White River Township Fire Protection District

Board Meeting Minutes

January 10, 2006

 

 

District Board Members Present:

Jim Dodson, Paul Kite, Jon Raker, and Chuck Shufflebarger.

 

White River Twp Fire Department Employees Present:

Mike Tibbetts, Eric Brown, Kevin Skipper, Mike Combs, Mark Hart, Joe Green, Josh Justice, Eric Funkhouser, Joe Settles, Scott Wiegle, Chad Witham, Jeff Wilson, Tony Slusher, Joel Thacker, Greg Hurrle, and Kim Clawson.

 

Others Present:           

            Steve Dyson - Curtis Coonrod, CPA

            Tricia Leminger - Kroger, Gardis & Regas, LLP

            Scott Senefeld - Senefeld & Associates Architects

            Dudley Senefeld - Senefeld & Associates Architects

 

 

 

  1. Meeting called to order by Chairman Shufflebarger at 7:01 p.m.

 

  1. December minutes reviewed.  Motion by Jim to approve and 2nd by Paul.  All in favor and motion carries.

 

  1. Financial update:

Ø       Chief Tibbetts read the financial report from page 8 of tonight’s packet and explained some of the line items in the budget report on page 16. 

Ø       Chuck questioned the “cushion” that was built into the ’05 budget  $263854.  Steve explained that although we had just over $211,000 left in the budget, once you take into account the additional income received, we are still in good shape. 

Ø       Paul questioned memberships to organizations being paid out of the tuition budget.  Chief Thacker stated that there are no written guidelines for this.  Personnel request the use of their allotted money  and, if it is related to their job, it is usually approved.  Chuck questioned the purchase of laptops or PDAs.  Chief Thacker stated that this is rarely approved, and only when the individual is in charge of a division.  Chuck cautioned that there may be some income tax related issues for these items because they can be used for personal use.  Chuck requested that someone review the list for future expenditures and handle the income tax issues appropriately.  Chief Thacker will contact Tricia to discuss this further.

 

  1. Station 51 update:

Ø       Scott Senefeld stated that they had met earlier this evening with Chief Brown to discuss outstanding items (exit lights, door hold-opens, etc.).

Ø       Hopes to have this out to bid soon.

Ø       Tricia stated that we are now considering a revised schedule, which she distributed to all Board members.  Plan is to advertise January 18 and January 25.  Although this meets the legal requirement to have the bids opened at the February 7 meeting, she recommended revising the timeline.  She suggested that the Board authorize Tricia, Scott & Member to open around February 15 in public meeting.  Between that time and the March meeting, Senefeld & Associates will review the bids and make a recommendation at the March meeting.

Ø       March meeting scheduled for March 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Ø       Motion by Jon and 2nd by Paul to authorize Senefeld & Associates and legal counsel to open the bids at a public hearing at a time and date to be determined later on.  All in favor and motion carries.

Ø       Provided the bid process goes smoothly, Scott Senefeld foresees opening them on February 15th, recommendations and awards at the March 7th meeting, and the contracts will begin immediately thereafter.  He hopes to be performing site work in April.

Ø       Tricia stated that there is an approximate $300/day liquidated damages contract, stating that construction will be finalized by a certain date.

 

  1. Station 52 update:

Ø       Scott Senefeld reminded everyone that bids were accepted at the last meeting.  He gave a summary spreadsheet to all Board members.  Copy attached.  They have met with the three lowest bidders to see what can be cut while retaining the scope of the project (value engineering).  Copies of questionnaires sent to each bidder were given to each Board member.  Discussion ensued on these questionnaires.  Value engineering options are listed at the bottom of the summary spreadsheet.  Items 1 and 6 are interchangeable, but both cannot be considered.

Ø       Scott stated that this does not reduce the square footage.  Constructing the work room could be done at a later date.

Ø       Chief Tibbetts suggested eliminating the vinyl option, and leaving the exterior as originally planned. 

Ø       Chuck questioned whether changing the square footage would require us to re-bid.  Tricia stated that because the statute is silent on “value engineering” and reducing the scope of the project, she suggested accepting the lowest bid amount contingent that the bidder would agree to the change orders which would reduce the square footage.  She feels that we may already be too close to changing the scope of the project and may need to re-bid.

Ø       Chuck stated that we either didn’t plan enough money for the project or the project scope was larger than originally anticipated.  He feels that two-thirds of the problem lies in the exterior costs, but doesn’t feel that we should approve vinyl siding.  Everyone agreed.  Jon stated that we probably didn’t plan enough money for the project.

Ø       Jon agreed with deleting the workroom and the winter conditions clause.

Ø       Paul questioned the footer and reminded everyone that we have previously had soil problems on that side of the building.  Dudley Senefeld stated that the soil borings have come back okay. 

Ø       Motion by Jon and 2nd by Jim to authorize the acceptance of the lowest responsible bidder, CF Jones at $202,400, contingent upon contractor agreeing to the value engineering item of removing the workroom, saving $2,247, and contingent upon negotiating a final contract that is acceptable to the District.  All in favor and motion carries.

Ø       Motion by Jon and 2nd by Paul to authorize the Chairman to execute any contracts necessary for this project.  All in favor and motion carries.

Ø       Scott Senefeld thanked the Board and he and Dudley left the meeting.

 

  1. Chuck stated that the Board is not prepared to discuss the PL/PA day issue and suggested removing it from the agenda.  If we need to re-address this at a later date, we will do so.

 

  1. Chief Thacker stated that he has spoken with most of the Board members regarding the Fire Prevention position.  Tricia stated that this position will have the title of Deputy Fire Marshal but will have no merit rank.  The person that the department wants to put into this position happens to be a Merit Captain.  Doing so, will create a Merit Captain vacancy, and a request has been made to increase the number of Merit Captains to accommodate this.  Jon stated that he does not feel this will be a problem in the future because the department is growing.  Paul expressed concerns whether the position itself needs to be funded at a Captains level.   Chief Thacker stated that he feels if we had had Captains when the position was created, he feels it would have been a Captain rank, regardless of the person in it.  There will be a tremendous amount of work this individual will be performing.  Jim questioned our staffing in the Prevention division and asked for comparisons between us and Greenwood Fire Department.  Jim also questioned the camaraderie between Prevention staff members in the future if they all have different ranks.  After discussion, it was decided that if a Merit Captain moves into that position, they will still receive their Captain’s pay.  The only decision not made is what happens in the future if, for example, an Engineer moves into that position.  Nothing states that the Deputy Fire Marshal must be filled be a specific position.

 

            Motion by Jon and 2nd by Paul to fill vacant Captain position and create an additional Merit Captain position, raising the number of Merit Captains from 6 to 7.  This will not

            affect the Safety Document, but we may need to adopt a resolution later on to approve the salary resolution.  All in favor and motion carries.

 

            Motion by Paul and 2nd by Jon to make a conditional offer of employment for Firefighter/Engineer, as well as fill the vacant Lieutenant position.  All in favor and motion carries.

 

            Chief Tibbetts introduced Joe Green who will fill the Lieutenant position and Chad Witham who will fill the vacant Engineer position.  Mark Hart will fill the vacant Captain

            position.

 

            Chuck requested that the structure of the department be looked at carefully so that this type of situation is avoided in the future.

 

  1. Chief Brown gave an update on the station 53 septic issue.  The system has been failing for approximately three years.  The State Board of Health served us with a notice that we must make repairs immediately.  The Wakefield lift station has been updated and there is now capacity for us.  The recommendation has been for us to bore to the Wakefield lift station.  Chief Brown stated that the surveying portion will cost approximately $10,000 and the City of Greenwood has estimated the boring to cost approximately $40,000.  Tricia stated that as long as it is just engineering, we can proceed without a formal bid.  Chief Brown will obtain quotes from three local firms.  Jim made a motion and 2nd by Paul to fund the $10,000 for the engineering costs.  All in favor and motion carries.

 

  1. Discussion on Board officers for 2006.  Motion by Paul and 2nd by Jon to leave the officers as they were in 2005.  All in favor and motion carries.

Ø       Chairman:  Chuck Shufflebarger

Ø       V. Chairman:  Jim Dodson

Ø       Fiscal Officer: Jon Raker

 

  1.  Remaining meetings for this year are scheduled for the first Tuesday of each month.  Jon may have a conflict with the May schedule.  July poses a conflict due to the holiday.  November poses a conflict due to Election Day.  These meetings will be finalized at a later date.

 

  1.  Chief Tibbetts announced that the annual banquet has been set for Friday, February 3 at 7:00 p.m. at Primo’s South, near I-65 and Keystone.

 

  1.  Chief Tibbetts reported that the E911 fund was increased from .70 to 1.95.   He hopes this is the first step in alleviating many dispatch problems that we currently have.

 

  1. No further new business and meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

 

 

>> Next meeting is Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at White River Fire Headquarters. <<