White River Township Fire Protection District

Board Meeting Minutes

July 11, 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 Slauter

Captain Arkins

Captain Hart

Lieutenant Scholl

Chad Witham

Jared Cox

Crystal Young

 

Others Present:

Brian Bosma

Steve Dyson

Dudley Senefeld

Scott Senefeld

Dan Sulkouwski       


                                                                                                                                

Note:  Motions are italicized and in blue.


 

 

Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.

 

              I.      Approval of Minutes from the June 6, 2006 Meeting

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

b.      All in favor and motion carries.                 

            II.      Old Business

a.      Task Force One Agreement Update

                                                              i.      Brian Bosma states that the agreement in its current form still has not been agreed upon by several fire departments.  Warren Township has not signed because they have some of the same concerns as White River Township.

                                                            ii.      Some items of issue are no maximum number of employees set, cost of required training on the participant and some liability issues.

                                                          iii.      Possible solution would be to pre-authorize the board to agree to the contract if the agreement is an emergency.  Chief Tibbetts is in no hurry to sign the agreement so the topic was tabled until the next board meeting.

b.      Station 52 Building Update

                                                              i.      Scott Senefeld provided a hand out outlining both the completed section of the project along with the scheduled dates of upcoming sections to be completed.

                                                            ii.      Scott Senefeld pointed out that the exterior of the building is complete, the gas line has been moved and the rear door has been replaced.

                                                          iii.      Chief Cassin did ask that the lot surrounding the new extension be cleaned up.  C.F. Jones should be out to the site to do the clean up within the next couple of weeks.

c.      Station 51 Building Update

                                                              i.      Scott Senefeld provided a detailed hand out on the status of the building.

1.      All construction contracts have been signed and approved and shop drawings are being submitted to Senefeld and Associates.

2.      The basement walls are showing some honeycombing in the southwest area of the walls.  This could be a sign of cold joint separation in the walls so testing will be done on the walls for structural stability.

3.      The next project meeting will be July 19th.

4.      At this time all major contractors are working well together.

                                                            ii.      Dan Sulkouwski from Kramer Companies handed out a detailed preliminary construction schedule.  This schedule will be updated around the 20th of every month during construction.  Mr. Sulkouwski believes there is approximately two months of float in the schedule and will refine the schedule with the contractors and is quite satisfied with the working relationship with Senefeld.

                                                          iii.      Block has been delivered to the site and footings will be put into place soon.  A couple of days were lost while doing the basement but Scott Senefeld is confident those days will be made up later in the schedule.

                                                           iv.      Senefeld and Associates is still refining shop drawings but they are getting them released as soon as possible.       

                                                             v.      Brian Bosma stated that typical construction time for a project such as this is 260 to 300 days.  Looking at the schedule, Mr. Bosma asked if the scheduled completion time would be closer to the 300 days.

1.      Dan Sulkouwski replied that there is some float in the schedule and it will change.

2.      Scott Senefeld stated that the May date is set and Mr. Bosma asked if the end date was set.  Scott Senefeld stated that the end date is set and will not change.  The only thing that will change is the fluctuations within the construction schedule.

          III.      New Business

a.      The Public Hearing on the 2007 Budget was opened by Dr. Shufflebarger.

                                                              i.      Steve Dyson handed out a detailed breakdown of each fund in the budget which is required.

                                                            ii.      The General fund shows an increase of approximately 3.9% while all other funds show a marginal increase when compared to the 2006 budget.

                                                          iii.      No public comments or concerns were brought up during the session so Dr. Shufflebarger closed the Public Hearing session.

b.      Strategic Planning:

                                                              i.      Chief Tibbetts has been looking for property in the Northwest section of the district per Jim Dodson pertaining to the concern of the Interstate 69 expansion. 

1.      Chief Tibbetts distributed a hand out discussing the location and cost of undeveloped land that still exists in a congested section of the District.  Four different properties of different size, sewer and water availability and cost were listed.

2.      Mr. Sutton believes the District should put this on hold because he believes that the land is over priced.  Until a precedent is set to sell the land at that cost exists he is not ready to purchase the property at those costs.

3.      Dr. Shufflebarger believes this information is for the Department to be in the game, incase a purchase becomes necessary this information will allow the Department to move quickly.

4.      Mr. Bosma stated that he had not seen a Firehouse built on anything less than two acres and asked if the size of the properties listed is really what the Department is looking for.  Chief Tibbetts replied that it was not but the more land you purchase the higher the cost.

5.      Mr. Sutton questions the move and states that we may be jumping the gun.  Chief Cassin stated that some of the property has been sold in that area but is not sure of the selling price.  Dr. Shufflebarger reiterates the research into land is just to bring this to the Board’s attention and was asked for by Mr. Dodson.  No request for land is being made.

                                                            ii.      Property on the Southwest section of the District is on hold.  The section of land is still under development, the original concern for the project was the density of housing for the area.

1.      Mr. Sutton asked if the concern that this property was a flood plain addressed.  No information on this is available at this time.

c.      Old Station 51:

                                                              i.      Chief Tibbetts would like to form a committee to discuss what would be the best plan for the Old 51 Station and property then present ideas to the Board for consideration.  Chief Tibbetts believes this may be a good location for the Headquarters because it would locate it in the center of the District.  This could also be used as a training facility.

                                                            ii.      Dr. Shufflebarger asked Chief Tibbetts the make up of the committee.  Chief Tibbetts would like the committee to consist of members of the Department who would then report to a designated member of the Board.

                                                          iii.      Dr. Shufflebarger and the Board agreed stating that the member of the Board to whom would be reported to would be decided upon later.

         IV.      Adjournment

a.      Meeting adjourned at 7:51 by Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger.

 

 

Next meeting will be August 1, 2006 at 7 p.m.