Garden City Fire District Board Meeting

Chris Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 21, 2013.  The regular monthly meeting of the Garden City Fire District was held.  Present were Terry Allen, Perry Wakefield, and Christina Gracey.  Absent were Randall Knight and Travis Hobbs. 

Terry Allen reported that there were 20 applicants for the job of fire chief.  The board has narrowed the applicant group to 5 and will conduct in-person interviews beginning Monday, Nov 25, and concluding on the 26^th.  A tentative target date for hiring the new chief is January 1, 2014.

The board formally adopted a policy on electronic meeting attendance which does not permit a board member from being counted as present for a meeting if such member is not physically present.  However, board members can vote on issues while attending electronically but a physical quorum of 3 must be present for any business to take place.  Further work on policy issues included work on a drug testing policy for firefighters and Utah DMV requirements.  A CDL will not be required to operate firefighting vehicles.

The firefighters would like to use some of the incoming funds to have a tower with search light and appropriate public safety lighting built on the fire boat so that it can be more effective in search and rescue operations, especially at night.

In budgetary items, the total funds from the wild land grant were $14,900.  At least $6,400 of that amount will be used for personal protective firefighter gear.  A public hearing on the 2013 budget was held pursuant to Utah law because of injections into the department account of the wild land grant funds and the proceeds from the propane tank rollover this summer required an opening of this year’s budget.  The hearing was held and the funds were voted into appropriate accounts in the current budget.  A tentative budget for 2014 was approved and will be discussed in detail in a public hearing in early December, prior to final board approval.  No tax increase is proposed.

The Waters Edge project will be contacted again to affirm earlier discussions about the need for the developers to provide a 75-95 foot certified ladder truck if the building is as tall as planned.

Christina Gracey made a motion to go into executive session to discuss “possible misconduct” of a board member.  The three members present voted to go into executive session.