St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1

Board of Commissioners

Regular Meeting
Minutes

November 20, 2018

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m.

The prayer and pledge of allegiance were done.

ROLL CALL:  Chairman Crowley and Commissioners Rich, Brackett, Hoying and Gay were present.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION–

Retirement: David Hall
Promotion: Deputy Chief Brent Dupuis
New Hire Swear In: Communications Officers Jessica Crawford, Amy King and Shaun Dennis
Firefighters Grayling Johnson and Aaron Davis

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Commissioner Gay made a motion to approve the minutes of the October 16, 2018 meeting. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS – (none)
NEW BUSINESS

1. Chief’s Report

1. Significant Monthly Events

• Medical Director Contract- Attorney Ingram has been working with the Medical Director and a final draft of the contract will be sent out and signed, to be effective Jan. 1.

• Surplus Equipment- $20,000 value/ each- Chief Kaufmann stated that we will offer to sell the equipment in St. Tammany Parish, before offering to the public.

• VFIS- Certificate of Appreciation (Commitment to Safety & Risk Control Practices)- Fire Dist. 1 and 4 are the only fire departments in the state, with 30-40 across the country (out of 14,000 insured) to receive this award.

• 2 Disciplinary actions (at-fault wrecks) – Chief Kaufmann stated that effective Jan. 1, we have put a process together, for negligent accidents, that the employee may reimburse the district (up to the $1,000 deductible).

1. 3 Year Audit Agreement- Chief Kaufmann stated that we have received a 3 year proposal from our auditor. He further that that there are incremental increases for audit years 2019, 2020 and 2021; however, he recommended that we sign the agreement.

1. Station 13/HQ- Update– Chief Kaufmann stated that we recently received a draft of the scope of work and a draft of a contract that the bond company would like to engage with us. There are some changes that we would like to have made, with regards to the contract, as well as scope of work discussions that will have to be done.

1. Public Campaign(s) / Outreach

• Touch a Truck- Oct. 27
• Turkey Fry Demonstration- November 17, 10:30
• Christmas Tree Burn Demonstration – Dec. 8 (City parking lot)

1. Operations Reports – Chief of Operations Kuhn discussed the “Operations” report (October)  which covers YTD call totals, Hydrants Inspected, NFIRS Incidents, Dollar Loss/ Dollar Save (by Station location), Average Response Time (by Station) and EMS Call Type and Number of Incidents.

1.  Maintenance Report- Chief of Operations Kuhn discussed the “Maintenance” report      (October) which covered preventative maintenances and major repairs performed.

1. Fire Prevention Report- Chief of Administration Duffaut discussed the monthly “Fire Prevention” report (October) which included Inspections, Public Fire Safety & Education Events, Investigations, and Economic Impact.

Chief Marquette stated that he and Chief Kaufmann have been working on the false alarm ordinance. It was recommended that they do “work groups” to educate the Council members. He further stated that the Louisiana Alarm Assoc. is in agreement with our proposal.

Chief Kaufmann stated that the ordinance was presented to be adopted Parish wide and it can be adopted in the individual fire districts/departments.

1.   Training Report – Chief of Training Bauer discussed the monthly “Training” report (October) which included Classes, Certifications and Revenues.

1.  Communications Report – Chief of Communications Watson discussed the monthly “Communications” report (October) which included call volume and statistics.

1.   General Comments- Chief Kaufmann recognized Chief Duffaut’s acceptance into the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer (EFO) program, and welcomed him back from his first two week class. Chief Duffaut stated that this is a four year program for individuals aspiring to be Fire Chief’s.

Commissioner Brackett made a motion to accept the Chief’s report. Commissioner Rich seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

1. SFFA (Slidell Firefighters Association) –
   • MDA Boot-Shake- 12/15 (Gause Blvd/ Rue Rochelle)
   • Senior Appreciation luncheon- 11/13
   •  Covington Fire Dept. donated their chili cook-off winnings to Mike Ford
   • Adopting Mike Ford’s family for Christmas

1. PMI Report –

1. Employee Benefits – (none)
2. Human Resource
   1.    2018-042: BOC Resolution (Adopt 2019 Section 125 Cafeteria Plan)

Commissioner Brackett made a motion to adopt Resolution 2018-042, Relating to the Approval of the 2019 Section 125 Cafeteria Pan for District No. 1. Commissioner Gay seconded the motion.

The floor was opened for public comment. There was no public comment.

The motion carried unanimously.

1. 2018-043: BOC Resolution (Approve to Surplus Equipment “Fire Apparatus)

Commissioner Gay made a motion to adopt Resolution 2018-043, Relating to the Approval to Surplus Equipment for District No. 1. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion.

The floor was opened for public comment. There was no public comment.

The motion carried unanimously.

1. Payroll – none
2. FRS (Firefighters Retirement System) – none
3. VFIS Special Risk Insurance & LWCC- none

Commissioner Brackett made a motion to accept the PMI report. Commissioner Rich seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

1.  Duplantier Hrapman Hogan & Maher, LLP-

Mr. DiGiovanni discussed the October financial report.

Commissioner Gay made a motion to accept the October financial report. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

1. Attorney’s Report–

                                                EXECUTIVE SESSION:

1. Stevens Construction & Design, L.L.C. v. St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection District No. 1,   bearing Docket No. 2018-14143, Division “F” on the docket of the 22^nd Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Tammany, State of Louisiana.

b)  St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 v. Henry Muller, et al., bearing Docket No. 2018-13332, Division “A” on the docket of the 22^nd Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Tammany, State of Louisiana.

Commissioner Hoying made a motion to go in to Executive Session. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Executive Session convened at 7:15 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 7:43 p.m.
There was no action taken

1. Board of Commissioner Comments –  none

Commissioner Hoying made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Brackett seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

 The meeting adjourned at 7:44 p.m.