John Scarffe, Nederland. During a regular meeting of the Nederland Fire Protection District Board of Directors on Wednesday, December 9, 2020, Nederland Fire Chief Rick Dirr announced that COVID-19 vaccinations for area firefighters will be coming. They will be Tier 1-B after hospitals and care facilities. Dirr is working on a prioritized vaccination plan for the Department, and guidelines will be coming forth. 

Due to technical difficulties, the Board did not meet on the regular scheduled meeting time on December 2, 2020, and rescheduled the meeting for December 9, 2030, when the Board approved the budget as presented on November 4, 2020, and received no public comment.

The Board approved the district mill levy. According to the resolution, the Board has adopted the annual budget in accordance with the Local Government Budget Law on December 2, 2020, and the amount of money necessary to balance the budget for general operating purposes from property tax revenue is $904,212.

The amount of money necessary to balance the budget for voter-approved firefighter pension fund is $31,497.00, and the amount of money necessary to balance the budget for abated property tax is $1,359, according to the resolution.

The amount of money necessary to balance the budget for voter-approved Residential Assessment Rate (RAR) Impact Reduction is $4,221, and the 2020 valuation for assessment for the Nederland Fire Protection District as certified by the Boulder County Assessor(s) is $62,993,725.

“That for the purpose of meeting all general operating expenses of the Nederland Fire Protection District during the 2021 budget year, there is hereby levied a tax of 14.287 mills upon each dollar of the total valuation for assessment of all taxable property within the Nederland Fire Protection District for the year 2021,” according to the resolution.

The Board discussed a cap on wildland reimbursements and a policy regarding long-term deployments. The District recently cut $36,000 in checks for employees sent on deployment to other fires. Employees on deployment don’t always get their paperwork turned in while they are out and this leads to delays in reimbursement for the department.

The Board suggested setting up a couple of policies and recommended a cap on a maximum for $25,000. Board Chair Iain Irwin-Powell said that if the paperwork comes in as they switch deployments that would smooth out the financial burden on the department. Vice-President Patrick Richardson said the timing of the input from the data of the billing is the key.

The Board discussed health care costs. Irwin-Powell said costs came in under budget at $76,500 but have been steadily increasing. The Fire Chief’s contract covers family dependents and they have one other family with coverage. The Board approved a motion to cover 100 percent of employee premiums and 67 percent of dependents’ coverage. The board revisited this motion at a special meeting on December 16, 2020, as the board spotted an oversight on review in the text of the motion.

The Board approved funding for the purchase of two lifepak cardiac monitors for $28,800 as part of an EMS grant.

Chief Dirr said the Fire Department has received 44 calls in November and had a baby born in the district. 

The department had continued to sell off old equipment and passed a resolution to buy a used water tender to replace an old one that was retired earlier in the year.

The department held a virtual awards dinner on Sunday, December 13, 2020, and delivered food to members prior to the dinner.

The next meeting of the Nederland Fire District Board of Directors will be on January 6, 2021, at 7 p.m.

(Originally published in the December 17, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)