OCN

Volunteers reporting on community issues in Monument, Palmer Lake, and the surrounding Tri-Lakes area

OCN > fd > Page 6

fd

Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District, Feb. 21 – New tender truck issues discussed; properties included

By Janet Sellers

NOTE: This reporter was unable to make a recording or attend in person and attended via an online Zoom meeting. This article was based on the agenda available online at www.BFFire.org and her notes from the meeting. This reporter was unable to enter the Zoom meeting until 20 minutes had passed, and some details from the meeting were unavailable to her at this writing.

At the Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District (BFFRPD) meeting on Feb. 21, the board discussed the financial management plan, the budget execution, costs and delivery issues for the new fire tender truck, and authority regarding policies and procedures.

There was a discussion between the board and Chief P.J. Langmaid regarding policies and proposals as well as implementation of the policies as procedures. The board approved the stated contract expenditure for the tender truck at delivery and reserved conversation to a later time regarding any further fees from issues regarding a timely delivery.

Inclusion of properties to the district were requested and adopted at this meeting. There were no comments on workshops, and a resident asking about plans for more equipment was told that it’s in the long-term plan.

Chief Langmaid requested a public executive session with the board, and it was held at 8:50 p.m. The discussion centered on clarification for the chief and board duties of the district as an elite force and other terminology for policies and for terms on which the board requested clarification. Members of the board suggested that they address these issues later and not in this board meeting as the board members were not in agreement regarding the nature of the issues. They decided to announce a special meeting to clarify for all board members and when all board members are present. These comments ended the executive session.

Upon return to the regular meeting there were no more issues, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:27 p.m.

**********

Meetings are usually held on the third Wednesday of the month at Station 1, 11445 Teachout Road, Colorado Springs. Meetings are open to the public in person or via Zoom. The next regular meeting is scheduled for March 20 at 7 p.m. For joining instructions, updates, agendas, minutes, and reports, visit www.bffir.org or contact Director of Public Relations Brooke Reid at Admin@bffire.org or call 719-495-4300.

Janet Sellers may be reached at JanetSellers@ocn.me.

Other Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District,= articles

Monument Fire District, Feb. 28 – Board meeting held after OCN went to press

By Natalie Barszcz

The Monument Fire District (MFD) board met on Feb. 28, which was after this issue of Our Community News had gone to press. Coverage of that meeting will be included in our April 6 issue.

**********

Meetings are usually held on the fourth Wednesday of the month. A special meeting/public hearing for the inclusion/exclusion of property related to the merger with Donald Wescott Fire Protection District will be held via Zoom and in person on March 6 at 3:30 p.m. at Station 1, 18650 Highway 105. The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. For Zoom meeting joining instructions, agendas, minutes, and updates, visit www.monumentfire.org or contact Director of Administration Jennifer Martin at 719-484-9011.

Natalie Barszcz can be reached at nataliebarszcz@ocn.me.

Other Monument Fire District articles

Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District, Jan. 17 – Work session scheduled for April; financial plan on hold

By Janet Sellers

This reporter was unable to make a recording and attend in person. This article was based on the agenda available online at BFFire.org and notes from the meeting provided by Donna Arkowski.

At the Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District (BFFRPD) meeting on Jan. 17, the financial management plan was discussed as well as the 2024 fee schedule and 2024 board meeting schedule.

Work session for district operation policies and meeting dates approved

A work session will be scheduled for a Saturday in April regarding all the relevant policies for district operation. The BFFRPD board meetings will be on the third Wednesday of each month through 2024, except for December which will potentially be a week earlier.

Financial management plan on hold

The BFFRPD financial management plan is on hold and being studied. A discussion was held on how to handle and arrange for a professional engineer to review the issues regarding plan reviews that come from the El Paso County Planning Department to the fire district for comment.

Policy package requested

Chief Langmaid was requested to provide a complete package of all policies of the district to all board members and have a book with this information in place at the station for anyone who wishes to review it.

Fee schedule updated

The 2024 fee schedule was updated and is available online at bffire.org. Fee schedules include services such as research and retrieval, medical reports, property inclusion, commercial inspections, file permits, subdivision plan reviews, and others.

**********

Meetings are usually held on the third Wednesday of the month at Station 1, 11445 Teachout Road, Colorado Springs. Meetings are open to the public in person or via Zoom. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. For joining instructions, updates, agendas, minutes, and reports, visit www.bffire.org or contact Director of Public Relations Brooke Reid at Admin@bffire.org or call 719-495-4300.

Janet Sellers may be reached at JanetSellers@ocn.me.

Other Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District (BFFRPD) articles

Donald Wescott Fire Protection District, Jan. 4 and 24 – 2024 mill levy certified; tight timeline to complete merger

By Natalie Barszcz

The Donald Wescott Fire Protection District (DWFPD) board met on Jan. 4 to certify the 2024 mill levy and hear about the subdistrict dissolution and to discuss meeting date changes needed to complete the district merger by the end of 2024. The board discussed a pre-inclusion intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District dba Monument Fire District (MFD). On Jan. 24, the board accepted the pre-inclusion IGA, decided the future board members, and accepted a revised 2024 board meeting schedule.

Director Mike Forsythe was excused on Jan. 4, and Secretary Charles Fleece was excused on Jan. 24.

2024 mill levy certification

Fire Chief Andy Kovacs said the expected loss of property tax revenue for 2024 will be about $228,000 for the district (based on 21.4 mills), and about $747,000 for MFD (based on 18.4 mills), for a total of about $975,000. The El Paso County Assessor’s Office does not have the software to differentiate between the loss of revenue from the Residential Assessment Rate (RAR) and the $55,000 rooftop adjustment, so the district cannot backfill by adjusting the mill levy to compensate for the $55,000 per rooftop loss. Assurance from the state that 100% of the lost revenue will be received by the district in March or April, he said. See www.ocn.me/v24n1.htm#dwfpd.

Background: In 2024, the RAR dropped to 6.7% and the amount of redemption on property tax value increased from $15,000 to $55,000.

District attorney Emily Powell of Ireland Stapleton Pryor Pascoe PC law firm, attending via Zoom, said for 2024 the state will need to pick up 100% of the revenue loss as a result of the adjusted RAR and the $55,000 reduction to the assessed valuation for each property.

In a 3-0 vote, the board certified the general operating mill levy at 21.4 mills for 2024.

District merger process update

Powell said the first phase of the merger was complete after her office received the official election results from El Paso County in December. A request to the district court to issue an order of dissolution for the sub-district was then filed. As of Dec. 27, the order of dissolution was filed with the county Clerk and Recorder Office and DWFPD is one district with one mill levy.

The second phase of the process has begun and will involve legally merging the boundaries of DWFPD and MFD. The merging of the boundaries will be done by utilizing the property inclusion and exclusion processes set forth in Parts 4 and 5 of the Special District Act. The transfer is allowed without an election because DWFPD is moving to a lower taxing district and property owners will save money when the merger is complete. The process will be intense, and the merger is expected to be complete by the end of 2024.

The goal is to complete 99.9% of the property transfer by April 30 to ensure the process will not bleed into early 2025. The Assessor’s Office will backdate the property transfer on the tax rolls to Jan. 1, 2024 and MFD will begin receiving the property tax revenue Jan. 1, 2025. If the deadline is not met, the board will continue meeting to transfer revenue to MFD for another year, until MFD can begin receiving the revenue via the Assessor’s Office on Jan. 1, 2026.

Powell presented the board members with a document laying out the timeline of the projects and a document proposing a pre-inclusion IGA with MFD, and she requested two or three board members be identified to remain on the board to assist with the final dissolution of DWFPD. The personal residences of the remaining two board members would be the final 0.1% of the property remaining in the district, to be transferred at the end of 2024. The Sun Hills Fire Station is expected to be transferred to MFD, because a dissolved district cannot keep it, but a discussion should ensue if there are concerns, she said.

President Mark Gunderman and Treasurer Duane Garrett elected to move onto the MFD board in May to replace directors Roger Lance and Tom Tharnish. Both MFD board directors had previously requested retiring from the board in 2024. Fleece and Forsythe remain Wescott board members to assist with the completion of the merger.

Powell said the property owners of the district will receive a mailer in early February explaining the process of the merger, the benefits to the property owners, and the resulting drop in mills after the merger is completed. The mailer will include an invitation for property owners to attend a public hearing at Station 1, 18650 Highway 105, Monument on March 6 at 4 p.m.

The board adopted the pre-inclusion IGA with Tri-Lakes Monument Protection District dba Monument Fire District, 3-0 on Jan. 24.

Powell requested the following revised meeting dates be approved to align with the merger process schedule:

  • March 6
  • April 24
  • June 12
  • June 26 (includes Volunteer Pension Board meeting)
  • July 24
  • Sept. 25
  • Nov. 20

In a 3-0 vote, the board adopted the revised board meeting schedule on Jan. 24.

For more information on the combined district activity, see the MFD article below and the Snapshots section on page < 15 >.

The Jan. 4 meeting adjourned at 12:58 p.m. The Jan. 24 meeting adjourned at 5:13 p.m.

**********

Meetings are typically held on the fourth Wednesday at Station 1, 18650 Highway 105. The next regular meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 6 at 4:30 p.m., preceded by a public hearing at 4 p.m. For Zoom meetings instructions, agendas, minutes, and updates, visit www.monumentfire.org or contact Director of Administration Jennifer Martin at 719-484-9011.

Natalie Barszcz can be reached at nataliebarszcz@ocn.me.

Other Donald Wescott Fire Protection District (DWFPD) articles

Monument Fire District, Jan. 24 – Property inclusions approved; three promoted to lieutenant

By Natalie Barszcz

At the Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District dba Monument Fire District (MFD) meeting on Jan. 24, the board held a public meeting before approving five property inclusions, accepted two petitions for future inclusion, and approved a pre-inclusion intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Donald Wescott Fire Protection District (DWFPD). The board received multiple updates on facilities, apparatus, communications and personnel, and an overview of the recently compiled community risk assessments and standards of coverage document.

Between the DWFPD and MFD board meetings, a ceremony was held to promote engineers Brian Kirkpatrick, Adam Wakefield, and Charles Ragland to lieutenants. Ragland was unavailable to attend the ceremony. .

Above: District Firefighter of the Year 2023, Engineer Christian Schmidt. Photo courtesy MFD.
Above: Brian Kirkpatrick was promoted to Lieutenant. From left, parents Diane and Tim Kirkpatrick, wife Ambyr, daughter Britain, son Evan, and Lt. Kirkpatrick with Fire Chief Andy Kovacs in the bay at Station 1, Monument on Jan. 24. After Kovacs had administered the oath of office to Kirkpatrick, Ambyr pinned on her husband’s badge. Photo by Natalie Barszcz.
Above: Adam Wakefield was promoted to Lieutenant. From left, sibling Angie Wakefield, daughter Kinsley, wife Noomi, Lt. Wakefield, Fire Chief Andy Kovacs, and (front row) sons Cole and Austin hold their dad’s new helmet at Station 1, Monument on Jan. 24. After Kovacs had administered the oath of office, Noomi pinned on her husband’s badge. Photo by Natalie Barszcz.
Above: Charles Ragland promoted to Lieutenant. Ragland was unavailable to attend the ceremony. Photo courtesy MFD.

Director Tom Tharnish attended via Zoom.

Property inclusions

Fire Chief Andy Kovacs said the district received a list a couple of months ago from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPCSO) identifying properties within the greater district boundaries but not officially within the district. The district informed each of the property owners via letter, asking if they would like to be included into the fire district. See www.ocn.me/v24n1.htm#mfd.

The board held a public hearing before approving the following five property inclusion resolutions:

  • 2024-1 Parr property.
  • 2024-2 Swenson property.
  • 2024-3 Meisinger property.
  • 2024-4 Baker property.
  • 2024-5 Sperando property.

The board unanimously accepted the inclusions of property.

The board accepted petitions for inclusion of real property:

  • Petitioner Gould—738 Forest View Way.
  • Petitioner Thulin—4035 Deer Creek Valley Court.

The board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on these petitions on Feb. 28 at its regular meeting.

The board unanimously approved the petitions.

Pre-inclusion intergovernmental agreement

The board unanimously approved a pre-inclusion IGA with the DWFPD. See DWFPD article above.

Community risk assessments and standards of coverage

Kovacs introduced a presentation on the completed 120-page document on community risk assessments and standards of coverage compiled by the district Accreditation Manager Battalion Chief Scott Ridings. In the absence of Ridings, Division Chief of Community Risk and Reduction Jonathan Bradley presented an overview highlighting:

  • A description of the community served and the fire and emergency services provided.
  • A deployment and coverage area map showing four basic planning zones, the sub-divisions contained within each, and the different fire responses needed, dependent on fire hydrant availability.
  • Community priorities, expectations, and performance goals.
  • Call types by station, measured in minutes from Jan. 1, 2022 through Nov. 15, 2023.
  • The district’s critical infrastructure, target hazards and methodology.

The “living” document is composed of 10 sections and gives the district a starting place to begin writing a self-assessment toward accreditation, said Bradley.

Kovacs said in each broad category there are multiple sections within, and Ridings will task administrative staff to begin working on those sections before the Peer Assessment Team visits in late 2024. The district is working toward achieving districtwide accreditation in spring 2025.

President Mike Smaldino thanked the executive staff for the document and said it was a heavy lift.

Peak Alerts

Kovacs said Genysas EVAC, formerly known as Zonehaven, has been implemented and is operational. The EPCSO purchased the application for countywide use. It enables responding agencies to communicate critical information collaboratively. Vital instructions can be disseminated to the public such as: evacuation notices or shelter in place requests during emergencies such as wildfires, floods, active shooter incidents, hurricanes, and more. Residents are encouraged to sign up to receive emergency information from Peak Alerts (notifications sent through software called Everbridge by public safety agencies in El Paso and Teller Counties). For more information, visit www.elpasoteller911.org or www.peakalerts.org.

Chief’s report

Kovacs congratulated Bradley and Battalion Chief Micah Coyle for receiving their chief fire officer credentials from the Center for Public Safety and Excellence and said the district now has four qualified out of only 1,300 nationwide to achieve the credential. He and Division Chief of Administration Jamey Bumgarner also hold the credentials.

The chief’s report includes activity for November and December 2023, and he highlighted the following:

  • The annual awards ceremony had been moved to the first month of the year and occurred on Jan. 14. See photo inset of the Firefighter of the Year 2023.
  • Lt. Curt Leonhardt is the new Fleet and Facilities lieutenant.
  • Firefighter/Paramedic Dak Damour will leave the district for South Metro Fire Rescue, Centennial.
  • The district added another recruit to make a total of 10 firefighter recruits enrolled in the Career Fire Academy that began in January. The district is looking forward to the result. Coyle and the firefighters select the recruits and seem to have the “knack” for choosing the right candidates.
  • The district completed a total of 577 training hours in November and 593 training hours in December.
  • Requests to the district from American Medical Response for assistance in Colorado Springs are trending down again with two calls per month for November and December

Note: The chief’s report and financial report can be found at www.monumentfire.org.

Facilities update

Kovacs said the remodel of Station 5 (Shamrock Station/Highway 83) was almost complete.

Bumgarner said the following:

  • The remodel of Station 4 (Gleneagle Drive) is scheduled to begin Feb. 12. The crews will be accommodated at Station 5 during the remodel through August.
  • An ambulance crew will remain at Station 4 during the remodel after a shower is installed on the opposite side of the station from the construction area. The shower installation is expected to take about four to five weeks.
  • The future Station 3 rebuild design phase is underway with OZ Architects and John Sattler, vice president of NVS Program Management. The process is expected to take about six to nine months before the building phase begins. See www.ocn.me/v23n9.htm#mfd.
  • The district must accomplish all the planning stages and purchase a site north and adjacent to the YMCA alongside Jackson Creek Parkway for the station rebuild.
  • The district is moving forward with the development of the district training center on the 14 acres adjacent to Station 1. About a dozen soil samples are being gathered from around the property to determine the compaction of the terrain.
  • Discussions continue with the Town of Monument regarding the appropriate zoning for the training facility.

Kovacs said emergency services are not affected by the moratorium on planning reviews that the Monument Town Council board approved, effective Jan. 4, 2024. See MTC article on page < 1 >.

Apparatus update

Bumgarner said the fourth ambulance had been received in the district and is expected to be placed into service within the next two to three weeks. The wildland group under Ridings’ supervision is readying the equipment for the Wildland Type 3 engine 541.

Firefighter/Paramedics AJ Armstrong and Robert Horne are using experience gained from wildland deployments on federal engines and “Hot Shot” crews to equip the engine. Engine 541 cost $379,732 without equipment and is expected to be fully equipped and placed into service in April or May.

Note: A ceremonial “push-in” event for the ambulance and wildland engine took place on Jan. 27 at Station 1. See Snapshot section on page < 17 >.

Executive session

The board moved into an executive session at 7:56 p.m. pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes Section 24-6-402(4), (f) to review the fire chief’s annual performance.

Kovacs confirmed that no action was taken when the board returned to the regular session. The meeting adjourned at 9:21 p.m.

**********

Meetings are usually held on the fourth Wednesday of the month. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at Station 1, 18650 Highway 105. For Zoom meeting instructions, agendas, minutes, and updates, visit www.monumentfire.org or contact Director of Administration Jennifer Martin at 719-484-9011.

Natalie Barszcz can be reached at nataliebarszcz@ocn.me.

Other Monument Fire District (MFD) articles