Cedar Mountain FireProtection District
Minutes
March 11, 2017
3620 Mammoth Creek Road, Duck Creek Village, UT. 84762
Board Members Present:Mike Petullo, Chairman
Frank Gagliardi, District Clerk
Brad Robbins, Treasure
Diane Adams, Member
Chuck Brechler, Member
Bob Shackleford, Member
Don VanDine, Member -Absent
March 11, 2017 at 10:05 A.M. the Cedar Mountain Fire Protection District Board of Trustees monthly meeting is now in session. We have a quorum.
Invocation
Pledge of Allegiance
Agenda:
Chairman Comments:
Chairman Petullo stated as a reminder to the Board that the yearly training of the Board is March 24th, 2017 at 10:00 am here at Station 1. Chairman Petullo in January took the UASD training on line, but may be here.
Chairman Petullo reminded everyone of the Public Hearing on March 25, 6:00 pm also to be held at Station 1. This is in regards to the capital improvements, fee increase and the hiring of the four full time fire fighters.
Minutes:
Chairman Petullo said there are two meetings to be approved they are, February 11, 2017 and the Public Hearing Minutes from February 17, 2017.
Any comments, suggestions?
Approval of Minutes:
Frank Gagliardi made the motion to approve both set of the minutes.
Diane Adams seconded the motion.
Poll of the Board for approval on the Public Hearing minutes, this is due to members not being at the meeting and abstaining their vote
Bob Shacklefordabstain
Diane Adamsabstain
Chuck Brechleraye
Brad Robbinsabstain
Frank Gagliardiaye
Mike Petulloabstain
Three of the board members at the meeting approve the minutes including Don VanDine who is absent today.
Minutes were passed.
Treasurer’s Report: Brad Robbin
Fire Funds Checking 0.00
Mountain America CIP Account 339,702.53
Snow Emergency Funds State Bank 335,444.13
Snow Removal Funds State Bank108,944.91
Zions Fire Checking 305,908.75
Zions Savings 255,110.36
Total Checking & Savings $1,345,110.68
Treasure Robbins stated we are now down to 5 banking accounts. We closed Fire Fund Checking that had about $3386.00 and moved that money to Zion’s Fire Checking. As part of the budget that was approved $14,000.00 was moved from Zion’s checking to Mountain America which is the Capital Improvement Fund. There is approximately $340,000.00 in the CIP account. Due to receiving the checks from the county $100,000.00 was moved from Zion’s Fire Checking to Zion’s Savings.
Motion was made by Member Brechler to approve the minutes. Motion was seconded by Member Adams
Motion carries.
District Clerk’s Report: Frank Gagliardi:
District Clerk Gagliardi stated we had to pay the quarterly taxes. Unusual expenses$600.00 for the loader brakes and miscellanies itemson loader. About $700.00torepair the snow plows mount, $1200.00 for inspection on the Makeo compressor which is the one we use to fill the SCABA breathing bottles. Then they tested the breathing mask and bottles for $1600.00 which is an annual inspection thing. We have started getting the giveaway for the summer events, hat, frisbees and things that go to the kids which was $402.00.
Snow side we have exceeded over 14 feet of snow for the season so far. Expenses for snow have gone up as a result of that. We have to pay the contractors as if we had been at fourteen feet or more of snow since the beginning of the snow season. So there was some arears we need to pay this month. The checks have been written and ready for the snow contractor to pick up on the 15th.
District Clerk Gagliardi stated we have gotten almost all our revenues in December. As people pay their taxes late we get additional checks. We have just received two checks for fire from the county totaling just under $19,000.00 and for the county for snow, just over $15,000.00. In a typical year we only receive about 85% of total revenues.
Member Adams asked if we only collect about 85% of the taxes, she is assuming real-estateis about the same ratio. Are we a 5 year state, meaning they place a lean after 5 years?
District Clerk Gagliardi state we do not have the records to know if that is that the case. The county just writes us checks so we do not know which properties or how much of that is past years overdue
Treasurer Robbins stated we are a 4 year state. If taxes are not paid within four years a lean is put on the property.
Member Brechler asked if we will receive our portion when it goes for a tax sale, and the answer was yes.
Member Brechler had a question on line 231 on the clerk’s report.$80.59 for electricity for Station 1. Has something happened with our agreement with the forest service?
District Clerk Gagliardi said that has been misapplied. He will contact the account to have this moved to the correct line.
Fire Chief Report: Kevin Davies
Response:
We have responded to 4 calls for service since the last Board Meeting. 4 EMS Calls (Three were dispatched and one came by the station after hours.)
Fleet:
Vehicle Maintenance:
Weekly rig and equipment checks continue to be performed.
Tender 71 is still out of service. The gaskets have been replaced in the split rims, but we have not had the brakes repaired and the wheels have not been installed yet.
Chief Tuttle’s vehicle is at Bradshaw Chevrolet for repairs to the body. An estimate of just under $900 was given to repair the front skirting, driving lights and passenger rear door handle. The handle broke off two months ago when the door was frozen shut and Chief Tuttle attempted to open the door. The front skirting below the bumper has been damaged on the passenger side of the vehicle since before Chief Tuttle took possession of the vehicle. The driving lights have been nonfunctional since Chief Tuttle took possession of the vehicle as well. The front skirting received new damage when Chief Tuttle pulled into a snow bank that was frozen and cracked the skirting on the drivers’ side pushing it back to where the tire rubbed on it whenever the vehicle turned to the right.
After the body repair the vehicle will be in the service department to address the strobe lights. Right now the only emergency warning lights that are functional is on the light bar on top of the vehicle.
All strobe flashing lights as well as the flashing head lights are not operational.
Medical Service agreement:
This is on the agenda and will be discussed at that time.
Snow Liaison Report:
Member Shackleford stated since his last report on February 11, we have received approximately another 32 inches of snow. This brings the snow season totals to the snow level category of “14 feet but less than 19 feet” level in some subdivisions. There are eight snow level categories in the contract. Currently we are at snow level number three.
Member Shackleford has received six calls this past month concerning snow removal; two about snow berms blocking driveways, two for slushy roads, one about snow being deposited on private property and one property damage call. He has since spoken to all six callers and to his knowledge, these issues have been resolved. End of report.
Jerry Triebold asked if we were using the numbers that the snow report people are giving you, (Bob Shackleford), or the figures Jerry Triebold is giving him from Strawberry.
Member Shackleford stated he is taking the numbers from Jerry Triebold and the other residents in the other subdivisions including Strawberry. Jerry Triebold does not believe Strawberry has gotten 14 feet.
Member Shackleford stated that Strawberry has gotten 13.5 feet of snow.
Wally Johnson stated 16.8 feet of snow in Meadow View.
Member Shackleford stated he is not averaging them, he is trying to stay with the most consisting reporting.
Old Business
Townsite Act and Station Expansion:
Nothing is happening.
Swains Creek Barn/ Metal Building:
Member Brechler stated he was trying to get prices to estimate the difference between a new building and remodeling the old building. Normally we have been running about 25% higher than estimates for Southern Utah. The prices over the past few years have been going up and up. In 2007 the increase was
about 1 ½ % a year. In 2007, 2008 they dropped and now they are back up and they are very hard to get an average price due to the shortage of workers in the area,and contractors.
Member Brechler has asked for Treasurer Robbins help in contacting contractors.
Treasure Robbins said he would as he knows some contractors.
KCEMS/CMFPD MOU:
Chairman Petullo stated in February the hospital administrator sent the Chief back the MOU. It basically the same MOU that Chairman Petullo first drafted back in December. Under number 4 their attorneys took out that Kane County Hospital would reimburse us for oxygen, medications, and other disposal supplies. They took out that whole paragraph. The rest of the MOU looks the same as the one Chairman Petullo presented to them. We had that one call and our guys showed up. Our guys had the patient on a backboard and when the ambulance showed up they asked if they should transfer the patient from our backboard to their backboard, because according to this MOU, which is not approved yet, the hospital does not want to swap out backboards. We are not under their umbrella. However, the Chief had talked with Stuart Willoughby,who is the EMS Supervisor, said just to swap the backboards out, so they gave us one of theirs and took ours with the patient to the hospital.
The other item not on the MOU was a question Chairman Petullo had asked them about the disposables and supposedly there is a grant that we can receive some fund for like, bandages, splints and those kinds of things. Chief Tuttle has applied for that, but the issue of medications has not been addressed. The hospital will not reimburse CMFPD for any medications used on the patient while they are under our care.
Treasurer Robbins asked if Kane County Hospital was getting reimbursed themselves.
Chairman Petullo statedthat they charge the insurance company and getting reimbursed.
Treasurer Robbins asked if that is regardless of who is administrating the medications.
Chairman Petullo stated that is the question he has.
Member Adams stated how do they charge for something they didn’t do?
Chairman Petullo stated he didn’t know that. When the Chief and the Chairman met with the administrator back in the beginning of December, she said she had spoken with their accounting people and again because we are not under the hospital umbrella, that they can’t reimburse us for medications and/or oxygen that we use. The Chief was talking with a company in Kanab that supplies the hospital with oxygen and you can buy a couple of the big tanks and we have the bottles. It is somewhere in the ballpark figure of $3500.00. We can have the oxygen here, refill our own tanks. The Chief will talk about that when he returns. If we start doing AEMT treatments we are going to be using medications and oxygen and the property owners in their fees will be paying for that even for the folks that come up here, even if you rent your cabin out, and they come up here, that cost is on the property owners from the fee being assessed . Chairman Petullo does not know if you want to do that. The Chief was going to contact a couple of other quick response units in the area and find out how they get reimbursed. He does not know if the Chief has done that or not. He is on vacation at this time. Option 1 is we charge non property owners for medications and/or oxygen that we use because we are not getting reimbursed by the hospital.
There are other issues here regarding the other medications. Some of them are narcotics, so we have to find a place to store them under lock and key and have some kind of accountable for them and so forth. We have not gone there yet.
Sallie Shackleford stated the Chief had talked about when he was looking at different sub-assistance whether he had the ability with this tracking system if he had the ability to them turn around and charge those people. She was not sure if we had that or not. That might be another part of the discussion when he returns to look into that whether that is possible.
Chairman Petullo stated we could table this discussion until he returns.Dr. Ott has to write the prescriptions so we can get the medications to store here. Chairman Petullo sated hedid not know if that was part of hisdiscussion with the medical agreement or not.
Member Adams agreed that this should be tabled, but these comments: scheduled fee for narcotics, anything he writes a prescription for needs an answered.
Member Brechler made the comment that a lot of people up here are on Medicare and there are limits we would have to be able to bill Medicare. There are limits to what they will pay.
Sallie Shackleford we, the property owner, would not have to pay correct?
Chairman Petullo stated yes it would only be the people that come up here, renting, that we would bill. We would get more calls from actual property owners that live up here.
The discussion continued. No decision was made on the MOU. This has been tabled until the Chief returns.
Member Brechler wants the attorney to sign off at the bottom of the page. This will be added at the end of the MOU.
Dr. Ott Medical agreement:
Chairman Petullo stated that in the Chief’s report he mentions the quote he did receive for malpractice insurance is $2600.00 a year and CMFPD was willing to provide to reimburse him for the applicable fee for providing the insurance coverage. Dr. Ott agreed that would be best. This is in the chief’s report.
In the Medical Service Agreement under #7, the medical director agrees to pay for and maintain medical malpractice during the term of this agreement.
In the Chief’s report he says Dr. Ott said he agreed that CMFPD would pay for the malpractice insurance.
Member Adams said that he has to have his own malpractice insurance that covers the active. When Member Adams read the contract she wondered where our statement of our insurance is. Member Adams stated that ever since this was brought up we had to purchase our own insurance to cover ourselves. Dr. Ott’s liability is not going to cover us in the indemnification state nor should ours retroactively go back. Each entity should have their own insurance. Chairman Petullo said that the Chief meet with Dr. Ott and showed him this agreement. We had a figure in Section 6. payment, but then it was removed.
Member Adams said we had discussed what we thought it was approximately and that it was an unknown figure. So they removed it to see what figure Dr. Ott wanted for his services.
Firefighter Davies said when the Chief met with Dr. Ott and he would not charge us a monthly fee, just pay his malpractice insurance for us.
Diane Adams stated that was a conflict of interest.
Chairman Petullo stated the board should look at the fourth line and the $2600.00 is what the Chief is saying.
Member Adams stated there would be no monthly remuneration to the doctor for any of the services, but he is asking that we pay his liability insurance?
Member Brechler stated we should at least pay him a dollar a month in case something happens and he comes back with “ Well, you aren’t paying me anything.”
Chairman Petullo stated the Chief was not here so we can’t put Firefighter Davies as the meeting was a one on one with Dr. Ott.
Louis Cervantez statedhe has a background in this stuff and he is not comfortable with the performance standards #3, if something happens and it will come back on us and our liability. He went on to state he does not like the Term #4. It automatically renews itself in 60 days, so if you have a doctor that is not performing you don’t want to do that. That needs to be changed.
Member Brechler stated that any ambulance or EMT he has been involved in, the medical director met with the MTS and explained how he wanted things handled, how he felt they should be done. Sometime they meet only three times a year, and others they met once a month. He would tell them what they did wrong on past calls, and tells us what they should be doing right.
Member Adams stated this has been discussed three or four months ago in Kane county, that there needed to be great communication between all parties as to best practices and what was going on.
Chairman Petullo stated that was at the meeting with Kane County in November that that was discussed. The Chairman said Dr. Ott is coming in April per the Chief. Maybe we can get him to come to the next meeting. Dr. Ott works all the time, does not answer email or such as he is so busy.