Timberline Fire Authority approves 80/20 split
Merger picks up speed
Timberline Fire Authority’s Board of Directors, composed of three directors from the Colorado Sierra Fire Protection District board (Gail Maxwell, Chris Schimanskey and Rick Wenzel) and three members from the High Country Fire Protection District board (Paul Britton, Roger Durham and John Rittenhouse) met December 17, 2009, and took several actions to move the two volunteer departments toward a 2011 merger. They began by updating each other on the actions taken by their individual boards since the last TFA meeting.
HCFPD Update
Britton announced HCFPD had removed Fire Chief Richard Bulich from office and that Captain Mark Moyer was Acting Chief until Deputy Chief Galen Koepke is back in town. HCFPD approved their 2010 budget. CSFPD firefighters are being added to those who can access the new HCFPD online training program.
CSFPD Update
Maxwell said CSFPD had approved their 2010 budget. CSFPD plans to make access to their stations available to all officers via Knox box lock codes. The door to the administration office will be locked and a list of those who need access and why will be posted. They’ve designated Scott Nordgren as Election Judge and have hired Gene Rausch (Coal Creek FPD) as Fire Marshal. Station 2 needs insulation, said Maxwell, and a water pump there is undergoing repairs. CSFPD is looking at purchasing an Accountability Board to hold firefighters’ tags while they are on a fire scene. They are coordinating training with HCFPD Training Captain, Jake Vassar. They are checking into insurance coverage to make sure HCFPD personnel is covered when using CSFPD trucks. Farmer’s Insurance Company gives firefighters a 5% discount, Maxwell said, and CSFPD will provide the required letters for any firefighter who wants to apply.
New PIO
Cherokee Blake, the Public Information Officer for the Gilpin Sheriff’s Office, had been on scene at a recent house fire to talk with Denver television crews. She is willing to act as PIO for TFA, said Maxwell. Britton asked Moyer and CSFPD Fire Chief Ryan Roberts for their thoughts on having a PIO. Both were in favor. Board members voted unanimously to bring Blake on as PIO. There is no cost to TFA for her services. She will respond only as needed and is to communicate to fire personnel when she is enroute to a scene so they can direct media personnel to her.
Consultant’s Update
At the November meeting, the Board went over questions they had submitted to their merger consultant, Don Taylor. Some of the questions had been answered then and a couple had been deferred to the Chiefs. Only a few were still outstanding, said Taylor, and he will provide updates on those as they are done. He distributed a summary of the questions and answers to Board members. Taylor said one question regarding continued employment of HCFPD’s current Business Manager had been answered with a public statement released last week by the HCFPD Board stating she would be retained. Schimanskey asked HCFPD’s plan regarding a paid Chief. Britton said that has not been decided. A question regarding a Fire Marshal for TFA was answered by Roberts. The building codes to be used by the Fire Marshal must be adopted first. Code will have to match the County where the inspection takes place. That’s on the project list, said Taylor, advising that public meetings with contractors be held first. Electronic copies of HCFPD’s code were to be provided to other Board members by Britton and Durham.
Taylor had been directed to inform the Chiefs of both districts of the Board’s direction to have at least one present to give the Chief’s report at every meeting. Taylor said he had done so. He commended the Board for their actions in November to put the question to voters to dissolve CSFPD and include it in HCFPD and form one district under the name of Timberline Fire Department (TFD), and for putting the question of splitting costs 80/20 (HCFPD/CSFPD) back on the table. “You pushed the snowball off the edge and it’s going to move faster now,” he told them, advising they “will really have to jump on benchmarks and deadlines prior to the election.” He recommended they break out the timeline that Rittenhouse had done previously so they’d know what’s expected.
Taking Care of Business
The Board moved through eleven agenda items, pausing occasionally for public input.
They voted unanimously to amend the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) by adding, “For the authority’s 2010 budget, the parties agree that 20% shall be funded by the Colorado Sierra Fire Protection District and 80% shall be funded by the High Country Fire Protection District.”
The 2010 Budget was approved, pared down from $78,000 to $62,000. CSFPD is to fund $12,400 and HCFPD, $49,600. The approved TFA, CSFPD and HCFPD budgets are to be posted on the TFA website, once tabs are enabled to access them.
The Standard Operating Guidelines remain pending. CSFPD has a new Cadet Program; HCFPD has an existing Junior Program. HCFPD’s commanding officers had not reviewed CSFPD’s program. Durham said he’d like to see HCFPD look at the program before he voted, to see if they could combine the two, adding “My interest is to start combining things as soon as possible so it doesn’t all hit next January (2011).” Britton concurred, indicating his support for the program. Moyer and Roberts agreed to have their commanders review the programs, their findings to be presented at the next meeting. Once TFA’s SOG’s take effect, they will supersede all existing SOG’s, Roberts said.
CSFPD and HCFPD have both completed their Equipment Inventories and are to provide Maxwell with documentation to include in the Service Plan.
Maxwell continues to work on the Service Plan.
The Survey is in progress, said Maxwell. Gilpin County has provided mapping at no cost, she said, but TFA will need to pay for the written documentation that goes with it. She’ll keep the Board updated.
In October, the Board hired Linda Alexander of Collins, Cockrell and Cole, to provide legal advice regarding the merger. Rittenhouse said he was not sure she understood what TFA is trying to do or, he admitted, he doesn’t understand the legal language. She had provided a document indicating the districts might be able to merge without an election, said Rittenhouse. Schimanskey suggested all Board members review the document and address it at their January meeting with Alexander present. They approved. Maxwell and Nordgren are to write a summary of where TFA is in the process and get it to the attorney ahead of time. Rittenhouse said the Gilpin County Clerk and Recorder has concerns about doing an election next November and may ask the District Court not to approve a Special District election because of equipment complications.
There is more work to do on the proposed TFD command structure. A new structure proposes one Fire Chief (currently the HCFPD and CSFPD Chiefs are rotating duty) with Battalion Chiefs answering to the Chief and Station Lieutenants answering to them. The number of Battalion Chiefs needs to be determined, roles and responsibilities still need to be defined and positions such as the current Training Captain need to be fitted into the structure. There was much discussion regarding the structure with public input added. Changes to the structure will require changing the IGA. Schimanskey recommended the Chiefs try hard to have a combined meeting with commanding officers of both districts. “It’s not for us to hammer it out here,” said Wenzel, directing the Chiefs to get together and put together a proposed structure for the Board’s approval.
TFD’s firefighter certification requirements are also a work in progress, regarding Firefighter 1 and wild land certifications in particular. Vassar currently has a full plate with the new online training program set-up and coordinating training sessions for 2010. Roberts suggested they postpone setting the requirements until next fall, giving time for Vassar to work on it. In the meantime, Maxwell requested a listing of “whose certified to do what” for the Service Plan and presentation to Gilpin commissioners.
HCFPD’s Captain John Carder was ill but sent his TFD response plan via Moyer. It contains maps and information that help firefighters find call locations. Several firefighters attending the meeting gave the plan high marks for reducing response times. Roberts suggested consulting with the Sheriff’s Office to see about including a plan for Search and Rescue. The Board agreed it was a good idea. Maxwell said she would get other members of the Board electronic copies of plan information.
Schimanskey suggested organizing an Apparatus Status committee to evaluate each vehicle, building, cistern, system, etc. to make sure all are adequately and properly equipped, in the best location, are sized to meet need and other criteria as the committee sees fit. The duties would fall to commanders and firefighters. The committee is not a high priority item, the Board determined, but would like to see the evaluation included in a long-range plan and considered in the 2011 budget.
Fall-Out
With the removal of the HCFPD Chief came e-mail requests, said Roberts, from HCFPD firefighters who wanted to know if they could join CSFPD. Stating that his logic was he “would hate to see the training go away,” he said “Yes.” Roberts’ answer was put on the HCFPD Firefighters Blog. Most of the TFA Board expressed lack of support for taking on any firefighter who turned off his pager, as a HCFPD firefighter had done (stating on the blog he was turning off his pager until the HCFPD business manager was no longer running the department). Britton and Durham both raised concerns about firefighters who, in changing districts, would leave an area of their community unprotected either by a shortage of responders or by a delayed response time from a station further away. Britton said it looked like Roberts had given his permission, as if saying “Hey guys, don’t work it out, come ahead and join our department.” Schimanskey said CSFPD was not openly encouraging it. Maxwell said the blog statement “falsified intent.” A CSFPD firefighter said the blog had “mischaracterized Chief Ryan’s intent.” All agreed that feelings were high after the Chief was removed and the blog reflected things said in the heat of the moment. Only Britton and Durham expressed any chance of CSFPD’s offer endangering the merger but that depends on if a lot of firefighters defect and how it is handled.
Other Comments
A CSFPD firefighter asked if it was necessary to bring up the attorney at the next meeting noting there would be a cost. He encouraged the two districts to join in future trainings and command meetings.
A CSFPD resident said he was a taxpayer following events and asked if people could be quitting because of personal standards or because of a dysfunctional board driving people away or because of a composition on the board. “Are people too old and need to be replaced? Or too combative?” he asked. He also suggested the board consider outsourcing firefighter services to professionals. Rittenhouse responded that a paid force would mean a huge tax increase. Britton concurred and also said referring to volunteers as not “professional” was offensive. “They do an outstanding job and are dedicated to serving you,” he said. Wenzel noted the extreme resistance to paying just a Chief, much less a paid force. The man said there was petty infighting on a monthly basis in all of the boards.
A HCFPD resident said it was shortsighted for someone to jump across to another entity while in the process of merging. “People will calm down,” he said. He told the Board it was wise to bring up their attorney.
Please check the TFA website, timberlinefire.org, for posting of the next meeting date.