Attendance: |
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| Mary Ellen LePage, President | Walt Eastwood, Vice President |
| Anita Holser, Secretary | Nelson O'Connor, Member at large |
| Owen Gooding, Treasurer |
| The meeting was called to order at 12:05 pm at the O'Connor's. The minutes of the last minutes were read and approved. |
| Hot water heater
Mary Ellen brought a spare gas canister to the firehouse for the Christmas party. We still need to get a new one. Nelson volunteered to pick one up. Walt made a motion for Nelson to pick up a new 5 gallon gas canister for the upper firehouse. Anita seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. We will need to get rid of the old tank, which can no longer be filled because it has the old style valves. Walt volunteered to take it. |
| Floating pump
Nelson had priced floating pumps, which seem to run about $2400. Mary Ellen will check with CDF and see where they get theirs from, and get a price. Walt will also check with a supplier he works with. We agreed that getting the floating pump with the help of our FEMA grant was a good idea. They were extremely useful during the Uvas fire last fall. It was agreed that we would buy one and locate it at the upper firehouse, since most of the ponds are on the upper road, and we have submersible pumps for use in the creek on the lower road. |
| Fire Truck Signs
Nelson bought and attached the new signs to the trucks. The new nomex will have CLVFA patches attached to the front of the jacket, and lettering on the back to identify our volunteers. |
| Fire Trucks
Mary Ellen has taked to John Gibbs about the possibility of our getting the tanker. She will write a letter, and John will talk to the Board of Supervisors about this. We estimate that the repairs needed will not be too expensive. Nelson had been down to check out the truck and thought it was in good condition and would be very similar to truck 41 to run, making it easier to train on. It will fit through the doors of the upper firehouse. Mary Ellen will also ask about the possibility of our getting the other firetruck that is available. We discussed what to do with the old truck if we get the replacement. It was suggested we check with Ormsby to see if they might be interested. Mary Ellen said that a group in Uvas was planning on establishing a volunteer fire department, and they might also be interested. |
| Barricade
The company making Barricade has replaced our product, and the product for the local residents who purchased it. They were very apologetic about the problems and assured us that they were corrected in the replacements. |
| Water heater again
Anita asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to put earthquake strapping on the water heater at the upper firehouse. Walt volunteered to pick up a strapping kit and strap it down. |
| Yearly events
Dates for this year's yearly events were picked:
We will put out a newsletter prior to the General Meeting. Nelson, Ron and Walt are up for re-election this year. It was suggested that we bring the white firetruck and new floating pump to the General Meeting. Walt has an incident book from the Uvas Fire which he'll bring for residents to look at. Mary Ellen has a fireman poster that was donated to the CLVFA, signed by the artist, which she'll frame and bring as well. |
| Fund Raising
Mary Ellen talked about our fire department to a local community women's group on Summit Road recently. They were very interested in our group, and generously volunteered to help us with a fund-raiser. They suggested a BBQ with music at Radonich Farm. Walt said he knew some bands who could come up. Nelson said we could bring the white firetruck, Walt will bring the incident book. We'll talk to Ormsby and see if they want to team up with us for the fund raiser. Mary Ellen will talk to the women's group and get more information about what they had in mind. |
| Keys
Nelson volunteered to resume responsibility for the keys on the lower road. Mary Ellen will talk to Steve about this. |
| The Normans and the Uvas Fire
Anita suggested the fire department send the Normans something to express our appreciation of their help during the Uvas fire. The Norman brothers took the initiative and brought their heavy equipment and water truck up, working hours on end to help save houses and contain the fire. Walt made a motion for Anita to pick up a couple of ball caps, sew patches to them, and send them along with a Thank You note. Owen seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. letter. |
| Handy Talkies
Mary Ellen said that we need to retrieve pagers and handy-talkies from inactive firefighters, since there were some untrained people using them inappropriately during the Uvas fire. Mary Ellen will check into this, and will mention the problem during the General Meeting. It was agreed that we also need to talk about the problems and dangers of untrained residents interfering during fires at the General Meeting. |
| The meeting adjourned at 1:05 pm. |
| Respectfully, |
| Anita Holser
Secretary |