HARMONY FIRE DISTRICT

P.O. Box 360 – 194 Putnam Pike

Harmony, R.I.  02829

 

 

 

The regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board was held at the Harmony Fire Department on Thursday, August 16, 2007.

 

Present:     Chief Stuart Pearson; Moderator - Raymond Fogarty, Jr.;

        Treasurer - Sandra Owens; Tax Collector - Kimberly Barber; 

        Clerk - Ann Dahlquist; Attorney - Fred Mason, Jr.;

                  Board Members - Louise Michaels & Milton Huston

                 

Absent:      Board Members – James Richards & George Kain

 

Moderator Fogarty called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm. 

He asked for approval of the minutes from the May 17th meeting. 

Milton made a motion to accept the minutes.  Louise seconded the motion. 

The motion carried.

 

Treasurer’s Report:

Sandy presented her reports for the months of May and June.  Year-end balance on June 30th was $118,841.92, with 93% of the budget having been used.  Her and Kim might have some minor reclassifications to do, then they should be ready for the auditor to come in.  The executive committee expense in particular needs to be adjusted since the temporary employee fees were posted there, as well as the PayChex payroll fees.

 

As tax money has been coming in very well, she will be making some CD’s tomorrow and an equipment fund of $30,000.00 will be created.

 

Ray asked the Chief about capital items still open from last year’s budget.  The chief stated that he intended to go into further detail during his report, but he would touch on a few now.  The sealcoating and striping of the parking lot has been completed.  The computerized EMS software & computers have been purchased, but we are waiting for the RI Department of Health to issue us an identification number before we can get it the program running.  Sandy asked the Chief to just let he know what capital item figures she should carry forward and she will take care of it. 

Ray asked about the kitchen renovation plan the association presented at our last meeting.  Have they moved forward with the project?  The Chief stated that they have just finished with their Golf Tournament Fundraiser and have not talked about it again, as of yet.  They definitely need to hire someone to draw up a design first.   Ray wants to move on the issue as soon as possible because of the fact that we are not in compliance with the fire code.  Another item the Chief mentioned is that the fire alarm system for the building has to go out for contract to be tested.  Ray asked if once we resolve the hood issue will we comply with everything else in the fire code?  The chief said the only thing left will be the replacement of the toilets.  We are off by 1” in height to be ADA compliant.

 

Louise made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. 

Milton seconded it.  The motion carried.

 

Tax Collector’s Report:

Kim presented her report.  Tax billing went out at the end of June.  Total billed was $444,838.40.  Payments received as of today total $322,285.69, leaving an uncollected balance due of $128,228.29.  Sandy asked how much of the remaining balance is made up of past due billing, 2006 and prior. Kim said she has some breakdowns Sandy can look at but there are still adjustments to be made.  At the next meeting Kim and the Chief would like to make a proposal about the tax roll we prepare our billing from.  Sandy asked how the Opal Data software has come along since our last meeting.  Kim said it has been working wonderfully since installation.

 

Sandy spoke of services Mike Recorvits had performed for the District and asked if his annual stipend had been sent out.  Kim said she had not sent anything to him.

There was a motion made by Louise to issue 1 last stipend of $500.00 to Mike.  The motion was seconded by Milton.  The motion carried.

Moderator Fogarty asked that a letter of thanks for his years of service accompany the payment check.

 

Milton made a motion to accept the Tax Collector’s report. 

Louise seconded it.  The motion carried.

 

Chief’s Report:

Chief Pearson presented his report.  First he brought up the fact that at the annual meeting he had made recognition of some individuals for an outstanding job they had done on a rescue call saving someone’s life.  It has been brought to his attention that there were some other individuals listed on the incident report whose names were not mentioned.  They were Privates Marc Swartz, Michael Grenga, Joseph Dougherty and Captain John Lyman.  He just wanted to make the board aware that they did also partake.  Ray asked that the members all be sent a letter of commendation from the board.

 

On the 6th of June, 6 department members, as well as the Chief,  attended the New England Association of Fire Chiefs conference in Springfield, MA.

 

Some repairs have been done around the building.  Rewiring of the shed out back, as well as some light and wire work done inside.  We have also excavated the drain line at the back corner of the building where ice used to build up, fixed it and replaced the asphalt.  And as I mentioned previously, the sealcoating and striping was done just before the 4th of July.  We also had the water pump bread and it had to be replaced at $1,450.62.

 

The VFIS Auditor came in to go over our driving policies and procedures.  We ended up with a good mark, with only one policy missing that we are taking care of now.  He gave some suggestions that the Deputy Chief and I are going over implementing.

 

On July 9th the Association held a cookout here.  A lot of people attended and everyone enjoyed themselves.  Also on July 29th the Association held it’s annual  golf tournament at the Foster Country Club.  It was a great success.

 

We had 4 members attend an ACLS (Advance Cardiac Life Support) Course, 12 Lead, at the North Scituate Fire Department.

 

From July 25 to the 28th we had 4 members and the Chief attend the Fire House Conference in Baltimore, MD.  A lot of good information came out of it.  One thing in particular is we solved the issue of finding a supplier to get a mounting bracket for the rescue computer from.

 

At the beginning of August we contracted a trash removal service.   Prior to this Captain David Plante had been taking care of it, but he is not able to any more.

 

On August 3rd Kim attended the 9th Annual Open Government Summit at Roger Williams Law School in Bristol.  She gathered a lot of good information to bring us up to the standards regarding the Open Meetings and Access to Public Records Acts and how it applies to Fire Districts.  This summit was for all public entities, not just Fire Districts alone.  Ray stated that the board encourages any educational opportunities that she wishes to pursue.  Any information she can gather is a benefit to the board.

 

The Chief has e-mailed Monica Coughlin regarding the employee handbook and starting to work on it.

 

Also in August an Uncle of one of our members, Private John Falco, passed away suddenly.  We sent a floral arrangement  to the family and received a card of thanks from them.

 

Upcoming training – we have three members attending a PALS course being held at the West Glocester Fire Department.  Two will be attending on a grant and one we will be paying for.

 

Upcoming conference – Chief will be attending the International Association of Fire Chiefs Conference in Atlanta, GA, from 8/22-24.

 

Upcoming event – Glocester Public Safety Day 8/25 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.  At this event the Association will kick off its sale of reflective house number signs.  It will be and ongoing project of theirs.

 

Also we had talked at prior meetings about obtaining an electronic sign/message board to replace the cork board in the break room the is not fire code compliant.  Kim had gathered some information on prices for scrolling types.  The board decided to look further into flat screen monitor type systems.

 

The Chief requested that a committee be formed to address the computer IT issues.  He asked for a meeting to be set up between himself, Kim, Milton and Matt Floor, to discuss the offsite back-up service, firewall subscription, networking, etc.  After Kim contacts Matt, she will get in touch with Milton.

 

Milton made a motion to accept the Chief’s report.  Louise seconded it. 

The motion carried.

 

Old Business:  Addressed throughout reports.

 

New Business:  Addressed throughout reports

 

Committee Reports:  None

 

Louise made a motion to adjourn.  Milton seconded it.  The motion carried.

 

The August meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board

was adjourned at 7:54 pm.

 

The next meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board will be

7:00 pm, September 20, 2007, at the Harmony Fire Department. 

This will be a 2 hour meeting, with 1 hour devoted to Strategic Planning.