Windham – The WVFD Joint Fire District Board held their monthly meeting last week with two of the three board members in attendance along with the fiscal officer. The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairman Brian Miller. The minutes from the last meeting were tabled until the next meeting. Expenditures and bank reconciliation for the month of January were then approved.
In the chief’s report, Chief Rich Gano reported that he received one resignation that cited how the district’s low pay affected his personal finances as his primary reason for leaving. That led to a discussion on how to retain their crew with limited finances. It was voted on and passed that they would start paying those who were on call overnight at the station their regular run pay when they are called out on top of their $5 / hour on call pay, as an incentive to retain more EMT’s and Medics. If a call comes in at night, a basic EMT will make $8.30/hour plus their $5 on call wage and advanced EMT will make $9/ hour plus the $5 on call and a medic will make $10/ plus their $5 on call pay. If they are not called out they will make $5/ hour. Night shift is considered 8pm-8am. Day shift 8am – 8 pm will make the regular par pay depending on their status, whether they have calls or not. The dayshift crew is required to do truck maintenance and other chores while on duty. The board is hoping the levy will pass so they can increase their wages, while continuing to maintain 24/7 coverage. Currently there are 21 folks on the payroll that are covering the township and the village for fire and EMS service. Another measure intended to be an incentive to keep their members, is to pay for the credential testing for Medics and EMT’s one time, the board approved the measure.
The chief reported that he is applying for grants to help with funding. Lastly, he reported that the communications system is in, sort of. Due to inclement weather and other delays by the radio company, the antenna is not up on the tower where it needs to be and portable units are still not programmed. Therefore, until the job is totally completed to the chief’s satisfaction and the contract obligations, he has requested they will not pay the final installment of the contract.
As of January 31, 2018, there have been 35 calls this year. The breakdown looks like this, 28 EMS calls, 3 fire, 4 hazardous conditions, 1 false alarm and 6 motor vehicle accidents.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The fire district meetings are open to the public and they meet on the second Thursday of each month at 7pm at the fire station.
