S.A.F.E.R. Board of Directors

OFFICIAL NOTICE & MEETING AGENDA of a Board, Commission, Committee, Agency, Corporation, Quasi-Municipal Corporation, or Sub-unit thereof Meeting: S.A.F.E.R. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Members: L White {c}; A Opall; B Ermeling; P Kachel; K Langenhahn Location: Rib Mountain Town Hall; 3700 North Mountain Rd, Wausau Date/Time: Tuesday, NOVEMBER 11, 2014 @ 6:00 P.M. AMENDED AGENDA ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION (All items listed may be action upon) AMENDED AGENDA: OPEN / CLOSED / OPEN 1. Call to Order. 2. Comments from the public on issues related to the SAFER district – This period is an opportunity for members of the community to come before the Directors and present to them their comments related to the financial and administrative management of the SAFER district. No action will be taken on comments received at this meeting. 3. Consent Items. a) Approval of prior meeting minutes from Tuesday 10/28/2014. 4. Business Items. a) Discussion and Action Ministry Medical Group Employer Solutions Contract. b) Discussion and Action on FEMA Assistance to Firefighter Grant Opportunity. c) Discussion and Action on DC Savage Vacation Time Adjustment due to promotion. d) Discussion and Action on Strategic Planning and Goal Setting. e) Convene into closed session under Wisconsin State Statutes §19.85(1)e whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session for the purpose of deliberating on the Town of Stettin RFP for fire protection services. f) Reconvene into open session. Discuss and take action on previous closed session items. g) Discussion and Action on Mutual Aid/Pay-for-Aid Agreement with Village of Marathon. h) Discussion and Action on Mutual/Automatic Aid Discussions with the City of Wausau. 5. Staff Reports. a) Reports from Fire Chiefs. b) Reports from Administrators. 6. Set next meeting date; discuss items for next committee agenda: Tues, 11/25 @ 6 p.m. 7. Adjourn. This notice was posted at the Municipal Centers and sent to the Wausau Daily Herald newsroom on 11/10/2014 @ 5:30 p.m. Please note that, upon reasonable notice, efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of disabled individuals through appropriate aids and services. For additional information or to request this service, contact the Rib Mountain Town Municipal Center at (715) 842-0983.  OFFICIAL MEETING MINUTES SOUTH AREA FIRE & EMERGENCY RESPONSE DISTRICT Board of Directors Regular Meeting Tuesday, October 28, 2014 @ 6:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order The regular meeting of the South Area Fire and Emergency Response District Board of Directors was called to order at 6:05 PM by SAFER Board Chairman Loren White. MEMBERS PRESENT – Loren White, Keith Langenhahn, Allen Opall, Peter Kachel and Barb Ermeling. Weston Finance Director John Jacobs, Village of Weston Administrator Daniel Guild, Town of Rib Mountain Administrator Gaylene Rhoden, Chief Meilahn, Deputy Chief Savage, Shift Commander Andy Schlagel and 4 audience members were also present. Attorney Peter Conrad was also present. 2. Comments from the public on issues related to the SAFER District There was no public comment or correspondence. 3. Consent Items a) Approval of prior meeting minutes from Tuesday 10/14/2014. Motion by Ermeling/Langenhahn to approve meeting minutes from 10/14/14. Motion carried unanimously. 4. Business Items a) Consider request from Village of Marathon City regarding mutual aid agreements between Marathon Fire Department and SAFER. Attorney Peter Conrad stated the initial mutual aid agreement was between the Village of Marathon and the Town of Rib Mountain. Many questions were raised during a lengthy discussion. Andy Kurtz, Village of Marathon City Administrator was present to participate in this discussion. The Board agrees more research needs to be done and be brought back for discussion at the next meeting. b) Consider whether to recommend department budget of FY 2015 to the Board of Supervisors for the Town of Rib Mountain and the Board of Trustees for the Village of Weston for adoption and approval. Kachel/Langenhahn to recommend department budget of FY 2015 to the Board of Supervisors for the Town of Rib Mountain and the Board of Trustees for the Village of Weston for adoption and approval. Motion carried unanimously. c) Discussion and action on repair costs for 79 Engine 11. Chief stated the total bill for the damage is $2,229.65. He stated the deductible is $500.00. The insurance carrier recommends submitting a claim when the repair bill is triple the deductible. Kachel/Opall to approve filing this claim with the insurance carrier. Motion carried unanimously. 5. Staff Reports a) Reports from Fire Chiefs None  b) Reports from Administrators None 6. Set next meeting date and discuss items for next committee agenda. Opall stated he would like to have a goal setting session. Next meeting date is scheduled for November 11, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. 8. Adjourn Motion by Kachel/Ermeling to adjourn at 7:13 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Prepared by Rhonda Christiansen on November 5, 2014. Presented for consideration to the Board of Directors on November 11, 2014. 4.a Stettin RFP for Fire Protection As the Board is aware the Town of Stettin has released an RFP for Fire Protection services in an area currently served by Marathon Fire Department (see RFP and map). Essentially this area is the entire SW corner of Stettin and comprises 16 sections of the Town. The RFP indicates a reply is due no later than 5:00 PM, December 1, 2014. When considering the RFP the following items need to be discussed; • The RFP does not indicate the volume of calls anticipated to the service area • Expectations on response time should be discussed, to that end, would Stettin object to SAFER “subcontracting” for fire protection to ensure the best response times • Do we currently have the capacity to take on additional territory, particularly given the distances involved • The RFP does not indicate the basis for pricing, e.g. per call, flat fee per person, etc. I am not sure how we can effectively bid without knowing this • The RFP imputes liability to the Provider. Given the potential long response times, I have significant concerns with this • The RFP indicates that the scope of service is “emergency response service” but does not define the term. Before we can respond, we must know the actual scope of services that are expected to be provided • The language identifying the number of personnel required 24/7 is ambiguous. This needs to better defined • Do we have the capacity to provide the inspections included in the scope of services • The RFP calls for the Provider to provide “risk management services.” What is that, and do we have the capacity to perform this function • The term of the potential agreement is undefined, to determine whether it is worth our time/effort, we need this information Actions; 1) Reply to RFP as best as possible without gaining answers to the above 2) Provide a negative reply to the RFP 3) Refer back to staff for clarification, draft a reply to the RFP and present to SAFER Board at the November 25 meeting 4. b Ministry Medical Group Employer Solutions As part of the Battalion Chief promotion process the candidates were asked to complete physical/drug screening. We used Ministry Medical Group Employee Solutions (MMGES) to complete this testing. In discussion between MMGES and Deputy Chief Savage, MMGES has offered SAFER a contract rate for any further pre-employment medical screening which could be used for new employees or current POC employee promotions to full-time. The rates, under this contract, are better than non-contract rates. As part of the contract we would also be offered post-accident screening. If a SAFER employee is involved in an accident which causes property damage and the parameters of the incident require drug and/or alcohol screening we will be able to send the employee to St. Clare’s for a 10 panel drug screen as well as an alcohol screen. This service would be available 24-hours per day. Actions; 1) Approve and sign the agreement with MMGES 2) Deny this request 3) Refer for further investigation and information 4.c Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighter Grant (FEMA AFG) The FEMA AFG period is now open and will close in early December. This is a competitive grant process to obtain funds for equipment purchases we otherwise might not be able to purchase or will allow us to purchase with minimal expense. Examples would be the Tanker purchased by Rib Mountain and air packs and the No-Smoke diesel exhaust systems purchased by Weston. A community who receives a FEMA AFG is required to provide a limited amount of funding toward the total purchase price. This is generally a percentage and is based on the type of department, population, etc. The percentage could vary between 5% and 15%, unfortunately we cannot provide the exact percentage until we begin the grant application. From past grant experience both former departments were in the 5% range. As we look at equipment needs for SAFER in the very near future, as an example, we will need to replace all of our existing self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) as the units are approaching 15 years of service and are near the end of effective service life. We will need to purchase 40 complete units which includes the air pack frame, air bottle, and face piece. We will also need to purchase 40 extra air bottles, and 60 face pieces. Each staff member is assigned a separate face piece as this is the most critical piece of safety equipment for the member while wearing an SCBA. The extra air bottles allows us to change air bottles quickly at a scene with a minimum of delay. Conservatively this price tag will be $400,000 - $600,000 range. These items have been identified in our long range plan for budgeting purposes. The question for the Board is would you like staff to complete and submit a grant for the above items. Should we obtain a grant our share based on 5% could be $20,000 - $30,000 total. Based on our budget formula Weston’ share could be $13,256 - $19,884. Rib Mountain’ share could be $6,744 - $10,116. The next question to be considered, based on the 2015 budget, is where this funding comes from as it has not been planned for in the budget? Actions; 1) Allow staff to submit an AFG to FEMA with each community paying their share 2) Refer back to each community to determine if they are willing to commit to funding 3) Do not submit a grant application 4.d. Vacation Time Adjustment for Deputy Chief Savage Deputy Chief Savage has 177 hours of vacation left to use in 2014. These hours were accumulated based on his 24-hour duty cycle prior to promotion. Under this 24-hour formula he would have 7 days of vacation to use. Due to his promotion, which is now a 40-hour week, the 177 hours converts to 21 days of vacation. As 2014 comes to a close and with the amount of year end work which needs to be completed DC Savage will not be able to use a majority of his vacation time. As you may recall SAFER is transitioning to a PTO system in 2015. DC Savage is requesting to have his unused vacation hours placed in PTO for 2015. This could be accomplished in one of the following formulas; 1. Place all unused vacation hours in 2015 PTO 2. Place half of the unused vacation hours in 2015 PTO and the remaining half in 2016 PTO 3. Pay out the remaining vacation hours at $6, 041.01 Actions; 1) Approve all unused vacation time be placed in 2015 PTO 2) Approve the 50/50 split for 2015 and 2016 3) Approve the payout option 4) Deny all 4.e Mutual Aid/Automatic Aid Discussion with the City of Wausau Staff was approached by Wausau Fire Chief Kujawa asking to update/create a new mutual or automatic aid agreement with Wausau Fire. As this is part of an ongoing discussion with other agencies and the need to obtain new agreements under the SAFER name, we recommend we be allowed to continue discussion and should they prove positive sign an agreement with the City of Wausau Fire Department. Actions; 1) Continue discussions and report back to the SAFER Board 2) Do not continue discussions