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Cahaba Valley Fire & Emergency Medical Rescue District
145 Narrows Drive
Birmingham, Alabama 35242
May 10, 2023
Minutes
ATTENDANCE
Board members:
Grant Wilkinson, President
Alan Reyes-Guerra
Barry Clemmons
Ron Coblentz
Staff: Chief Buddy Wilks, Deputy Chief John Yancey, Captain Russ Bradley, Captain Barry Casey, Battalion Chief Stephen Gunnels
Citizens: Carrie Bush
Firefighters: NONE
Other: NONE
• Mr. Wilkinson called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M.
• The minutes from the April 12, 2023, Board Meeting were presented. Mr. Reyes-Guerra made a motion to approve the minutes and Mr. Clemmons seconded. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
• The agenda was presented. Mr. Coblentz made a motion to approve the agenda and Mr. Reyes-Guerra seconded. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
• Remarks, inquiries, and requests from citizens
Report from the Fire Chief
• ISO- remained Class 2. We are appealing grading. We have several areas of concern and would like clarification from ISO.
• Meeting with Valley Bank- Fire Station remodel funding, Retirement Bonus account. They have a manager for government accounts. He induced himself and was brought up to speed on the status of the district. Began looking at options to fund these projects.
• Fire Station Grant- Looking into a potential federal grant that could fund Station 181 replacement or updates.
• State EMS fees increasing- Individual licensure going from $12 to $40 per person, department licensure increasing from $30 to $100.
• Operations Report
o Attached report.
• Financial Report
o Attached report.
• Equipment
• New heart monitors that were purchased through federal grant funding have arrived. Equipment will go into service in the next several weeks.
o EMS
Unresolved Business
o Physical fitness policy- Capt. Casey gave a summary of the policy and answered questions. The Board discussed and suggested adding steps for failure to meet the requirements of the policy and adding a work-hardening program to encourage improvements.
o Sick / Catastrophic Illness Policy -made a suggestion to add language to state that a committee will make approval and denial decisions. The committee will contain one board member and the remaining FD members. Mr. Coblentz made a motion to approve with the changes and Mr. Reyes-Guerra seconded. Motion passed.
o Tobacco use policy changes- Capt. Bradley gave a summary of the policy and answered questions. Mr. Reyes-Guerra made a motion to approve, and Mr. Clemmons seconded. Motion passed.
o Intern Job Description- Capt. Bradley gave a summary of the policy and answered questions. Mr. Coblentz made a motion to approve and Mr. Reyes-Guerra seconded, and the motion passed.
o VFIS Insurance-
o New Pay Scale- The new pay scale was presented for review and will be approved with the 2024 budget.
New Business
• Automatic Aid Contract with the City of Birmingham. Chief Wilks presented the contract for review. Mr. Reyes-Guerra made a motion to allow Chief Wilks to sign and approve the contract. Mr. Coblentz seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
• Medical Director Contract with Dr. Christopher White- the cost of services is $12,500 annually. Mr. Coblentz made a motion to approve, seconded by Mr. Reyes-Guerra. The motion was approved.
• Approval for Chief Wilks to attend Southeastern Fire Chief Conference- $1,900- Acct 53062- Conference June 2023. Mr. Reyes-Guerra made a motion to approve and Mr. Coblentz seconded. The motion was approved.
• Jefferson County Ambulance contract- Jefferson County is providing a new ambulance transport unit to be placed at the Rex Lake Station, funding to letter and strip it, and to equip it. Mr. Coblentz made a motion to approve and Mr. Reyes-Guerra seconded to allow Chief Wilks to approve the contract. The motion was approved.
• Zoll One contract- six additional heart monitors, maintenance contract, replacement batteries. Cost is covered by funds that will be collected from ambulance transport as voted on by the public as Item 4 on April 2023 election. Mr. Reyes-Guerra made a motion to approve and Mr. Clemmons seconded. The motion as approved.
• Approval to get mold and foundation studies done on Station 181- Prepares us for submitting for federal grant funding. This will be a requirement of the grant process. Mr. Coblentz made a motion and Reyes-Guerra seconded a motion to explore the cost of completing a study.
• Approval to create an account with Savvik Cooperative buying group to purchase stretcher equipment with grant funds. Mr. Clemmons made a motion to approve and Mr. Reyes-Guerra seconded. The motion was approved.
• Discussion of the open Board position
Mr. Clemmons made a motion to enter an executive session to discuss candidates for the open board position. Mr. Reyes-Guerra seconded. Roll call vote- Wilkinson: yea, Reyes-Guerra: yea, Coblentz: yea, Clemmons: yea. Will be in session for 30 minutes. Will not return to the normal meeting. The meeting will conclude at 08:00 p.m.
The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. as agreed on entering the executive session.
Submitted by: _______________________________________
Approved by: ________________________________________
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