ALBION FIRE DISTRICT
In The Town of
401-333-1242
MINUTES OF MEETING:
Meeting called to order at
PRESENT:
Commissioner
Michael Allen Commissioner Anthony Leone
Commissioner Michael Napolitano Commissioner Gabriel Fortin
Chief
Richard Andrews Attorney
Louis DeSimone
Ronald McKenna
Mary Ann Brunetti
Deputy
Chief Robert Valentine
Commissioner Sharon Remillard was out of town.
MEETING MINUTES:
The Minutes of the
PRESENTATION OF BILLS AND APPROVAL OF SAME:
All Commissioners acknowledged that they had reviewed the
monthly bills. Commissioner Fortin
questioned the natural gas bill; however the Chief confirmed that it was
accurate based on the cold temperatures during the billing period.
Mary Ann Brunetti brought up the fact that Chairman
Napolitano needs to sign a bank signature card to authorize him as a check
signer. The Chief will pick up a bank
card for the Chairman’s signature. There
being no other discussion, the Chairman entertained a Motion to approve the
bills for payment. Motion to approve
made by Commissioner Leone, seconded by Commissioner Fortin. Motion passed by a vote of 4-0.
TAX COLLECTOR’S REPORT:
Tax Collector Ronald McKenna presented his report indicating
total taxes collected through January 11, 2010 of $840,251.32 indicating a
collection rate of 87.6% to date. Total
tax income, including the Quarter I Motor Vehicle Phase-out, was $848,793.49.
It is anticipated that there will be no Quarter III and IV
Motor Vehicle Phase-out income, which means that we will have to bill for
automobile taxes next year.
There are 197 Delinquent Taxpayers the current year,
totaling $77,543.72. Additionally there
are 25 Delinquent Taxpayers two or more years and 35 Delinquent Business
Taxpayers, of which four are now out of business. Total Delinquent Taxes are $117,718.48.
The Tax Collector will be mailing delinquency notices in the
next several weeks.
Chairman Napolitano commented that this is a favorable
collection rate based on this economy.
To Commissioner Allen’s question to Mr. McKenna as to whether he is
pleasantly surprised with the collection rate so far, Mr. McKenna replied in
the affirmative.
There being no other questions or discussion, the Chairman
entertained a Motion to accept the report.
Commissioner Fortin made a Motion to accept the Tax Collector’s report
as presented, seconded by Commissioner Allen.
Motion passed by a vote of 4-0.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Mary Ann Brunetti presented her report as of
Commissioner Allen asked the Treasurer if she wanted to
establish a time to meet to work on the Policy & Procedures Manual by
reviewing information provided by Bob Civetti of Braver & Associates. Mary Ann felt this may not be practical at
this time based on the work being done on the District Consolidation.
Chairman Napolitano feels that we should proceed with the
work since this is something that can be used by the consolidated district.
Chief Andrews commented that it is important to proceed on
this manual since neither Lonsdale nor Saylesville has such a manual to work
from.
Commissioner Allen asked if there were any accounts that
should be red-flagged at this point. The
Treasurer said this must wait until she completes her review as stated above.
There being no further discussion, the Chairman entertained
a Motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report.
Motion to accept the report made by Commissioner Allen, seconded by
Commissioner Leone. Motion passed by a
vote of 4-0.
CHIEF’S REPORT:
Chief Andrews advised that the department answered a total
of 98 alarms in December with 80 alarms within our District and 18 mutual aid
calls.
Regular training was not held during December because of the
Holidays.
Three Fire Fighters will be attending FF Level II class
beginning January 19.
Year End Report for 2009 indicated 884 alarms in our
District and 280 alarms for mutual aid.
Of the 884
Total fire loss for 2009 was $55,000.
A supplemental check for $1657.01 was received from VFIS for
the gutter repairs.
Commissioner Allen asked if we had any Fire Fighters ready
to take the National Board Certification test.
There are not but we have two presently in the program.
Commissioner Allen questioned the fact that FF R. Goon and
FF N. Church did not respond to any alarms during 2009. The Chief advised that FF Church is presently
attending school and FF Goon has been injured, not duty related.
There being no other questions or comments, the Chairman
entertained a motion to accept the Chief’s report. Motion to accept the Chief’s report as
presented made by Commissioner Fortin, seconded by Commissioner Leone. Motion passed by a vote of 4-0.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Commissioner Allen advised the results of the last meeting
of the
The following Sub-Committees have been established:
1.
Personnel – Full Time
2.
By-Laws and Charters
3.
Part-Time/Call Personnel
4.
Apparatus & Equipment
5.
Fire Station and Facility Evaluation
6.
Financial Budget
Also, Commissioner Napolitano was named Media Liaison for
the Consolidation Committee.
It was decided that the Board would handle non-Fire Fighter
issues, such as By-Laws & Charters and Financial Budget, while the Chiefs
and Fire Fighters would deal with Fire Fighter issues.
Commissioner Allen reiterated that our Committee is dealing
with only the
Chief Andrews advised that this is the first time talks of
consolidation have progressed to the point the committee is at now.
OLD BUSINESS:
None
NEW BUSINESS:
Attorney DeSimone advised that going forward the Meeting
Minutes will be placed on the District’s Web Site. He discussed this with the Attorney General’s
office and they are in favor of this. He
will also draft a procedure for the Clerk and to be forwarded to the Attorney
General’s office. Hopefully he will have
this draft for the February meeting.
Mr. DeSimone has also had a discussion with a taxpayer
regarding his request for records.
GOOD AND WELFARE:
Correspondence:
None.
Public Comment:
None.
There being no need for Executive Session, Chairman
Napolitano entertained a Motion to adjourn.
Motion to adjourn made by Commissioner Fortin, seconded by Commissioner Allen. Motion passed by a vote of 4-0
Meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Lois E. Moore
District Clerk
_____________________________________________________________________________________
ALBION
FIRE DISTRICT
In The Town of
401-333-1242
MINUTES OF MEETING:
Meeting called to order at
PRESENT:
Commissioner Michael Allen Commissioner
Anthony Leone
Commissioner
Sharon Remillard Commissioner Gabriel Fortin
Attorney Louis DeSimone Ronald
McKenna
Deputy Chief Robert Valentine
Chairman Napolitano was
absent due to a prior commitment.
MEETING MINUTES:
The Minutes of the
PRESENTATION OF BILLS AND
APPROVAL OF SAME:
All Commissioners
acknowledged that they had reviewed the monthly bills. Commissioner Allen, prior to his approval,
had a question on a bill for Springs but this was answered by Deputy Chief
Valentine. There being no further discussion, the Vice Chairman entertained a
Motion to approve. Motion to approve the
bills for payment made by Commissioner Fortin, seconded by Commissioner
Leone. Motion passed by a vote of 4-0.
Page two
TAX COLLECTOR’S REPORT:
Tax Collector Ronald McKenna presented
his report indicating total taxes collected through February 9, 2010 of
$882,727.83 indicating a collection rate of 92.0% to date. Total tax income to date is $891,270.00. This total includes Collection Fees of
$375.00. The Tax Collector anticipates a
shortfall in the motor vehicle offset of $17,084.34.
Presently there are 136
delinquent taxpayers Current year, 24 delinquent taxpayers two or more years
and 32 delinquent business taxpayers. On
Monday the Tax Collector faxed the list of delinquent taxpayers for this year’s
tax sale since they must be notified by the end of February. Of the 32 delinquent business taxpayers
totaling $20,565.63, there is one taxpayer,
There being no other
questions or discussion, the Vice Chairman entertained a Motion to accept the
report. Commissioner Leone made a Motion
to accept the Tax Collector’s report as presented, seconded by Commissioner Fortin. Motion passed by a vote of 4-0.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Mary Ann Brunetti was not in
attendance due to a work conflict and the Commissioners did not have a
Treasurer’s Report to review. Since the
Treasurer was not able to present a Profit & Loss Statement at last month’s
meeting, the Commissioners were concerned that this lack of financial
information could cause a hardship.
Commissioner Allen made a
Motion to have the Chairman contact Treasurer Brunetti and determine why we
have not received complete reports for the last two months and how this
situation can be remedied. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Leone. Motion passed by a vote of 4-0.
CHIEF’S REPORT:
Deputy Chief Valentine
presented Chief Andrews report indicating that the department answered 100
calls for January 2010, 66 alarms within
Page three
Three Firefighters are
attending FF Level II class in
There were 39 incidents
during January at Commercial buildings, 13 at residential buildings and 14
Other calls.
Commissioner Allen asked if
we had any firefighters who completed Level I, to which the Deputy responded
that these are the three presently attending Level II classes. Commissioner Allen asked if the
There being no further
questions, Commissioner Leone made a Motion to accept the Chief’s Report as
presented, seconded by Commissioner Fortin.
Motion passed by a vote of 4-0.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Commissioner Allen advised that
the Town Administrator plans to hold a non-binding referendum for the voters on
the establishment of a Town Fire Department.
His plan would be to operate this department similar to the way the
Water Department operates. Quinville
sent a representative to the latest meeting and he advised Town Administrator
Almond that they plan to build an addition to their fire station.
The
Albion/Lonsdale/Saylesville Fire Districts were advised to continue the work we
are doing to form a consolidated fire district.
The
Albion/Lonsdale/Saylesville Fire District Consolidation Committee met on
February 2 and things are moving along very well. The Board received an excellent presentation
on deployment of personnel, Commissioner
Allen and Warden Lacombe made a presentation on their review of the Charters
and By-Laws, the bid process for services, qualifications for Chief of the new
consolidated department.
Page four
Commissioner Allen advised
that the firefighters who attend these consolidation meetings do not seem to
have any questions or concerns. He told
them that if they had questions which they were not comfortable asking with the
Chiefs present to feel free to contact him personally. He prefers to address any concerns now rather
than wait until the work is completed.
The next meeting is scheduled
for
OLD BUSINESS:
None
NEW BUSINESS:
None
GOOD AND WELFARE:
Correspondence:
None.
Public Comment:
None.
There being no need for
Executive Session, Vice Chairman Remillard entertained a Motion to
adjourn. Motion to adjourn made by
Commissioner Fortin, seconded by Commissioner Allen. Motion passed by a vote of 4-0
Meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Lois E. Moore
District Clerk