January Working Session 011

Fire Commissioner Working Session

San Juan Fire Protection District 2

Orcas Island Fire District
January 24, 2011
The meeting was convened at 7:30 pm.

Present: Commissioner Clyde Duke; Commissioner Jim Coffin; Commissioner Barbara Bedell , Chief Mike Harris, Asst. Recording Secretary Lindsay Schirmer; members of the department and public.

Old Business:
Revised Construction Schedule: The revised schedule presented at meeting shows the last remaining items left for the general contractor to complete. The schedule includes:

Insulation (Remainder of Building) Overhead Door Install
Insulation (Apparatus Bay) Fire Sprinkler System Rough-In
Sheetrock Taping (Apparatus Bay) Painting (Apparatus Bay)
Electrical Trim (Apparatus Bay)

This schedule has March 21st as a completion date. The final billing from the district should reflect that.

Once we get the sheetrock installed, we will be requesting for a partial occupancy permit. A partial occupancy permit will allow us to use the building as a fire station.

Water System: We are going on February as still have no decision on the water system. At this time, here are the options the Commissioners are looking at:

If we make arrangements to use Mr. Ketchum’s water system, the water system will have to be upgraded as a class B system. The department has already invested Approx. 17,000 into which was a requirement from the county as a joiner on his system. He is also asking a rent in the amount of 400.00 for the use of the storage building, which would be a similar cost Mr. Ketchum would need to store his boat. If the decision is made to upgrade Mr. Ketchum’s water system to a class B system, he will lose rights to use his storage dwelling to hold his boat.

Cayou Valley water system was not available for selling shares 2 years ago when we originally look into water options, however, they are available today. Cayou Valley will be under construction for approx. 2 years for pipe replacements. We to retrieve water rights from Bernie ???’s property. If so, would she be willing to rent water rights for two years or, if the price were right, sell a small piece of her property to us so the department can dig their own well. Bob Egan will speak to Department of Ecology to find out if we are entitled to rights for the Cayou Valley water system. He will follow up in the next couple of days with Chief Harris on his results.

Landscape Plan: The county is not going to give us an occupancy permit unless we have a Being Executed Landscape Plan. Clyde Duke says it is an issue that is not necessarily time sensitive and we should have time to cover the landscape plan in the near future. It looks like the department may want to consider small works roster if they can.

Wrestling Club Request: The staff at Orcas Fire and Rescue have discussed and decided to decline the Wrestling Club request. Although the department and staff truly support the program, it would be difficult to arrange the events in a safe and efficient manner.

Having to move equipment and apparatus frequently would be inconvenient for staff and members.

Public Comment:
Dwight Guss suggested possible a letter to the school to show our support of the Wrestlers program to the kids. Chief Harris agrees. Maybe if the department can offer standby EMT’s services at major events to show our support…

Dwight Guss asked," Are we considering billing insurance companies for some of our services? It seems there is an awful lot of money we are just throwing away.

It is a topic that the Commissioners will be looking at closely for serious discussion in the near future.

Announcements:
Feb 08, Regular BOFC Meeting
Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day (All Orcas Schools on Winter Break)
Feb.17-28 Chief out of the Country, Acting Chief TBA
Feb. 21 Business office closed; President’s Day
Feb 22, BOFC Work Session

Adjournment: 8:54 pm