White River Township Fire Protection District
Staff Meeting
October 24 & 25, 2000

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Tuesday (24th) meeting called to order at 1300 hours.  Present: Mike Dutton, Mike Tibbetts, Scott Cassin, Eric Brown, Kevin Skipper, Dave Sherfick and Kim Clawson.

Wednesday (25th) meeting called to order at 1300 hours.  Present: Mike Dutton, Bruce Alexander, Joe Settles, Andy Martindale, Eric Brown, Mike Tibbetts, and Kim Clawson. 

IF YOU WERE UNABLE TO ATTEND, REMEMBER TO CONTACT YOUR LIEUTENANT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING ANYTHING THAT WAS DISCUSSED.

 

  1. Chief Dutton announced that the employee of the quarter for Jul-Sep was Kim Clawson, for the work on the website.
  1. The backing policy is explicit in it’s content, but enforcement seems to be a problem.  This needs to begin immediately! 
  1. Station 52 update: 

Ø       We now need 12 piers, instead of the original 2 or 3.

Ø       The bricks are not anchored to the front of the building.

Ø       The roof trusses are not anchored to each other, therefore the roof is ‘just sitting on them’.

Ø       The lintel for the middle bay door is separating from the rest of the wall.

Ø       The south wall has sunk 3 1/2”

Chief Dutton is working with the engineers to determine our best course of action.

  1. Station 53 update:

Ø       We still anticipate tying onto Speedway’s sewer.

Ø       The framing work is complete.

Ø       Johnson County Planning stopped construction 10/24 due to non-approved changes being made to the drainage plans.  Eric is working with Prince Alexander to remedy this ASAP.

It was suggested that when the time arrives, we proof roll the drives to find weak spots.  Eric also asked that we increase our patrols there to keep out trespassers.  If juveniles are found, their parents need to be contacted.

  1. The contract has been signed for E53 and has been forwarded to Stoops.  We are expecting at least 180-270 days before it is ready.  Until then, we will be running Tanker 52 as E53 after the new station opens.  That will leave us without a backup engine.  Chief Tibbetts is working on finding a backup piece if we should need it.
  1. Chief Dutton congratulated Eric on his recent work with ISO.  When their report is released in April, we anticipate a rating from our current 9-7 to a 9-5 or an 8-5  (unhydrated-hydrated).
  1. Chief Dutton also congratulated Eric, along with Steve Coover and Casey Arkins, on their recent participation in the arrest of two New Whiteland firefighters accused of arson.
  1. Station 51 sewer update:

Ø       City of Greenwood will not allow us to tie into the sewer connection until the developer for Waters Edge increases the capacity for the Turkey Pen lift station.  This has not yet happened, nor is it anticipated in the near future.

Ø       In reality, everyone but three people will be moving to the new building in approximately three months.  This will drastically decrease the water usage at station 51.

Ø       It was suggested that we should do maintenance work on the toilets at station 51 as they are currently leaking (constantly running) which is flowing constant water into the septic system.

Ø       It was also suggested that we contact the appropriate companies to find out if clearing out the finger system would have any affect.

  1. November 1 is the next meeting regarding the 800 radio system.  John Asher should have a list of equipment we are getting from Motorola this week .  An apparatus numbering proposal was distributed at the last County Fire Chief’s meeting.
  1. Career hiring process has begun and the timeline is as follows:

Ø       Applications due by October 28.

Ø       Written exam on November 18.

Ø       Oral interview on December 1 and 2.

Ø       District Board approves recommendation on December 12.

Chief Dutton stated that his intent is to promote Lt. Thacker to the position of Battalion Chief in February 2002.  When Lt. Thacker applied for his current position, he also chose to complete the Battalion Chief portion of the hiring process (exam, interview, etc.), which he did so successfully.

  1. Personnel updates:

Ø       Amanda Sodrel, Doug Lady, Brian Griffith, and Steve Rowland are on leaves of absence.

Ø       Justin Griffith and Brian Kiefer resigned.

Ø       Dave Manlove was released due to inactivity (he did not notify us of his intentions after his leave expired).

Ø       Josh Wysocki was promoted to the ranks of reserve firefighter. 

  1. Scott Cassin has not yet had an opportunity to work the ‘bugs’ out of a maintenance log program he has written. 
  1. Kim has created a computer based schedule that will be accessible to all department computers.  Only Battalion Chiefs have the ability to make changes to it.  Remember, the paper schedule in the cabinet is still the “master” schedule.  The computer schedule is only intended as a convenience tool.
  1. Mike Tibbetts is handling various scheduling issues with Jeff Wilson
  1. Chief Dutton will be asking Joel Thacker to review SOG’s for Aerial, Engine, and Rescue operations. 
  1. Chief Dutton gave authority to Kevin Skipper to proceed with the Grass 51 snow plow project, which will begin Monday, October 30.
  1. Kevin Skipper anticipates hose testing to begin with the next couple of days (while the weather is still warm!).
  1. Mark Hart stated that the Board of Directors has begun a salary study of other area fire departments.  Chief Dutton reminded him that comparisons need to be made to other agencies  structured similar to ours.
  1. Mark also mentioned that there have been some production delays with the Booster Club mailing.  They are working on it and should have it out in November or December.
  1. Scott Cassin stated that several people have been complaining about not receiving open hours pages.  After trying several different programs, all unsuccessfully, he proposed that the “super page” group that we receive run pages over also be used to send open hours pages.  The only drawback is that some people (auxiliary, wives, etc.) who have the capability to receive run pages will not want to receive open hours pages.  After all options are exhausted, he will be sending letters to those people the change will affect.  They will have the option of trading their pager in for one that does not receive the “super pages” (their pager number will not change).
  1.  Please begin enforcing the appearance and grooming policy.  There is no excuse for an employee to be on duty in an old, faded uniform and personally unclean.
  1. Eric mentioned that he appreciates everyone’s help during Fire Prevention Week, as well as all the preparations for ISO inspection.
  1. All instructors must make sure their training report is entered in FireHouse before they leave the station!
  1. Andy is out of town until November 12…please direct all PR issues to Eric.
  1. Bruce announced that we now have a new medical director. 
  1. Bruce has been having problems with Community Hospital and our sponsorship.  He is investigating other options (Johnson Memorial) and anticipates a change beginning January 1st.