Quincy Fire Protection District

Board of Directors

Meeting December 14, 2023

Feather Publishing Co. Board Room

287 Lawrence St. Quincy, CA 95971

I.     Interim Chairman Johnny Mansell, called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. with Treasurer Ryback, Fire Chief Frank Cary, and Administrative Secretary Karrie White present. Mike Taborski attended as a member of the public.

Interim acting Chairman Mansell explained that Commissioner Mike Taborski was up for reelection this year but because of a clerical oversight that date was overlooked. Consequently, Taborski’s term expired on Dec. 1, 2023. As a result, we have posted a 15-day notice as required for the open vacancy. The notice has been posted on Dec. 11, 2023, at three public sites: United States Post Office, 222 Lawrence St Quincy, CA 95971; Quincy Fire Station One, 505 Lawrence Street, Quincy, CA 95971; and on the District’s website qfd.ca.gov.

Public Comment:  

•   None

II.    Ryback made note of a couple typographical errors in the minutes and made a motion to approve the amended November 9, 2023, minutes Mansell seconded; motion approved.

III.   Financial Committee Report: Treasurer Ryback:

a)   Ryback: Karrie has provided the financials. You will see that assets are at $2.8 million, which is down a little bit from October. There was one large expenditure for the Workman’s Compensation quarterly payment of $16 thousand creating a net loss of $30k for the month. Ryback asked Karrie about a few disbursement checks made out to Bequette and Kimmel and it was explained that they are for our regular bi-weekly payroll transfer to the trust account.

b)     Ryback made a motion to transfer $50k to the checking account for operational expenses, Mansell seconded, motion approved.

c)      Claims reviewed and signed

IV.  Committee Business, Discussion, and Actions:

1)   Discussion and actions on a proposal for the sale of the newer ladder truck:

Chief Carey: The ladder truck is posted on Facebook, Fenton Fire, and Fire Trader. We have not received any inquiries. Mansell asked if we should lower the price. After the first of the year, we can revisit and address lowering the cost.

2)   Discussion and action on a proposal for the Lexipol Policy and Procedure Manual:

Karrie told the board that as a recipient of the FEMA AFG grant the District has to meet several new requirements for the Department of Homeland Security. She discussed the pros and cons of going with a company called Lexipol to meet some of these requirements, including an operations handbook.  

DHS listed eight items to be completed and six of them came back incomplete. DHS requires a policy prohibiting discrimination toward members of the public as well as a Limited English Plan. The board discussed other options for setting up the policy and meeting the FEMA grant requirements. The step-by-step details and requirements will be reviewed at the next board meeting. DHS states that the District has a year to comply with their requirements.

VI.  Fire Chief Report: Frank Carey:

a)      On December 12, 2023, Tuesday's drill is winter driving and the following Tuesday, December 19, is the Christmas Party. It starts at 6:00 pm it will be a potluck with ribs and side dishes.

b)     On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, Quincy Inc. held Captains’ elections. Tony Arcangeli, Matt West, Eric Vinyard and Riley Dupont were elected and Captain Dale Ready was named Assistant Chief.

c)      On Monday, December 11, 2023, I attended a special meeting at Greenhorn Fire Department at the station to discuss Fire Chief Tyson Rael's resignation at the end of December. We discussed what the challenges will be with volunteers, the budget, etc. They currently only have four in the department. Chief Carey discussed in detail with board members the options presented at the meeting that will certainly require careful consideration for our District moving forward with Greenhorn’s challenges.

d)     Currently, I am working in our Outreach Program with Quincy High School's principal. We are having a meeting with Oliver Litchfield and a student about a mentorship program on Friday, December 14, 2023.

e)      Feather River College update: There is a new recently installed fire hydrant at the apartment dorms. I am doing a fire hydrant test soon and I am also attending FRC’s board meeting this afternoon to further discuss the fire alarm issues. We have made significant progress.

f)       On February 16, 17, 18, 2023 we will be having the Installation Dinner. I confirmed with Dixon a few days ago we will have dinner on Friday night for their crew, our dinner on Saturday, and Sunday and breakfast for the Dixon crew on Sunday.

g)      I went to Reno Uniform and set up an account. We are working on getting all the officers Class A uniforms for the Officers Installation Dinner this year.

a)      On December 13, 2023, we hosted the Community Supper at the Methodist Church. Dale Ready was in charge and it went well, we served about a hundred people. We had great participation from the volunteers feeding, serving, and cleaning up.

b)     I am in the process of ordering helmets, and gloves using the 50/50 Wildland Firefighter grant that we received. The gear will cost about $28K, of which we pay half.

c)      We have received the money from the 2022 FEMA AFG grant. I ordered the SCBA gear from LN Curtis. It should be here the first of the year and they will be doing in-service training for volunteers on the MSA gear along with a new fit-testing machine. The board members asked if we had enough new SCBA gear to cover the newly upcoming volunteers, the SCBA gear is not assigned to an individual they are assigned to the engine seating.

d)     I spoke with Chopper Munoz he has his follow-up for his surgery on December 15, 2023, and I expect him to be released to come back to work soon.

e)      Last year we had some mechanical issues with Mighty Mouse it is not designed for the deep snow we had. I would like to find a snow removal attachment kit to hook up on U81 the Ford maintenance truck is a four-wheel drive with chains it can handle a large amount of snow.

f)       We had 46 EMS calls, 11 fire calls, and 1 hazmat for a total of 58 with an average firefighter attendance of 3.62, I spoke with the volunteer members at the last drill meeting on Tuesday, about standby time if they show up at the station they still need an incident slip filled out. The average attendance is higher than what is being reported.

V.     Fire Chief Drills: Chief Carey:

• On 12/05/23 – Officer meeting
• On 12/12/23 – Winter Driving
• On 12/19/23 – Our Christmas Holiday Party
• On 12/26/23 – Canceled for Christmas       

VI.    Other District Business, Discussion, and Actions:

1)  Fire Station 2 replacement:

     a)   Mansell opened the floor for discussion, Chief Carey we are still talking with building contractors and getting price bids, but due to the holidays, we put it on hold. Ryback asked about the Madden Heating property, which is not up for sale if it was a consideration. The topic was tabled to the next board meeting.

2)     Discussion, and possible action regarding Andy’s Way property:

      a)   Mansell opened the floor for discussion asking about the Northstate Recycling contract sent by Chief Carey. He said I am currently researching the multiple recycling centers in Reno most do not handle bins. Northstate contract is on hold until my research is finished. the topic was tabled to the next board meeting.

3)    Discussion, and possible action regarding the progress of the LaPorte facility project:

     a)   Mansell no updates at this time.

4)     Oath of Allegiance – New Elected Board Members;

     a)  District Secretary White administered the Oath of Allegiance to Andrew Ryback and Johnny Mansell sworn in on Thursday, December 14, 2023, at 8:03 a.m. for a two-year term.

Ryback made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Mansell seconded the motion, motion was approved.

The Meeting was adjourned by Interim Chairman Mansell at 8:55 a.m.

           Submitted:    John Mansell                                              1/12/2024

                          Interim Chairman Mansell                                          Date