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 Station on Thursday, November 20, 2008.

 

Present:            Chief Stuart Pearson;  Treasurer - Sandra Owens;

Tax Collector - Kimberly Barber; Attorney - Fred Mason, Jr.;

            Board Members –

Louise Michaels, James Richards & George Kain

                         

Absent:             Moderator - Raymond Fogarty, Jr.; Clerk - Ann Dahlquist;

                        Board Member - Milton Huston

 

I. – Meeting Called to Order:  7:13 pm by Board Member George Kain . 

 

II. - Approval of the minutes from the October 16th meeting. 

George asked the board if there were any discrepancies to note on the minutes from the October 16th meeting.  If not, he would like to call for a motion to accept them. 

 

Jim made a motion to accept the minutes.  Louise seconded the motion.  The motion carried.

 

III. - Treasurer’s Report:

Sandy presented her report for the month of September.  Beginning balance September 1st $404,209.24 and the ending balance September 30st $476,951.79.  There was an unexpected expense to repair the phone box panel.  Discussion regarding the repair followed.  Other than that there were routine expenses.

 

During the month of September the $30,000 appropriation for the truck fund was transferred in to that account, giving it a balance of $97,976.

 

Louise made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report.  Jim seconded it.  The motion carried.

 

IV. - Tax Collector’s Report:

Taxes receivable balance is $132,193.34 as of today’s date.  Taxes collected in the month of

October were $9,903.83.  Third party billing monies collected in the month of October totaled $5,081.40. 

 

The district auditor, Geoff Malo, came in to do the field work for the 2007-2008 audit.  The process went very smoothly.  With everything being computerized now reports that he needed were printed out quickly and he was in and out within about an hour. 

 

New district meeting calendars were distributed to all present.  There will be no meeting in December, so these calendars will serve as a reminder for the January 15th meeting.

Currently Kim is working on the call & incentive pay numbers for all of the crew members.  Checks will be issued on December 1st and  15th.

 

Sandy asked if Kim had worked on scheduling a Tax Sale yet.  She has not.  Sandy asked how much notice is required before the sale?  90 days.

 

Jim made a motion to accept the tax collector’s report.  Louise seconded it.  The motion carried.

 

V. - Chief’s Report:

The Chief and Deputy have been attending classes in preparation for taking the NFPA certification for Fire Inspectors.  The test will take place sometime in January.

 

In the beginning of November the three Glocester Fire Chiefs met.  They discussed per/diem EMT scheduling and insurance liability issues.  Another topic discussed was the creation of a training site on 2-1/2 acres of available land behind the West Glocester station.  Each Chief has agreed to go to his district board to ask for start up or “seed” money for this project. They would also like to form a committee to move forward with this project and look into grant possibilities to purchase training materials for the site. 

 

A motion was made by Louise to take “seed” money from the budget line item of “training” and go forward with the project.  The Chief will come back to the board with the actual dollar amount needed at a later date.  Jim seconded the motion.  The motion carried.

 

Also, Harmony’s old Rescue 2 is still stored at the West Glocester station.  The Chief’s agreed that they would like to sell it to get the funds to buy a HazMat trailer for the training site.  Some discussion followed about the HazMat trailer and the training site in general.

 

Jim made a motion to declare Harmony’s old Rescue 2 “surplus” and have it sold with no bids required.   The proceeds will go towards Harmony’s third of the cost of the HazMat trailer.  Louise seconded the motion.  The motion carried.

 

The Chief stated that these items we are working on together all fall back to the same ideas we expressed in our Strategic Plan and show that we are achieving our goals.

 

Next, an update on the 800 MHz Radios we received.  We are still waiting for the cost reimbursement from RIEMA.  The grant money has been held up due to staffing issues at RIEMA and the “district” status of our department.  Some reimbursements to cities and towns have already been made, but we will have to wait until probably sometime in January for ours.

 

Also, a follow up letter has been sent to the Greggson Foundation regarding our request for a grant to help purchase the new rescue.  There has still been no reply.

 

On November 12th the “Alternative Heating Workshop” was held here at the station.  The presentations were great, the sponsors were well prepared, but attendance was poor.  Advertising was done in the Bargain Buyer, the Observer and on Cox Cable, as well as posting flyers.  One of the presenters, Karen Worcester-Wood, would like to possibly do the presentation again at the “Christmas in the Country” event at the Glocester Senior Center.

 

November 18 CINTAS put on a “New Life Safety Systems Technologies Symposium” at Chester’s Restaurant.  They talked a lot about sprinkler systems.

 

Next the Chief needed to bring up an old issue for clarification or vote.  The district had discussed implementing an ordinance for cisterns sometime back in 2003.  Currently all plan reviews must meet NFPA specifications, which cisterns are a part of.  Attorney Mason suggested that he should speak with the Glocester Town Solicitor about this item.  He will also research the district by-laws to make sure nothing was every implemented.  The Chief stated that cisterns would supply more water sources to fight fire, so in turn it would drive the ISO ratings down, which in turn would lower insurance rates.

 

Corey Charest, son of member Dan and his wife Kathy, passed away recently.  An arrangement was sent to the family on behalf of the district and a thank you card was received.

 

Former member Daniel Beck, Jr., father of member Dan Beck III, also passed away recently.  An arrangement was sent to the wake on behalf of the district and the station was draped in his memory.  A phone call was received from Dan III’s wife Susan thanking the board.  A donation of $40.00 was also made to the district by Dan Jr’s daughter Lois and her husband Walter Disney.

 

Also, we have received an e-mail from the editor of IAFC – On Scene.  They loved John Visich’s article about the Strategic Plan he prepared for us.  They said that it will definitely be the lead article for their winter newsletter.  When it comes out we will get extra copies for the board.

 

The Chief told everyone to make sure and take a look at the new kitchen.  As of today we have expended $16,763.45 on the kitchen remodel.  So that leaves us $6,737.27 in that line item.  Again these figures are through today’s date, so they will not show in the September treasurer’s report distributed at tonight’s meeting.  The remainder of that budget we will be used to get the hallway and the secretary’s office painted.  The association has purchased the new appliances for the kitchen.  Louise asked the total they spent. The Chief did not know.  He stated that they also performed much of the manual labor for demolition, moving the appliances, removing, sanding and staining the cabinets.  George asked what the original budget for the project was.  Kim stated that when it all started it was supposed to be matching funds of $15,000, but that figure has changed many, many times.  Originally when the project was first drawn up, the estimate for it was even higher than that.  Louise asked specifically what the association was looking for, for the district not to ask them for anything else?  George stated that he thought they had made a good faith effort by buying the appliances.  Jim suggested and Louise agreed that we wait until the project is complete and we have a total cost for the kitchen renovation, then discuss what to do at that time.  We should make sure to factor in the value of their time in the work they performed.   

 

As for an update on the Truck Committee there have been no new developments.

A reminder, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 30th at 5:00pm the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting will take place here at the station.  Santa will be arriving by fire truck and there will also be a secret surprise guest.  All are invited to attend.

 

Louise asked about the fuel oil, are we locked in at a price?  The Chief told her yes, about $3.19 per gallon and we had budgeted for $6.00 per gallon.  Some discussion followed about the falling prices.

 

Louise made a motion to accept the chief’s report.  Jim seconded it.  The motion carried.

 

VI. - Committee Reports:

a.   Building Committee – Addressed in Chief’s Report.

b.   Strategic Planning Committee – Addressed in Chief’s Report.

 

VII. - Old Business:  Addressed throughout reports.

 

VIII. - New Business:  Addressed throughout reports.

 

IX. - Public Input:  No audience.

 

X. – Executive Session:  None called.

 

XI. – Adjournment: 

Louise made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Jim seconded it.  The motion carried. 

The November meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board was adjourned at 8:03 pm.

 

There will be no meeting in December.

 

The next meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board

is scheduled for Thursday, January 15, 2009, 7:00 pm, at the Harmony Fire Department.

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

 

Kimberly S. Barber

Tax Collector/Secretary