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

OFFICIAL MEETING MINUTES SOUTH AREA FIRE & EMERGENCY RESPONSE DISTRICT Board of Directors Meeting Tuesday, June 14, 2022 @ 17:30 A. Call to Order The meeting of the South Area Fire & Emergency Response District Board of Directors was called to order at 17:31 by SAFER Chairman Al Opall. Members Present Board of Directors – Cronin (*arrived at 17:36), Langenhahn, Maloney, Opall and Schaefer were all present. Also present: Town of Rib Mountain – Finance Director Dunbar; Village of Weston – Director of Finance Trautman; SAFER – Fire Chief Finke, Deputy Fire Chief Lang, Lieutenant Lohman (arrived at 17:43), FF/EMT Hunsicker (arrived at 17:43) and Administrative Assistant Latimer. B. Correspondence/Comments from the public on issues related to the SAFER District None C. Consent Items Board of Directors approval of prior meeting minutes from May 10, 2022. Motioned by Maloney to approve prior meeting minutes from May 10, 2022 also approve expenditures and receipts from May 2022. Second by Schaefer. Motion carried 4:0. Board of Directors approval of expenditures and receipts from May 2022. Motioned above. D. Business Items Presentation of the Annual Report. - Chief Finke said that is in your packet, does anyone have any specific questions? - Schaefer asked what do you consider your highlights of the past year besides navigating a leadership change? - Chief Finke said we had several significant fires again. The two biggest things we fight everyday are staffing shortages and call volume. We lost six firefighter/paramedic and only hired two back, we lost three firefighter/EMT and hired three back. - Schaefer said going forward as the new Chief, what do you see is your top three things you want to do? - Chief Finke said I think we have to stabilize the staffing. It’s changed since I’ve been here, and we’ve been adding and moving and multiplying. This is a long-term plan, but I want the Fire Department to have a true EMS Division. We have an EMS Division Chief, but we don’t have a true EMS Division. I want to see us hire some paramedic only positions where they don’t have fire responsibilities. (*Cronin arrived) Another is the Community Paramedic Program. Fire Commission Appointments for the Village of Weston. - Maloney said Tatro is our 1-year appointee and Jackan is our 2-year appointee Action: Motioned by Maloney to appoint Tatro for 2-year term and Jackan for 1-year term. Second by Cronin. Motion carried 5:0. Election of SAFER Board of Directors Chair and Vice Chair. - Opall said I’m ready to handoff the torch. Action: Motioned by Opall to nominate Maloney for Chair. Second by Schaefer. Motion carried. Motioned by Schaefer to nominate Opall for Vice Chair. Second by Maloney. Motion carried. Discussion and possible action on EMS Bill adjustment. - Maloney said the only thing that confuses me is that they thought because they were a former member, they should get something. I think to be consistent and keep policy we have to deny it. Action: Motioned by Maloney to deny the EMS Bill adjustment. Second by Cronin. Motion carried 5:0. Discussion and possible action on the use of ARPA funds to fund capital projects. - Chief Finke said we have some one-time capital purchases that I would like to request ARPA funds for, a Turnout Gear Extractor in Rib Mountain which has several issues and are non-repairable due to discontinued parts. - Schaefer asked, ARPA funds just over $10,000.00 purchase do we have to do something? - Dunbar said I just had a conversation with an auditor, you don’t have to have two quotes, you need to have justification as to why you do not have two quotes. - Chief Finke said we actually have two quotes. - Dunbar said also a justification as to why you chose what you did, they suggested a memo. - Chief Finke said the second item is Turnout Gear Dryers, we would have two different ones, the one we would keep in Rib Mountain would be a smaller size, the one we would keep in the Village is a larger size that we can dry hose and turnout gear. The last item is the biggest purchase which is a Cascade System at Station 2 and it includes an upgrade to the system on the truck at Station 1. - Schaefer said I think what they are buying here goes towards employee moral which is good. - Trautman said can we get the policy brought forth on the next meeting? - Chief Finke said we can do that. - Trautman said make sure the policy reads as you want to follow it. Action: Motioned by Cronin to approve the ARPA fund purchases for capital projects. Second by Schaefer. Motion carried 5:0. Discussion and possible action on Fund Balance Policy changes. - Chief Finke said this was the discussion from the last meeting, it was requested that we bring it back with the updates in the document. This was for the 25 – 33% which is under the Minimum Unassigned Fund Balance on the second page. Action: Motioned by Schaefer to approve the Fund Balance Policy changes. Second by Maloney. Motion carried 5:0. Discussion and possible action on future of TEMS Program. - Chief Finke said TEMS is Tactical EMS, right now we have two spots on that team which is between us and Wausau Fire that works with the County SWAT team. Wausau Fire has only four or six spots and we’ve had the two. In the past it’s been Savage and Gordon, so right now it’s only Gordon. We need to make the decision if we want to fill that spot again, I really have mixed feelings and my concerns are it opens us up for some liability, because if somebody gets hurt the workers comp is on us. - Opall said all the departments must be in the same situation. - Chief Finke said they are and we all have the same MOU. My concern is that this goes all over the county and at times outside the county and if one of my guys gets hurt and they’re full-time person and they’re out of work for six weeks, we need to pay overtime and workers comp claim and we’re on the hook for all of that. We have another employee that would take the spot like that, they’re a military trained combat medic. - Deputy Chief Lang said our cost is workman’s comp and wages for training and deployments which is minimal. - Maloney said your concern is on the injury. - Chief Finke said they have about twenty call outs a year that range from 2 hours to 12 hours. They train one day a month for 8 hours. They build a good skill set.  - Maloney said think optically and we’re all in this together in this county. Plus, you have a person that aggressively wants to go at it and I think it sends the right message too. - Schaefer said I think it’s good engagement for the employees too. - Maloney said plus it’s also conversation with other departments. - Chief Finke said I saw all the good sides, but if someone gets hurt how do I come back and say it’s going to cost the tax payers of the Town and Village $X.XX because these guys got hurt in Marshfield. - Schaefer said I can justify that. Action: Motioned by Maloney to approve the TEMS Program. Second by Cronin. Motion carried 5:0. Opening of Cardiac Monitor bids. - Chief Finke said these sealed bids will be over $50,000.00. We did have a demo and while I open them, Deputy Chief Lang will go over them. - Deputy Chief Lang said we had a demo on three different monitors. The Zoll X Series which we currently have, Tempus and Lifepak. The overall recommendation from EMS Division Chief Bechel and the members is to go with the Tempus. Without seeing the bids. This is for six monitors which will replace all six that we have. - Chief Finke said the low bid is the Tempus at $216,711.00 for six, the mid is the Zoll at $218,000.00 and the Lifepak at $236,000.00. Discussion and possible action on Cardiac Monitor bids. - Schaefer asked how much funding do we have from federal for this? - Chief Finke said $303,000.00. - Cronin asked if it’s only been around for 10 years, is there any concerns with longevity? - Maloney asked how long can they last? - Chief Finke said usually eight years is industry standard. One of our Captains we just hired still works part- time on Marquette County EMS and they use them and he said they like them. Action: Motioned by Schaefer to approve the purchase of the Tempus monitor. Second by Langenhahn. Motion carried 5:0. Attorney Referral. - Opall said do you want to talk to VanderWaal about the subject that you talked to Maloney and I about? - Chief Finke said I can run it past him. End of Month Budget review. - Chief Finke said that is in the packet also. Does anyone have any questions on that or if Dunbar and Trautman have anything to add? - Schaefer said the only thing you’re overspending on is Meeting Expenses and Natural Gas. If this holds true, you’re at about $1.7 on revenue. E. Staff Reports Report from Fire Chief - Fire Chief Finke said we do have one other item that we want to buy EMS related as part of that grant and I don’t know if you want me to bring that back, it is not going to be any where close to $50,000.00. It’s for a new ventilator, so we’re not doing a sealed bid process on that, we already have the one picked out that we want and we have a bid on that one. From the HRSA funds. - There is an EMS flex grant that is opening through the State, so we’re going to put in for a UTV and that’s another item that’s a couple years down the road in our capital item to replace the UTV in Rib Mountain. Normally I wouldn’t ask for it now, it is fully funded. Report from Deputy Fire Chief - Deputy Fire Chief Lang said Campbell at our last Fire Commission meeting said that I should use a template for my report so I give you all the same stuff every time. Personnel report: Zellner and Breit just got promoted, Zellner is our new Captain and Breit is our new Engineer both on red shift and they started on June 1st. We just graduated and academy class of Tischer, Haas, Lepel, Cordova, Ihle and Diedrich. Diedrich is  the IFT, Lepel, Cordova and Ihle have accepted the majority time position. Captain Stieve was offered the part-time Fire Inspector and he accepted the position and started last week. EMS calls in May, we had 283 calls for service, 207 were 911, 59 IFT, 7 intercepts and 9 mutual aid. Fire calls we had 30 of those we had a building collapse, a shed fire, a chicken coop fire and a significant structure fire. Training in May was mostly hovercraft training. Fire Prevention we had multiple events. Currently I’m working on the wildland DNR grant and we’re putting in for PPE mostly, we’re changing how we deploy to wildland fires a little bit. F. Remarks from the Board of Directors to set the next meeting date, as well as discuss items for the next meeting agenda. - Next meeting scheduled Tuesday, July 12, 2022 at 17:30 at SAFER Station 1. - Cronin has nothing. - Langenhahn has nothing. - Maloney has nothing. - Schaefer has nothing. - Opall has nothing. G. Adjourn Motion by Langenhahn to adjourn. Second by Maloney. Motion carried 5:0. Opall adjourned at 18:22