At approximately 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, Timberline Fire Protection District (TFPD) held their monthly board meeting. President Rick Wenzel, Vice President John Bushey, Treasurer Whitney Donoghue, Member at Large Charles “Chip” Smith, and Member at Large John Carder attended the meeting as well as Fire Chief Paul Ondr and Administrative Chief Jennifer Hinderman. Highlights included a presentation of a Black Hat, the 2021 amended budget, an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for automatic and mutual aid for wildland fire with several mountain fire districts, an Observatory update, and the Chief’s Report.

A black hat was awarded to Will Doerrmann for his achievement as a volunteer firefighter.

New business included the 2021 Amended Budget, which is being adopted due to deployment reimbursements, apparatus purchases, and the Station 10 land purchase. Smith made a motion to adopt the 2021 Amended Budget and all were in favor.

Next the board discussed an IGA between all of the agencies in Boulder County including Boulder Rural, Mountain View, Allenspark, Big Elk Meadows, Boulder Mountain, Coal Creek, Four Mile, Gold Hill, Hygiene, Indian Peaks, Jamestown, Lefthand, Lyons, Nederland Pinewood, and TFPD.

The parties desire to enter into this agreement for the purpose of assisting one another in providing adequate response to any emergency incident within their respective jurisdictions.

A request for mutual aid by a requesting party will include a statement of the amount and type of equipment and/or personnel requested and the location. The agreement shall be valid until December 31 of the year in which it takes effect.

Smith made a motion to approve the IGA and all were in favor.

Old business included an update on the Fritz Peak Observatory building, located at 19126 Highway 119, which has been awarded to Timberline. Chief Ondr sought guidance from the board on processing the residential lease for the attached cottage. Ondr said the long-term goal is to have firefighters living there and working in the station. Smith made a motion to give the Chief signature authority over the residence agreement for the cottage. Motion was seconded and all were in favor.

Ondr delivered the Monthly Fire Chief’s Report, reporting 65 calls in March, 12 calls ahead of this time last year.

In wildland news, TFPD responded to the NCAR fire for three days.

Missouri Lakes 1 mitigation is progressing, as well as additional projects including Dory Hill, Highway 46, and community chipping events.

The 2022 Marshall Fire expense report was approved and paid. NCAR is still being finalized and will be submitted next week.

In Administration news, there will be a new auto/mutual aid agreement with Black Hawk at the next Board meeting.

Chief Ondr has been meeting with lots of vendors to determine the priorities at the Observatory, including security, internet, septic, roof, utilities, architecture, etc.

The next volunteer interview process is planned for July, and Ondr will be interviewing prospective members for both Golden Gate Fire Department and TFPD simultaneously.

The academy graduation and department picnic is scheduled for June 18 at Columbine Park.

There was no public comment and the meeting adjourned at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The next regular board meeting for Timberline Fire Protection District will be held Monday, May 9, 2022, at Fritz Peak Observatory, 19126 Highway 119, Black Hawk. Open House is from 5 to 7 p.m. BOD meeting to follow.