Joint Fire Protection District 3 & 8

Ferry County Fire District 3

Stevens County Fire District 8

  MINUTES

March 14, 2024

The regular meeting of Stevens County District 3&8 was called to order at 6:30 p.m. at the District Office by: Charlie Cole

Present: Commissioners: Stevens Co #8 Chez Young, Robert Lee and Dale McNitt

 Ferry Co #3 Helen Sowards, Michele Moffitt

Chief Herb Hippler, Medical Officer Rich Robinson, Purchasing Agent Mark Stevens, and Secretary Shauna Hippler

Guest: Thomas Lonelywolf, Thomas Peregoodoff, Jeff Cox and from Kettle Falls Fire: Chris McIntosh and Cliff King

Approval of Minutes: Helen made the motion to approve the February minutes Chez 2^nd. All in favor.

                                                   STEVENS COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT 8

Budget Report: Michele went over the March financials. Dale made the motion to approve the transfer of funds to Ferry County, Chez 2^nd. All were in favor.

JOINT FIRE PROTECTION DIST 3&8

Budget Report: Michele went over the corrections from the January financial report from the Ferry County report, Chez made the motion to approve the corrections, Helen 2^nd. All were in favor.

Helen made the motion to accept the February funds, Dale 2^nd. All were in favor.

Voucher Approval: Monthly payables were reviewed and approved by commissioners. Helen made the motion to accept and Robert 2^nd. All were in favor. Monthly Payroll vouchers were reviewed and approved by commissioners, Helen made the motion to accept and Robert 2nd. All were in favor.

Vouchers Audited and Certified BY THE AUDITING OFFICER AS REQUIRED BY RCW 42.24.080 and those expense reimbursement claims certified as required by RCW 42.24.090, have been recorded on a listing, which has been made available to the board. As of this date March 14, 2024, the board by a unanimous vote, does approve for payment those vouchers included in the above list and further described as follows: Accounts Payable vouchers in the amount of $11,682.60 and the payroll amount $5,811.00.

Communication to the Board: Thomas Lonelywolf shared with the commissioners the details of an accident report made from one of our district volunteers’ accident with a Kettle Falls Fire District truck. The Kettle Falls fire chief was here to get insurance information. The accident report has been filed in the March 2024 file and in the personnel file of the volunteer.

Robert resigned as Fire Commissioner. This will be his last meeting.

Commissioners need to create and update a description of janitorial duties.

Commissioners need to read RCW 52.14.010 and abide by it.

Herb brought up to the committee that he’d like to upgrade and purchase all new bunker gear to keep our volunteers safe while on a structure fire. He’d like to have a representative come in and measure all volunteers. This would be a hefty expense. Michele would need to amend the budget before being able to purchase. Chez made the motion to amend the budget, Helen 2^nd. All were in favor. Helen made motion to get all new bunker gear, Robert 2^nd. All were in favor. Michele will get the budget amended and present at the April meeting.

New Business: Theold Sheriffs office has been cleaned out and turned in to a storage/records room with shelves and boxes of older documents and files. Michele would like to have an office to do electronic filing, Helen made the motion to approve purchasing office equipment, Chez 2^nd. All were in favor.

Jeff Cox will be the new Training Officer which the department desperately needs. Chez made the motion to get Jeff on the payroll as Training Officer, Robert 2^nd. All were in favor.

Correspondence: None

Committee reports:

• Buildings: Discussion on the status of the repairs being done at the Sandcreek Station.
• Recruitment: We lost one of our new EMR recruits so far.
• Insurance: Accident involving one of our structure trucks with a Kettle Falls Fire structure truck. Robert has turned in a claim with our insurance company.
• Fire Safety: Go through the Policies and Procedures manual and look up rules of being a spotter on a fire call.

Medical Officer Report: Rich gave an update on the EMR classes for new recruits. Everyone is making good progress.

Chiefs Report:  Herb discussed the importance of getting our volunteers outfitted with new bunker gear and presented it to the board.

Discussion on the structure fire in the Barstow area early morning on March 8^th. Fire was a total loss of the structure.

The Phase II DNR wildland grant came in.

We all spent a lot of time cleaning the training center, got the back area, kitchen and old sheriffs room cleaned out. It looks nice. Thanks to every one who helped.

Executive Meeting: None

Helen made the motion to adjourn at 7:50 pm, Chez 2^nd. All were in favor.

Shauna Hippler, Secretary ___________________________________

Charlie Cole, Chairperson ____________________________

Ferry County Fire District 3

Stevens County Fire District 8

  MINUTES

February 13, 2024

The regular meeting of Stevens County District 3&8 was called to order at 6:30 p.m. at the District Office by: Charlie Cole

Present: Commissioners: Stevens Co #8 Chez Young, Robert Lee and Dale McNitt

 Ferry Co #3 Helen Sowards, Michele Moffitt

Chief Herb Hippler, Medical Officer Rich Robinson, Purchasing Agent Mark Stevens, and Secretary Shauna Hippler

Guest: Ken Kerr

Amanda/Victoria Ladue: Amanda turned in her resignation as janitor for the district office. Her daughter Victoria will take her place. Dale made the motion to hire Victoria, Robert 2^nd. All were in favor.

Approval of Minutes: Dale made the motion to approve the January minutes Helen 2^nd. All in favor.

                                                   STEVENS COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT 8

Budget Report: Michele went over the January financials. Dale made the motion to approve the transfer of funds to Ferry County, Chez 2^nd. All were in favor.

Michele went over the February financials. Chez made the motion to approve the transfer of funds to Ferry County, Dale 2^nd. All were in favor.

JOINT FIRE PROTECTION DIST 3&8

Budget Report: Michele went over the December financials, Helen made the motion to accept the funds, Chez 2^nd. All were in favor.

Helen made the motion to accept the January funds, Robert 2^nd. All were in favor.

Voucher Approval: Monthly payables were reviewed and approved by commissioners. Helen made the motion to accept and Chez 2^nd. All were in favor. Monthly Payroll vouchers were reviewed and approved by commissioners, Chez made the motion to accept and Helen 2nd. All were in favor.

Vouchers Audited and Certified BY THE AUDITING OFFICER AS REQUIRED BY RCW 42.24.080 and those expense reimbursement claims certified as required by RCW 42.24.090, have been recorded on a listing, which has been made available to the board. As of this date February 13, 2024, the board by a unanimous vote, does approve for payment those vouchers included in the above list and further described as follows: Accounts Payable vouchers in the amount of $13,564.47 and the payroll amount $1,800.00.

Communication to the Board: A new dishwasher is needed at the district office. Mark will get one ordered.

Discussion on updating the Commissioners Handbook, Charlie would like to take a bit of time after every commissioner meeting for the commissioners to go through the book. Nothing was set in stone as to that yet.

New Business: Michele went over the EMS levy and when we need to get the levy on the ballet to be voted on by the public in January 2025.

The reimbursement rate for mileage has increased. Updated reimbursement sheets will be made up and put in the basket outside the secretary’s office.

Correspondence: None

Committee Reports: None

• Buildings: Discussion on the Sandcreek station and actions needed to get the process going to make the building safe and ready for operation, also compensation for construction crew to do repairs.  
• Recruitment: We have 15 new recruits for the EMR program. Discussion on hiring process (physical and background check). New pagers for new recruits need to be purchased and handed out; Helen made the motion to purchase new pagers, Michele 2^nd. All were in favor.
• Insurance: None

Medical Officer Report: Every Wednesday evening there will be a medical meeting for the 15 new EMR recruits. All new recruits will need a background check to be able to enter the homes when they go on a call.

Chiefs Report:  The EMR class is moving forward with the help of Amber ones from Deer Park Ambulance.

The online class material should be all lined out by March.

We received 5 MSA air packs along with 26 bottles from District 1. I have ordered parts o convert the masks to puch to connect its match our current masks.

DNR Phase I grant is open, I will be ordering all new PPE for the volunteers who submitted sizes at the last district meeting.

The Burn Tower name is down to two candidates: Ol’ Smokey and Smoke and Go.

District 13 along with Chewelah Fire would like to use the burn tower April 6^th (which is a Saturday).

Our new Command Vehicle is here, it was delivered earlier than expected.

            Executive Meeting: 8:28 to 8:35

Helen made the motion to adjourn at 8:36 pm, Dale 2^nd. All were in favor.

Shauna Hippler, Secretary ___________________________________

Charlie Cole, Chairperson ____________________________