At approximately 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, Timberline Fire Protection District (TFPD) held their monthly Board and Pension meeting at their recently acquired station, formerly known as Fritz Peak Observatory.

President Rick Wenzel, Vice President John Bushey, Treasurer Whitney Donoghue, and Member at Large John Carder attended the meeting, as well as Fire Chief Paul Ondr and Administrative Chief Jennifer Hinderman. Also in attendance for the Pension Board of Trustees Meeting were Ryan Roberts and Chris Schimanskey. Highlights included the pension board meeting, the filling of the Board vacancy, and the Chief’s Report.

The meeting commenced with the flag salute and a moment of silence for fallen firefighters and then recessed from the regular meeting and entered into the Pension Board meeting.

The Pension Board approved the minutes of the regular quarterly meeting from March 8, 2022, with all in favor. They voted to move their September 6 meeting to October 11. They also discussed the first quarter allocation report.

The Board then reconvened their regular meeting and approved the minutes from the May 9 regular meeting. They discussed the notes for the May 24 Workshop and decided that the summary of what was discussed needed to be more complete before approval, which mainly covered the progress in renovating the new Observatory building.

New business included filling a Board vacancy and Fire Chief Review planning.

The Board received three letters of interest for the vacancy: one from Mary Kate McKenna, one from John Bryan, and one from someone who couldn’t make the meeting. Both McKenna and Bryan were nominated.

Ultimately the Board chose the candidate who can attend all the meetings and is a local resident. Congratulations go to Mary Kate McKenna, who has a background in accounting/small business management and currently owns Mid- County Liquors.

President Wenzel administered the Oath of Office to McKenna who then sat in on the rest of the meeting but was not allowed to vote until next month’s meeting.

The Board decided the evaluation for the Fire Chief will be held this August.

Old business included an Observatory update by Chief Ondr, who said work was coming along on the floors, kitchen, and sewer line. He met with the Chair of the Gilpin County Historical Preservation Society and showed the drawings for the bay addition, which seemed satisfactory. The one exception was that the Society the roof line to match the style of the building.

New Board member McKenna asked a question about the intent and reasoning behind the acquisition of the Observatory building. Ondr responded that, basically, Timberline has always wanted to be closer to Rollinsville for better response times, and that this acquisition will eventually consolidate other stations.

Ondr delivered the Monthly Fire Chief’s Report. TFPD responded to 62 calls in May and they are seeing an increase in ATV incidents and backcountry injuries.

Missouri Lakes 1 mitigation work is complete, as is the work on Hwy 46 between 119 and Dory Hill. The department has also completed three small mitigation jobs for private residents and are offering the service to the public. In the last 24 hours they have received 14 requests for the free assessments they have offered since the article by The Mountain-Ear was published online.

A part-time administrative assistant opening has been posted and TFPD plans on interviewing candidates on June 29. The next volunteer process is planned for July, and at that time, the department will be interviewing prospective members for both TFPD and GGFPD.

The training academy is finished and all 15 candidates who tested for their practical on Saturday passed. Clear Creek Fire, Nederland Fire, and Bennett Fire Rescue assisted with the proctoring.

TFPD has seven newly certified State Firefighters consisting of three in-district

Members and four shift firefighters.

The next regular Board meeting for Timberline Fire Protection District will be held Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at Fritz Peak building, 19126 Highway 119, Black Hawk.