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, May 21, 2025 at 11:00 a.m.

**CALL TO ORDER:** The meeting was called to order at 11:05 am.

**ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA:** No additions to the agenda

**ROLL CALL:** Board members present -- Dave Kreutz, Peter Pruett, Bonnie Eisenberg, Blake Kinser.

Others present include: Kathy Steckel, Diane Perry, Tanya Applegate, Jodi Gannon, Brett Anderson, Marvin Pemberton, Suelyn Pemberton, Cindy Owen, Cindy Felix, Mychaela Belden.

**CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE:** Conflict of Interest forms were filed with the Secretary of State.

**PUBLIC COMMENT:** Cindy Owen welcomed the new board. Mychaela Belden offered to buy the district an OWL camera system for better IT capabilities, provided that it be used to make the board meetings virtually accessible.

**APPROVAL OF MINUTES:** Minutes from the April 16, 2025 Regular Monthly Meeting were reviewed. Bonnie Eisenberg made a motion that the minutes be approved as written. The motion was seconded. The three board members present at last month's meeting voted in favor. The motion carried.

**REPORTS**

**FINANCE REPORT:** Financials for April were presented and reviewed. No questions.

**DISTRICT CHIEF REPORT:** Kathy Steckel gave an overview of her report.

Administration: Kathy served as the DEO for the election that happened on May 6th. The costs for the election include a little more than $16,000 to Delta County and around $8,000 to our attorneys.

The cyber security improvement project is going well. Jake Dahlman has set up networks at the stations and HQ. Blake Kinser had questions about the financial arrangements with Jake Dahlman.

Finance: The 2024 audit was completed. The board will receive the audit for review next month. It must be filed with DOLA by the end of July, so it can be approved at the June or July meeting.

HR: It is EMS Week and thanks to Tanya, we will be doing small things to thank our employees all week long.

Communications/PR: The Health and Wellness Expo was held in April with about the same attendance as last year. Bonnie thought the attendance was a little disappointing. Kathy believes that this was in part due to the date of the expo this year, it was the weekend of Easter. She had wanted to have it earlier in April, but Heritage Hall was booked. It has been reserved earlier next year.

911 Operations: Still moving the Paonia Station. We have to be out of the old station by the end of June. Still waiting on the second estimate for the landscaping/sprinkler system. Blake suggests calling SE Ward out of Cedaredge, if none of the more local people respond. Dave will check on the status of the irrigation system after the Wist's have made their changes.

Community Health/Prevention: SAIL classes are down to nine a week, but we are hiring new instructors, so expect it to go back up to the 10 shortly.

We are distributing firearm safes once a month now. We are about halfway through the money. Blake requested a breakdown of the costs from Tanya.

**UNFINISHED BUSINESS:** No unfinished business

**NEW BUSINESS:** Election of Board Officers

Nominations for Office of President: Peter Pruett nominated Dave Kreutz as President. The nomination was seconded and all were in favor.

Nominations for Treasurer: Blake Kinser nominated Peter Pruett for Treasurer. Peter respectfully declined.

Peter Pruett nominated Bonnie Eisenberg for Treasurer. The nomination was seconded and all were in favor.

Nominations for Secretary: Dave Kreutz nominated Blake Kinser for secretary. The nomination was seconded and all were in favor.

Nominations for Assistant Secretary/Treasurer: Dave Kreutz nominated Peter Pruett for Assistant Secretary/Treasurer. The nomination was seconded and all were in favor.

Dave Kreutz nominated Blake Kinser for vice president. The motion was seconded and discussion followed. Dave Kreutz withdrew his nomination for Vice President and tabled it until next month. There were no objections.

Update of CORA policy - Resolution 2025-03. Dave Kreutz moved that this also be tabled until next month, so the entire board has more time to review the policy. The motion was seconded and all were in favor.

Executive Session -- Dave Kreutz moved that the board enter executive session pursuant to §24-6-402(4)(d), C.R.S. to discuss specialized details of security arrangements or investigations. The Board entered executive session at 11:44 am. Dave Kreutz requested that Kathy Steckel be present for the session. A parliamentary error occurred in that the required 2/3 vote of board members to enter executive session was not taken. The error has been noted and will be corrected at all future meetings that require executive session.

Return to regular session at 12:28 pm

Kathy welcomed the new board. Blake Kinser requested help getting up to speed with the district. Kathy suggested that he set up a time that they could sit down together. She could answer his questions and give him any documentation that he might need. Dave Kreutz handed out an information sheet about integrity of board members, just as a refresher.

Blake brought up Mychaela's suggestion about an OWL camera system to allow for virtual board meetings. Kathy suggests that there may be some legal issues that need to be considered, as per our attorneys.

**ANNOUNCEMENTS:**

Next Regular Meeting is Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 11 am.

**ADJOURNMENT:** There being no further matters before the board, Dave Kreutz moved to adjourn. All were in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 12:47 pm.