Western Lakes Fire District’s Fire Board or Commission

Western Lakes Fire Board Monthly Board Meeting August 24, 2020 Call to Order  George Morris called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Board members present were George Morris, Jeff Roemer, Kent Lorenz, Bill Riemenschneider, Mike Tompkins, Lisa Mellone and Jimi Hall. Also, in attendance were Chief Brad Bowen, Assistant Chiefs Tom Schuetz and Matt Haerter, Deputy Chiefs Tim Meyer, Chris Igl and Kami Warren and Division Chief Alex Konen. Excused was Administrative Assistant Michael Krug. Proof of Notice  Chief Bowen announced that the notice was posted August 20th to the district web site, newspapers, clerks and all stations. Pledge of Allegiance  Division Chief Konen led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comment  George Morris opened the meeting to comments from the public, of which there was none. Consent Agenda  Chief Bowen stated he changed to a consent agenda like our municipalities have for approving minutes and payment of bills so all items can be addressed with a single motion. If a board member requests, an item can be separated from the Consent Agenda.  A motion was made by Lisa Mellone and seconded by Mike Tompkins to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion carried. Fire Chief Brad Bowen’s Report  Chief Bowen stated the monthly call report was attached and noted an increase in call volume with July exceeding 500 calls.  Chief Bowen and Kent Lorenz met to review ambulance revenues projections for 2021.  Ambulance and Highway billing revenues are beginning to go back up.  Chief Bowen stated that there were questions regarding the fund raiser held. It was organized by John Suttner to raise funds for the Fire District to obtain a drone.  We responded to a structure fire where the rapid response vehicle drove to the back of the house to extinguish the fire while engine crews were still deploying hose at the front of the house.  On August 10th, we had an incident where our EMS crew was attacked. We called a 10-78 (immediate threat to life safety) and our law enforcement partners throughout Waukesha County responded to aid. Assistant Chief’s Reports  Assistant Chief Schuetz had nothing to add to his report and there were no questions.  Assistant Chief Haerter had nothing to add to his report. George had a question regarding the Milwaukee Fusion center. Chief Haerter said it is part of DHS and provided information on any potential threats in the area. Chief Bowen stated that reusable masks were distributed to all employees. They were from the Coco’s fund raiser. August 24, 2020 Fire Board Meetring.docx Page 1 of 3 Bureau Reports  Deputy Chief Meyer (fire bureau) had nothing to add to his report and there were no questions.  Deputy Chief Kami Warren (EMS bureau) had nothing to add to her report and there were no questions.  Deputy Chief May (fire prevention bureau) was not at the meeting. Mike Tompkins asked about the virtual education for the schools. Chief Bowen said that we created videos tailored to the grade to send to the schools as we will not be going to the schools for fire prevention.  Deputy Chief Ingersoll (personnel bureau) was not at the meeting. There were no questions.  Deputy Chief Igl (fleet and facilities bureau) had nothing to add to his report and there were no questions.  Division Chief Konen (training bureau) had nothing to add to his report and there were no questions. Discussion/Action – Meeting Posting  Chief Bowen stated Jimi Hall asked this to be put on the agenda at the July meeting.  In 2017, we established a procedure for posting notices. Currently we post the notice to Gannett Legal Public Notice which owns multiple newspapers in Wisconsin, physically at stations 1 and 2, which is where administration was at, and to all of the clerks in the area we serve.  Jimi Hall feels it should also be posted to stations 5 & 6.  Mike Tompkins asked what the timing was for posting meeting notices. Chief Bowen said notices had to be posted 24 hours in advance.  A motion was made by Jimi Hall and seconded by Mike Tompkins to post the meeting notices at stations 1, 2, 5 and 6. Motion carried. Discussion/Action – Waukesha County Mutual Aid Agreement  Chief Howard from the City of Waukesha said that about 25% of the municipalities in Waukesha County have not adopted the agreement. This may be because the fire departments did not forward the agreements to the municipality to be officially adopted. Chief Bowen wanted to have the board approve the agreement so it can be passed to our municipalities for adoption at their next meeting.  A motion was made by __________ and seconded by ____________to approve the Mutual Aid Agreement.  Jeff Romer asked why we need a Mutual Aid Agreement if we have MABAS. Chief Bowen said it was for the working still and still level, prior to calling for a Box alarm. Jeff’s concern is that when MABAS came out, that there would be no other agreements and that state statue would preside. If something outside of MABAS is needed for a still or working still, that would be an automatic aid agreement. He does not feel we should have a separate agreement and it is from 2008.  Motion failed. Discussion/Action – K-9 Handler Agreement  Chief Bowen distributed the final agreement which was reviewed by legal counsel. It is the agreement between the district and the handler.  Lisa Mellone had some questions regarding who owns the dog. The handler owns the dog, and if the owner leaves the district, the dog goes with the owner.  A motion was made by Jeff Romer and seconded by Lisa Mellone to approve the K-9 Handler agreement.  Motion carried. August 24, 2020 Fire Board Meetring.docx Page 2 of 3 Discussion/Action – 2020 Operational Budget Amendment  Chief Bowen stated that our vehicle maintenance account is showing it is over budget for repairs that are covered by insurance. He would like to add account 60201 under the Insurance category for Insurance Claims and it would have a budget of $5,000 which would be taken from the Vehicle Repairs & Maintenance account for a budget neutral change.  A motion was made by Jeff Romer and seconded by Bill Riemenschneider to approve the 2020 Operational Budget Amendment.  Motion carried. Discussion/Action – 2021 COLA and Wages  The full-time 2021 COLA increase is 2%.  A motion was made by Jimi Hall and seconded by Jeff Romer to approve the 2021 COLA increase.  Motion carried. Discussion/Action – 2021 Operational Budget  Kent Lorenz stated that changes are a result of discussion at the budget workshop regarding ambulance revenue.  Chief Bowen said they reviewed the gross and net revenue for ambulance revenue from January 2018 forward up to March 2020 when COVID hit. Based on their analysis, the budgeted Ambulance Revenue was increased by $31,626 for budget plan A. Additional changes to be added are for the K-9 program and for station fee. Both are budget neutral changes.  Chief Bowen distributed the per capita costs for fire service for our area to show where we are compared to other municipalities.  Mike Tompkins asked if, when we present the budget to the municipalities, will we show them the graph showing the number of open part-time positions we currently have and are struggling to fill. Chief Bowen said that would be part of the presentation.  Jeff Romer asked if the budget is approved, will we be ready to hire the three people at the start of the year. Chief Bowen said if the budget is approved in September, he felt we would have no problems having the three people start at the start of the year. Chief Bowen said he would schedule a meeting of the commission to get direction for hiring the new employees.  A motion was made by Lisa Mellone and seconded by Mike Tompkins to adopt the 2021 Operational Budget and to forward it to the municipalities for approval.  Motion carried. Discussion/Action – Ambulance & Highway Refunds  There were no ambulance or highway refunds from LifeQuest so no action taken. Future Meetings  The joint owners meeting will be on September 8th at the Oconomowoc Arts Center.  The September board meeting will be on September 28th at the Oconomowoc station. Adjournment  A motion was made at 6:50 pm by Jeff Romer and seconded by Kent Lorenz.  Motion carried. August 24, 2020 Fire Board Meetring.docx Page 3 of 3