By-laws, budget, Chief raise and public questions addressed

SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire Board amended their by-laws and approved the 2021-2022 budget at their June 15 meeting. They also addressed public questions regarding the mission statement, financials and public information requests. At a special meeting June 21, they approved a five percent raise for Chief Dave Lane and assigned Board Chair Scott Kennedy and Board Member Jon Kimble to a committee to further discuss the volunteer shortage and options.

In his report, Lane said on June 13 following the windstorm, the District responded to 13 calls, 12 of which were wind related.

“Our volunteers stepped up and we handled every call on the first page within the first couple of minutes of the page,” Lane said. “Our volunteers did a great job for us.”

The board voted unanimously to amend their current by-laws and add the paragraph requested by Lane at the May meeting to Article IV - Power, Duties and Responsibilities.

The amendment states, “The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District Board is a Governing Board when the Fire Chief position is filled. The Board hereby delegates all operational authority to the Fire Chief. The Fire Chief Job Description is guided by Montana Code Annotated 7-33-2001. This authority includes the right to hire, fire, promote and assign all personnel. Hired positions must be approved by the Governing Board. If the Fire Chief position is vacant, the Board will revert to a managing board to perform the duties of the fire chief as allowed by Montana Annotated Codes 7-33-2105 and 7-33-2001. Examples of duties are as follows;”

The board discussed the proposed budget for 2021/2022.

Kimble asked why there has never been an adjustment in the budgeted tax revenue. He pointed out that over the last three years the actuals are “nowhere near the projections.”

According to the budget provided in the board packet, the total Tax Income Budget for 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 was $244,824. However the actual was $209,726.02 and $175,139.29 respectively. That is nearly $70,000 short for the 2020/2021. The Total Tax Income is again budgeted at $244,824 for 2021/2022.

Kennedy said tax revenue is always pretty constant.

Lane added the actual funding includes tax revenue as well as grant funding and ambulance revenue. Lane said $53,000 will be added to the tax revenue and there will be more but it probably won’t be reported until August since the report was from last quarter. They are expecting around $60,000.

The Board unanimously approved the 2021/2022 budget.

Lane said he worked with the volunteers to create a mission statement for the Department when he started revising the Policy Manual after he started in April 2018. It reads, “The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District mission is to provide a professional level of emergency fire and EMS service to the people of our communities using the best equipment and training possible.”

He wasn’t sure how that applies to the Board or if they have their own mission statement. The Board thought it captured what they felt the Department should be doing and Vice Chair Gary Lewis said he wants the volunteers to be safe and have the best gear available.

A member of the public Kristy Pohlman asked if the District is no longer paying Medical Director Michael Rossi. He was being paid $1,000 per month in March, however payment for his services were not reported on either the April or May expense reports.

Lane said he has been paid. Lewis added it is in the budget and Kennedy confirmed that it is a budgeted item.

The board unanimously approved the financials.

The board closed the meeting for the Chief’s evaluation. Since they did not have the proper paperwork, they rescheduled the evaluation for a special board meeting held Monday, June 21. Following the closed evaluation, the board unanimously approved a five percent raise bringing the Chief’s salary to nearly $72,700 annually.

Following the closed section of the Tuesday, June 15 meeting, Kennedy presented the paid receipts to the Medical Director who was paid for the last two months. Pohlman asked why the expenses were not being reported on the Expense Report provided in the board packet that the board approved.

“We will look at it,” Kennedy said.

The Board addressed the question from the May meeting regarding money being paid to a board member for their services as a volunteer.

According to Article 9 of the Board’s by-laws “No member of the board or the officers thereof shall receive compensation for their services to the District.”

“That would be like a board member going to a board meeting in Missoula - they can’t be paid for that,” Kennedy said. “A volunteer is not a board member. Just because she is on the board is not relevant. She is a board member, which is a separate position. She is allowed to receive funds for her volunteerism like any other volunteer.”

Pohlman suggested that there should be a policy or amendment to the by-law that states that volunteering is not considered a “service to the District” because she questioned if their argument would hold up in a court of law.

Members of the public questioned how to obtain information. The board encouraged them to go to the office and request the information either in person or via email or reach out to individual board members. Since the Chief handles all operations and will most likely be the one with the information, there is no reason for the public to request this information in a board meeting.

The Board approved a Standard Operating Procedure for Public Information Requests at their April board meeting. All requests must go through the Fire Chief by emailing slfdchief@blackfoot.net or calling 406-677-2400. The District will make every reasonable effort to respond within five - 10 business days, depending on the complexity of the request. The District may charge for the information that may not exceed the actual cost of fulfilling the request based on the staff time to gather information and printed copies at $0.50/page. If the request is denied, the District will provide a written explanation for the denial.

Lane added that the board policies are still being revised. However, the approved Standard Operating Procedures and Policies will be posted on the District website, seeleyfire.org, in the next two weeks.

At the June 21 special board meeting, the board unanimously appointed Kimble and Kennedy to serve on the committee that will begin further discussions regarding a combination department.

Lane would like the committee to consist of two board members, two Department members and two people from the community. The committee will meet with the chief to decide how they will outreach to the community. They will report to the Board at the monthly meetings and will ultimately make the recommendation of whether or not to proceed with running a levy to hire paid responders.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is July 20 at 6 p.m. at the Fire Department.