MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING OF THE NORTH FORK AMBULANCE HEALTH SERVICE DISTRICT
MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING OF THE NORTH FORK AMBULANCE HEALTH SERVICE DISTRICT
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, April 16, 2025 at 11:00 a.m.
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 11:02 am.
ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: No additions to the agenda
ROLL CALL: Board members present -- Dan Miller, Dave Kreutz, Peter Pruett and Bonnie Eisenberg. Marcus Roeder had an excused absence.
Others present include: Kathy Steckel, Diane Perry, Tanya Applegate.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE: No conflict of interest.
PUBLIC COMMENT: No public comment.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes from the March 19, 2025 Regular Monthly Meeting were reviewed. Peter pointed out a mistake in the line mentioning the cost of the election. A $ sign is missing. Peter Pruett made a motion that the minutes be approved with that small change. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
REPORTS:
FINANCE REPORT: Financials for March were presented and reviewed. Dave Kreutz made a motion to approve the financials for March. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
APPROVAL OF APPROPRIATIONS: The appropriations for March were presented and reviewed. Dave Kreutz made a motion to approve the appropriations for March as presented. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
DISTRICT CHIEF REPORT: Kathy Steckel gave an overview of her report.
Administration: The cyber security firm that Kathy had been in contact with, was not being responsive, so she decided to go with an in-house person, Jake Dahlman. He has started working on the project.
The bylaws have been updated with help of our lawyers, CEGR.
Finance: The decommissioned ambulance has been sold to St. Mary's for $3,000.
HR: Made a few clarifications to the FTE/Exempt benefits portions of the HR Manual.
COMMUNICATIONS/PR: The website has been updated to provide more information about who we are and what we do. We are advertising for new crew members and promoting the Health Expo.
911 OPERATIONS: Finishing with the contractors at the new station. All of the work on the garage should be done by the end of April. Kathy has gotten bids for a sprinkler system in the backyard and for cleanup and a little landscaping in the front yard. These two combine to about $5,000. Dave suggests getting another bid, just to be sure. The front yard is in flux as it might be used as a helicopter landing zone, so don't have many plans for it yet. Delayed the Open House until June, when everything should be finished.
Hired new station captains for Paonia and Crawford. And have posted job announcement for captain's assistants.
COMMUNITY HEALTH/PREVENTION:
Filled the CARES Coordinator position
The Health and Wellness Expo is April 19 from 9am – 2pm.
Tanya will be hosting an EMR class through the month of May. Expect some participation from the Fire Department.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: By Law Updates: Dave Kreutz suggested one change on page 5 Item 1. The line should read "Acceptance of or Changes to Agenda." Bonnie Eisenberg made a motion to adopt the new by laws with the previous change. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
NEW BUSINESS: HR Manual Updates: There are four small changes proposed. These changes are designed to clarify eligibility for Health insurance and the 401a retirement plan. Peter Pruett made a motion that the changes be accepted. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
Paonia Station -- Water: We were given 0.42 shares of irrigation water when we bought the house in Paonia. That is the equivalent of 22.77gpm from the ditch. The existing pump draws about 3 times more water than allowed. So, it appears that we need a new pump to be able to use the proper amount of irrigation water. The alternative would be to use the existing pump and share water with the neighbors. They are willing to give us all of the water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for 4 hours each day. Kathy will get another estimate for the sprinkler system and get information about the correct size pump for our needs and then we will decide which route to take.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Next Regular Meeting is Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 11 am.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further matters before the board, Dan Miller made a motion to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 12:02 pm.