The Golden Gate Fire Protection District Board voted down a ballot proposal for increased taxes during a regular meeting on June 15, 2023, at 7 p.m. at the Grange, 25231 Golden Gate Canyon Road. The Board also elected new officers and heard reports.

President Deb Curlee opened the meeting. Other Board members present were Niffy Ovuworie, Vice-President; Chris Creech, Treasurer; Steve Green, and Dave Primmer. Curlee said that under agenda changes she made sure the Board would discuss Ballot A for tax increases in the district.

Later in the meeting, Dave Primmer introduced a discussion about Ballot A to raise taxes for the district. He said if they were going to get this on the ballot for the fall election, they need to develop simple language for the district voting on raising taxes, and they can get help to do it.

Primmer added that the Board can vote to raise taxes. It’s in the bylaws. Primmer said “You must ask for more money, and the community voted in favor of doing that.” Curlee said that there must be a resolution to carry that option. He added that the Board can’t support a ballot initiative.

The Board moved and seconded that during their terms in office, they will not use Ballot A. They are not voting to raise taxes on their neighbors.

The Board elected new officers. Curlee will continue as President and Ovuworie as Vice President and Treasurer. Creech will also be the treasurer and will work on documents.

Creech reported that the District has spent $84,000, has $33,000 in revenue, and has received $10 in donations. The Federal Government did not increase interest rates. The District is in good financial position.

Chief Benson reported that he will be transitioning to his new schedule starting next week, June 19. The schedule will be flexible each week depending on district needs but will largely adhere to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday pattern to best accommodate regional meeting and training schedules. Benson will be splitting time between Stations 81 and 82 while working in the district to distribute daytime coverage.

The mountain area fire districts continue to review and revise a cooperative interagency wildland fire response plan with Jefferson County. Chiefs Benson and Enright have both reviewed the plan.

Benson will be meeting with Jeffco EM, wildland and prevention divisions, during the week of June 19 for agency introductions and to discuss opportunities for enhanced integration with their respective programs. Enright is heading up a regional effort to be able to cross staff apparatus with certified firefighters, squad leaders, and engine bosses across multiple agencies.

This effort will facilitate the ability of smaller agencies to deploy resources both regionally and nationally. Benson attended the regional SDA workshop last week. HB23-303, which reduces property taxes, was widely discussed and the impact on the district is not yet known. The short-term impact for the district’s operations will be the requirement to create two budgets for 2024.

Station 81 Community Clean Out and Cleanup was on June 3 and was a great success. Station 82 Community Clean Out and Cleanup is scheduled for July 9.

Benson and Enright are currently working to update all wildland qualifications and training records. “Updating this system is critical for the department as we move forward with the hope of being able to deploy members and apparatus to fires outside of our district,” Benson said.

Operations: Golden Gate has run 35 calls to date this year, with 18 EMStype and 17 fire-type incidents. No notable incidents occurred over May and the first half of June, and this appears to be a decrease in call volume relative to past years, likely owing to an unseasonably wet and rainy end of spring and beginning of summer.

Average response time has decreased from 15:49 to 15:11, as has turnout time, which has decreased from 47 to 44 seconds. Personnel per call appears to be trending upward, owing to new members going online and more availability in district over the month, notably with zero counts of declined mutual or automatic aid or other calls with zero personnel.

The District has 18 Members on the roster, two on leave of absence. The District will continue to receive and review applications to the end of June, at which point they will schedule interviews for incoming operational volunteers.

They have received several applications for support services volunteers. The Golden Gate auxiliary has approved the purchase of over $10,000 of backcountry rescue equipment from local vendor Harken Equipment. Harken has also offered to provide training for members on the new equipment at their new facility in Arvada.

The next regular board meeting will be July 20, 2023, at 7 p.m., at Station 81, 32360 Robinson Hill Road, Golden. For more information, go to https:// goldengatefire.org.