November Fire Board Report

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 19, 2015. The Garden City Fire District Board held its regular monthly meeting.   All board members were present.

The board had a short public hearing on an amendment to the 2015 budget.  Primary items covered in the amendment included transfers between the capital improvements fund and the general fund in order to be in compliance with the state guidelines.  Further, the public hearing on the proposed 2016 budget is scheduled for December 4, at 6 p.m. in the fire station. 

Board member Knight briefly discussed the ongoing update of the policy and procedures manual for the department.  He indicated that he had been in contact with the North Logan fire department and had received input on what policies they have, especially with respect to use of vehicles.  Further work will continue.

The board approved gifts for the active firefighters from the general fund for the year 2015, with a limit of $150 per firefighter.  It also approved a bonus for the year 2015 of $1000 for the fire chief, Mike Wahlberg, and $500 for Tiffany Wahlberg, the CPA who handles all department accounting.

While the topic has been announced for some time, there have been no applicants for the impending vacancy in the fire board that will occur when Perry Wakefield resigns.  He has expressed his desire to leave by the end of the year.  Interested persons are encouraged to make contact with any board member or the chief.  

Chief Wahlberg would like to begin a long-range plan for the department, its objectives and goals.  Among these is the acquisition of a much bigger and newer ladder truck, which has significant cost.

Chief Wahlberg announced that by his records there have been more than 2600 hours of work put in by the 21 firefighters in the department in 2015, 2048 of which have been uncompensated.  He expressed enormous satisfaction with the training level, commitment, and achievements of the department.  Included in these achievements were 6 fire responses in the past month alone (one during the meeting being conducted by the board). 

Additionally, the department responded to a grass fire started by hot ashes dumped in a field just north of the stop sign and on the east side of highway 89 in Garden City.  Some siding on an adjacent house was damaged but the fire was contained relatively quickly.  Had the fire burned just an additional 10 minutes prior to departmental arrival it could have become a major structure fire with extensive damage.

There was a small fire that occurred in Garden City due to arcing in a power line and 3 wildland fires that were suppressed, one at Sage Junction, one in Laketown, and one by the Chevron station in Garden City.