Foreign Fire Insurance Board

Tuesday November 12th, 2024 Wheaton Fire Station 38 Conference room 0730 hours I. Call to Order @ 0734 hrs. II. Roll Call: CHF Brill, LT Hunecke, FF Tabb, FF Baus, FF Igara (Remote), FF Cha. Public: CHF Vassios, LT Weiss, PM DiClementi, FF Renteria, FF Howell, FF Solatka. III. Reading and Approval of Old Minutes: (0735 hrs) LT Hunecke. Motion to accept Old Minutes: LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: FF Baus. Discussion(s): Baus: Accept motion with correction of spelling “imbursement” to “reimbursement.” Motion passed unanimously (0738 hrs). Zero Opposed. IV. Treasurer’s report: (0738 hrs) FF Igara. Motion to accept Treasurer's Report: LT Hunecke. Checking Ending Balance:$173,719.86. CD Ending Balance: $77,771.39. Total Ending Balance: $251,491.25. Second the Motion: FF Baus. Discussion(s): Collection service question about for Foreign Fire Insurance fees. Taken off the top before we see the total. Motion passed unanimously (0741 hrs). Zero Opposed. V. Public Comment (0741 hrs): None. VI. Agenda Additions: A. Replacement fans for Engines: (0742 hrs) FF Igara. Motion to purchase two vent fans not to exceed $11,000:LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: FF Tabb. Discussion(s): FF Baus: Consider waiting for Black Friday/sales? CHF Brill: Do the fans come with/without batteries? Talked about BlowHard fans as a great product but interchangeable batteries are a plus with this option (18V batteries). LT Weiss: Has hung fan from a door. Fan is also easy to carry up stairs with two people. Consider 8 amp 18V batteries (45 min run time) vs 12 amp 18V batteries (30 min run time). FF Tabb: Personally used fan during West Chicago Fire commercial fire. Very maneuverable with his experience when tasked with RIT operations. Yes Vote: CHF Brill, LT Hunecke, FF Tabb, FF Baus, FF Igara (Remote), FF Cha. No Vote: None. Motion passed (0751 hrs). B. Airpack Identifiers: (0922 hrs) LT Hunecke. Motion to purchase of Airpack Identifiers not to exceed $3,000: LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: FF Baus. Discussion(s): LT Hunecke: Other towns have used them. They are good identifiers during drills and fires. CHF Brill: How are they attached? Is the proposal enough to cover extra tags to account for lost/replacement? FF Baus: Consider purchasing enough for every SCBA harness not just the harnesses currently in our fire apparatus. LT Hunecke: Amendment of proposal from $2,600 to $3,000 so that Airpack Identifiers can be purchased for every SCBA harness. 2  Yes Vote: CHF Brill, LT Hunecke, FF Baus, FF Cha. No Vote: None. Motion passed (0929 hrs). VII. Old Business A. Smart watches – (0846 hrs) FF Williams/FF Baus. Motion to the purchase of up to 40 Smart Watches not to exceed $18,000 for duty watches: FF Baus. Second the Motion: LT Hunecke. Discussion(s): FF Tabb: How does the call text message come in? FF Baus: Comes in line by line and scrolls. Clears off watch but not on phone either passively or with a push of a button (dependent on brand). Smart watches are just not as rugged as Casio or Garmin. LT Hunecke: Useful for when in bunker gear and cannot access the phone. But this is a duty watch. Sleep and work load is important too. Discussion for brand preference. 2 watch options seems to be reasonable. FF Tabb: What brands/options are we going to offer to members? CHF Brill: How do we police? Watches are a personal preference. If it is a call receiving device, smart watches (Apple) may be a better product. Subsidize watches vs purchase? LT Weiss: This technology is coming and being used. Why are we not onboard? Calls come in before I know it’s coming (because my phone is in my pocket) but people with watches already know. FF Solatka: How would repairs/replacement occur? LT Hunecke: Include apple and android smart watch up to a comparable price and Smart watches will be a 1 time purchase. Yes Vote: LT Hunecke, FF Tabb, FF Baus, FF Igara (Remote), FF Cha. No Vote: CHF Brill. Motion passed (0920 hrs). VIII. New Business a. Gym membership amount - (0820 hrs) FF Renteria. 3 Motion to increase Gym Membership reimbursement from $500 to $1,000: LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: FF Cha. Discussion(s): FF Baus: Should we consider expanding the idea of multiple gyms, rounding out of workouts, etc. FF Tabb: This was an incentive vs funding of gym membership. $500 vs $1000 is a bigger impact to FFire funds. Public asking of our funds. LT Hunecke: This is a discussion of dollar amount vs policy change. Tax law needs to be verified. CHF Brill: Cautions about increasing funds. Public funds for private memberships. We have programs within our own insurance to help offset memberships. FF Baus: Crack open policy and also dollar amount? LT Weiss: We just purchased several “big ticket” items for improvement on our service for the public. The increasing of gym membership reimbursement is a small part of where the Fire Fee funds would be utilized. Yes Vote: LT Hunecke, FF Igara (Remote). No Vote: CHF Brill, FF Tabb, FF Baus, FF Cha. Motion does not pass (0841 hrs). b. Cot additions – (0843 hrs) PM DiClementi. Motion to purchase 4 IV poles not to exceed $2,500: LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: FF Baus. Discussion(s): FF Baus: Are these transferable to different cots for the future? PM DiClementi: There are plans for reuse into existing cots/trade- ins/retrofit into newer cots. Yes Vote: CHF Brill, LT Hunecke, FF Tabb, FF Baus, FF Igara (Remote), FF Cha. No Vote: None. Motion passed (0846 hrs). 4  c. Extrication equipment - (0751 hrs) LT Weiss. Motion to purchase electric Hydraulic Tools not to exceed $125,000: LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: FF Tabb. Discussion(s): CHF Brill: Need some time to make sure City of Wheaton Finance Department is ok with the trade-in value of our current Genesis hydraulic Tools. Also time to make certain costs get into capital replacement for future. FF Baus: What’s required to secure bid (Answer: $0)? Is our plan to purchase the batteries separately? * Purchase based on final approval from Chief Brill after discussions needed with City of Wheaton Finance Department. FF Tabb: Concerns about discussions to come regarding our finances/future big purchases, etc. Big purchases currently on the docket. Reminder to not forget the “givens” with new hires and the items for them from our fund: glasses, flashlights, gym memberships, etc. CHF Brill: These purchases are at least better optics for the public. Yes Vote: CHF Brill, LT Hunecke, FF Tabb, FF Baus, FF Igara (Remote), FF Cha. No Vote: None. Motion passed (0819 hrs). *** FF Igara exit @ 0920 hrs. *** *** FF Tabb exit @ 0921 (responding to Emergency Fire Call). *** d. Foam Eductors - (0929 hrs) LT Hunecke. Motion to purchase two foam educators not to exceed $1,500: LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: CHF Brill. Discussion(s): Yes Vote: CHF Brill, LT Hunecke, FF Baus, FF Cha. No Vote: None. 5  Motion passed (0933 hrs). e. Gym Clocks - (0933 hrs) LT Hunecke. Motion to purchase 3 workout clock/Timer not to exceed $500: LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: CHF Brill. Discussion(s): FF Baus: Does it also function as a clock (Answer: Yes it does)? LT Hunecke: Make it plug in. Yes Vote: CHF Brill, LT Hunecke, FF Baus, FF Cha. No Vote: None. Motion passed (0938 hrs). IX. Good of the Order (0938 hrs): None. X. Adjournment @ 0938 hrs. Motion to Adjourn: LT Hunecke. Second the Motion: FF Baus. Motion passed unanimously (0938 hrs). Zero opposed. 6