Elk Creek facing budget cuts

*Note: 2013 Budget posted on previous page
[youtube:3vx9bzhs][/youtube:3vx9bzhs]

Agenda and Timeline of Video (Notes in blue)
I. Call to Order

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Roll Call of Board Members
@24s

IV. Additions or Deletions to, and Approval of, the Agenda
@34s
*Items added:

Meeting Minutes of December 10, 2012 Meeting
Resolutions - 2012-12-3 Resolution to Appropriate Sums of Money

V. Meeting Minutes
@1:32
*comment made by audience member that meeting minutes are not available to public, nor has the website been updated with them since August & they would like a hard copy or for the website to be updated regularly

Review and approval of Minutes:

November 5, 2012 Special Meeting
November 8, 2012 Regular Meeting
December 10, 2012 Special Meeting

VI. Financial Matters and Treasurer’s Report
@4:36

October 2012 Financial Report
November Statement of Expenditures

VII. Resolutions
@8:20

2013 Budget Approval (2012-12-1)

(vote: Approved @21:00)
2013 Certification of Mill Levy (2012-12-2)(vote: Approved @22:10)
Resolution to Appropriate Sums of Money (2012-12-3) (vote: Approved @23:10)
[/ul]

VIII. Fire Chief Report
@23:36

*Applied for 6 grants: Received one, 3 rejected, 2 pending
Wildland Fire Mitigation grant not won to help residents with mitigation
mapping project moving forward and on track[/ul]

IX. Legal Update
@24:40

X. Citizen Issues
@25:55

Questions asked and comments made:
@25:55 1. Because of letting go the fire marshall, ECFD is no longer doing business inspections. Isn't that required by CO statute?
@27:55 2. Shutting down stations due to equipment failure, why are we buying old, used equipment?
@28:35 3. ECFD should not be involved in snow making for Conifer Chamber of Commerce
@28:52 4. Will cutting services cause insurance rates to go up? Cost impact to citizens in addition to mill levy if passed?
@30:18 5. Why hasn't ECFD mailed out donation requests? How long has it been since they were?
@32:06 Did you fire me? Do you recall me offering to lead CPR classes for high schools? Claim that Joe Page is committing fraud, claim of investigation pending, why does he get to keep his job? Does district pay for Christmas party every year?
@34:40 I was let go for political reasons from Board of Directors, believe it a violation of civil rights. Why does the Conifer Chamber of Commerce directory have the ECFD Firefighters Association (union) listing their office at Fire Station 1? Do they have an office here? Are they paying for leasing of office?

[/color][/i]

XI. Old Business
@36:20

XII. New Business
@36:25

XIII. Executive Session - pursuant to Section 24-6-402(4)(b), C.R.S. for a conference with the District’s Attorney to receive legal advice regarding attorney/client privilege associated with Bill Dolan
@36:56

XIV. Any other business that may be brought before the Board

XV. Adjournment

Meeting Notice:

Conifer Area Chamber of Commerce's Public Affairs Committee
Tuesday January 15th
Los 3 Garcias, 6-7pm

Elk Creek Fire Department Update

Meeting Reminder: There's an Elk Creek Fire Dept BOD Meeting tomorrow night at 6pm, Richmond Hill Fire Station 1.

The Public Affairs Committee Meeting next Tuesday the 15th at Los 3 Garcias at 6pm is also confirmed. If you have questions or concerns, or want to get informed, please attend! We'll be there videotaping both, as usual.

Our apologies, we had technical difficulties with the camera during the last BOD meeting, and were not able to recover the recording of the meeting. Chief McLaughlin kindly provided a copy of his January Chief's report which is posted below in its entirety with his permission. The Public Affairs Meeting was not recorded as it had a low attendance and ended up an informal planning meeting instead. We did take notes, as the chief went over the history of the department and if anyone's interested in them, please let us know as we'd be happy to PM them to you.

The next Elk Creek Fire Protection District BOD Meeting will be Thursday, February 14 at 6pm. They are going to be forming a small committee this spring to review the necessity of going forward with placing a mill levy on the ballot this November. It will include a volunteer firefighter, a paid firefighter, at least one board member, and one citizen from the community. If you are interested in participating on this committee, please email Chief McLaughlin at . Thank you.

ELK CREEK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
FIRE CHIEF’S REPORT

Monthly Report – January 2013

Date: January 8 2013
Submitted By: Fire Chief Bill McLaughlin

Level of Service
In 2012 the department responded to 1119 calls, the second most on record. This was a 1% increase from 2011. The average response time for in district calls was 9 minutes, 45 seconds, and the department responded to 90% of all calls in 16 minutes. The department provided mutual aid 55 times, and received mutual aid 23 times. A more detailed report will be available by February.

The department has 24 rookies in the 2013 recruit academy and has recently accepted 14 other new EMS and lateral volunteers. This places the department roster at its highest level in years.

The ability to serve residents in a timely manner has become a more urgent matter in the recent months. Insurance companies are raising rates on homes in the wildland urban interface, pulling out of serving the area, requiring more mitigation and looking more closely at travel times and distances for fire response.

We have implemented the FireHouse software program starting on January 1, so we should be better able to track and report incidents for 2013.


Current Issues
Administration
Assistant Chief Vacancy. The announcement for the vacancy will be going out on Friday, with a closing date of February 15. I hope to have the position filled by May 1. We have had many volunteers and career staff step in to help out. While that is helping, it requires considerable time to coordinate and train personnel even on simple projects such as data entry. In the longer term we need the additional oversight and leadership of a full time chief officer.

Fire Prevention. Evergreen Fire Rescue has started the process of taking over certain inspections and plans reviews. The last day for the current Fire Marshal will be January 31.

Requirements. Starting in 2013, we have revised the annual requirements to increase the emphasis on training, and at the same time make more opportunities for community members to volunteer. Out of District volunteers continue to have the requirement for providing 36 hours of service each month. Staffing of station 1 has increased of late.

Staffing. We have implemented a new staffing program to make it easier for the department to fill openings and to make staffing station 1 more effective. The program allows us to alert personnel of an opening, approve shift requests and shift trades without relying on paper forms of telephone calls.

Risk Management. We have heard nothing new on the Lower North Fork Fire claims. We have recently had a risk management survey performed by our insurance agent. They provided two records; that we provide better documentation of our Motor Vehicle Driver Records annual checks, and that we perform annual medical evaluations on our personnel. The first recommendation will be easy to fix. We are evaluating the cost of the recommendation on medical evaluations. While it was included in the preliminary budget, it was cut from the final budget due to cost containment needs.


Operations
Mapping. Mapping is progressing well, and we expect to have map book proofs available in the next week.

Mutual Aid. Following the meetings with the Jeffco Special Services Division Chief, we are waiting on an analysis report on regionalization of fire dispatching for Jefferson County. That report will be due in April, and we do not expect any changes to dispatch agency before 2014. The Jefferson County Fire Chiefs have agreed to a standardized terminology and numbering system for all apparatus. We have implemented the automatic aid with Platte Canyon, and it has already reduced call response times on the Park County side of the district. The next major step we are making is joint training with our neighboring departments.


Accountability and Apparatus numbering. The accountability system is now being implemented.

Vehicles. We have sold the haz mat truck, and have removed the pump truck, Bravada and reserve ambulance from service. They are now up for sale.

Sorry jf1, I don't. I recommend emailing or calling the Chief and asking him, I'm sure he'd know more and be happy to share!

Reminder:

There is an Elk Creek Fire Dept BOD Meeting tonight at 6pm, Fire Station 1, 11993 Blackfoot Rd.

The Chief gave a very informative presentation at the Conifer Area Chamber of Commerce meeting last Friday.

ECFD's Goal for 2013: Stay off Channel 7 News (that got several sober chuckles)

We need 100 inches of snow to catch up to moisture level that we had at this time last year. Severe drought occurring and projections are for warner and dryer than normal rest of the season.

What's New
The Good
28 New Volunteers
Better radios
Better maps
New Brush Truck
New ATV (thanks Conifer Rotary!)
Highest morale in years

The Bad
Reduced 2 positions - Evergreen sending someone over 1 time per week for inspections
60% cut in prevention
40% cut in training
15% cut in maintenance
5% cut in operations
100% cut in apparatus replacement funding

Tax rates for some Jeffco Fire Districts
Arvada 14.80%
Indian Hills 12.14%
North Fork 12.00%
Foothills 11.19%
Inter-Canyon Fire 10.59%
Genessee 10.00%
Evergreen 9.35%
Elk Creek Fire 4.91%

Even if the housing market turns around, there will be a 2 year lag in revenue coming in (there's been a 2 year lag for revenue to drop since the housing market crashed)

Cost to homeowners: Fire insurance versus fire taxes- they directly impact one another
With less revenue, departments cut back. Ratings are reduced, insurance companies raise rates to reflect higher risk. Department is getting many calls form people whose insurance rates are increasing or is being cancelled altogether.

Mountain Area Fire Chiefs
They've created an Automatic Aid Plan that they hope to implement by summer: drop lines on the map of who covers what area - from now on whomever is closest responds. (for example, there are homes that are in ECFD's district that are 6 miles from their station, but only 2 miles from North Fork. With the enw plan, North Fork will respond instead of ECFD. This will help folks who live on the edge of districts and should also positively impact insurance ratings)
They are working with the dispatch center to get this enacted so that dispatch will know who to send.

Preliminary slash collection dates schedule done. June 16th for Hwy 285. Chief will post on ECFD website as soon as it's confirmed.

Please attend Big Chili Cook Off as that brings in money for local fire departments. They are considering creating some other fundraising opportunities. They will be forming a Mill Levy Exploratory Committee soon, and will need a member from the general public to serve on that committee. Email Chief McLaughlin if you are interested.
Sept 8th Big Chili Cook-Off

Here is the video of last night's ECFD BOD Meeting. There was a large attendance by active firefighters and several community members.

[youtube:1q25mlux][/youtube:1q25mlux]

ECFD BOD Mtg 2.14.13 Regular Meeting Agenda
I. Call to Order

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Roll call of Board Members

IV. Additions/deletion a to agenda @0:39

V. Executive Session

VI. review and approval January regular meeting minutes @1:30

VII. Financial matters @2:21
Closing 2012 books
Redesigning charter accounts
Craig Ericson accountant be here at 6:15, will defer January budget until then

VIII. Fire Chief Report @4:40
Converted to fire house software
97 calls in January
1 structure fire
Average response time 9min 45sec
Recruit academy started
Partnership with Swedish providing feedback on runs
Need to teach better report writing to EMS
Staffing increased. 980 hours recorded by volunteers
Looks like they Will receive grant for replacement fire engine from AFG Program
2 other grants went out last month. One to replace fire Marshall position, fire mitigation grant. Tomorrow due date on EMS grant.
Will have to pay back money that was spent on 2008 grants for unintended uses or not completed. $18,340 total
Deputy Chief position closes tomorrow, will begin review.
Evergreen looks like they will be able to review inspections/new construction in a timely manner
Volunteer has stepped up to take over Firewise program
Mapping - fire hydrants not accurate.
Why is the fire department maintaining water sources on private property
174 total hydrants
Mutual Aid - move to automatic aid agreements recognized by SO. To help homeowners within 5 miles of one dept get credit, even if not their fire dept jurisdiction. Could save an average of $45,000/month per area.
Joint drills between departments.

IX. Old Business @18:54

X. New Business @18:59
Received letter from membership asked to be read out loud at meeting. Signed by 50 active members of Elk Creek Fire Department

Resolution regarding Wells Fargo credit card
Only had 1 credit card for all personnel, was creating issues
Decided to issue credit cards to all personnel to be responsible for their own budget items, need to gather receipts from them.
Motion made and approved

XI. Citizens issues @24:00

@51:12 switch back to budget from Item VII now that accountant arrived
Craig Erickson presented budget info

XII. Adjournment 56:14

So, if none of you have had a chance to watch the video yet, I'd encourage you to listen to the reading of the letter signed by 50 currently active firefighters endorsing Chief McLaughlin and approving of the way he and the Elk Creek Fire Protection District Board have been running the department - they specifically cited high morale, and a record number of people coming out to volunteer. They wanted this read on record because they are concerned about former firefighters conduct at board meetings. (There was a huge turnout of firefighters during the meeting too).

There was a former firefighter who got up and read a letter that he said he sent to the Chief after he was let go, that the Chief said he never received. The Chief and the Board, in my opinion, handled it very professionally, but you can decide for yourself by watching the video yourselves.

A fair question brought up by a former Board member was the use of equipment/gear for non-firefighting activities (ie the Mt Lugo Luge, potentially the upcoming 285 Downhill Barrel Stave Ski Competition). As a current firefighter said later in response to that question, it's important to balance public relations (like driving kids to school on the fire truck and playing in PPE) with being careful with equipment since maintaining/replacing it is an issue with their budget shortfall right now - both are equally important to do. I like that issues from all sides can be brought up, discussed, and thoughtfully considered in a public venue.

I'd like to publicly thank Chief McLaughlin, the ECFD Board of Directors, and ECFD firefighters for not only allowing these meetings to be videotaped, but encouraging them to be videotaped, and for their professional manner in conducting them - they get high marks from me for being held accountable. They are always right on time, they are always courteous, and they are always open to listening - we've got a great crew keeping watch over our community and busting their humps to provide more for us (congrats on winning the grant to replace the brush truck). Thanks guys and gals! :thumbsup: