Minutes 10/23 – Montezuma Fire Protection District

10/26/2023

DETAILS

Location: Station 52

Attendees: Commissioners Mike Reis, Neil Anderson, Aaron Wilson, Bill Petersen, Chris Mingay and Fire Chief Michael O’Connor

NOTES

Comm. Chair Wilson called the meeting to order at Station 52 at 1900 HRS

AGENDA

Roll Call: all present
Pledge of Allegiance was recited
Approval of the Agenda: Comm. Reis motioned, and Comm. Mingay seconded. Agenda was approved.
Public Comment: No public present
Reports:
1. Call Report: Fire Chief pointed out that September had a high number of medical calls.
2. Budget Report: Fire Chief explained the budget should be about 28% spent, any column showing a larger number is running high. Seasonal employees were laid-off on October 13 th , with the exception of one – FF Jones – who is working on Thursdays.
3. Board Member Reports: None
4. Fire Chief Reports:
  - MFPD was asked by RV Fire to do stand-by at youth Saturday football games because they were unable to fill the request. MFPD was able to gather volunteers to cover the events. It has been difficult because Montezuma does not have staffing on Saturdays. Comm. Reis asked if overtime was paid to do this, which was answered with “yes, if it is paid staff”.
  - The annual Steak and Prawns dinner is coming up. Also, volunteers will be cooking for the memorial service for Jack Anderson.
  - E52 was in the shop again for the knock sensor. The sensor was replaced without cost to MFPD.
  - Comm. Wilson explained that RVFire did not pass along the needed information to Montezuma when they asked for the coverage for the youth games, as is standard practice would dictate. He stated that they did not have good intentions; going forward Montezuma should be very cautious when dealing with RV Fire with any of their requests. Other Commissioners agreed. It was also suggested to the Fire Chief that he develop a sheet with RVFire’s contact information. This can be handed to community members who approach with direct requests, with the idea that RVFire be contacted first. If requests are turned down or not responded to, that is when the public’s request can be brought to MFPD.

Approval of Minutes: Comm. Reis motioned to approve, Comm. Mingay seconded. Approval passed.
Approval of Vendor Claims: Comm. Anderson motioned to approve, Comm. Mingay seconded. Claims were approved.
Old Business: None
New Business:
1. Grant Report: Chief stated that FEMA sent the complete amount expected of $695,596.73 for the purchased radios. Chief has billed Vacaville Fire District for their portion of $17,527.61, which they have paid. Suisun’s portion was $22,167.22, and MFPD’s 10% was $24,628.36. FEMA also paid over $16,000 for the new extractor. Montezuma Fire’s portion for this was 5%, so approx. $800.
2. Thursday Staffing: Chief explained that there is no coverage on Thursdays after the seasonal Fire Fighters were laid off due to only being able to pay Eng. Awender 32hrs per week. He also stated that Engineer Awender is topped out with the amount of hours he can work under a temporary position, and asked if the Board would like to hire Eng. Awender full-time. Chief was asked if there is money in the budget for that. Chief’s response was that those funds are currently available; if Captain Messenger returns then Jarred would have to be laid off.
3. Overtime: some overtime was created with the youth football games. And some with the individual who has called 33 times; this overtime pay is due to the medical calls coming during night hours or weekends. Commissioners requested that Chief again contact Sheriff’s Office about APS regarding this individual.
4. Upcoming meetings: Comm. Wilson suggested that the next Board meeting be in January due to holiday times. He added that the option should be left open for a possible emergency meeting. A motion was made and seconded for reconvening January 25th. Motion carried.
Aaron motioned to adjourn, Chris seconded. Meeting adjourned at 1952 hours.