White River Township Fire Protection District

Board Meeting Minutes

 

June 7, 2007

 

 

District Board Members Present:

Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger

Rev. Jim Dodson

Paul Kite

Butch Sutton

Jon Raker

 

White River Twp Fire Department Employees Present:

Chief Cassin

Chief Slauter

Chief Thacker

Chief Brown

Captain Skipper

Captain Hart

Captain Settles

Lt. Slusher

Lt. Hurrle

Lt. Jeff Smith

Josh Justice

Jory Cox

Tim Smith

Mike Hoffman

Dale Saucier

Derek Norcross

Jason Tibbetts

Brad Jewell

Jackie Emmons

 

Others Present:

Tricia Leminger

Steve Dyson

Scott Senefeld

Dudley Senefeld

Jay Marks

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                

Dr. Shufflebarger called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.

 

 

 

 

I.        Approval of Minutes from May 1, 2007 Meeting

    1. Butch Sutton motions that the minutes be approved.  Paul Kite seconds the motion.  All in favor, motion carries.

II.      Financial Update

    1. Chief Cassin presented the financial update. 
    2. Please see page 19.  There was a major repair for the ladder truck under vehicle maintenance.  We paid Reliable Transmission Service $10,912.15 to have the transmission repaired.
    3. The year-to-date capital outlay report was reviewed.
    4. Station 51 construction project report:  We have over a million dollars of pay outs to go, please see sheet to review.  Scott Senefeld said the allowance money for the contract is on track. 
    5. Steve Dyson and Chief Cassin will get together and discuss a recommendation to use the rainy day fund over the cumulative fund.  Chief Cassin said apparatus purchasing and building remodels come out of cumulative fund.  Dr. Shufflebarger determined that the cumulative fund is already spoken for and Chief Cassin agreed it is.
    6. The general fund still has a sizeable portion left in it we could use and then we could keep the rainy day fund for later.  This would be done carefully so we would not have a cash flow problem down the road.

 

 

  1. Old Business
    1. Station 51 building project update

1        Scott (Senefeld) said the schedule completion date, the unofficial date, would be end of June or 1st of July. 

2        The electric line needs to be moved, so he contacted Duke Energy and got a proposal from them.

3        We still need to get a quote from SBC as it needs to be relocated as well.

4        The paving contractor has talked about paving the last 2 aprons and then the top coat, their cost would go up about $3,000 to re-mobilize after the fact, but this has not been seen in writing yet.

5        Construction is ahead of schedule, if we do not run into a problem with this utility issue. 

6        Dr. Shufflebarger determined we bought the problem with the utility cable, so we need to fix it. 

7        Discussion regarding the survey possibly should have shown the depth of the utility.  However, there are only two options, we fix the issue or spend some time to see if someone else will fix it. 

8        Chief Cassin believes we should fix the issue and then do research and charge the person that is responsible and if we have no way to prove who created the issue then we will just pay for fixing it.

9        Chief Cassin said the worst case is $15,000.00 which is not to exceed for electrical and paving remobilization.

10   Paul Kite made a motion to fix the electric line and phone line issue.  Jim Dodson seconds the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.

11   Scott Senefeld went over the attached sheet asking for additional items and changes.  Dan Sulkoske left Ms. Leminger a voice mail message that he did agree with the changes, however he could not attend the meeting tonight. 

12   Jon Raker made a motion to approve the change orders as submitted.  Paul Kite seconds the motion.  All were in favor of the motion and motion carried.

    1. Fire Chief hiring process update

1        Mr. Kite and Mr. Dodson have had time to review the applications that Ms. Leminger provided to them and they have narrowed the applicants down to five out of seven.  We now need to start the interview process timeline.

2        Mr. Kite and Mr. Sutton in addition to Chairman Shufflebarger agreed to interview the candidates.  A second meeting will be scheduled for July 17th to discuss the chief process only.

3        WRTFD will have some input into the hiring.  We will pick one full-time officer, one full-time engineer, and one part-time firefighter to be involved in the hiring process (interviews).

4        The names of the five applicants are:

1.      Scott Cassin - WRTFD

2.      Greg Main – Evansville FD (IN)

3.      Kevin Nicholson –Fishers Fire Dept

4.      Jeremy Pell – Warren Twp Fire Department (IFD)

5.      Joe Thacker – WRTFD

5        Ms. Leminger will prepare the letter to inform the other two applicants who will not move on to the next step.

6        There will be six interviewers total and Dr. Shufflebarger will interview people on an individual basis. 

7        Two interviews will be enough, one formal and one informal. 

8        The background checks can be done at the same time or just prior to the interviews. 

9        Structured panel interviews will take some planning, they need to be about the fire service, relationships, fiscal matters, and management. 

10   Chief Cassin will have someone set up the interview schedules for the five candidates.

    1. Fiscal Plan presentation

1        Chief Cassin suggested we wait to implement the structure changes for the chain of command until the new chief has had time to get acclimated to the department. 

2        The Fiscal plan is completely up to date.  Mr. Dyson said the changes are made and we should advertise the higher amount.  The next meeting is Tuesday July 3rd so on Friday, June 22 and Friday, June 29th he will advertise. The August meeting will be the first Tuesday in August, August the 7th.

 

 

 

  1. New Business
    1. Storm Siren Proposal presentation

1        Tug Sutton (Johnson County Emergency Management) approached Mr. Jay Marks (White River Twp Trustee) after he was elected to township office regarding the storm sirens.  Mr. Marks said there is not a fund for the storm sirens and that they fall through the cracks.

2        Mr. Marks belongs to the rotary club and they will cover the electrical cost for two years.  The Fun Run at the 2007 Strawberry Festival is also raising money for the sirens.

3        Mr. Marks wants to know if White River Township Fire Department will take over the maintenance for the sirens that are in our fire protection district.  Mr. Marks thinks the responsibility for storm sirens should be the fire department’s responsibility.

4        Dr. Shufflebarger thinks we should work with Bargersville Fire Department to make a plan for the next couple of years.

    1. Future of the existing Station 51

1        The existing building which is now Station 51 will not fit into our fire department’s future plans. 

2        Several discussions have brought the same result to sell it as a commercial property and fire stations generally sell very well.  Funds raised would likely go toward the purchase of property for a future training site.  The department is currently working with the Center Grove School System on a potential location at Olive Branch and Runyon.

3        Ms. Leminger will look at the legal process to sell government property and disposal of real estate, and it will need to be advertised, etc.  Chief Cassin is just looking for some guidance on the decision to sell the building.  All agreed that this would be the best course of action (to sell).

 

Adjournment:  8:30 p.m.

 

Next meeting: Tuesday, July 3, 2007

 

Additional meeting (if necessary - Chief Process): Tuesday, July 17, 2007