HARMONY FIRE DISTRICT
P.O. Box 360 – 194 Putnam
Pike
The
regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive
Board was held at the Harmony Fire Station on Thursday, October 16, 2008.
Present: Chief Stuart Pearson; Moderator - Raymond Fogarty, Jr.;
Tax Collector - Kimberly Barber; Attorney -
Fred Mason, Jr.;
Board Members - Louise Michaels, James
Richards,
Milton
Huston & George Kain
Absent: Treasurer - Sandra Owens & Clerk - Ann Dahlquist
I.
– Meeting Called to Order: 7:03 pm by Moderator
Fogarty.
II.
- Approval of the minutes from the September 24th meeting.
Moderator
Fogarty asked the board if there were any discrepancies to note on the minutes
from the September 24th meeting.
If not, he would like to call for a motion to accept them.
Milton
made a motion to accept the minutes. Jim
seconded the motion. The motion
carried.
III.
- Treasurer’s Report:
There
was no report available due to Sandy’s absence.
IV.
- Tax Collector’s Report:
Taxes
receivable balance is $143,123.18 as of today’s date. Taxes collected in the month of
September
were $80,775.32. Third party billing
monies collected in the month of September totaled $9,133.65. Monies collected for smoke inspections, plan
reviews, incident report requests were $365.00 in the month of September. Of this the Chief performed 7 smoke
inspections and 3 plan reviews, and I had 2 incident report requests.
Ray
asked about the Tax Exemption Committee, if there had been a group put together
yet. Kim informed the board that she
had contacted a Harmony resident and CPA, Anthony Milia and he had suggested
another CPA from Glocester, Greg Minor.
Besides them the committee consists of board member George Kain, Harmony
resident and Glocester Tax Assessor Viviane Valentine, Kim and the Chief.
Louise
made a motion to accept the tax collector’s report. George seconded it. The
motion carried.
V.
- Chief’s Report:
As
the board had requested at the last meeting a letter was sent to the “Greggson
Foundation” asking for a grant of $40,000.00 towards the purchase of the new
rescue. No reply has yet been received.
Ray
asked if by the next meeting we could have a cost estimate for the rescue, for
finance purposes. The Chief said that
actually last night there was a meeting of the truck committee. Each member was assigned a task to
research. They will be getting back
together in approximately 3 weeks to discuss their findings. They are also soliciting 3 vendors for
information. Jim stated that depending
on which chassis they go with the $160,000.00 we had originally estimated
should be right in the ball park of what we will actually be spending. Ray asked what the balance in the truck fund
currently is. Louise said that last
month it was $111,000.00 according to the minutes. So, Ray said if we get the $40,000.00 from the “Greggson
Foundation” we might not have to do another $45,000.00 on July 1st. We also have the trade-in value to take into
consideration, maybe about $15,000.00.
Milton asked if we normally trade-in the old vehicle to the company we
are buying the new one from. Jim said
that they usually do, but they would put in a contingency clause reserving the
right to withdraw the trade should the value is not acceptable.
Kim
and the Chief met with the Glocester Building Inspector, Larry Desormier and
his staff to discuss the upcoming Alternative Heating Workshop, as well as plan
reviews and other miscellaneous items.
It went very well and was very informative. Ray asked if the other 2 Glocester fire districts were going to
join us in the workshop. The Chief said
that Dennis Foster of Chepachet was present at this meeting and that he had
invited him to come and make a presentation. The town had offered the use of the Glocester Senior Center if it
was needed, but we said that we would like to keep the event in Harmony, as
long as the expected crowd size would permit it, especially parking wise. The building inspector, S & M Heating,
Frederickson Farm and Farm Family Insurance were the only responders to our
letters and they will all be participating in the workshop. The State Fire Marshall’s office will not be
able to send a representative, but they will be supplying us with materials for
a presentation. Kim stated that the
Department of Health would also be supplying us with copies of their new carbon
monoxide brochures. Louise asked about
advertising for the workshop. The Chief
said that he and Kim have already started to put together a flyer and they would
be targeting the Observer, the Bargain Buyer, the Cox Community Calendar and
the Foster Home Journal for advertising.
Louise also asked about the refreshments, had we considered approaching
the Dunkin Donuts in town for a donation?
Kim said that the whole group would be getting together on Tuesday
morning and we would be going over these details then.
Next
the Chief mentioned that on the 28th of last month our department,
along with the West Glocester Fire Department and the Northern RI League, had a
drill at the Fogarty Memorial School.
The
Steak Fry was a great success this year.
They made approximately $11,000.00 this year, which makes it the most
successful ever. There were a lot of
people in attendance and it was a lot of fun.
The
Chief also announced that on October 8th board member and Retired
Deputy Chief George Kain received the RI State Firemen’s League 2008 Fire
Fighter of the Year Award. The banquet
was held at the Greenville Inn and many members of the department along with
the Chief, Kim and Ray were in attendance.
Louise
made a motion to officially congratulate George on behalf of the board. Milton seconded it. The motion carried.
Lastly,
the Chief wanted to inform the board that he and Kim had recently reviewed the Strategic
Plan to make sure we were on target with the short-term goals we had set to
achieve. We are on target and believe
we are actually maybe a bit ahead of schedule.
Also, the Chief has been in contact with someone he knows at the
International Association of Fire Chiefs regarding an article we would like to
submit to their publication, “On Scene”, about our Strategic Plan. Ray suggested that if it is published we
could perhaps do a special mailing of it, since we would be receiving
international distinction.
Jim
asked the Chief if the department had ever purchased the Pulse-Ox machine they
had looked at the Springfield Expo over the summer. He replied that it was and is now on the rescue.
George
asked about the ongoing problems with the communications tower. The Chief replied that a meeting had taken
place between the 3 fire chiefs, the Glocester Police Chief and the company
that came in to do the communications work within the town. It was discovered at that time that they
didn’t install the antennas correctly.
To fix this, 6 new antennas and 1,000 feet of cable were ordered two
weeks ago and we are just waiting for everything to come in. The Chief is hoping that the new antennas,
which will be mounted higher on the towers, will go up in November. The ultimate goal would be to simulcast our
communications, perhaps at the new middle school tower. That would require FCC permission, lots more
funding and will not happen in the near future. Some discussion followed.
Jim
made a motion to accept the chief’s report.
Louise seconded it. The motion
carried.
VI.
- Committee Reports:
a. Building
Committee - Milton, Chair - The renovation is progressing well. Milton had actually stopped by while the contractor
was working one day and noted that they were doing a good job. His question to the Chief was if the
Association had any questions of the board regarding the finances. The Chief said that the Association had
formed a small committee of 2 members to research and purchase the
appliances for the project. This committee would then report back to the Association at their
next bi-monthly meeting. The Chief stated that he anticipated the project to be
completed within approximately the next 3 weeks.
b. Truck
Committee - Jim, Chair – discussion provided in Chief’s Report
VII.
- Old Business: Addressed throughout reports.
VIII.
- New Business: Ray asked if our board
meetings could be posted on the HFD website.
Jim said it would be no problem. Kim also mentioned that our meeting dates are posted on the Town
of Glocester website on their calendar.
IX.
- Public Input: No audience present.
X.
– Executive Session: None called.
XI.
– Adjournment:
Milton
made a motion to adjourn the meeting. George
seconded it. The motion carried.
The
October meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board was adjourned at 7:28
pm.
The
next meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board
is
scheduled for Thursday, 7:00 pm, November 20, 2008 at the Harmony Fire
Department.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kimberly S. Barber
Tax Collector/Secretary