JOHNSON COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT #1 – Johnson County, Kansas

Board of Directors Meeting

Date:  August 16, 2011       Time: 7:00 p.m.

Fire Station #1, 490 New Century Pkwy, New Century, KS

BOARD MEMBERS           STAFF

Keith Johnson                         Max Sielert

Kent Harlow                           Jerry Holly

Mark Burdolski

CALL TO ORDER

Mark Burdolski called the meeting to order.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Mark Burdolski requested the minutes for budget approval meeting be added to the agenda for approval.  Kent Harlow moved to approve the agenda with the addition made.  Keith Johnson seconded and the motion carried.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

a.       Keith Johnson moved to approve the minutes from the July 18, 2011 Public Hearing meeting with the correction in the second paragraph of Adopt 2012 Budget, correcting the spelling of “mill”.  Kent Harlow seconded and the motion carried.

b.      Keith Johnson moved to approve the minutes from the July 2011 Board Meeting minutes as submitted.  Kent Harlow seconded and the motion carried.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Chief Sielert submitted comments relative to being over budget due to July being a 3 paycheck month.  Also there were several utility and service bills that were paid for two months due to the 3^rd payables being on the last day of the month.  This involved August costs for work comp and health insurance premiums in the amount of $30,000+ which were paid in July.

We are still on track to be on budget by the end of the year. However it will be very tight to achieve this goal.  This does not include the Olathe lawsuit income projection.  We have made a lot of changes already and advised all the staff that we are done spending.  We have more surplus equipment to get sold and we have been working on getting that done.  There are no other income sources in order to do something different.  He feels we are totally capable of making the end of the year without going over budget.  August financials will indicate a much smaller monthly costs.

Kent Harlow questioned the possibility of holding payments until after the first of the month to keep the billing in the proper month.  Chief Sielert indicated payroll must be paid every two weeks and accounts payable is done at the same time.  The cost of issuing checks in addition to when payroll is paid would increase our accounting costs from an additional cost to cut those checks.  The cost of late fees is also considered when paying each bill.  The year end result is the same, but we save money by keeping the two week schedule.

Comments were made in regards to some of the multiple costs.  Mark Burdolski asked about the Global Services costs.  Chief Sielert advised it was harassment training that was previously billed through the same company under the name of Brightline.  We received official notice that we did not receive the AFG grant for this year.  As requested by the board at the last meeting, he submitted an accounting for the attorney fees paid the past two years for legal fees.  The Olathe fees were highlighted for review by the board.

Kent Harlow asked about selling equipment through Purple Wave.  Chief Sielert explained some of the issues we are having in moving the equipment to the board.   Kent Harlow also asked if he was able to get the Kimberly Clark tax distribution amount.  Chief Sielert says he still has been unable to get that information from the County.

Kent Harlow moved to approve the July 2011 Financial report as submitted.  Keith Johnson seconded and the motion carried.

BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR

None

OLD BUSINESS

a. Chiefs Reports

Chief Sielert indicated Deputy Chief Kirk was not available for tonight’s meeting due to school activity with his family. Chief Sielert advised that he along with Mark Burdolski and Deputy Chief Kirk attended the Board of County Commissioners [BOCC] budget hearing.  When they asked for comments, Chief Sielert presented information about the District consolidation.  That board asked questions in regards to the contract. Consolidated Fire District #2 and Northwest Consolidated both exceeded the budget limit and had to do resolution. District #2’s mill levy was just under 18 mills and Northwest Consolidated was almost 13 mills.  Consolidated Northeast District now has the lowest mill levy, just under us. One commissioner asked whether there was any interested on behalf of the BOCC in consolidating all the fire districts. None of the BOCC had any interest in pursuing that.  Kent Harlow asked if there was any discussion at that meeting about lowering their assessed value.  Chief Sielert said there was no discussion in regards to that.  All districts saw a decrease in their budget, except South County. Keith Johnson discussed how the assessed value is calculated.

Chief Sielert indicated he is finally done with the budget with only a few things to finish up before getting it to the County.

He reported that Deputy Chief Kirk had a conversation today with Dennis Myers with Conrad Fire about the Aerial Truck.  We are trying to get something resolved and he promised to do what they can.  Nothing has been done except discussion of who is responsible.

The first aid building at the fair went over real well and we received a lot of comments on how great it looked.  The building will remain at the fairgrounds.  The materials were donated and Battalion Chief Jerry Holly coordinated all the work that was done by our staff.   The weather was great during the Fair bringing a record crowd.  We had 36 overtime hours due to the staffing needs at the Fair.  Both District #3 and South County came with paid staff and a truck in support of the Friday night events.  Northwest Consolidated sent a vehicle and paid staff in support of Saturday’s event as well.

The County wide burn ban was lifted last Friday and notice was just received by our office today.  We are now issuing permits.

We are meeting Thursday with Melissa at City of Gardner to discuss issuing burn permits within the city limits.  The state statutes point to the fire district being the authority there and we are discussing what role Gardner Codes Department  should have in burn permits and plan reviews.  We are having a few issues relative to plan reviews that will be addressed at the meeting.  Some hydrants were tested this past week in the City of Gardner.  We plan to do about 20% within the city and this will give us an idea of the water pressure is citywide.

Battalion Chief Kirk Keller has been at the National Fire Academy for training relative to Inspections.   He will be returning after his two week training is completed.

The FAA is doing away with CO2 extinguishers and donated their CO2 inventory to us.  The guy that maintains our extinguishers has inspected and tagged those that are usable for training.  The estimated value is thought to be between $150 and $200 each.  If we end up with an excess number of good ones, we will donate them to the neighborhood senior centers or other county fire departments.

The Olathe lawsuit is now in the hands of the court and should be done this month.

b. Staff Reports:  None

NEW BUSINESS

None

FUTURE MEETINGS

The next Board meeting will be held on the 2nd Tuesday, September 13^th, and will begin at 7:00 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

At 7:45 p.m. Kent Harlow moved to adjourn the meeting.  Keith Johnson seconded and the motion carried.

There was no Executive Session