Board Meeting Minutes

The Regular Monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the North Fork Ambulance Health Service District located in the Counties of Delta, Montrose and Gunnison, Colorado, was held at 110 E. Hotchkiss Ave, Hotchkiss, Colorado, on Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 11:00 a.m.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 11:02 am.
ROLL CALL
Board members present – Dave Kreutz, Peter Pruett, Blake Kinser, Bonnie Eisenberg in person. Tyrell Clock virtually.
Others present: Kathy Steckel, Diane Perry, Tanya Applegate, Jake Dahlman, David Gallob, Joe Applegate, Drew Felix, Cindy Felix, Kimber Gallob, Brett Anderson, Brandon Pehrson, Shonna Simineo and Clayton Lynch in person. Mychaela Belden, and Suelyn Pemberton attended virtually.
ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
No additions to the agenda.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE
Conflict of Interest forms were filed with the Secretary of State.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Danny Berala, executive director of WRETC was present. He gave a short explanation of the WRETC Awards program. And then announced that on behalf of WRETC, he was pleased to announce that Tanya Applegate was chosen as ALS Provider of the Year. He presented her with a certificate and gift card.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Minutes from the August 20, 2025 Regular Monthly Meeting were reviewed. Dave Kreutz made a motion to amend the minutes by making two changes. One under the Public Comment section. The second use of Mychaela’s name is spelled wrong. And the other on the second page in the second paragraph, “through” should be “thorough.” The motion was seconded. All board members voted in favor.
Peter Pruett made a motion that the minutes be approved as amended. The motion was seconded. All board members voted in favor.
REPORTS
PRESIDENT REPORT
Dave doesn’t really have much this month. He has revised the roll call vote system a little and will be asking for votes individually, as he did with the approval of minutes.
FINANCE REPORT
Financials for August were presented and reviewed. Dave noted that $120,000 of surplus funds had been moved to our CSAFE investment account. Bonnie had a question about the timing of the purchase of uniforms and Peter Pruett wondered why the number for buildings in the Fixed Asset category on the balance sheet did not seem to reflect the new building in Paonia. It is still listed as a capital purchase on the current budget and will move to the fixed asset category at the end of the year.
DISTRICT CHIEF REPORT
Kathy Steckel gave an overview of her report.
Several crew members went to TCR on Tuesday for training and to discuss how other providers in the region are responding to the closing of the OB and delivery department at Delta Health.
We have expended 100% of the money from our Firearm Safety Grant. Tanya had a few statistics about what was given away. We were able to give away more than anticipated – 627 small gun safes, 317 large rifle safes, 602 ammo boxes, 488 padlocks and 431 trigger locks. She will have more statistics available as she has time to process the surveys. Blake asked what the overall reaction to the crisis packets was. Tanya thought the reception was great. Many people did not have any idea those resources were available.
The agency just received full funding for the EMR class from North Fork Ambulance Auxiliary.
Hotchkiss Fire is seeking to renegotiate our long-term lease agreement. In 2007 NFAA contributed about $100,000 for Hotchkiss Fire to acquire a grant to build the new station. NFAA subsequently paid about another $25,000 in payments the next 5 years. NFEMS pays 17% of utilities yearly.
Our property has enough room in the back to build a three-bay garage. Blake Kinser and Tyrell Clock will be the committee to explore options. Hotchkiss Fire has suggested $1,000/month as a possible lease amount. Kathy will add this to the budget for next year while the committee explores options.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Cybersecurity Policy – Peter Pruett made a motion to adopt the proposed Cybersecurity Policy as written and presented. The motion was seconded and discussion followed.
Blake Kinser made a motion to add policy to include all standards of protection for education, personnel and patients. The motion to amend was seconded and all board members voted in favor.
The paragraph that was added to the policy reads:
“Follow the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for patient health information, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for student records and related educational information and all applicable federal and state regulations governing employee data.”
The board returned to the original motion to adopt the policy, as amended. All board members voted in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
No new business.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Next Regular Meeting is Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 11 am.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further matters before the board, Dave Kreutz moved to adjourn. The motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 12:03 pm.