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, October 12, 2023 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, Marcus Roeder, Dave Kreutz, Bonnie Eisenberg and Peter Pruett.
Others present include: Kathy Steckel, Diane Perry, Steve Simpson, Marie Stucker and Marvin Pemberton.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE: No conflict of interest.
PUBLIC COMMENT: No Public Comment.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes from the September 14, 2023 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 September were presented and reviewed. Marcus Roeder made a motion to approve the financials for September. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
APPROVAL OF APPROPRIATIONS: Bonnie Eisenberg made a motion to approve the appropriations for September as presented. The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
DISTRICT CHIEF REPORT: Kathy Steckel gave an overview of her report (see attached).
Administration: working on the 2024 draft budget
Finance: 2024 budget calculations. Searching for grants to fund SAIL, CP and non-emergent transports. Submitted a grant for $5,000 on behalf of the Auxiliary. Received notice that funding for the radios has been granted by the state. Should see a PO for those by the end of the month.
HR: Wording for the changes in the PTO Policy are in progress, but the budget has taken precedence.
PR: Planning for the 2023 Marketplace is underway. Katie is due the week before the Marketplace, so every thing is going to be organized before then. Ace Gambel’s has donated an E-bike for the drawing at the Marketplace. Proceeds from the drawing go to the Auxiliary. We have budgeted for two AED’s to be placed in the community this year.
Operations: Expanding the CARES for next year.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: No unfinished business.
NEW BUSINESS: Presentation of the draft 2024 budget. The District is required to present the budget to the board at this time. Normally the budget needs to be approved by December 15th, but this year there is some question about those dates. It all depends on whether Proposition HH passes or not. We will wait until after the election to ask our attorneys how this will affect us.
Questions the Board had regarding the budget:
Building Repair. The number for next year is lower than this year. The buildings are in pretty good shape and do not require a lot of maintenance next year. There are some big projects that are on the list for the future -siding and a roof for the clinic building in Crawford and backup generators for Paonia and Crawford. Kathy is thinking that these could be put off another year. The Board would like Kathy to look for grants for the generators, possibly through Homeland Security. If available, then it could be added to next year’s budget.
ECPR computers. Just a question about the large dollar amount for 5 computers. The are military grade laptops that stand up to abuse. The cheaper ones we ordered last time only lasted 3 years.
Purchase of a used van for wheelchair transports. Marcus worries that this doesn’t fall under our existing mission statement. Dan feels it is part of our “best neighbor policy” and Bonnie points out the we are a Health Service District. Transportation was in the top 3 in the needs assessment that we did before starting the CP Program. Marcus is not opposed to the program, but is concerned about the logistics and costs. Kathy envisions the program starting slowly next year.
Dan Miller would like to see a flag and flagpole at this building since we are a government agency. Kathy will look into it.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Next Regular Meeting is Thursday, November 9, 2023 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 11:58 pm.