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Notice is hereby given that on the 28th day of June 2010 the Board of Directors of the Bracken Volunteer Fire Department will hold a Meeting at 7:00 PM at the Central Fire Station located at 23600 FM 3009, San Antonio, Texas.

The subjects to be discussed are listed on the agenda, which is a part of this notice. If, during the course of the meeting covered by this notice, the Board of Directors should determine that a closed meeting or session of the Board is required, then such closed meeting or session as authorized by the Texas Open Meetings Act will be held by the Board at the date, hour and place given in the notice or as soon after the commencement of the meeting covered by this notice as the Board may conveniently meet in such closed meeting concerning any and all purposes permitted by the Act.

Should any final action, final decision, or final vote be required in the opinion of the Board with regard to any matter considered in such closed meeting, then the final action, decision or vote shall be in open session.

______Tim Fey _____ Secretary____________

Signature Title

                            AGENDA

Regular Board Meeting - Call to Order by Board President (Mark Schroeder)

• Approve minutes of the May 24, 2010 Board Meeting
• Report of the Treasurer (Peggy Campbell)

Unfinished Business and General Orders

• Fire Chief Report (Donald Zipp)
• Fire Marshal Report (Bill Anz)
• Emergency Rescue Report (Craig Ackerman)
• ESD Update
• Request to ESD for Radios, Alarm System, and Financial Audit funding
• Edwards Aquifer/Garden Ridge Water Status

New Business

• Disposition of Truck Fund

• Adjourn

Next Meeting is July 26, 2010 at 7:00 PM.

Minutes - Board Meeting of the Bracken VFD

Board Members Present

Board Members Absent

Regular Board and Member Meeting

The meeting was called to order by President Mark Schroeder at 7:00 p.m.

As the first order of business, Mark asked if there were any questions or corrections to the minutes of the May 24, 2010 board meeting. There was one minor change requested on page 3 of the minutes to change “265” to “260.65.”

Treasurer's Report –Treasurer Peggy Campbell

• Budget Recap January 1, 2010 – May 31, 2010
• Through 41.7% of the year
• Income 51.5%
• Expense 25.5%
• Cash on Hand as of 6/28/10 is $234,583.49
• Financial Audit Status
• Approval of ESD #6 at June 14, 2010 meeting to pay up to $6,000.
• Submitted completed questionnaire and provided requested legal documents to audit firm
• Audit field work scheduled for July 13-16
• Payment of Alarm System at Central Station
• Approval of ESD #6 at June 14, 2010 meeting to pay up to $12,000 for alarm system.
• BVFD 2011 Budget
• Committee meeting scheduled for June 30, 2010, 6:30 p.m.
• Plan to brief BVFD Board at July Board meeting and ESD #6 at August Commissioner’s meeting.

• The Treasurer's Report with full details is attached (Attachment A).

There was additional discussion with regard to the report. Donald has chosen Firetrol Protection Systems to install the station alarm system based on excellent previous work. Also discussion of the accounting for the alarms as being capital improvements versus fixed capital asset pursued. Peggy will discuss this more with Marilyn as to the best way to account for the new purchases.

Unfinished Business and General Orders

Fire Chief Report – Provided by Chief Donald Zipp.

• The chief reported that Bill Anz, the Fire Marshal was unable to attend the meeting and the incident reports will be presented next month.
• During the June 9^th rain, up to 10 inches of rain were measured which resulted in BVFD being dispatched and participating in high water rescue and other traffic incidents.
• There was a minor mishap at the fire station involving a truck and one of the overhead doors. It is being repaired.
• The new firefighter has been hired and is on board.
• The George Ranch presentation was well received.
• The July 4^th parade is coming up and BVFD will participate.
• The new construction of the elementary school is going well and problems with the alarm system were found during inspections. These problems are being corrected and will require subsequent inspections.
• Chief Zipp thought operations were going well.
• Neighboring Fire Chief wants to give BVFD an older breathing apparatus compressor filler unit which originally sold for $30K to $40K.

Fire Marshal Report - Fire Marshal Bill Anz was not able to make the meeting and his report will be given at the July meeting.

Emergency Rescue Report – Chief Zipp reported for Craig Ackerman, and as stated before, could not present incident reports due to Bill’s absence; however, they will be reported next month.

Emergency Services District (ESD) Update – Comal County ESD #6 Board Assistant Treasurer Mr. Mark Delaney was present and highlights of his discussion follow.

• Peggy did a great job presenting the justification for Alarm and Audit at the ESD June 14^th meeting. Bill Waechter gave and early report on the budget. They request our budget include dotted line for pointers.
• The June 16^th George Ranch briefing went well. Mark thanked Roger Sassman for his efforts.
• Mark attended an all day session at the Emergency Center at Brooks City Base on June 25^th which was sponsored by Safe D. He discussed the highlights of the day. Mr. Ross Coleman, Fire Marshall for San Antonio mentioned coursework offered by SAPD. Mark has Ross’ card and information if BVFD is interested in the training. He also mentioned Keith Lewis has a Safer grant. He also discussed other ESD income from property and sales tax. Mark will give Peggy a copy of his information. He also mentioned decreased ISO ratings are helping increase funding. Also BVFD may consider getting with Ft. Worth ESD to buy a truck at discounted rates due to the volume they buy.
• As mentioned previously, ESD #6 agreed to pay for alarm and audit.

Edwards Aquifer/Garden Ridge Water Status – Treasurer Peggy Campbell handed out a discussion of the current water situation for BVFD (see attached). Chief Zipp, Mark Schroeder, and Peggy will attend the Garden Ridge water commission meeting. A 0.3 acre foot of water was based on previous year’s consumptions for a total of 0.76 acre feet to cover the next 10 years. Peggy wants others to review the draft of Garden Ridge lease. She will email it to the Board for comment by July 1^st. Tom Potter suggested that a lawyer such as Ken Campbell or John Carrollton review the document.

New Business

Disposition of Truck Fund – Charlie Flink had requested this item be added for general discussion. Charlie is concerned that with current funding in the fund and cost of new trucks, the department may never have enough money to fund a new truck. Currently there is $53,000 in the fund. New trucks are very expensive, possibly great than $600,000. There was a general discussion of how BVFD funded previous truck purchases. The vintage of the trucks was also discussed. Chief Zipp mentioned that he is concerned about personnel safety with the use of the old trucks. The Chief referred the Board to the 5-year plan. Option of used equipment was mentioned. Firefighter Roger Sassman commented that BVFD has different needs for trucks because of the Rural County. Mark Delaney mentioned stimulus option and BVFD consider a small committee to look at options. The Board agreed to let the Budget Committee take a start on this item. Attempt will be made to work this into the 2011 Budget.

Adjourn

Prior to adjournment, the ESD/BVFD presentation and the plan to present to the Board were discussed. It was decided to table the item because of the large amount of information on future agendas and the presentation is on the BVFD web site. The Board may choose to add this item to a future meeting when the agenda is slim.

Mark announced that the next board meeting was scheduled for July 26, 2010. Member Tom Potter, on behalf of absent E. J. Fiedler made a motion for the meeting to be adjourned, which was seconded by Buddy Boone. Motion carried, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:26 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,