UNAPPROVED DRAFT MINUTES – VISTA FIRE DISTRICT MEETING 6/12/2019

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MEETING OF THE BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS, VISTA FIRE DISTRICT #1 JUNE 12, 2019

Meeting called to order at 7:00PM by Chairman T. LoBosco Present Commissioners: C. Rossi (7:05PM), A. Ochs, D. Jacobsen, S. Woodstead and Chairman T. LoBosco. Others Present: B. Woodstead, Secretary, T. Ritchey, District Manager, J. Peck, Chief and Applicant for Membership: Arlington Trenck. Absent: W. Wakeman, District Treasurer. Chairman T. LoBosco asked all to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence for all lost first responders. Following this, he pointed out all and nearest exits and opened the floor for any Public Comments. Hearing none he closed the Public Hearing. Per the Chief’s request his report would be first into the record for the summer softball season. Chief’s Report: (written report submitted) Chief Peck reported 23 calls for the month noting a mutual aid call for Pound Ridge Fire Department with a working barn fire. Arlington Trenck, an applicant for active membership, was presented to the Board. Previous to the meeting Arlington Trenck was interviewed by the Board regarding his qualifications and general information. Scott Snider resigned from Active Membership and switched to Non-Resident Associate Membership status because of his move to Virginia. May Truck Reports were submitted to District Manager Ritchey and Commissioner D. Jacobsen on 6/1/19. The Chief’s Car had repairs to the Purge Valve and replacement of the windshield wipers on 5/17/19. The “Check Engine Light” no longer on. Following the Annual Gear inspections, Chief J Peck will present a new gear order at the July 2019 District Meeting. The order for traffic cones and signs will be presented to the Board at the August 2019 District Meeting. Chief J. Peck is working with Edward Ball of ISO.com on potentially improving the Fire District’s ISO rating. A “Courtesy Inspection” will be conducted on June 21, 2019 for potential improvements with ISO Committee weighing the pros and cons of investing in ISO improvements. The Chief did not know the potential cost to the District at this time. Submitted with the Chief’s Report was a list of members and their status of training classes. The last round of Interior Firefighting gear repairs has been sent out. “Gear Inspections” on the majority of the Department were conducted 5/19 and 5/20/2019. Capt. Porco and the rest of the gear and equipment committee are still conducting inspections for those members who were unable to attend these inspections.

UNAPPROVED DRAFT MINUTES – VISTA FIRE DISTRICT MEETING 6/12/2019

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Chief J. Peck asked the Board for the status of the bidding process on the remaining 2 dry hydrants; Robins Court and the Vista Fire Department. Responding to this, the Board stated they are still waiting for revised specs showing a “performance clause” and drainage screen changes. Beaver Pond is in the hands of the installer, Duffy Price, to submit a cost for the strainer changes and drawings. No paperwork had been received at this time. In a call between the Chief and Duffy Price it was noted annual cleaning would be necessary for all the dry hydrants. On a motion by Commissioner D. Jacobsen second by Commissioner A. Ochs up to $5,000 was approved for installation of an additional 2 strainers at Beaver Pond and to obtain cost of Annual Cleaning of dry hydrants by the SCUBA Team. All Commissioners concurred. Hudson Valley Fire Equipment will be presenting the final proposal this week for the new Tanker. Chief J. Peck is still working on meeting with Capt. John Munson of 60 Control. New pagers have arrived and are beginning to be handed out to the Line Officers and Foremen. Ladder testing conducted on 5/24/2019 by Century Ladder Testing LLC and no issues or failures were found or reported. Requested purchases: $620 - Tourniquets (20) $170 – Automatic Blood Pressure pediatric probes (2) $2,959.44 – (11) SCBA masks 4-sm, 4-med, 2- lg, 1-XL from MES ($269.04 ea.) Commissioner S. Woodstead wanted to be sure we were not being nickel and dimed on medical supplies. Chief J. Peck stated these were requested per committee and to the best of his knowledge they were not doing that. On a motion by Commissioner C. Rossi second by Commissioner D. Jacobsen, the Chief’s Report, requested expenditures, and applicant Arlington Trenck were approved as presented. All Board members concurred. Chief J. Peck thanked the Board for allowing him to give his report early in the meeting. Secretary’s Report Secretary B. Woodstead asked the Board for approval of corrected 5/2019 Regular Meeting Minutes as noted in red on printed reports. On a motion by Commissioner A. Ochs second by Commissioner C. Rossi the corrected minutes were approved as submitted. All Board members concurred. Following the May 2019 regular meeting, District Manager T. Ritchey submitted a revised report showing the balances, as received, from the Bank Statements. Secretary B. Woodstead asked to have this revised report approved. On a motion by Chairman T. LoBosco seconded by Commissioner C. Rossi the revised report was approved providing the Treasurer approved these balances. All Board members concurred. Treasurer’s Report (written report submitted) In the absence of Treasurer W. Wakeman Commissioner A. Ochs read her report into the record.

UNAPPROVED DRAFT MINUTES – VISTA FIRE DISTRICT MEETING 6/12/2019

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A total of $13,599.15 was submitted as Operating income which included Health Insurance payments from Better Water Wells and T. LoBosco. Cell Tower Rental and reimbursement for Olivia Buzzeo EMT Classes NY State. Interest total on bank balances: Operating Savings - $807.01 Communication Reserve 62.63 Equipment Reserve 452.58 Building Reserve 289.67 Operating Checking 46.60 Total Interest $1,658.49 Account Balances Operating Checking: $ 43,630.93 Operating Savings 934,887.01 Equipment Reserve 556,667.25 Building Reserve 341,350.91 Communication Reserve 73,804.77 Total Account Balances $1,950,340.87 Total May Bills: $35,916.00 (not including payroll/taxes) Noted in Treasurer’s Report: $24,950.20 Transferred from Operating Savings account to Equipment reserve account (per commissioners) 5/30/2019 Transferred from operating Savings to Operating checking for bills, payroll, taxes) - $20,000 Received from BST Draft statement from Audit 2018 – needs reviewing and signing 6/12/2019 – Transferred from Operating savings to Operating checking to pay May 2019 bills - $30,000 We now have a cash balance in escrow expense fund at US Bank for $1,110.42 which will be returned to us. On a motion by Commissioner A. Ochs second by Commissioner C. Rossi the Treasurer’s Report and payment of submitted bills were approved as read. All Board members concurred. District Manager’s Report (written report submitted) District Manager T. Ritchey reported Ambulance 22 had an electrical issue with the switch for the florescent lights, ambulance was sent to Eastford and corroded connections were replaced and new switch installed. Tanker 4 had an issue with a shelf in one of the back compartments. The shelf has been emptied and Nate Vass gave an estimate of $500 to have the repair done in 10 days. We have received half of the money back for O. Buzzeo’s EMT class and the District Manager feels this is all we are going to get. A 50% Penalty was imposed because class paperwork was not submitted on time. This was not our issue but we lose. District Manager T. Ritchey going back and forth and missing State Farm contact regarding payment for removal of fire damaged residence on Route 123. An invoice was mailed on 5/3 but the adjustor has not

UNAPPROVED DRAFT MINUTES – VISTA FIRE DISTRICT MEETING 6/12/2019

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had contact with our District Manager. Board members felt the proper amount of time had passed and the Town should now be contacted regarding reimbursement of our cost. Paraco is now our Propane supplier under State Contract prices. A leak was found outside and repaired. The DOH inspections found one error with some paperwork. This has been corrected and we are waiting for a reply. NYS Retirement System is now “On Line” with no paperwork. District Manager T. Ritchey has taken the on-line required training and has started submitting retirement information on line. He was asked to contact W. Wakeman as Treasurer, if she wished to participate in the NYS Retirement fund. As Deputy Treasurer she had declined. District Manager T. Ritchey attended the yearly PERMA Conference at the end of May. There is apparently questions and confusion regarding qualifications for the Cancer Benefit Law and many are not covered. 33 New York Departments stated they have no one meeting the criteria and under 11,000 volunteers are covered out of 70,000 in NY. There will be a big push at the end of the year to get additional people covered. District Manager T. Ritchey will be off for the July 4th holiday. The new chief’s car was discussed with problems obtaining an accurate price being companies piece meal the cost of various parts of the vehicle. i.e. Vehicles are one price, upfitting another and difficult having one company do both. Question if out-of-state prices good in New York. Commissioners also considered the additional cost at this time with the new tanker being proposed at a cost of $859,000 plus. Several dealers have been contacted with one of the most promising Pursuit Emergency Vehicles (NYS Contract). They only upfit vehicles but would need to send out a “Mini Bid” for the vehicle and extra’s. (lights, lettering, sirens, radio, etc.) He stated the best contract now is with Suffolk County, that include parts and labor for extras). A bid would be sent to dealers in NY who are allowed to bid on Chevy and then we could have the vehicle drop shipped to them. They would outfit it and then deliver to us. They would help with the entire process. From what he has seen, we would be looking at a price of $40,000 for the vehicle and up to $25,000 for outfitting. District Manager Ritchey has not heard back from either Ingersoll Chevy in Danbury or Specialty Warning. Rock Busto of Chevrolet of Smithtown, who only sells vehicles, said he had some red and white Tahoe’s coming in during June. He would send some options to us. Santos of Hudson Valley Fire only upfits vehicles and could not give a price because they vary so much. With discussion among Board members, it was noted the possibility of purchasing a used vehicle. Commissioner D. Jacobsen made a motion to go with Mini Bid re: Pursuit Emergency Vehicles, a committee of Chief, Commissioner D. Jacobsen, and District Manager T. Ritchey would start the Bid Process. Motion was second by Commissioner C. Rossi and all Board members concurred.

UNAPPROVED DRAFT MINUTES – VISTA FIRE DISTRICT MEETING 6/12/2019

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The 4th microwave is no longer working in the kitchen. District Manager T. Ritchey suggested the purchase of a commercial grade microwave at WB Mason for $280.00 (1,000watt, 0.8cu ft.). Keurig also not working; newer model WB Mason $169.99 full cost. Bank Statements: Operating Checking Account $43,630.93 Operating Savings Account $934,887.01 Building Reserve $341,350.91 Communication Reserve $73,804.77 Equipment Reserve $556,667.25 On a motion by Commissioner A. Ochs second by Commissioner C. Rossi the District Manager’s Report and proposed purchases were approved as presented. All Board members concurred. Old Business: Board asked to go into executive session at end of meeting re: District Manager’s Contract. Specs and price of Tanker 4 submitted by Committee to the Board. Some questions were asked regarding the size of the tank and compatibility with our bay, questions with tank size options. Commissioner C. Rossi asked if we were going beyond what was safe. He was informed by other Board members the manufacture and committee would not go beyond safety options. $859,366 was the submitted Seagrave price thru HGAC Contract. Commissioner D. Jacobsen wanted to make a motion based upon the submitted specs and price to move forward and get this Tanker in the works. Chairman T. LoBosco again stated his opposition to using HGAC based on the 1 bid process, the attorney’s dislike of HGAC and the expensive cost of this Tanker. Board members wished to have a meeting with Santos to go over the specs and cost coming up with a possible date of 6/27/2019. Commissioner A. Ochs would not attend, Chairman T. LoBosco was not sure of his calendar and stated he probably could not make it and would vote no to this proposal. Commissioner S. Woodstead noted the Tanker per these specs was designed as a Seagrave Truck and there were very little likely hood other bids would be received. A tentative time and date were 6/27/10 at 7:00PM. The secretary would be notified of date and time confirmation. Commissioner S. Woodstead discussed the raising of the age for LOSAP entitlement from 16 to 18 (the limit per NYS Law). After a brief discussion, all Board members agreed and a motion was made by Commissioner S. Woodstead to raise the entitlement age from 16 to 18 second by Commissioner A. Ochs. All Board members agreed and this would be put on the December 2019 Ballot. On a motion by Commissioner S. Woodstead second by Commissioner A. Ochs, Commissioner S. Woodstead is authorized to sign for new LOSAP Plan because of the changes made in March 2019. All Board members concurred.

UNAPPROVED DRAFT MINUTES – VISTA FIRE DISTRICT MEETING 6/12/2019

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Commissioner S. Woodstead was asked to verify the mortality rate we were paying and if we were 100% funded. Covering the purchase cost of the proposed new tanker was again discussed by Board members. Reviewing the fact that we could now move money from already named reserve accounts and the amount of money available without going out for a bond, it was decided to have the following Permissive Referendum put in the paper now to cover the cost of the Tanker. Move from $480 thousand from Equipment Reserve, $70 Thousand from Communication Reserve, and $320 Thousand from Building Reserve to Cover the full purchase price of new Tanker. Motion made by Commissioner S. Woodstead second by Commissioner C. Rossi and approved by all for the above stated Permissive Referendum. Secretary B. Woodstead was instructed to have this notice placed in our named paper, The Journal News. Commissioner S. Woodstead referencing the letter to the Lake Kitchawan Association re: Dry Hydrant instillation, the response letter needed some “tightening up” and he would review it. As stated by the Treasurer, the Audit from BST was received. Chairman LoBosco stated it had to be reviewed, signed and returned. Before he would to this Board members needed to review it and send their okay to him. He would then speak to the Treasurer prior to signing and sending it. New Business: Cell Tower – Landmark Dividend purchase of lease to be read. Correspondence from person re: Resume for Secretary’s Position. Chairman T. LoBosco would review and discuss. On a motion by Commissioner A. Ochs second by Commissioner C. Rossi, Chairman T. LoBosco moved the Board into Executive Session at 9:00PM to discuss District Manager’s Contract. All Board members concurred. On a motion by Commissioner C. Rossi second by Commissioner A. Ochs the Board came out of executive session at 9:40PM. All Board members concurred. On a motion by Commissioner A. Ochs second by Commissioner C. Rossi, Chairman T. LoBosco adjourned the meeting at 9:43PM. All Board members concurred. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Woodstead Secretary Vista Board of Fire Commissioners Vfd.2019.06.12reg.meeting minutes