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, August 20, 2009.

 

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

            Board Members - Louise Michaels & George Kain

                         

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

                        Treasurer - Sandra Owens; Clerk - Ann Dahlquist;

            Board Members - James Richards & Milton Huston

 

 

I. – Meeting Called to Order:  7:22 pm by George. 

 

II. - Approval of the minutes from the May 21st meeting. 

George, under advisement from Attorney Mason, tabled the vote for the minutes from the May 21st meeting, due to the lack of a quorum.

 

III. - Treasurer’s Report:

Due to Sandy’s absence, Kim presented the treasurer’s reports for the months of May and June. Beginning balance May 1st $301,080.71 and the ending balance June 30th $272,202.39, before audit. It does not appear that there are any expenses out of the ordinary.  We are working on closing out the year.  The adjustments were made that were discussed at the last meeting.

 

Geoff Malo has finished researching the issue with the monthly report, and it has been resolved.  Everything should be in order to submit to him in a timely manner to complete the annual audit.

 

Louise asked about the line items that went over, specifically line item #60101 – Third Party Billing Fees.  Kim explained that the fee we pay to our third party billing service is a percentage of the third party revenue we receive.  So, with the revenue being higher than our original budget estimate, the 6% fee paid out is also higher than our original budget estimate. 

 

George said these are only the numbers for June though, year-end right?  Kim replied that they were, the July figures were not yet available.

 

 The vote was tabled for the treasurer’s report.

 

IV. - Tax Collector’s Report:

Kim then presented her report.  The taxes receivable balance as of today’s date is $289,229.17.  This includes the 2009 billing.  Taxes collected in the month of May were $18,170.33, June $11,900.12 and July $87,309.69. 

 

The tax roll certification was held up at the town level for a few weeks again this year.  Therefore the fire district tax bills for 2009 were not mailed until mid July, to be payable in August.  The total tax levy for 2009 was $445,314.81.

 

Third party billing monies collected in the month of May totaled $5,357.32, June $964.58 and July $10,893.02.  Additionally we have received a quarterly car tax payment from state, in the amount of $8,379.88 in May.

 

The tax sale was held yesterday, August 19th, at 10:00 am.  It was handled by Bridget Williams of RI Tax Titles, as in prior years.  Of the 23 parcels we started with only 1 remained for the actual tax sale, a parcel of land on Tarklin Road.  No bidders showed up for the tax sale, therefore by law the fire district may file to assume 100% interest in this property.  Some discussion followed about the history of this property and it was decided that further research will need to be done before any legal action is taken.  Attorney Mason will contact the RI Department of Environmental Management to inquire about the properties status, if it is or was a Super Fund site or just the area of the old Glocester dump.  Kim will contact the Glocester Town Hall again to make further inquiries as to how they handled their recent tax sale on this same property.  She will also contact RI Tax Titles to check on the legal process of the tax sale and how long the fire district has to make a decision.

 

The vote was tabled for the Tax Collector’s report.

 

V. - Chief’s Report:

 

Due to the Chief’s absence, Kim presented a report on his behalf.

 

A thank you card was received from Lt. Donna DeConte.  Her mother, Jeanne Lavoie, passed away recently and a floral arrangement was sent on behalf of the fire district.  Many crew members attended calling hours to offer their sympathy and support.

 

Since the last time the district board met, there have been new wood baseboards installed in the front room and small hall by A & J Construction.

 

The Chief and Deputy Chief Segee picked up mulch and it was applied to the flower beds out front.  The grounds of the station are looking really nice.

 

A few crew members took part in the Glocester Memorial Day Parade this year.  They brought one of our trucks down as well.  The event was well attended.

 

The Chief went to Washington DC on behalf of the RI Association of Fire Chiefs.  He met with Senator Jack Reed, Congressman Jim Langevin and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.  Hopefully the information he obtained will help us with new grant applications.

 

The Firemen’s Memorial Parade & Service was held in Uxbridge, MA this year.  Quite a few crew members attended.

The NE Association of Fire Chiefs Conference was held in Springfield, MA again this year.  The Chief was in attendance for the entire conference and Deputy Chief Segee and Capt. Randy Brackett attended a seminar at this event.  A few crew members took a day trip up to attend as well.

 

The annual truck inspection was done by the RI Department of Health.  We passed without issue and the license renewal will be issued.

 

On June 29th the HFD Annual Cookout was held here at the station.  A great time was had by all who attended.  The Chief had folding chairs made up with the HFD logo to distribute as a gift to all of the crew members as well as members of the district board.  He has some left over to hand out to those who were not able to attend that night.

 

Also, Verizon is the new bundled package provider for phone, long distance service, cable and internet.  There should be a small savings to the fire district, due to this consolidation, as well as the convenience of only having to write one check.  An e-mail was sent out informing everyone of the changes to all department e-mail addresses.  George asked if the cell phones would be combined into this as well.  Kim said the company could not group that service because that bill comes from Verizon Wireless, not Verizon.   Louise asked if the savings would be long term, or if was just a short term introductory savings to get us to switch.  Kim replied that we had a 2 year contract with Verizon now.

 

A new Panasonic Toughbook computer and a Pentax thermal imaging printer have been purchased with monies left in last year’s budget.  They will be put into service on the rescue.  We received a recommendation from the RI State Police for the purchase of the printer, it is what they use.  Its compact size and the fact that it does not require ink and toner will not only be convenient, but cost effective.

 

George asked about the sale of the old rescue stored at the West Glocester Fire Department.  Kim stated that she had not heard anything yet from the Chief about it, other than distributing flyers.  The board would have to get an update from him directly at the next meeting.

 

The vote was tabled for the Chief’s report.

 

VI. - Committee Reports:

a.       Rescue Committee –Jim, Chair

Due to the absence of committee members, Kim gave an update on their behalf.  She stated that the legal advertisement to open the bid process will appear in tomorrow’s edition, Friday, August 21st, of the Woonsocket Call.  The bid period will close on Friday, September 4th at 10:00 am.  At that time the Chief will open the bids, in the presence of witnesses and any interested vendors.  All information will be forwarded to the rescue committee at their next meeting, Tuesday, September 8th at 6:30 pm.  They will then make their formal recommendation to the district board at the board meeting on September 17th. 

 

 

VII. - Old Business: 

a.       Call Pay Review – George:  no new information

b.      Charter & By-Laws Review:  no new information

c.       Policies & Procedures Manual: no new information

 

VIII. - New Business: 

George asked the date for the Glocester Firefighters Scholarship Steak Fry this year.  Is it on October 4th?  Kim said she will get a confirmed date for the next meeting.

 

IX. - Public Input:  No audience present.

 

X. – Executive Session:  None called.

 

XI. – Adjournment: 

The August 20th meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board was recessed at 7:48 pm.  The meeting will resume and votes will be taken at the next regular monthly meeting.

 

The next meeting of the Harmony Fire District Executive Board

is scheduled for Thursday, 7:00 pm, September 17, 2009 at the Harmony Fire Department.

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

 

Kimberly S. Barber

Tax Collector/Secretary