Board of Trustees                                April 8, 2021
West Blount Fire & EMS District
 
The Board of Trustees for West Blount Fire and Emergency Medical Services District met at Fire Station No. 1 on April 8, 2021, the meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Marty Stover, Vice Chair, until the arrival of Greg Reid, Chair, and prayer led by Billy Giddy.  All Trustees were present plus Clay Jones, Assistant Chief, Melissa Thomas, Treasurer, and Diane Cox and Lisa Morgan, Billing Managers.  JJ Ivey was in COVID quarantine and is expected back by the end of next week.     

The minutes of the March 11, 2021 meeting were accepted on motion by Annette Cox, seconded by Billy Giddy.

Financial report – The operating balance for March was $589,084.64.  Total receipts were $124,385.76, including dues of $123,870.38.  Total expenses were $69,762.72, including payroll of $33,039.46, workers comp of $7,866, maintenance and repair of $6,609.24, and insurance of $7,026.

The Financial Report was accepted on motion by Dolores Fort, seconded by Annette Cox.

Chief’s Report

Total calls for March were 154, including 12 out-of-area (1 – Mt. High/Ricetown; 5 – Bangor; 2 –   Dallas/Selfville; 2 – Nectar; and 2 – Warrior): 63 medical, 3 structure fire, 12 auto accidents, 6 fire alarms, 3 vehicle fire, 55 public service, 10 wild fire, 1 fire other, 1 hazmat.  

Other items reported include:
    Generators have been ordered for both Stations 1 2
    COVID Grant should be finalized by April 9 with funding arriving as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday in the following week in the amount of $9,851.80.  It will take several weeks for all of the medical supplies to come in once the order is placed.
    New Cardiac Monitors will be in the week of April 28
    1971 (Ladder Truck) should be back next week, there was an issue with reassembly, but if has been resolved
    ISO – for 10 points our fire department needs to adopt fire codes, then get the town to agree to adopt the same codes for the town.  This will be presented to the Town Council at their May meeting.  Once the town agrees, the board will adopt the codes at the May board meeting.  Basically, we will be getting credit for what is already being done, and could possibly lower the ISO rating.  

The Chief’s report was accepted on motion by Greg Reid, seconded by Annette Cox.

Old Business

Billing Update – At the end of March three total CLA’s (conditional lien agreements) are on file.  The attorneys have a total of 210 accounts, one was paid in full, 203 have liens, four have a payment plan.  We received a check from MSN (Massey, Stotser, & Nicholas) for $1,030.50 in March, for a total received in 2021 of $3,320.51, making total collected from MSN since 2018 of $78,936.08.   One new account was added in March.  There were 42 exemptions approved, making a total of 81 so far for the year, and one has been denied.  Fire dues received in March was $124,019.38, plus $270 assessment fees, and a refund of $25.51, totaling $124,314.89
Fire District Board of Trustees – April 8, 2021                        page 2

[income from March 2020 was $111,165.06].  Total collected for 2021 is $358,655.67.  There are 1,352 accounts in the system with a balance totaling $423,657.48, which includes all outstanding dues from the beginning. There are 3,733 total accounts in the system.  So far this year there has been 64% participation for payment of fire dues.  

The $15 late fee will be added to all accounts in arrears on April 12th.

Approximately ten to twelve certified letters concerning past due accounts never came back, neither the letter nor the signature card.  These accounts will be turned over to MSN for collection.  

Summer Community Event – This topic was discussed at the April Chamber board meeting.  Because of the uncertainty about people getting out, it was suggested by the chamber board to wait until after May 15, the Cruisin’ with Elvis event sponsored by the town to see how well attended that event is.  It was also suggested that we may want to wait until maybe closer to fall.  This topic was tabled until the June board meeting.  

Announcements

The next meeting will be May 13, 2021, 7:00 PM at Fire Station 1.

The meeting was adjourned on motion by Greg Reid at 7:45 PM.


Present                Not Present                    
Annette Cox                JJ Ivey (COVID quarantine)
Dolores Fort
Billy Giddy
Greg Reid                
Marty Stover
Clay Jones
Melissa Thomas
Diane Cox    
Lisa Morgan                    

3 guests signed attendance
2 firefighters were present



                    Respectfully submitted,
Dolores Fort
                    Secretary