JOHNSON COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT #1 – Johnson County, Kansas

Board of Directors Meeting

Date:  September 13, 2011       Time: 7:00 p.m.

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

BOARD MEMBERS           STAFF

Keith Johnson                         Max Sielert                  Ken Phelps

Kent Harlow                           Rob Kirk                     Eric Mills

Mark Burdolski                       Trig Morley

CALL TO ORDER

Mark Burdolski called the meeting to order.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Keith Johnson moved to approve the agenda as submitted. Kent Harlow seconded and the motion carried.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Kent Harlow moved to approve the minutes from the August 2011 Board meeting as submitted.  Keith Johnson seconded and the motion carried.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Chief Sielert explained that we were cutting all costs and this will help us finish the year under budget.  We have a Loan  payment due in February and we may be close on funds to make that payment.  The short amount will have to come from next year’s budget.  We should have 33% left in budget right now and we have 24.8%.  However what we projected is much better than our actual expenses.  A Conrad invoice just showed up that was for work performed back in May.

Last month we talked about double payments causing our over budget for last month.  These premiums that are now paid ahead which puts us in a better situation than appears on the financial statement.  The overtime costs which are over budget were due to underestimating the additional costs due to the consolidation.  He indicated that 2012 is budgeted much closer to our actual needs.

We still have revenues coming in but we are still unsure about the tax amount received from the County.  As long as they collect what they say, we should be good without the $116,000 from delinquent personal property tax we have coming.  We will not receive the EMS billing that was projected in our budget.  We were right to include it in the budget, they just changed the laws and this revenue disappeared before we had the opportunity to receive it.  Deputy Chief Kirk sold some air packs which brought in some additional revenue. We are assessing what other excess property we may have that can be sold.

Keith Johnson asked about training being over budget.  The Brightline required training is paid only once a year which was paid this past month.  We paid travel expense for Chief Morley and Chief Keller to take inspection training in Maryland and this expense was paid last month.  These expenses will be reimbursed by the Fire Academy and will be credited to the same accounts when received.

Kent Harlow asked about the situation with the Bronto .  Discussions followed with Deputy Chief Rob Kirk offering more information as an update to the repair options.  Kent Harlow suggested that we use other equipment to replace this while waiting to be repaired.  Chief Sielert indicated that this was our only ladder truck so we didn’t have any other replacement for this particular piece of equipment.  Kent Harlow indicated that we may want to consider other options if the debt of repair is more than expected.

Chief Sielert and Deputy Chief Kirk are working on the preparations it takes to redo our ISO rating, which is relative to the equipment working and being available for calls.  We have to take on these expenses to repair in order to improve our rating.  We are looking at a total of $1200 to complete some of the items to be fixed. The crash truck is expected to cost $3,000 to fix.  Chief Sielert will talk to the Airport Commission to see if they can provide partial reimbursement for the cost of this vehicle repair since this engine is designated to give them the service they require. We plan to have equipment ready to go for the ISO inspection next month.  We are confident that we can get the maximum amount of points for a better ISO rating which will benefit all the citizens.

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

BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR

None

OLD BUSINESS

a. Chiefs Reports

Fire Chief Max Sielert presented a copy of the judgment in consideration of our lawsuit against Olathe.  The judge denied our claim after reviewing the contract and the evidence submitted.  He talked with Marilyn and discussed what this decision would mean for us.  She indicated it was over and that was the final decision.  The Judge said that even though the proximity issue still existed, the wording in the contract says “may” be renewed, not “shall” be renewed.  If the contract had shown a stronger “intent” by saying “shall” be renewed it could have made a difference, but the judge says there was not enough intent to change the “may” in to “shall”.  Discussion followed with Chief Sielert indicting he will discuss this again with Marilyn to see if there are more options.  He believes our next step should be to get a hold of Kathern there at the home association and let her know that we will no longer be able to assist in her neighborhood watch and she should contact the City of Olathe.  Kent Harlow emphasized that we should explain to those residents that we will no longer respond to calls, other than Code 1 calls and it is due to having no contract for service.  Chief Sielert indicated he will write up the notice and email to the board to read before mailing to the home association.

The City of Olathe advised at the last meeting they do want to renew this contract.  They talked about $25,000.  If so, Chief Sielert feels we should get this contract renewed.

Deputy Chief Kirk and Chief Sielert met with Edgerton and Wellsville as they have indicated an interest in signing an Auto and Mutual Aid Agreement.  They also met with the Miami County Board to discuss this potential agreement.  There are very nice homes south of  Edgerton and just out of our area that have Wellsville response. We are working on getting an agreement in place that would improve response capabilities for all entities and areas involved. It has the potential of providing revenue, but not at this time.  We will be saving those residents a lot of money due to the ISO rating they receive by having us serve that area.  We have a class 5, and that area is currently class 10.  The ISO is rated by how far the address is from the nearest fire station.  Wellsville is currently all volunteer staff.  Anytime our vehicles go out of district the Battalion Chief goes on the call.

We have also discussed with the Palmyra Fire Board the possibility working on and Auto Aid Agreement with them also.  Again this will not be a revenue producer for us, but it will help the residents get a better ISO rating on their insurance saving them money.

We met with Melissa in Gardner about the building codes.  We have a verbal agreement that we should be involved with these permits.  She explained in order for us to give burn permits, it will require the City Ordinance to be re-written.  Jim Sherman will be notified and they plan to include this information in their next news letter.  We can use their website to give notice to citizens about these changes and about burn permits being under our jurisdiction.  We look forward to starting the process of educating the citizens for these changes.

We have received information that indicates there will be another large new warehouses going in close to Coleman.

Kent Harlow had a discussion with Larry Fotovich about our contract with the City. Chief Sielert sent him an email with more information explaining the situation, but he has not received a response.

In talking with the new Edgerton City Administrator, she seems to be very supportive of our service.  She has indicated there is some training she wanted us to do.  We feel we are beginning a very positive partnership.

Chief Sielert informed those attending that Deputy Chief Kirk’s son Dalton raced stock cars at 2 different tracks this year and that he had won the track Championship this year at Humbolt and was currently leading in points at the Topeka track as well..

Deputy Chief Rob Kirk presented Deputy Chief Kirk talked about several calls the last week on “non-breathers”.  Battalion Chief Trig Morley ran on both calls.  One call was for a 4 month old at a daycare, where Captain Ken Phelps did a great job.  While still discussing that call, we had a second call and a different crew in charge of responding.  Battalion Chief Morley is to be commended for the professional response they did on handling the very difficult situation surrounding this second call also.

b. Staff Reports

None

NEW BUSINESS

We had a minor accident on one of our engines, but we are doing our own repairs.

FUTURE MEETINGS

The next Board meeting will be held on the 2nd Tuesday, October 11^th , and will begin at 7:00 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

At 7:45 p.m. Keith Johnson moved to adjourn the meeting.  Kent Harlow seconded and the motion carried.  There was no Executive Session.