Monday, March 23, 2015

Sheridan Fire Board Reorganizes

The Sheridan Fire Board will reorganize following a meeting Sunday evening featuring all three board members, Fire Chief Butch Thomas, and members of the Sheridan Fire Department. The board had last had a quorum to do business on September 5th and in August of last year when they had their annual Tax Rate Hearing; since then, they had been unable to meet due to work commitments.

The board opened with a 15-minute closed session. Following the closed session, board member Marybeth Taute announced her resignation. The board accepted her resignation and appointed Rick Ridge to serve out her term, which ends in April. At that time, Judge Joel Miller, by law, will appoint a member to serve a full term. Sharon Hart has resigned as secretary of the Fire Department; Angela Holmes is now the secretary. Board member Sterling Hopkins announced at the meeting that he would resign citing work and conflicts of interest; he will be replaced by Larry Hibbs. Both new members said that they would seek to do things by the book.

"From now on, every expenditure needs to be approved by the board," said Hopkins to Butch Thomas regarding the construction of the new Fire Department extension, which will house two new trucks. The Fire Department had received a $21,000 donation from the dissolved Platte River Watershed District. "The money was given to us to build this building," said fireman Tyler Paxson. Thomas said that board members had not been coming to meetings and that as fire chief, he had to act. He said that the firetrucks had to be inside a heated building during cold weather, or they would not run, meaning public safety would be at risk. For example, he said that in one recent fire, he had to call for help from other area fire departments because the truck which had been left out in the cold due to inadequate space would not start. The Sheridan Fire Department has gotten several fire calls recently due to the warm and dry weather.

Board members said that they had no problem with the Fire Department's performance. "They're doing a hell of a job; I'm not denying that," said Hopkins. "The problem is, you started this building without due process," said Board Member Bart Hawk. He said that he didn't have a problem with it if Thomas needed to spend $250 or $300 a month on needed repairs. He said that they wanted to be in the loop if there was something major. Thomas said that he had gotten bids from three different contractors, including one from Monticue Construction, one from Campbell Construction, and one from a construction company from Clearmont. The Clearmont firm won the low bid of around $18,000. Secretary Angela Holmes reported that there was currently around $36,000 in the bank account, including 2014 tax revenues. This balance does not include the payment for the building. "We've tried to follow due process, but you don't cooperate," responded Thomas. "I love what you do, I just haven't had time, I've got my business to take care of," said Hopkins. "If anyone's to blame, it's me." Thomas said that he had recommended Hopkins, who has served on the Fire Department in the past, to serve on the board. "I'm not sorry I did." On the construction of the building, Thomas said, "We did what we thought we had to do."

Board members agreed that the deal was done and over with and that they wanted to move on. "All I want is for you guys to come join us when we're working on the fire trucks," said Thomas. The new board will meet every first Thursday at 7 pm. Every first Thursday, the Fire Department comes and inspects and tests fire equipment. They do many of the repairs themselves and come out ahead despite a tight budget. Despite only collecting $8,000 in tax revenues annually, the Fire Department had saved up $11,000 over the years even before receiving the large donation from the Watershed District. They had received three other large donations recently as well; one was for $1,500, another was for $1,000, and another was for $250. "We pinch every penny and we don't buy stuff unless we have to," said Thomas.

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