The Nederland Fire Protection District Board of Directors (NFPD) met on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 7 p.m. to vote on reinstating volunteer firefighter pensions. The Board also set the year’s mill levies, looked at deficiencies in NFD equipment, and examined the Fire Marshal’s report on Nederland Middle/Senior High School.

The Board met previously on January 8, 2024, to finalize their 2024 budget, certify tax levies, and set the District mill levies.

NFPD’s 2024 budget indicated a projected total income of $1,873,656.67, with a total expense of $1,660,427.09, equaling a net ordinary income of $213,229.58.

The 2024 tax levies were certified to be assessed by Boulder County Commissioners for properties within the District, based on the total valuation of $91,596,435.

General Operating Expenses were set at 14.287 mills, for $1,308,638; and the Firemen’s Pension Fund was set at .500 mills, for $45,798. The RAR Impact Reduction was set at 0.00 mills, for $86,292.66; and Rebates and Abatements were set at 0.086 mills, for $7,868.

In other business, Chief Charlie Schmidtmann presented his report for the last half of December and first half of January, detailing the District’s calls of significance.

Crews responded to critical patient calls at Eldora, including a helicopter evacuation for an unresponsive child. Firefighters and EMS also responded to an accident involving a vehicle crashing through the glass bus stop at the corner of Highway 119 and Big Springs Drive.

The Nederland Fire Department’s (NFD) vehicles received some improvements, according to the Chief’s report, including the installation of an on-board radio charger. Schmidtmann’s report also noted vehicles in need of plow repair and suffering from power issues, causing the Board to consider purchasing new replacements.

Schmidtmann’s report indicated that the EMS crew’s video laryngoscope is no longer operational and is in need of replacement. The District’s full-time paramedics have signed up to attend the critical care training program scheduled in April in Crested Butte. A special training was recently held in Denver, where the District’s EMS crew were given the opportunity to work in a cadaver laboratory.

Fire Marshal Andrew Joslin presented his report, which indicated that the fire safety inspection of the Nederland Middle Senior High School (NMSHS) yielded 54 violations. Three of the violations were resolved during the inspection; a new fire sprinkler and standpipe system are required before NMSHS can be considered up to code. Boulder Valley School District expects to have the project complete before the beginning of the next school year.

Joslin noted that he had passed the Fire Inspection II exam and is to attend a class to prepare for the Plan Reviewer III test. Joslin’s report also stated that he had completed a fire investigation for a recent small structure fire, which was determined to have been started by an electrical fire from a faulty laundry room appliance.

The NFPD were also provided with the Incident Report for the month of December, 2023. There were 37 total incidents, 27 of which were medical related, consisting mostly of calls related to breathing problems, as well as three falls, three ski accidents, and one traumatic injury.

The other 10 incidents occurring in December were fire-related, consisting mostly of “fire assists,” as well as one structure fire and one wildland/grass fire.

Board members were tasked with voting on Resolution 2024-01, reinstating the Volunteer Firefighter Pension Fund. A survey had been conducted with neighboring fire districts to look for any common trends in incentivizing or compensating volunteers, but every fire department provided a different solution.

After deciding that a Pension Board would need to be established in order to create and oversee the criteria and processes involved in determining who qualifies for a pension, the NFPD voted unanimously to reinstate the pension fund.

The Nederland Fire Protection District Board of Directors meets on the third Wednesday of every month. Meetings can be attended online on Microsoft Teams. Their next meeting will be on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 7 p.m.

For more information go to: https://www.nfpd.org.