Posted on: October 13th, 2023

GOLD HILL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT

September 18, 2023, 7:00 p.m. –  unofficial minutes

 

Next Meeting, Monday, October 16, 2023, 7:00 p.m.

 

MEETING BUSINESS

 

President Kent Coghill was absent and the meeting was called to order by board member Boyd Brown.  Present were GHFPD Board members Boyd, Max Yeager, and Jessica Brookhart plus Acting Chiefs Bret Gibson and Chris O’Brien, community members Greg Buis, Rick Sheingold, Leslie Finn, and recording secretary Gretchen Diefenderfer.

 

CHIEF’S MINUTES

 

Training – Bret reported that trainings with Gold Hill, Fourmile, and Sunshine are going nicely.  Next will be station organizing and cleaning on September 24, potentially including some truck training.  The upcoming October UTV training has 8 people signed up for a maximun of 12 slots.  Fourmile can bring up 2 UTVs if needed

 

Volunteers – Welcome back to Greg Buis, re-volunteering.  Bret is hoping to get more firefighter’s task books checked out so they can then mentor/teach others.

 

Maintenance – Max reports that he has a bid of $5400 to swap out the copper propane line – may be too high, still looking.  He’s continuing to work on getting the station dried out.  Wonders about a second man door in the wake of our only door having been stuck recently – possibly a trap door from upstairs – will continue looking at possibilities and ask local contractor.  The keypads have manual keys – Leslie has them and will get a lock box for them.

         Regarding the Conex (shipping container) idea for housing the UTV, there is a Ritchie Brothers auction coming right up and we could get a 30’ one for an estimated $3300, Towsley from Marv’s could get it up here and slide it in out back.  Bret has 4×6 material to build a frame to slide it on.  Still have to figure out how to deal with our flooding issue.  Leslie asked about the tuff shed idea, but the board has decided on something more temporary – Max is in agreement.  Might consider a 20’ one vs a 30’.  Jess made a motion to authorize Max to spend up to $4,000, it was seconded and passed unanimously.

 

Equipment Needs – Jess reports that she and Steffi Wilson have met and Steffi put in requests for the 2024 budget – still looking for more input on what’s needed.  Steffi is clear on the supplies job, the accounts, etc.

         Jess asked Max about vehicle equipment needs – nothing right now.

         Our request for 4 pagers has been approved, was included in a grant.

         Regarding hose, we will know more after the 24^th barn organizing and will put together a list for the budget meeting.  Chiefs O’Brien and Gibson reported that we probably need more wildland hose.  It goes for ~$6.00/ft and of we need 2000’ that would be $12,000.  Structure hose is $9.00/ft and we probably need 4-500’ of that.  2 ½” diameter costs even more – has a lifespan of approx. 10 years.  We should have 1,000 to 1,200’ on each truck.  O’Brien reported they can use a mile of hose on a 7 acre fire.

 

Barn Maintenance – Max reports that the seam between the old building and the addition was really poor construction and he’s looking for a solution.  Leslie noted that the County did put in a culvert back there, but property owners are responsible.  Max added that in the long run we probably need to design footing and a breaker wall.  In the short term, he will find rock and build a berm.

 

STRATEGIC PLANNING – Boyd reports that he and Max, Chief O’Brien, Greg Buis and Anita Sturtz comprise the committee and will meet soon with Robert Constable from Fourmile.  They intend to have a working document for the first of the year.

SDA Membership – Kent will be following up with his contact – dues are in the $500 range.

 

VEHICLES – Max reports that all 3 are now in top notch shape – ready to rock and roll.  The UTV has a new light bar and antenna installed by Matt and Dave Sturtz.

 

INVENTORY – The Medical Committee will look at all the medical gear and expiration dates (liability issues) and will order through AMR – Bret says to  talk to Brittany Buss, their operations director.

 

GENERAL –

Road/Parking Issues – Boyd reports that County Road Officials came up and walked our roads with a bunch of us to look at our road and parking issues – took a lot of measurements and listened to our concerns.  Bret also suggested possible culverts or? to deal with places where water running down the road has eroded some spots badly. They will send a proposal/report and have already replaced several signs that went missing. Bret noted that anything designated as “fire lanes” has to be kept open/clear.

 

End of Year Party/Event, Schwag?  Tabled until next meeting.

 

OTHER BUSINESS

Grants – Kris Gibson has submitted the District Distribution Grant for shelters, fire packs, headlamps, helmets, gloves, etc.    Marcus Moench has been working on the AIM Grant with Maya McHamer (Boulder Watershed Collective) to update it and address issues.  It’s due the third week of October.  Looking for money to work on more mitigation and home hardening for the community and surrounding areas, education, clean up days, etc.  Part of the money would be earmarked for a Coordinator to oversee it all.

 

Mitigation – Boyd reported that there have been two wood removal days at the Ashram.  #1 was really well attended – approx. 40 truckloads of wood were removed.  Our relationship with the Ashram is really positive.  #2 on 9/24, Boyd thinks his email announcing it (needing 4WD, etc.) scared a lot of people off and only about 6 people came, so there is still a lot of accessible wood.  Super thanks to Chris and Kent for their work bucking it up. Contact Kris or Boyd to get more.

 

Collaborative CWPP – Chris Dirolf will be reporting on this after the December CWPP meeting and the September Boulder West meeting.

 

Website – Jess reports it’s functioning well.

 

Questions about the State Legislature/election issues – Rick asked if there are any upcoming issues that concern us.  Chiefs O’Brien and Gibson reported that there is a bill regarding revised valuations and putting a cap on increasing taxes, but will probably be thrown out.  There is another one – something about Tabor, too, and capping it, but we should just go ahead and write our budget and estimate approx. 7% increase.

 

Minutes – Jess moved that we accept the minutes as published, Max seconded  – approved unanimously.

 

NEW BUSINESS – Bret brought up community education around phone notifications.  There is a lot of new capacity for evacuation/emergency messaging and how to respond.  Everyone should SIGN UP for the Everbridge system under the ODM (Office of Disaster Management – https://boulderodm.gov).  Soon there will be a new feature on the website directing citizens in areas affected to text to a given number for more information.

 

MOU – Rick noted that we’re heading toward the soft end of the MOU (end of the year) and wonders about the plans.  The MOU has been renewed.   The job description for the chief was discussed.  The goal is coordinating day to day operational information with our pending strategic plan.  Also want to define job responsibilities for the board members.  Regarding officers, Bret said that the objective was to remove officer designations and assess everyone for qualifications, capabilities, etc.  The process will happen soon.

 

Max moved that we adjourn – motion passed

 

Respectfully Submitted, Gretchen Diefenderfer, Recording Secretary