Qualifications Document.  Joel stated that these qualifications have not changed since the original hiring in 1999.  Tricia stated that she and the Board should review this before the next meeting.

 

  1. Chief Brown stated that Bargersville Fire Department has reviewed the Fire Protection Ordinance and is very much in favor of it.  The Johnson County Commissioners are currently reviewing it and we have not heard anything from them.

 

  1.   We have not received any bids for the two Tahoes we have for sale.  Tricia reviewed the PMR and questioned whether two newspapers were used to advertise this or just one.  She stated that the PMR stated “the newspaper” and she reminded everyone that state statute requires two notices in two papers one week apart.  She also stated that the dates in the PMR don’t corelate to the advertising schedule for the Southside Challenger, which has always been our second advertising paper.  It was also felt that the minimum bid amounts may be too high.  After discussion, everyone agreed that we would lower them.  Motion by Butch and 2nd by Jon to reduce the minimum bid amounts to $8,000 and $7,000 for the trucks and to re-advertise this immediately upon Scott’s return.  All in favor and motion carries.  Any bids received will be opened at the May meeting.  If there are none, Tricia states that there are legal ways to dispose of equipment if we can prove that it was advertised properly.

 

  1. Steve Dyson presented copies of the fiscal plan and Curt Coonrod led a discussion on it.
    1. Page 3 – Projected Revenues.  If there is no debt, there will be no extra CAGIT.  The “original budget” line shows that figure.
    2. Curt suggested that we don’t need to have 50% of our budget as revenue.
    3. Operating balance is just the general fund and does not include any of the other funds.
    4. Curt stated that the 3% salary increases from year to year are not based on anything.  He suggested updating the salary schedule.  Chief Thacker stated that Chief Cassin has already done this.
    5. Page 6 – Debt Fund.  The fire loan scheduled for 2006 has been moved to 2007.
    6. Page 10 – Cumulative Fund.
    7. Curt suggested eliminating our insurance on our equipment, or at the very least raising the deductible.  He stated that as long as our Cumulative fund continues to be as high as it is, we can afford to purchase replacement items outright.
    8. Butch asked for a reminder on what the Rainy Day fund was.  Curt explained and stated that with our budget in the shape that it is in, there is really no reason to continue accruing money in this fund.  Butch suggested that it be used as the “reserve” funds for the building.
    9. Page 12 – Cash Flow Projection.  Curt stated that this should basically be viewed as a checkbook register and that it’s purpose is to approximate our expenditures and when they occur as opposed to our deposits.  Curt reminded everyone that Scott had stated that last year the bank balance dropped as low as $400,000.  Curt stated that this is not a dire situation; that short term loans with minimal interest can be obtained to see us through until the next influx of cash.
    10. Pages 14 & 15 – Tax Rates.  Curt stated that the main difference is the debt.  Everyone would like to see a comparison of our tax rates with others in Johnson County.  Curt stated that he would have this at the next meeting.
    11. Butch stated that he would like an updated capital outlay schedule.
    12. Chief Thacker reminded everyone that Chief Cassin had not seen this fiscal plan that was presented tonight.

 

  1. No further new business and meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.  Next meeting will be Tuesday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m.

 

Minutes submitted by Kim Clawson, Administrative Assistant.