Meeting Minutes

October 25, 2019, 7:00 PM

NORTH BANNOCK COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT

Location: 444 E Chubbuck Road

October 25, 2019 @ 7:00 PM

Meeting opened by Roy Allen at 7:10 PM

Roll call – Roy Allen, Alan Curtis

A motion was made by Roy Allen and seconded by Alan Curtis to approve the agenda. The motion passed

unanimously.

A motion was made by Alan Curtis and seconded by Roy Allen to approve the minutes of the September 30,

2019 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

FIRE CHIEF REPORT – Chief Farnsworth presented the report. There has only been one call which was up the canyons for a carbon monoxide alarm; this was probably a smoke detector alarm. No fire was detected. The response times were excellent.

Community Events: The Department has participated in several community events including the ISU

Homecoming Parade, Lowe’s Safety Day, and the Portneuf District Library special needs trunk or treat.

Fire Department Command: The Department has developed a Chain of Command with the volunteers

divided up into 3 platoons with a captain and driver/operators for each. Each platoon will have a week of “On Shift”. The Chain of Command is Captain – Assistant Chief or Incident Command and Fire Chief.

Vehicles: The new wildland truck has arrived. There was a problem with the size of the water tank. It

came with a 200-gallon tank but should have been a 250-gallon tank. Another is being built and will be a 300- gallon tank. The truck will still be available for responses. Due to fiscal constraints it is not possible to purchase a command vehicle yet. The Fire Chief has lights and sirens installed on his personal vehicle for use for now.

The mobile radios have arrived and will be installed in each of the vehicles.

Station Needs: The station is taking shape with the need for some remodeling. Lowe’s is donating the

wood for the turnout lockers. Commissioner Alan Curtis has donated computer equipment and has installed the computer system. Wild Hare Estate Sales donated $500 worth of office furniture. Craig and Mary Gates donated a couch, microwave and exercise equipment. Tom Sanford has donated some equipment. Among the needs are a classroom, shower, refrigerator, oven, washer and dryer.

Fire Department Needs: Although the department received the donation of many used turnouts, there

are still some firefighters who do not have turnout gear of the appropriate size. A grant request has been

submitted to Firehouse Subs for 15 sets of gear for $24,000. There is a need for thermal imagers which cost about $12,000 each. Currently, the department has a demo thermal imager provided by MES. The next priority item needed is a method to fill the air bottles. Idaho Falls has a used air trailer for sale for $15,000. This should be purchased when finances allow. Other items needed will be Conex boxes for training and a training program called Target Solutions.

TRAINING REPORT - Chief Farnsworth presented the report. About 25 firefighters are present at each drill. The platoons are building comradery. Access to the station is open to the firefighters at any time.

TREASURER REPORT – The treasurer could not be present. Therefore, the current financial status is uncertain.

The audit has been completed.

* Roy Allen made a motion to move the discussion of the position of treasurer to after the Treasurer’s

Report. The motion was seconded by Alan Curtis. The motion passed unanimously.

* Roy Allen made a motion to appoint Alan Curtis to the position of treasurer. The motion was

seconded by Alan Curtis. The motion passed unanimously.

Refund checks have been received from Day Wireless and Johnson Welding. A grant for $2680 has been

received from Portneuf Medical Center for the AEDs.

There was a discussion regarding using autopay for ongoing monthly bills (Idaho Power, Intermountain Gas, Sparklight Internet).

* Alan Curtis made a motion to seek the advice of the attorneys at White & Peterson regarding the

payment of bills. The motion was seconded by Roy Allen. The motion passed unanimously.

There was a discussion regarding the System for Award Management (SAM). The federal government requires

certain numbers including the SAM number in order to obtain federal grants. The Fire Chief has filled out the

online application.

* Alan Curtis made a motion to designate the Fire Chief as the Fire Department’s entity administrator

for SAM and for the Fire District Commissioner to sign the SAM registration letter. It was seconded by Roy Allen.

The motion passed unanimously.

There was a discussion of RFFA (Reciprocal Fire Fighting Agreement) which was set up by INL and is a 5-year

mutual aid contract. There are no risks or obligations, but potential significant benefits to the Fire Department.

It provides the opportunity to exchange equipment. The Eastern Idaho Fire Chief Association approved adding

the NBCFD Fire Department to the agreement at a recent meeting.

* Roy Allen made a motion to pursue becoming a member of RFFA. The motion was seconded by Alan

Curtis. The motion passed unanimously.

NBCFD has been a part of GIFF (Gateway Interagency Fire Front) in the past through the Chubbuck Fire

Department.

* Roy Allen made a motion to pursue the NBCFD Fire Department becoming a member of GIFF. The

motion was seconded by Alan Curtis. The motion passed unanimously.

There was a discussion regarding the proposed fire department budget which was developed by Chief

Farnsworth. It included the Fire District budget also. The Fire Chief was requested to revise the budget and

include only the items directly related to the fire department.

There was a discussion questioning the need of the Fire District using multiple credit unions. It was initially set

up to make certain the monies were protected under the $250,000 FDIC guarantee limit.

* Alan Curtis made a motion to transfer all the monies out of the ICCU except for $40,000 and move it

to Connections. It was seconded by Roy Allen. The motion passed unanimously.

There was a discussion regarding the use of credit cards instead of debit cards.

* Roy Allen made a motion to phase out the debit cards and to obtain 5 credit cards for Fire Chief,

Assistant Fire Chief, and the 3 Fire District Commissioners. The motion was seconded by Alan Curtis. The

motion passed unanimously.

* Roy Allen made a motion to approve the debit card purchases as listed below. The motion was

seconded by Alan Curtis. The motion passed unanimously.

Costco (Station supplies) $44.97

Sparklight (Internet services) $76.90

Idaho Transportation Department (License plates) $47.38

Jacksons – Shell (Fuel) $57.71

Foremost Productions (Fire prevention) $128.74

ISU Homecoming (Fire prevention) $95.00

Alert-All Corp (Fire prevention) $174.50

K & B Service (Fuel) $82.01

* Roy Allen made a motion to authorize the payment of the invoices as listed below. The motion was

seconded by Alan Curtis. The motion passed unanimously.

Advance Auto Parts (Fire suppression, tools) $63.97

Idaho Power (Electricity) $68.90

Heartsmart.com (Medical supplies, equipment) $359.10

Intermountain Gas (Gas) $42.52

L N Curtis (Fire suppression equipment) $640.64

Matkin Auto (Apparatus maintenance) $135.20

MES (Fire suppression equipment) $195.73

Office Depot (Office supplies) $85.31

Spotted Dog Technologies (Software annual fee) $300.00

NEW BUSINESS

There was discussion regarding the sending of a letter to residents in the canyons detailing the need for

acquisition of land for another fire station. The Commissioners will send the letter. Dave Shell will be the

contact person.

* Roy Allen made a motion to authorize a Fire District decal for the brush truck doors up to $150. The

motion was seconded by Alan Curtis. The motion passed unanimously.

The quarterly meeting will be held on November 15, 2019.

* Roy Allen made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Alan Curtis. The

motion passed unanimously.

Respectively submitted

June Heilman, Secretary

APPROVED at November 15, 2019 Meeting