By Stephanie Irvine
The May meeting of the Manhattan Fire Protection District’s Board of Trustees brought forth the official swearing in of Claude Werner to the Fire Commission. Werner served on the Peotone Fire Department’s Board of Trustees prior to the consolidation of the two departments and filled the vacancy left by the late Commissioner James Swyndro.
Additionally, Trustee Robert Davis was reappointed and, although an agenda item was listed to reorganize the board, those present voted to keep things the same. Trustee Larry Goodwin, who also serves as the treasurer, was not present at the vote.
In standard business, the district’s accountant James Howard presented the treasurer’s report. The district is about a third of the way through the year and a third of the way through the budget’s spend, which is typical. The district has collected $73,000 in ambulance fees, and tax revenue will be collected in June.
Howard also noted they have great rates for the district’s money market accounts, and although he doesn’t expect them to be lowered, he cannot predict what the federal government will do.
The board also received a brief presentation of the 2022 audit by Monika Adamski of Lauterbach and Amen. She explained the audit would review all the statements provided and issue an opinion along with any recommendations needed. The audit showed all statements were in order.
“The district did receive an unmodified opinion this year, that is the cleanest form of opinion, and the highest level of assurance we could issue,” Adamski stated in the audit presentation.
“Ultimately, that means the financial statements are free of material misstatements, and there are sound internal controls over financial reporting,” Adamski said.
Outside of financial updates and the appointments, Chief Steve Malone reported the remodel is progressing, and they hope that July will be clear for a full move-in.
With regard to the new Manhattan station, Malone is hopeful water and sewer will be available at the site in August. The district is discussing elevation options and alternative building material options for the new station. They may need to bump the groundbreaking ceremony to the spring, partially due to possible delays in approvals resulting from the infrequent meetings of the village’s plan commission meetings, but that is to be determined.
Battalion Chief Bruce Boyle echoed the updates on the Peotone remodel and the build for the new fire station in his report. The district hopes to hold the July or August board meeting at the newly remodeled Peotone station.
There was a large discussion on delays with new vehicle and equipment delivery, with the district at the mercy of their vendors, which is primarily Ford. For example, brush trucks are currently two-to-three years out on delivery. Engines, which cost upwards of a million dollars, are four years out from delivery.
“Our purchase strategy has to change,” Boyle said. He explained, currently, vendors can’t say when specific milestones will be met, such as when a chassis will be ready or when it will be ready for delivery, which makes it nearly impossible to budget.
There are a number of reasons for the delay, and vendors can’t say when equipment will be ready. This makes it challenging for the board to plan for the future and implement their fleet replacement plan in accordance with national standards.
“Right now, it’s so unstable. It’s everybody and everything,” Boyle said of the reasons for delays in the purchasing process. “They (vendors) have a moving target, and they’re adapting to constraints, whether it be parts or people.”
“We have to be patient,” Boyle said. “We just need a chance to take a look at it and figure out what our strategy is going to be.”
Malone commented that in the beginning, they were purchasing the chassis early to secure the vehicle. Vendors were offering discounts because agencies weren’t wanting to buy them that far in advance due to the expense. However, as the scarcity has continued, vendors are no longer offering discounts for ordering early.
Moving on to Deputy Chief Dave Piper’s report, Piper presented emergency call information in a new format that showed live data.
The district uses the National Fire Protection Association’s 90th percentile benchmark to report call data, which shows the amount of time it takes in any given metric 90 times out of 100. This is different from an average because the 90th percentile reports more accurate data.
Last month, there were 160 calls. He relayed the district’s performance with call times broken down from time from call to dispatch, turnout time, and travel time. They are hitting most of their goals and are working to continue to improve them.
In Piper’s report, which covered calls from the last month, dispatch call processing time is at one minute and 36 seconds; turnout time was one minute and 53 seconds, which meets the district’s goal of under two minutes, and travel time was seven minutes and 40 seconds, which is largely driven by the location of the calls.
Earlier, Malone reported the current total for emergency service calls is at 1,023, which is still averaging 7.5 calls per day. Piper also noted accidents are up 174 percent post-consolidation, largely a result of the all-hazards territory the district encompasses.
The meeting concluded with Fire District Attorney John Motylinski reporting two bills had been passed that the district viewed as favorable. One bill modified the bidding process, raising the threshold from $20,000 to $50,000 if the district went directly to an original equipment manufacturer or dealer. The other bill passed allows the district to explicitly accumulate funds in the ambulance account, which closes an opportunity for tax objections.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.