Ochopee FCD Advisory Board Minutes 04/11/2011
THE OCHOPEE FIRE CONTROL DISTRICT
ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
HELD ON APRIL 11, 2011
In attendance were the following:
Alan McLaughlin, Fire Chief
Caleb Morris, Captain
Ron Gilbert, Chairman, Port of the Islands
Tod Johnson, Vice Chairman, Everglades City
James Simmons, Port ofthe Islands, Advisory Board Member
The meeting came to order at 6PM.
Chief McLaughlin went over the monthly report. He mentioned that we have received a
preliminary Site Development Plan for the ten, nine & six story buildings at Port of the Islands
by Sun Stream. Some modifications will be necessary regarding turning and lane requirements.
Two of the buildings are going to require fire pumps due to the water system out there with an
option of putting a separate fire pump building. You can run three buildings off one pump
house which would be the smartest thing to do. His recommended that Instead of putting a
system in each building of $SO,OOO to put one in and supply all three buildings.
Ron Gilbert - That will help us with revenue.
Chief McLaughlin - Yes.
Ron Gilbert - They must see some changes in the economy that I don't see.
OLD BUSINESS BUDGET:
Chief McLaughlin - They are selling them all as time shares. Then he continued to go over the
monthly report which is attached. We leased a new copier at a cheaper rate then the last one.
The class we were scheduled to hold at Port of the Islands was cancelled due to brush fires. We
have another budget review coming up on May 13th that will be the final review with the
County Manager. Over our entire budget is looking pretty good we probably will have to go
into Reserves this year due to payroll issues and it looks like we are only $2,000 off on our
projections. We feel pretty good about that we made that projection in October. He also
handed out a budget report for 2012 which is attached. He then went over the information.
The information in the budget hand out is still in progress it is not finished. They projected us
at an 11% loss last year and we didn't have that actual drop as the monies came in. So we
ended up with a $438,000 more than we expected in our budget which is huge.
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Chief McLaughlin - They over projected our loss last year so that gave us the carry forward we
needed this year and a little money. We are not going to have an issued like we talked about
with the payroll, losing the people and shutting an engine down that all went away. He cut
$86,000 out of the operating budget then Fleet Management added $86,000 back in fees for
vehicle costs, labor costs, and fuel costs. Then the IT Department's fees increase $3,000 for
next year. So he went to battle with fleet over the increases he projected that the fuel costs
would be less. They tripled our fuel costs based on $S a gallon. He implemented some changes
such as stopping the move up which is a savings of approximately $4,000. He feels Fleet is
shooting a little high on fuel costs. There is nothing he can do about the labor costs they
project that he cannot change that. Parts are only charged to us as they are used and the
Water Tender is the most costly regarding replacement parts the costs are usually around
$S,OOO to $6,000 when it goes in. We went from $19,000 to $44,000 in parts he feels the
increase is not justified unless we had some sort of catastrophic failure but that is Fleet
Management's projection. So everything he gained out of cutting the operating expenses went
flat again. The manager wanted wants us to drop another 3% there is enough money in carry
forward to cover payroll and 3%. That also gave us enough money to put some things back into
capital. He did cut $19,000 out of our operating budget for protective clothing because we
have already purchased it this year and won't need to replace the equipment for another 4 to 5
years. We moved another $16,000 out of other contractual services because that was for the
architectural and engineer fees for last year which have been completed. We cut another
$20,000 out of building and maintenance it is down to $10,000. We are pretty much done as to
what has to be done to these buildings other than painting them and replacing the cabinets at
Station 60. So we save some large sums the other cuts were small. With the extra monies we
were able to add back to the operating budget for instance the boat budget was originally cut
down to $500 if the boat had to be repaired we were going to pull it out of the water so we
were able to put $3,000 back into the line item. So we were able to balance our budget with
what we had. We don't have our final budget to review until it goes before the County
Manager then it goes before the Board of County Commissioners in June then the final budget
approval is in September.
James Simmons - So you don't anticipate any real problems.
Chief McLaughlin - Not right now.
OLD BUSINESS 1-75:
Chief Mclaughlin - Three senators have rewritten the State Bill in creation of the toll for 1-75.
The original bill had road services and law enforcement. The Bill has been rewritten to include
Fire and Rescue Services. It looks like it has a lot of support and should pass because three
State Senators are pushing it. He had to give them a budget. When this becomes more solid he
will give them more information. He gave them a yearly operating cost; start up costs, and an
overall on shot onetime cost.
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Chief McLaughlin - We went back and asked for 3.2 million dollars to build the facilities, buy the
trucks out right and one year operating costs. It will take 1.2 million every year after that to
operate. We also gave them other options like lease purchasing a building over a 10 or 20 years
period they could add that to their operating costs that would bring it up to 1.357 million. We
gave them some options on how we could do this. They are not going to raise the toll
apparently there is a lot of money sitting over in Water Management that come out ofthere
lil<e ten million dollars and they get a huge chuck of 1-75 dollars each year and they are not
using all of it and they are going to take a portion of it out and fund it over. Actually Broward it
going to get a little and we are going to get the rest of the chunk we cover the largest area out
there that will fund the dedicated facility. He asked for eleven people based on our formulas for
man power and how we will work that out and that will actually benefit us and our payroll
because once we do that two shifts will be full with five in town here so if someone is off I don't
have to pay over time or a job banker.
James Simmons -Is funding Federal or State.
Chief McLaughlin - State.
Ron Gilbert - So if the passage looks good when will it come to pass.
Chief McLaughlin - He is still waiting to hear from Debbie Wight (Legislative Affairs Coordinator)
it is coming up it will be this year. 50 we are expecting to hear something back in the future
within the next couple of months. It could get passed and they set a date on it. Or it could get
passed and they forward the money to the County and we start immediately. Or they could say
put a trailer out there for the first year hire the people and then the next year we will build the
facility for you. We don't know what they are going to bring back yet. It looks like it is going to
become a reality. The Senators understood the importance of keeping our personnel in the
populated areas and that 1-75 has to fund itself we can't be using tax dollars to cover it taking
away the services from the tax payers.
OLD BUSINESS PORT OF THE ISLANDS STATION:
Ron Gilbert - That sounds pretty good he is real glad that there won't be any personnel cuts.
How does it look for money to re-do the marina for the Fire Station at Port of the Islands.
Chief McLaughlin - He was told that the County would loan us the money to complete that
project next year and we would not have to pay it off until things got better. At this point he
doesn't care where the money comes from they understand he has to finish this project. He
will wait and see if the money is moved over into the budget under special projects.
Ron Gilbert - You are talking next Fiscal Year.
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Chief McLauglin - October one is our Fiscal Year. He went back and asked if you are going to
loan the money can you do it now so that I can have this done in three months. He was told it
would not work that way. He went to the architect and we have non-construction prints that
have been handed over to one of the construction companies to give us a fair and accurate
price with the architects input. We did get all the plans back and they have been approved all
we need is money so we can pull the permits and get started. He has been told it can be done
in three months.
NEW BUSINESS WATER TENDER:
Chief McLaughlin - Our Water Tender carries 3, 000 gallons of water for our rural community is
21 years old. We have now spent almost as much as it was purchased. Fleet has wanted to
take this unit out of service for several years. It's had multiple problems every time it goes in it
costs from $5,000 to $8,000. The pump housing has been welded in spots. It really has not
business of being in service. The vehicle is only used for an emergency response. It only
responds if someone really has to have it there is no guarantee it will get there. We had two
incidents this winter where it wouldn't start because it was below 45 or 50 degrees. After the
incident in East Naples the other day he started to think about the liability of using the current
Water Tender. He started researching some things and found out that he can go to the Board
of County Commissioners and asked for an emergency purchase to replace this vehicle. He can
purchase it off the Sheriff's Big List which means I don't have to go to bid on it. I just need to
find one out there that fits our parameters. The leasing companies will go up to ten years and
one year in the rear which means we don't have to pay on the vehicle the first year. What
that means is if I take delivery after October 1, 2011 which we would we don't have to pay for it
until the 2013 budget. So by then things will be better and it looks like it will cost from $25,000
to $26,000 a year for a ten year lease he is still trying to get that number down. We have two
years left on our current lease purchase for our two engines and that is $44,000 a year. We
make our last payment in 2014 so we will have two years of double payments then after that
our lease purchase payment will drop 40% the $44,000 will go back into the budget because the
engines will be paid for.
James Simmons - Will this be a new unit?
Chief McLaughlin - Yes it will be a new unit.
James Simmons -It looks like you could find a pretty good bargain used.
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Chief McLaughlin - Actually historically used fire apparatus don't do well they have to comply
with NFPA. So if you purchase a used apparatus if anything were to happen you would be
opening yourself up to a huge liability plus you are taking on someone eise's problems. These
fire trucks are 15 to 20 year trucks they are not a five year purchase. Engines usually get 10 to
15 years on them. Ladder trucks and Water Tenders life span is 15 to 20 years that is the
national standard recommended by NFPA. Also per NFPA once the vehicle has reached 20
years it is time to take it out of service. The new vehicle would serve the District well into 2021
or 2022. If we purchase the right vehicle now and with the maintenance schedules we have it
will service the District for many years. It is worth in the big picture. Most used fire trucks go
to South America or overseas.
Ron Gilbert - There is no salvage vaiue on the water tender.
Chief McLaughlin - We will get a trade in value for it maybe $5,000 or $10,000. Are two
engines we traded in we got $10,000 for them.
Ron Gilbert - What do you expect the new water tender to costs?
Chief McLaughlin - He has quotes from $200,000 to $230,000 and he is working right now to
find something that will applicable. We have now a 3,000 gallon water tender and he is looking
to drop that down to 2,000 or 2500 there is a couple of reasons for that. Duel axel versus single
axel which has to do with wear and tear, maintenance, costs and weight due to some of the
bridges it will have to cross. He feels the 2,000 or 2500 gallon tanker would serve us well.
Powering a 3,000 gallon tanker the weight versus powering a 2,000 gallon tanker there is a
$10,000 difference in engines. We are looking at a vacuum tanker versus an elliptical and a
stander straight side tanker they all vary in price. One company made a pretty good offer on a
vacuum tanker in retrospect it would be an outstanding truck for Alligator Alley because you
can refill that 2000 gallon tank in 20 seconds. Ifthe difference is $35,000 to $40,000 for a
standard straight side instead of an elliptical or vacuum or 2500 gallon or 3,000 we will
probably go that route because that is going to take our payment from $29,000 or $30,000
down to $25,000. It would serve the purpose as much as we would use the vehicle it is not for
any every day response.
Ron Gilbert - That would be used for an isolated fire where there are no fire hydrants or not a
canal close by.
Chief McLaughlin - Which is half of our District we only have fire hydrants in Port of the Islands
and Everglades City. The other area all of Lee Cypress, Jerome all of US 41 and SR 29 don't have
hydrants. Only a few in Copeland have hydrants. Everything we currently run on the road that
has to do with a truck incident the tanker has to go one because we don't have enough water.
We still have a lot of area that does not have fire hydrants.
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Ron Gilbert - Will 2,000 gallons put out a fire?
Chief McLaughlin - We are carrying 1,000 on the engines so that would be 3,000. At some
point depending how far it is and what we are trying to do. A water tender is designed to be
set up as a water shuttle. You drop the fold a tank you go draft from a canal come back and
dump it and the engine drafts right out of the tank it becomes a reservoir. Ifthe fire is small
enough it can just pump into the engine but if it looks like it is going to be a bigger fire you set
up the fold a tank and use the tanker as a shuttle. We use the water tender a lot on road side
fires as well.
The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 6:35PM.
~ jfli
Ronald Gilbert, Chairman
Ochopee Fire Control District Advisory Board
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