Western Coventry Fire District

4661 Flat River Road

Greene, RI  02827

(401) 397-7520

_____________________________________________________________________

Date 7-24-08

WCFD Board of

Directors Meeting

Called to order at 6:35 PM

Present

Kent Novak                         Treasurer Glenn Underwood

Thomas Haynes                   Chief Joel Pomfret

Robert Guastini                    Capt. Mann

Jon Mitchell                         Richard Holt

                                             Skip Mays

Motion made by Jon Mitchell seconded by Tom Haynes to accept the minutes as presented, Discussion. Unanimous vote to accept.

Chairman’s comments: The chairman thanked the Board for switching nights for the meeting to accommodate his request.

Chief’s Report Joel Pomfret

Chief’s report attached to these minutes.

The Chief gave his report in detail.

MOTION made by Tom Haynes seconded by Jon Mitchell to accept the report as given. Discussion. Unanimous vote to accept.

Firefighters Grant Update Capt. R. Mann

Order was placed for gear with Shipmans, and should be  received within 60 days.

ATV selection referred to the bids that were opened. Chief Pomfret stated after further review, some of the bids did not meet the department’s specifications. The bid chosen was the third lowest.

The vehicle chosen (Kubota Model RTV 900)was from Norfolk Power from Wrentham MA for $11,800.00.

The lowest bid was in the amount of $8500.00 and the highest  bid was $14.033.88.

Motion made by Jon Mitchell seconded by Tom Haynes to purchase the Kubota RTV 900 for $11,800.00. Discussion.

Robert Guastini stated he felt the Kubota was too wide for our application but that was his opinion.

Unanimous vote to accept the bid from Norfolk Power.

R.I. EMA radio update. Chief Pomfret.

The radios have been ordered and will be mounted in the vehicles.

Kent Novak stated that SAP 1211.should be placed on the agenda to be reviewed.

Jon Mitchell and Tom Haynes will work on updating the SAP 1211. with the assistance of Chief Pomfret and Deputy Chief Hall for the August meeting.

Robert Guastini would like to work with Thomas Haynes, and Jon Mitchell reviewing the SAP’s.

Skip Mays stated that there was a procedure in place that pertained to members who had taken courses paid for by the district and then left. They would have to reimburse the district.

Skip asked about the ISO, and Kent stated that he will make sure the subject will be on the August agenda.

Treasurer’s Report

Glenn Underwood stated that the compensation and payroll areas were getting hit pretty hard due to the participation of the members and these areas should be watched.

The other area that needs to be watched is vehicle maintenance because of the cost of fuel. We may have to supplement the budget from other areas..

Glenn stated he does not see anything drastic with the budget at this point but going forward to next year we should be more mindful as to the expenses.

Motion to approve the treasurer’s report as presented, seconded by Bob Guastini. Discussion. Unanimous vote to accept report as given.

Tax Collector’s Report: Joan Smith

Tax collector not present but report (attached) was read for information only, and will be voted on at the August 21st meeting.

District Clerk Report: Denis F. Fournier

The annual OMA meeting will be held at Roger Williams college on 8-1-08  and I reserved two seats, I am going and one other person is welcome to attend. Robert Guastini voiced wanting to go, also Skip Mays.

Building Committee Report : John Humble

Report was passed out to the board, (and attached) to the minutes.

It is unknown if radiant heat is going to be able to be afforded but it is the most desired method of heating because of its long term efficiency and costs, but it’s up front cost is double that of a standard heating system and we will not know if we can  afford it until the price tag for the station comes in.

Bob Guastini stated that he felt that due to the rising costs of energy it would be best to “bite the bullet” to have the radiant heat installed at the beginning for the savings in the future.

Concern arose from John Humble in reference to Attorney Bill Harsch doing District legal work as opposed to building committee work. In short, should the items be divided as to the expenses for the attorney.

Glenn stated that many of the items that Attorney Harsch handled are either directly or indirectly coupled with the building budget and would not be a question if there were no building.

In a different item , John Humble stated that for any professional services the district advertised for we should include the criteria for evaluation to appear in the ad for services sought.

Kent Novak stated that possibly this should be looked at to develop an SOP/SAP.

It has been stated that a local attorney would be best suited to represent the department in front of the planning board.

Kent Novak stated he will add as an agenda item. ”Legal bills apportionment” for next month.

New Business

After review, of the criteria to move into closed session it was determined that the criteria for a closed session was not met and the board could not go into closed session.

Bob Guastini identified himself as the person requesting the closed session, and admitted that the violation in question did not come within one of the 7 items listed permitting a closed session. Bob continued to explain on a voluntary basis to the board in open session.

Public Comment

Kent Novak stated that a public comment was determined to be open session in the OMA.

Jon Mitchell stated that he was concerned that the board meetings are taking a lengthy amount of time.

Jon stated that he noticed that there was no public comment in the agenda. He felt this was necessary to let the public express their opinion on matters.

After discussion, Kent stated that, “In an effort to streamline a meeting, you ended up adding time to the meeting.”

Kent Novak asked for any other comment on the public comment. He further stated that “without objection” he would put “OPEN FORUM” at the end of the agenda, prior to adjournment.

Motion to adjourn by Tom Haynes, seconded by Jon Mitchell, Discussion. Unanimous vote to adjourn.

Denis F. Fournier

WCFD Clerk