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 Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 11:00 a.m.

CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am.

ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: No additions to the agenda.
ROLL CALL: Board members present – Dan Miller, Dave Kreutz, and Bonnie Eisenberg. Marcus Roeder and Peter Pruett were travelling and unavailable.
Others present include: Kathy Steckel, Diane Perry, Medeina Ryan, Tanya Applegate, Steve Simpson and Marie Stucker.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE: No conflict of interest.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Bonnie finally had to call the ambulance and was able to see everyone in action. She was very impressed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes from the April 18, 2024 Regular Monthly Meeting were reviewed. Dave Kreutz made a motion that the minutes be approved as written. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
REPORTS:
FINANCE REPORT: Financials for April were presented and reviewed. The only unusual items last month were the payment for the new ambulance and the receipt of backfill funds from the state. Dave Kreutz made a motion to approve the financials for April. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
APPROVAL OF APPROPRIATIONS: Bonnie Eisenberg made a motion to approve the appropriations for April as presented. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
DISTRICT CHIEF REPORT: Kathy Steckel gave an overview of her report (see attached).
Administration: CMS data collection reporting is almost complete. Kathy is still working on web accessibility with a local web designer, but it will be complete by the July 1 deadline. Still working on the Strategic Plan. She will be contacting the board members for their input.
Finance: The Audit was sent out with the board packet, it can be approved at the next meeting. Let Kathy know if you have any questions before the next meeting, so she has time to find the answers. Still waiting for monies from the FY 24 Provider Grant for the radios, but have permission to handout the radios. Will submit for reimbursement for the ambulance as soon as it is decaled and we can take pictures of it.
HR: Delta County Commissioners proclaimed May 19-25 EMS Week. Press releases going out and gifts ordered for the crew members. Kathy will hand out the gifts individually and talk to each crew member about the strategic plan.
PR: Kathy is working on a new challenge coin to commemorate our 5 year anniversary coming up July 1st. We are up to 10 SAIL classes per week, with most classes exceeding 20 participants. Pioneer Days Melodrama is coming up on June 6-8. Proceeds from the Thursday night, June 6th, performance will benefit SAIL.
OPERATION: The new ambulance is in Grand Junction getting decals and will be in service soon!. She doesn’t think that we got the big grant from CDPHE that would fund the CP program, so she is working on other grant applications.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: No unfinished business
NEW BUSINESS:
a. Presentation of the 2023 Audit. There is no formal presentation of the audit. It was sent out in the board packet for review. It does not have to be filed until the end of July, so it can be approved at either the June or July meeting. Let Kathy know if you have any questions before the next meeting, so she has time to find the answers.
b. Backfill Funds. Kathy presented a table with some suggestions about how we might spend the backfill monies over the next two years. At last month’s meeting the board tentatively approved spending the money for the CP program and the table reflects that. Back-up generators for Crawford and Paonia are another item on the list (with or without stand-alone propane tanks). The general consensus, is that we should definitely go ahead with generators. Dan suggests checking with the Towns to see what their regulations are regarding propane tanks in city limits, before we proceed. If there is no problem with the tanks in Crawford or Paonia, then it is felt that we should go ahead and get propane tanks with the new installations. Dave Kreutz made a motion to accept the table Kathy presented as a general guideline for spending the backfill funds. The motion was seconded. As discussion, Medeina and Tanya went over a few of their goals for the CP program. Dan thinks it is a good idea for us to be using backfill funds to promote health in the community. Kathy pointed out that this is a very small percentage of our overall budget and it provides great benefit to the community. The motion was put to a vote and all were in favor.
As an aside, Dan would like to see if we could do something about the wasps at the Hotchkiss Station. He would also like periodic updates about the CP program, so he can promote the program accurately. And would like to see more communication with the public about the program via website, papers, visits to senior centers, etc. Also thinks it would be good to include information about charges, so people are not afraid to call 911 for an ambulance. He also wants to let the crews know that the board is very happy with their performance.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Next Regular Meeting is Thursday, June 20, 2024 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 12:18 pm.