Notes on the May 17, 2012 GHFPD Board Meeting by Gretchen Diefenderfer

Next Meeting: Thursday, June 21, 2012, 7:00 p.m. at the Community Center

This meeting was mostly about getting officially organized.  Dave Steinmann as the designated election official (DEO) and president of the last board filled everyone in on the protocol for all this.  Present were Dave Steinmann, Dave Sturtz, Donal Maloney, Rick Geesaman, Adriana Galue, Gary Siemer, and town members Leslie Finn, John Sand, Amy Hardy, and Gretchen Diefenderfer.

Dave Steinmann reported that the outgoing chair needed to be appointed as the temporary chair and the old board needed to approve the minutes of the last meeting and conduct any pending old business.  The new chair is officially President of the Special District and Chair of the Fire Board, so they tend to use the terms interchangeably.  Gary Siemer moved that Dave Steinman be appointed temporary chair, Donal seconded, and it passed unanimously.  Then Dave Steinmann moved that the minutes of the last meeting be approved, Gary Siemer seconded, and this was approved unanimously.

Next, Dave Steinman collected all the oaths of office, and the New Board was sworn it.  The Temporary Chair conducts the election for the new chair, who will then conduct elections for the treasurer, and the secretary (who may or may not be a member of the board).  They also need to adopt the seal, and file with the clerk a Corporate Fidelity Bond of not less than $5,000.  They then need to designate a time and place for their regular meetings.  There is a DOLA website with all the rules on Special Districts and Dave Steinmann will send the link to the new board. http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/DOLA-Main/CBON/1251594654263  and look under Special Districts.

Rick Geesaman nominated Donal as president.  Dave Sturtz seconded.  There was some discussion about the advisability of the assistant chief being the president.  Donal said that the role of assistant chief is operational – he runs a call if the chief is not there, and he doesn’t think it should interfere or be a conflict of interest.  Adriana inquired about what skills are needed and what the duties are.  Dave Steinmann reported that the president needs to attend most meetings, make up the agenda (any board member has the right to put anything on the agenda and members of the public can ask any board member to be added to the agenda).  The president then types it up and posts it 24 hours in advance of the meeting.  The president also needs to interact with the GHTM, with the town and the citizens, be organized, be communicative with the lawyer regarding legal questions, and make sure deadlines are met, including publishing the transparency notice.  Three board members are a quorum, but he suggested that it would be better to have all 5 there if there is anything controversial to be voted on.  He estimated that it probably averages 2-4 hours work per month, besides the meetings.

Dave Sturtz said that, in his mind, it might be better if the president was not an active firefighter, but both Rick and Gary cited the ignorance factor and said they’d take on more responsibility as time goes on.  Dave Sturtz then suggested they elect Donal and maybe have Adriana take over later, maybe in a year.  This was approved unanimously.

Leslie suggested that the board is supposed to officially go by Roberts Rules of Order, which means that all the chair can do is conduct meetings, but Dave Steinmann said that this is not in the State Statute.

Dave Sturtz thanked Dave Steinmann for his years of service and Donal seconded.

Donal, as the new chair, then conducted the election of the secretary and treasurer.  Dave Sturtz moved to nominate himself as secretary and Gary Siemer as treasurer, and this was approved unanimously.

Old Business

Regarding the easement to the cistern, Dave Steinmann will follow up on this.  Sue Kidder and Paul Roberts have sent a draft to the lawyer, Dick Lyons, requesting his review and opinion.  The board voted to pay any legal fees.

Dave Sturtz reported that they are supposed to have hard copies of all the minutes and they have all been printed out.  Leslie has kept the records organized.

The website is up, but can’t be revised or updated and we have to have the new transparency notice posted by June 7.  Adriana suggested WordPress – it’s straightforward, economical, and user friendly – easy to train new people on.   Dave Sturtz said that Matt Sturtz hosts it and will continue for the foreseeable future.  Adriana will talk to Matt directly and get this going.  See goldhillfire.org.

Adriana bills $35.00 per hour, which is economical.

New Business

Donal encouraged the new board to be cooperative and respectful with each other and the chief.  His understanding is that the board decides on strategic issues and the chief applies the budget and is in charge of tactical matters.  He added that when the board votes on something it is the duty of the board members to get on board with the majority position.

The meeting time came up and after some discussion the motion was made to meet at 7:00 p.m. on the 3^rd Thursday of the month.  Gary seconded and it passed unanimously.

The agenda and other information are posted in 3 separate places: the firebarn, the Gold Hill Store, and the bulletin board at the Inn.