MINUTES BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS Regular Meeting - March 12, 2013 ATTENDEES: Chairman Mark Christenson Commissioner Marc Komorsky Commissioner Jeff Canero Commissioner Timothy Sayles Commissioner Marco Caviglia Attorney Rod MacLeod arrived later Chief Robert Green EMS Administrator Michael Benenati Deputy Chief Barry Ward District Secretary Tammy Martz Chairman Christenson opened the LaGrange Fire District Board of Fire Commissioners regular meeting at 7:40pm, led the pledge to the flag, and welcomed firefighters and guests. MINUTES: MOTION made by Commr Caviglia to approve the minutes of 2/26/13, SECONDED Sayles and carried unan. CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from Lieutenant Jeff Kaiser - Rec d 3/5/13 Condolence Card from DCDER for the loss of life member Earl J. Lauria Check from Utica insurance: $12,966.29 reimbursement lights damage DOL 10/29/12 MOTION made by Komorsky to deposit into General Fund, SECONDED by Caviglia and carried unan. Check(s) for Cablevision reimbursement: LaGrange Prof $130.40 (12/8/12-2/7/13) & Sta 3 $60.35 (Jan) MOTION made by Komorsky to deposit into General Fund, SECONDED by Caviglia and carried unan. REPORTS: (by officers present) Treasurer Update: Mark Pozniak updated the Board with the current cash position, restricted and reserve funds, and presented the February reports including the Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual and the P&L YTD Comparison AUD: Annual Financial report filed with the State Comptroller in Feb. with the bottom line operating deficit of $81,062.12. Audits: as per Board s resolution in August, Sedore will correct 2009 & 2010 audits but consider it extra work and there would be additional charges at their standard rates. 2011 audits can t be complete until 2009 and 2010 are closed. The Board recommended that the Treasurer contact them to have it completed for no additional fee. Health Insurance: The District needs to formally create multiple employee classes to accommodate the policy introduced in Feb regarding premium contributions by some employees. He recommended three classes (Union/Management/ Administrative). He stated that NYSHIP needs a copy of a resolution before this can be set up. FEMA: Town of LaGrange to withhold from the District s tax distribution the same amount the District withheld from the Town s charge back payment. After research, the Town cannot find evidence of receiving FEMA funds on behalf of the Fire District. DC Ward to follow up with FEMA at the Board s request. Transfer of Funds: The Treasurer requested approval to transfer $48,444.59 from the restricted Personal Services account to the General Account to cover the cost of benefit payout expenses, plus taxes etc, for the retired employee. These funds were set aside for these purposes. MOTION made by Commr Caviglia to transfer the funds, SECONDED by Komorsky with all in favor. Motion Carried COMMENT: Chairman Christenson apologized for not stating it earlier in the meeting, but he offered congratulations on behalf of the Board to Lieutenant Jeff Kaiser, thanks for his 32+ years of service to the LaGrange Fire District, and wished him well in his retirement. Chief Membership: Company 1 - Tim Sweeney - ext firefighter/ fire police Company 2 - Michael Orsini - FF/EMS Company 3 - Bryan Kimmel - firefighter/ fire police MOTION made by Canero to approve the membership of the above listed, SECONDED by Sayles and carried unan. Firehouse EXPO - Baltimore: July - names of those interested in attending will be brought to the Board 47-62 Utility Committee: mtgs in progress to continue to review and modify specs for replacement 47-13 Replacement Committee: meetings have started. Grant Status: AFG Grant/ Regional Technology Grant/ NYS Dept of Homeland Security Emerg Svcs - all still being evaluated.
Community Relations: CPR Classes being conducted for public, Fire Extinguisher Safety at a day care, and Lt. Morrison met with younger students to discuss fire safety. Deputy Chief Grant: Radios (part of Regional Radio Grant) 34 portables + spare batteries have arrived. Programming and configuration is being performed. Approx $20k left in grant monies. Committee will submit request for more items. IT Committee: Website to be discussed in EMS Admin report. Other IT items: Remove all of the data communications equipment from above the ceiling in the radio room: Wall mounted cabinet (same style as what is in Stations 1 and 3) - $ 395.00 plus shipping/ Installation of the box, relocation of all equipment, network cabling - $ 275.00/ Total project cost: $ 670.00 MOTION made by Commr Komorsky to move forward with the project at the cost of $670.00, SECONDED by Canero. Brief discussion followed. All in favor. Motion Carried. Re: the purchase of a replacement network switch for the radio room (due to fan failure and age) + addition of switch to 2nd floor offices to provide local connection to server on commercial equipment A 'loaner' switch was installed for the 2nd floor offices which has demonstrated a dramatic improvement in network speeds for these users/ A 'loaner' switch was installed in the ceiling above the radio room to provide a temporary replacement for failing switch/ Each switch will cost $1786.86 direct from Dell (on NY State Contract) - Both switches total $3573.32 (A comparable Cisco switch costs a little over $10,000.00) Labor to install and configure each switch will be $ 175.00 ($350.00 total for both switches) Total project cost (for both switches): $3923.72 MOTION made by Commr Komorsky to replace the failed switches for a total of $3573.32, SECONDED by Sayles. Brief discussion followed. Komorsky amended the motion to correct the amount to reflect the total project cost: $3923.72. All in favor. Motion Carried. Radio Tower: Technical work completed by project team; the plan now is to stay on the existing tower - moving up to about 80. Paperwork needs to be completed regarding ownership of battery backup system. Once completed, it will be brought to the Board for final approval. EMS Administrator Annual Bloodborne Pathogens: Classes have been scheduled Annual CPR Recert Classes: Classes have been scheduled EMT/Paramedic Recert: Notices have gone out to those expiring within the year. NYS Controlled License has been received. Valid until 2/28/2015 Unresolved/Open items: EMT Course Tuition / Needs Analysis/ Cryoweld Oxygen Routine Assignments: Much work being done on EMT and Paramedic Recert packets - to get them into the State. Online Training: Working to set up some online training with CenterLearn through Utica Insurance QI Review - 1 performed ACLS & PALS - sharing resources with AFD and training programs to make it more cost effective for both agencies Hudson Valley Regional EMS - adopted new paramedic treatment protocol. Represents significant changes for the paramedics. Much work to be done to be ready for the 9/4/13 implementation. RFP for Website: IT Committee reviewed the document as complete. Benenati had emailed it to the Board for review and now requests approval to move forward with it. Discussion followed. Komorsky requested more time to review it. Topic tabled. Department Inspection Dinner Committee Member: FFP Anthony Champion addressed the Board - The Inspection Dinner is to be held at Poughkeepsie Grand on April 5 th 6pm social hr/7pm dinner. Cost: $63.60 per person/ 75 people min. He noted that the Dept. left $1000 deposit and requested permission to send invitations to the local guest list (local Chiefs, Troopers, Town, etc) as well as approval by the Board for the District to cover the cost of the dinner and the entertainment, as was done last year. Attendees to include invited guests and all members of the Department and District (sign up sheets up until the next BoFC mtg) - totaling approx 120 or slightly more. The Chairman granted approval to send out the invitations, but requested a better idea of the total guest count at the next meeting. Union President: Demilto stated that he will be contacting the uniform committee this week to keep moving forward.
OLD BUSINESS: Uniforms- Career Staff: In progress Station 2 Renovations/ Trailer Replacement: The Chairman requested an update and stated that if they went with a purchase, based on the pricing, they would need three written quotes - so far they have two. Discussion on rent vs. purchase continued. Caviglia agreed to get quotes from Mobile Mini. All agreed that a decision will be made in the next meeting. Telephone Systems: Information being gathered from SPS, ITC and Superior to be submitted to the Board to start work on the RFP. The Chairman asked the Secretary to follow up with SPS and have information by the next meeting. Code of Ethics/ Ethics Committee: Commr Caviglia expressed interest in disbanding the ethics board as it is not mandatory and it has not been used. Sayles commented that it has been used twice in the past and that he s reached out to Ward Miller and determined that he is interested in continuing on the ethics committee to represent as the fire service member. Canero and Christenson agreed that there should be an ethics board in place. Christenson would like to extend the courtesy of finding out if the current members are still interested. Caviglia requested their resumes to be considered as well. Decision will be made at the next meeting. Office Protocols: Commr Caviglia stated that he had made the amendments that seemed appropriate, and then distributed copies of a document to the other Board members. Canero requested more time to review before making a decision. Sayles agreed. Tabled until next meeting. HO Penn - Preventative Maintenance Agreement: MOTION made by Commr Sayles to approve the 3 year agreement as stated in the proposal with the following pricing: Station 1, 2, 3 $1,122.00 for each station per year for three years totaling $3366.00 per station, SECONDED by Canero with all in favor. Motion carried. Fire Expo - Harrisburg: Signup sheets are up until April 1 st. Station 1 Renovations: Sayles reported his progress. He will meet with PE (Paul of S&P) on Friday and he spoke with Ken at the town regarding the last inspection. The existing permit will be closed out and the C of O for the change of occupancy will be issued. They will move forward with a new permit with the new drawings. Association of Fire Districts - Training/ Seminar information - Saratoga: No interest in attending this year. Website: Included in EMS Admin report NEW BUSINESS: Questions to the Board: Cody Vetter: requested an explanation as to why he wasn t given the Assistant Chief Position. Chairman informed him that the Board was not required to, but did speak with the Department President about it. Christenson advised Vetter to speak with the Dept Pres. Tracy Sofka: submitted questions to the Board prior to the meeting. The Chairman invited her up and asked for her name and where she lived. She stated that she was a taxpayer and asked if it was important to know where she lived. Christenson answered that it is and when asked why, responded that it s because she is not a member and that they don t know if she s a taxpayer if she doesn t tell them her address. She stated that if she lived on Mcallister Drive she guessed that she would be a taxpayer. Caviglia asked again for her address. She stated 27 Mcallister drive. Christenson thanked her and she continued to her questions. She requested clarification to the discussion regarding questions to the Board being submitted ahead of time. The Chairman responded that they are to be submitted to the Board prior to the posting of the agenda (3 days prior to the meeting). He also confirmed that they are not currently posted online because the District does not maintain an official website. She noted that there was no decision; that the procedure was not voted on. Chairman agreed, Caviglia was not in agreement that her interpretation was correct. Purchasing - The Chairman confirmed that the District had a purchasing policy (adopted 6.12.12) and that they would work on a public comment policy to implement. He also confirmed that they are working on the ethics committee and that the grant writing is done primarily in house - they do not outsource the grant writing.
Room Use Requests -room use request forms submitted Station 3 - Tuesdays 1pm- 2:30pm Louise Davidson - (Ladies Aux member) MOTION made by Canero to approve (ok w/ station 3 as per Mike Hackett), SECONDED by Sayles - after discussion, all in favor. Motion Approved Station 2- Red Cross (Change Blood Drive from 5/31 to 5/24) MOTION made by Sayles to approve, SECONDED by Canero with all in favor. Motion Approved Station 3 - Carol Sculco - 8/17 MOTION made by Canero to approve as long as it is ok w/ station 3 as per Mike Hackett, SECONDED by Sayles with all in favor. Motion Approved Station 1 - Anthony Champion - 4/21 (7am-1pm) MOTION made by Sayles to approve; SECONDED by Canero with all in favor. Motion Approved Fox Air Agreement: no price increase for 2013. MOTION made by Commr Komorsky to approve the 1 year agreement with Fox Air (all 3 stations: $2715.00 total); SECONDED by Canero with all in favor. Motion Approved. At 8:55pm - MOTION made by Commr Canero to take a 15 minute break, seconded by Komorsky and carried unan. OPEN SESSION: The Chairman called the meeting back to order at 9:10pm. ABSTRACT: $14,174.61 MOTION made by Sayles to approve the abstract, SECONDED by Canero and carried unan. OTHER BUSINESS: Lieutenant: Discussion followed regarding the open Lieutenant position. DC Ward recommended making a provisional appointment based on those eligible to sit for the exam (approx 9 eligible members) and to wait for the results of the recent exam. Canero agreed. Christenson would like to entertain the idea of a transfer. Topic to be discussed further in the next meeting. Training Lieutenant: To be discussed in the next meeting. Wallkill Fire Police Training: no names to submit for approval at this time. ADJOURNMENT: At 9:20pm Canero moved to adjourn, seconded by Caviglia and carried unan. Respectfully submitted, Tammy Martz - District Secretary Approved by the Board of Fire Commissioners on 3.26.13
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