HARMONY FIRE DISTRICT

ANNUAL MEETING 6/7/2008

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

Board Members - Louise Michaels, James Richards & Milton Huston

Treasurer - Sandra Owens; Tax Collector - Kimberly Barber;

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

Absent: Board Member - George Kain

I. – Meeting Called to Order at 10:02 am by Moderator Fogarty.

II. – Reading of Warrant by Clerk Ann Dahlquist

III. – Election Results Announced –

Moderator Fogarty read the results of the voting for this annual meeting.

The results were as follows:

Office Term Candidate Votes Received

Moderator (1) year Raymond Fogarty, Jr. 13

Treasurer (1) year Sandra S. Owens 13

Clerk (1) year Ann Dahlquist 13

Exec. Committee (4) years George Kain 10

Milton Aldrich (write-in) 1

IV. - Approval of the Minutes from June 2, 2007 Annual Meeting.

Moderator Fogarty asked the board if there were any discrepancies to note on the minutes. If not, he would like to call for a motion to accept them.

Milton made a motion to accept the minutes. Captain Randy Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried.

V. – Moderator Narrative –

At this time Moderator Fogarty thanked Alyce Mack and Susan Walsh for overseeing the voting polls for this meeting. They generously volunteered hours of their time to make our election possible.

Next Ray requested a moment of silence for Ray Norberg who passed away this past year. He was a respected, lifetime member of the Harmony Fire Department. The District Board extends its sincere sympathy to his wife Barbara and his family.

Additionally, Ray wanted to make everyone aware that George Kain has been hospitalized for some time now. He underwent an operation yesterday, which appears to have been a success. A get well card will be sent to him from the district and it is available today for anyone who wishes to sign it. Please keep George in your thoughts and prayers.

At this point Ray also thanked the volunteers for another great year. The numerous responses and all of the hours that they dedicate to the department are sincerely appreciated by the district. All of the time that they spend here at the station; Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, it does not go unnoticed.

Ray also wished to thank Kim and the Chief. He thinks they have done a great job with realigning many of the administrative processes within the district.

VI. – Chief’s Report –

In addition to the Annual Chief’s Report that Chief Pearson provided he had these comments to make.

The Chief agreed with the Moderator and his words of thanks to the crew and officers of the Harmony Fire Department for all of the work that they do, day in and day out. He also thanked Kim, who works extremely hard as the Executive Secretary for not only himself, but for the district in general.

Next he went over the run statistics listed in his report. He noted that there were 496 runs over the specified 12 month period. He described the information shown in the pie chart and graph within the report. The pie chart shows that the bulk of our runs are EMS calls. The graph is a time line showing the number of calls in each month listed.

Louise made a motion to accept the Chief’s Report. Deputy Chief Michael Segee seconded it. The motion carried.

VII. – Treasurer’s Report –

Before Sandy started her report Ray wanted to point out that the Treasurer’s position is a very important, time consuming one for a volunteer. As a professional accountant she does a wonderful job and Ray thanked her on behalf of the board and also the district.

Sandy then presented her report. Beginning balance May 1, 2007 was $159,696.42, ending balance April 30, 2008 was $235,934.81.

She next explained the report she had to present. The report shows the 2007-2008 budget amounts, the projected year-end total expenditures and the proposed budget amounts for fiscal year 2008-2009.

Jim made a motion to accept the Chief’s Report. Deputy Chief Segee seconded it.

The motion carried.

VIII. – Tax Collector’s Report –

Kim then presented her report. As of today’s date the past due tax balance is $62,430.63. Past due notices had gone out in April and certified mailings will be going out next. Statements will also be sent with the new tax bills when they are mailed.

Last August Kim attended the Open Government Summit at Roger Williams College presented by Attorney General Patrick Lynch. Topics discussed were Open Meetings Law and the Ethics Commission. It was a very informative event.

Also within the last year she became a charter member of the newly formed RI Tax Collector’s Association. This membership should be very beneficial in the future.

Milton made a motion to accept the Tax Collector’s Report. Louise seconded it.

The motion carried.

IX. – Budget for Fiscal Year 2008/2009 –

Ray explained that the overall budget we are proposing today is based on a tax rate of $1.20 per thousand. This is the same tax rate that we have held for the past 3 years. We have been able to maintain that rate due to increased revenues from third party billing and some other revenues.

You will notice an overall 4.8% increase in the proposed operating budget. Over 3% of this increase is due to the fact that we are projecting a 94% increase in fuel. With $7.00 per gallon estimated for diesel, $6.00 per gallon estimated for oil and higher electric surcharges as well.

Also you will see that the administrative salary has increased 10%. This is because Kim will be taking on the additional duties of preparing payroll in-house. Currently we pay an outside source approximately $3,000 to prepare the payroll and instead we will now pay that amount to Kim. So there is no additional expense to the district.

Administration: Proposed $70,424.00

Louise made a motion to open this category up for discussion. The motion was seconded by Jim. Mr. Nadeau had a question about the insurance expense. Ray asked Kim to explain the change. She stated that there are two insurance expense accounts. One is under Administration the other is under Other. Bills had not been posted correctly in the past and the line items were budgeted incorrectly. Now the amounts have been distributed properly in the right classifications.

There were no more questions on this category, so a vote was taken. The motion carried.

Personnel: Proposed $268,734.00

Jim made a motion to open this category up for discussion. The motion was seconded by Deputy Chief Segee. There were no questions on this category, so a vote was taken. The motion carried.

Fire Protection/Equipment/Operations.: Proposed $55,000.00

Milton made a motion to open this category up for discussion. The motion was seconded by Louise. There were no questions on this category, so a vote was taken. The motion carried.

Emergency Maintenance: Proposed $37,600.00

Louise made a motion to open this category up for discussion. The motion was seconded by Jim. There were no questions on this category, so a vote was taken. The motion carried.

Building & Grounds: Proposed $45,620.00

Jim made a motion to open this category up for discussion. The motion was seconded by Deputy Chief Segee. There were no questions on this category, so a vote was taken. The motion carried.

Other: Proposed $25,000.00

Milton made a motion to open this category up for discussion. The motion was seconded by Louise . There were no questions on this category, so a vote was taken. The motion carried.

Louise made a motion to accept the operating budget for fiscal year 2008/2009 in the amount of $502,378.00. Jim seconded the motion. The motion carried.

At this time Ray mentioned that of the presented expected revenue items there had been discussion of dropping the item of Car Tax. There had been some speculation that the state would be ending the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Phase Out payments. Since then the Chief has learned that the payments will indeed continue for at least the next year. This revenue item will need to be looked at again next year though. This prospective revenue list is just a forecast though and will not need to be voted on.

X. – Capital Improvement Fund for fiscal Year 2008/2009 –

The proposed Capital Improvement items for the upcoming year total $30,000.00. $15,000.00 in additional funds for the kitchen remodel project and $15,000.00 for the truck fund.

A Rescue Committee will be formed over the next year to start the process of purchasing a new rescue. This process will take approximately a year to complete.

Next Moderator Fogarty opened discussion for the proposed items for the capital budget. There were no questions on this category. Jim made a motion to accept the amount requested for capital improvements for 2008/2009 in the amount of $30,000.00. Milton seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Jim made a motion to set the tax rate for 2008/2009 at One Dollar and Twenty Cents ($1.20) per thousand dollars of evaluation. Milton seconded the motion.

The motion carried.

XI. – Presentation of Strategic Plan –

Since October the Strategic Plan Committee has been meeting and working on creating a Strategic Plan document for the District. There are copies of the document available for review. Louise stated that the district felt a need to put a plan in place for our future and we invited Professor John Visich to help us with the project. He did 95% of the work himself, with input from the committee and did quite a professional job.

John then thanked the Strategic Plan Committee for their assistance. He appreciated the Chief’s professionalism, Kim was a big help with the research and the committee’s ideas. He thanked the crew members that were present and told them that the surveys they had completed were taken very seriously when putting the plan together. Feedback received on these surveys was made a part of the plan. Other members on the committee were Viviane Valentine, Captain Randy Brackett and Captain David Plante.

XII. – Adjournment –

Milton made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Captain Brackett seconded it.

The motion carried.

The annual meeting of the Harmony Fire District was adjourned at 10:34 am.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kimberly S. Barber

Tax Collector/Secretary