White River Township Fire Protection District

Board Meeting Minutes

June 6, 2006

 

District Board Members Present:

Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger

Butch Sutton

Paul Kite

Jim Dodson

Jon Raker

 

White River Twp Fire Department Employees Present:

Chief Tibbetts

Chief Cassin

Chief Thacker

Captain Arkins

Captain Settles

Lieutenant Hurrle

Joe Marsh

Crystal Young

 

Others Present:

Tricia Leminger

Curtis Coonrod

Steve Dyson

Dudley Senefeld

Scott Senefeld


                                                                                                                                

Note:  Motions are italicized and in blue.


 

 

Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

 

              I.      Approval of Minutes from the March 29, 2006 Meeting

a.      The changes Tricia Leminger requested were made.

b.      Butch Sutton moves to accept.  Paul Kite seconds.

c.      All in favor and motion carries.

            II.      Approval of Minutes from the April 20, 2006 Special Board Meeting

a.      Tricia Leminger handed out amended minutes for everyone to review.

b.      Jim Dodson moves to accept.  Butch Sutton seconds.

c.      All in favor and motion carries.

          III.      Approval of Minutes from the May 2, 2006 Meeting

a.      Jim Dodson moves to accept.  Paul Kite seconds.

b.      All in favor and motion carries.                 

         IV.      Financial Update

a.      Chief Cassin discussed the budget report (refer to pg. 12 of his handout).

                                                              i.      Shows $95,261.38 of over anticipated income due to refunds on double payment of some invoices.

                                                            ii.      Expenses (10000, 20000, and 30000) are within budget with one exception.  Vehicle Maintenance (pg. 13 of handout) is over budget by $19,061.76 due mainly to the brake issue with Ladder 53.

                                                          iii.      Paul Kite questioned the $1,510.00 on the sale of property, do these items need to be declared surplus by the board?  Tricia Leminger clarified that any item sold under $1000 or groups of items under $5000 are allowed without declaration.

b.      Chief Cassin also discussed the Capital Outlay Report (refer to pg. 15 of his handout).

                                                              i.      Most of the funds remain unspent because most Capital projects get underway in the second half of the year.

              I.      Old Business

a.      Task Force One Agreement Update

                                                              i.      Tricia Leminger has recently received the final agreement and by next months meeting should be able to make recommendations.

                                                            ii.      Tricia Leminger asked Chief Tibbetts what the department was doing to prepare, his answer was just training at this time.

b.      Engine 54 Replacement Project

                                                              i.      Captain Arkins recommend discarding the bid from Ferrara Fire Apparatus and accepting the bid from Tower Fire Apparatus (Crimson Fire) due to non-compliance with the bid specifications.

                                                            ii.      Tricia Leminger clarifies that six different bids were received, Ferrara was the lowest dollar bid but summarizes that the department committee believes that the second lowest bidder, Tower Fire Apparatus is the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.

                                                          iii.      Board wants to know if Ferrara is a responsible bidder.

                                                           iv.      Items believed to be material aspects.

1.      Paint warranty, a ten year warranty was requested in the bid.

a.      At least three current apparatus have been repainted within four years.

b.      Ten year paint warranty was requested but only four year warranty was submitted by Ferrara.

c.      Factory trips were requested, two trips for three people.  No trips were provided for by Ferrara.

                                                                                                                                      i.      Material inspection – meeting with engineer.

                                                                                                                                    ii.      Final inspection

d.      Butch Sutton inquired about Ferrara’s response when questioned about warranty.

                                                                                                                                      i.      Joe Marsh contacted Ferrara about the warranty issue.  Their warranty is set at four years for paint; it can be increased to seven for an extra $5000.  Everyone else contacted provides a standard ten year warranty.  There was a question as to the four year being pro-rated.  No answer has been given to be 100% sure on the pro-rating.

e.      Jim Dodson asked if Tower’s ten year warranty was pro-rated?  Joe Marsh said no.  He also asked where warranty work would be done.  Joe said they are building a new service center in Seymour.

f.        Jim Dodson then asked how long an apparatus is out of service when repainted.  Joe’s response was approximately two months depending on the amount of corrosion on the apparatus.  This is the main reason for the department asking for Stainless.

g.      The Tower (Crimson) bid the body and framework are stainless while the doors are still aluminum because of the weight issue.  Seagrave is the only all stainless bid but is also the second highest.

h.      The department committee has researched Ferrarra’s trucks, Eli Lilly and the IFD both own one but have only has them for a couple of months.  Chicago uses them as first responder trucks.  Fishers has had one for about a year and a half and are very happy with their truck.

2.      Ferrara’s service is also in question.  They do not have a local service center.  Stoops will do the work but there is non-written contract between the two.  If the truck needs repair, Stoops would have to contact Ferrara and wait for response before continuing work on the apparatus.  This would increase the amount of time the apparatus would be out for repair.

                                                             v.      Jim Dodson states that if a ten year warranty was asked for and other questions to Ferrara have gone unanswered, he sees this as unresponsive which is an issue.

                                                           vi.      Paul Kite believes the paint is an issue, the others may not be as big an issue, and he is not familiar with Crimson but can support the paint warranty being an issue.

                                                         vii.      Tricia Leminger states that the bidder must be responsive and responsible and the Board must be confident that an issue exists before throwing out the lowest bidder.

1.      Six bidders, five complied with the ten year warranty.

                                                       viii.      Paul Kite sees the paint warranty and service locations a concern.

                                                           ix.      Tricia Leminger quoted from the bid notice on the warranty requested.

                                                             x.      Paul Kite believes the service aspect not being covered is more material.

1.      Joe Marsh said Ferrara would have Stoops do the service but they only have a gentleman’s agreement.  There is no known contract between Ferrara and Stoops.  Stoops would have to wait on Ferrara to authorize warranty work.

                                                           xi.      Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger is okay with paint being the issue.

                                                         xii.      Butch Sutton also questions Ferrara’s erroneous information about service.

                                                       xiii.      Tricia Leminger stated that in order to proceed with the Tower (Crimson) bid, the Board must motion Ferrara’s failure to follow the request.

                                                       xiv.      Paul Kite asked if the paint spec is different than previous trucks.  Joe Marsh replied that it is different; PPG has developed a new paint that is now being used on the department’s last couple of repainted apparatus.

                                                         xv.      Jim Dodson inquired about delivery standards.  The department committee stated 330 days and when they visited the factory a few of the orders were being shipped out ahead of schedule.

                                                       xvi.      Paul Kite declares Ferrara a non-responsive bidder in their failure to meet the requested ten year paint warranty with a four year warranty quoted instead and motions to throw out Ferrara bid.  Butch Sutton seconds it.  All in favor and motion carries.

                                                     xvii.      Paul Kite motions that the $352,054.00 bid by Tower (Crimson) be awarded.  Mr. Sutton seconds it.  All in favor and motion carries.

                                                   xviii.      Tricia Leminger requests that Ferrara be called as soon as possible to allow them response time.

c.      Other Old Business

                                                              i.      Electrical Bid

1.      Scott Senefeld handed out information on electrical re-bid and will attend all Board meetings to update the Station 51 project.

2.      JE Mechanical with a bid of $289,750.00 is the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.  The base bid on the original request was approximately $283,000.

3.      The original low bidder, Babcock, withdrew from re-bid process.  They reported that they would be unable to bid low enough with the new requirements.

4.      Bidder meeting notes will be forwarded to Tricia Leminger by Scott Senefeld.

5.      Butch Sutton motioned to accept bid from JE Mechanical.  Jim Dodson seconded.  All in favor and motion carries.

6.      Meeting for all prime contractors will be on site at 10:30 on 6/7/06, Scott Senefeld will contact JE Mechanical of award so they can attend meeting.

7.      Station 51 Status     

a.      MG Enterprise contract only one not yet received

b.      All prime bidders will be on site at 10:30, 06/07/06.

c.      All correspondence will be on time

d.      The lot is staked and excavation will begin on or around 06/07/06, basement footings next week

e.      Chief Cassin will receive the updated schedule, every Friday there will be updated correspondence along with bi-weekly meetings.                      

f.        Tricia Leminger will send contract to JE Mechanical, Scott Senefeld will notify bidder of award

g.      Chief Cassin will be the point man with the day-to-day correspondence

h.      Jim Dodson feels it is important to stay on budget and on time

                                                                                                                                      i.      Steel Corp is aggressive on scheduling and many jobs are completed ahead of schedule

8.      Station 52 Status

a.      Mechanical and plumbing rough in ready to start.  Masonry set to start next week.  Chief Brown will need to meet with CF Jones about fire suppression system.

b.      Broken window will be replaced

c.      Large bay door will be taken down soon and the header over the service door that is cracked will be replaced.

            II.      New Business

a.      2007 Budget Presentation

                                                              i.      Budget numbers are received by the Board two to three months early so there is a chance to review numbers before voting to accept budget.  The report is updated weekly.

                                                            ii.      Pg. 3 of the report, General Fund

1.      Laid out in profit / loss format showing projected balance and expected income.

2.      2004 property tax levy was improper

a.      With debt incurred the district received more revenue

b.      Board determined amount of revenue without debt as total original budget allows district to function with amount of revenue it should expect.  Extra revenue will be seen as uncommitted outlay that will not be spent without approval of the Board.

                                                          iii.      Pg. 5 of the report, detailed firefighter salary.  Increasing service budget by 6.7%

                                                           iv.      Pg. 6 of the report, Debt Service Fund, used to pay old debt.  Loans are starting to be paid down.  The last will be paid in 2009.

                                                             v.      Pg. 13 of the report, Cash Flow

1.      Similar to old bank statement, showing pay dates at first and last of the month, and receipts from settlements with county.

2.      Lowest balance of year is at end of April right before Cagit receipt. 

3.      Conservative projection layout for decision making.

4.      The large payment at end of each half is government debt payment.

                                                           vi.      Pg. 15 of the report, Comparison of rates to similar jurisdictions

                                                         vii.      Pg. 16 of the report, share of tax rate for district.  Approximately 11% in the city and 13% outside the city.

                                                       viii.      Jim Dodson asked if the health insurance increase was included.  The increase for the health insurance is 15% shown in the figures.

                                                           ix.      Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger asked about the Salary Survey.  Chief Cassin stated that the last three years there was a large increase to bring the department up to the 51%.  This year there is just a 3% increase.

1.      Also concerning the increase in healthcare, as it increases the employee share should also increase.  Chief Cassin believes that the next healthcare increase should not be as high.

2.      Curtis Coonrod also suggested raising the deductible.  Also suggested thinking about possible health insurance for retirees, initial cost is nothing, but will probably be expensive down the road.

b.      July and August Meeting dates set:

                                                              i.      July 11, 2006 for public hearing and monthly meeting.

                                                            ii.      August 1, 2006 for approval of budget.

c.      Other New Business

                                                              i.      Chief Cassin has included meeting minutes on the web site for everyone to access.

                                                            ii.      Friday and Saturday the 9th and 10th is the Strawberry Festival.

                                                          iii.      Jim Dodson appreciates all the work that everyone in the department is doing and acknowledges the improvements.

          III.      Adjournment

a.      Meeting adjourned at 8:40 by Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger.

 

 

Next meeting will be July 11, 2006 at 7 p.m.