EXCELSIOR FIRE DISTRICT

OPERATING COMMITTEE – NOTES OF FEBRUARY 15, 2006, MEETING

 

 

1.      Call to Order

 

Acting Chair Dawson called the meeting to order at 11:05 p.m. in the Fire Chief’s Conference Room at the West Station, 24100 Smithtown Road.

 

Present:            Dana Young, Deephaven City Administrator; Larry Whittaker, Excelsior City Manager; Roberta Whipple, Greenwood City Administrator; and Craig Dawson, Shorewood City Administrator.

 

Also Present:    Dana George, EFD Interim Fire Chief; Jim Olds, Fiscal Agent; Cheri Johnson, Excelsior Administrative Assistant.

 

 

2.      Approval of Agenda

 

George that an item related to Orono Contract Revenue be placed on the agenda as Item 6e under Other Business. 

 

 

3.      Approval of Meeting Notes

 

a.      January 10, 2006

 

The notes of this meeting were approved as presented.

 

 

4.      Fire Chief Report

 

a.      Monthly Review

 

The EFD responded to 40 calls in January.  Johnson noted that one call had been incorrectly assigned to Excelsior, and should have been to Shorewood.

 

b.      FY 2005 Year-End Projections

 

Operations expenses for 2005 are approximately $35,500 over budget, or about 3 percent.

 

The capital equipment budget will be approximately $86,000 over budget.  This amount resulted from Board action to acquire an additional truck for the East Station and thermal imaging equipment (on a very few fire helmets), in addition to what was scheduled in the Capital Equipment Program for 2005.

 

EFD Operating Committee

February 15, 2006, Meeting Notes

Page 2

 

 

The year-end balances of the funds were approximated as follows:

 

            Operating         $137,600

            Facilities             241,400

            Equipment            43,500

            Donations             14,900

            Orono Contract   86,500

 

 

c.       2006 Budget Projections

 

Actual and anticipated expenses appear to be in line with the 2006 budget.

 

 

5.      Approval of Bills

 

Whittaker moved, and Whipple seconded, to approve the bills as presented.  Motion passed, 4/0.

 

 

6.      Other Business

 

a.      Update on Fire Chief Hiring Process

 

Dawson and Johnson briefed the Committee about what had happened at the last Board meeting.  The Board had accepted the Committee’s recommendation to engage the services of Mark Nagel and Jim Lynn, but had wanted an opportunity to meet with one or both of them prior to making a decision on February 22.  Jim Lynn was present for today’s Operating Committee meeting, and Mark Nagel was unable to be present.  At the February 22 Board meeting, Mark Nagel will be able to be present but Jim Lynn will not.

 

Lynn noted that their services were not those of a search firm, but that they were to be involved in the process of assessing candidates.  He reviewed his proposal and process with the Committee, which was very similar to the one that the Board had been working on and wished to follow.  Committee members shared with Lynn their understandings about specifics in the process that the Board had identified as important.  Lynn and his daughter, who is part of the team, are consulting psychologists, and psychological evaluations of the 3-4 finalists are included in their fee.  Lynn also preferred to work with a steering committee, which would number 6 to 8 persons.

 

The Committee was satisfied with the proposal, and the consultants’ ability to work with the Board in refining the search/assessment process.

 

Johnson noted that city staffs will be performing several services that would often be done by a search firm during this selection process.

 

 

 

 

EFD Operating Committee

February 15, 2006, Meeting Notes

Page 3

 

 

b.      Fire Inspector Program

 

The use of part-time Fire Inspectors was to be given a one-year trial, with an evaluation to be made about whether to continue with it, modify it, or to revert to a full-time Fire Marshal.

 

Committee members agreed that the Fire Inspector approach should be continued at this time, with an ultimate decision to be made some time after a new fire chief was on board and could make his/her recommendation.

 

In the meantime, there were issues that needed to be addressed shortly.  Originally, there were three inspectors working 20 hours/week.  Currently, there are two inspectors who had been working generally up to 30 hours/week, but are now being held to 20 hours/week.  George noted that the two-inspector structure seemed to be working more effectively than the three-inspector structure.

 

While the positions may have been seen as temporary – i.e., in effect for one year – they are not temporary in terms of State law regarding participation in PERA.  These positions are in actuality regular part-time positions.  The District will need to back-pay PERA employer and employee contributions, and going forward the inspectors will need to pay their employee contributions.  Additionally, the position description requires response to calls while performing as an inspector, and this duty would require that the inspectors participate in PERA Police&Fire, which has significantly greater contributions than the coordinated PERA plan.  It would be better to have the response requirement removed from the position description, and have the inspectors able to respond as firefighters and receive firefighter pay when they do so.  It was also noted that no pay adjustments had been planned or budgeted for 2006, and that adjustments would be appropriate, particularly in light of the PERA contribution that the employees would now need to make.

 

Given budget constraints, the cost of the inspectors needs to be recalculated, and the number of hours/week adjusted to meet the available revenue.

 

As regular part-time employees, the inspectors should also receive pro-rated leave (vacation, holiday, and sick) benefits, and the Committee will recommend these changes to the Board.

 

 

c.       Role of Operating Committee

 

Committee members discussed the original intent behind the structure of the Board and Operating Committee.  With the design for the Board to meet quarterly, the Fire Chief would be working more closely with the Operating Committee regarding matters of administration and operations.  With the Board having met on a monthly basis since the establishment of the District, these roles had not been achieved.

 

Committee members believed that when the Board decided to meet less frequently (i.e., bi-monthly or quarterly), it would become more apparent what the role and responsibility of the Operating Committee would be.

 

At the same time, it was important to state the intended or likely role of the Operating Committee for purposes of informing candidates for the Fire Chief position what reporting structure to expect.

EFD Operating Committee

February 15, 2006, Meeting Notes

Page 4

 

 

d.      2006-2025 Capital Equipment Program

 

The CEP is to be approved by the city councils by April 15.  Revisions to the CEP will be reviewed by the Operating Committee in March, and the Board will make its recommendation to the city councils regarding the CEP at its March meeting.

 

The CEP will reflect and explain the changes from the approved and implemented plan for 2005.  It will also identify and explain changes in timing, assumptions, and cost estimates in future years than what appears in the 2005-2024 CEP.

 

 

e.      Orono Contract Revenue

 

George noted that he will be presenting the purchase of the “Mule” (approx. $15,000) and a rescue tool for the East Station (approx. $10 - 12,000) with use of the Orono contract revenue at the next Board meeting.

 

 

**  Young volunteered to help with the preparation of Operating Committee and Board meeting agenda packets in March.

 

 

7.      Next Meeting

 

The next meeting of the Operating Committee was scheduled for Wednesday, March 8, 2006, at 3:00 p.m. at the West Station.

 

 

8.      Adjournment

 

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Craig Dawson

Recorder