Fire Committee Meeting

October 11, 2011

Don Stager-Fire Chief
Jeanette Coil-Firefighter
Tim Clapper-Village Council
Darrell Levings-Village Council
John Curtis-Village Council

Chief Staiger began the meeting at 6:00 p.m. by talking about weekend manning. Weekend responses are becoming more of a challenge of late per the Chief. Several options are being discussed to address the lack of manpower on weekends. One possibility is dropping to 4 people during the week and 4 on the weekend. Don went on to say that while the current fire levy brings in about $284,000 annually, you can really only count on $250,000 between the levy and township contracts. He also mentioned the current levy is up in 2013. The Village pays 3 mills while the Township pays 1 ½ mills. We talked about other townships and the possibility that they increase their levies to 1 ½ mills like everyone else. The Chief closed that discussion with the pros and cons of a levy being a replacement versus a renewal.
Don gave the group an update on Engine 15. It recently blew a pump seal and needed some transmission work as well. The cost of repairs was approximately $2200.
Finally, Chief Staiger mentioned the recent promotions of Mark Carey to Captain and Rob Walket to Lieutenant. Congratulations to both of these young men on their promotion and service to the Village.
The next scheduled committee meeting will be held in the Fire Chief’s office at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 13, 2011.
This meeting concluded at 6:50 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
John Curtis

Fire Committee Meeting

August 9, 2011

The committee met briefly on Tuesday, August 9th at the Fire Station. The first item discussed was building maintenance. The feeling was that there needs to be some immediate attention between the buildings. Don shared some photos of the areas in question as well as some spouting concerns. We also talked about the roof and how it will be patched this year but it’s in need of a full repair, possibly in 2012.
The Chief also spoke about the Fire Academy and the renewal of its certification. In addition, a Firefighter II class will start up on September 19th.
Finally, we talked about the staffing of the department and specifically, staffing the weekends. Chief Staiger shared some numbers with the group. With current manning guidelines as they are today, it would cost $35,143.68 to add Saturday and Sunday staffing. If department staffing were to be reduced to 4 during the week, it could save $21,964.80 leaving a net impact of $13,178.88. Reducing staffing to 4 during the week isn’t optimal but in an effort to improve staffing on the weekend, is viewed as something to look into.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. in the Fire Station.

Respectfully submitted,

John Curtis

Committee Meeting attendees present:
Don Staiger
Greg Young
Norm Sharp
Tim Clapper
John Curtis