Windham – The WVFD Joint Fire District met for their regularly-scheduled meeting with all board members in attendance. The board approved the November minutes, expenditures, bank reconciliation and the temporary appropriations totaling $713,000.
The at-large representative term expires at the end of this year and Mike Dye has been filling this position since the death of a previous member. Dye accepted the appointment and will serve on the board for another two years.
The board adjourned to an executive session to discuss personnel issues. They later reconvened and the chief reported that engine 2817 needs service and they are obtaining estimates for the issue. The chief also reported that there has been an electrical problem at the fire station and he has called Scotchman Electric to address the issue. Jack Breese and the chief finished the paperwork for the FEMA grant and it has been submitted. After some research, Jack Breese and Mike Iwanyckyj decided the best chance to get the grant was to use it for thermal imaging cameras and Scot Air Paks. A $10,000 zero match Wild End Grant was applied for, along with two other matching grants. All the grants have stipulation on what they can be used for. Chief Mike Iwanyckyj presented candidate John Minich to the board to be considered for as an EMT and firefighter. After some discussion, the board added Minich to the roster. On an Iwanyckyj recommendation, the board decided to promote Nick Bushek to Lieutenant of Fire Inspection. Bushek has been doing all the inspections for the district for some time now.
The board tentatively approved a contract for the use of the training grant, with modifications for 15 students. The schooling starts Monday and runs until June. The grant was for $36,000, for training use only.
The WVFD entered into a second executive session to discuss a possible litigation. After they returned, they discussed exploring all options on their finances including, but not limited to, putting a new additional fire levy on the May ballot. Chairman Dann Timmons said they would have the auditor figure out the millage they would need to generate $25,000 annually. The district will need to purchase a new engine soon and there doesn’t seem to be any grant monies for fire engines.
Another discussion was held about the alleged dispatching dispute with the village. Timmons said they are waiting on a response from the village about the issue.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next fire board meeting is scheduled for January 15, 2015 at 7 pm. The meeting will be delayed a week due to the New Year’s holiday and to accommodate the rescheduled Windham trustee meeting.
