Agenda Packets - 2012/02/06 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 5 Meeting Date: February 6, 2012 Type of Business: Work Session City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Discuss Selection of a Board Member to the Spring Lake Park Fire Department, Inc., Board of Directors Introduction: The Blaine Spring Lake Park Mounds View Fire Department is managed by a seven member Board of Directors and a full time CEO/Fire Chief. The board is comprised of three community representatives from the City of Blaine, one each from the Cities of Spring Lake Park and Mounds View and two fire department representatives elected by the active membership of the department. The previous board representative from Mounds View was Barb Renshaw, and her term expired at the end of 2011. Because she had already served two consecutive terms, the Bylaws require a new appointee from Mounds View. Discussion: The Fire Board oversees the audit, just and correct claims, and are involved in policy decisions which have fiscal impact. (Policy control is managed exclusively by the Board and CEO/Fire Chief.) A Personnel Committee comprised of one member from each station meets regularly to review personnel performance, disciplinary issues and promotions. Upon conclusion of their deliberations they forward their recommendation directly to the board. Board members are compensated $1,500 per year for their service. The Board has four official meetings a year; typically the meetings start at 5:30 pm and conclude by 8:00 pm. The board also holds one annual meeting of the board to seat new members and elect new officers. This historically has occurred over the lunch hour. Board meetings are held on Tuesday or Wednesday nights in the 3rd week of the January, May, July and October. The annual meeting is held in March. The Board receives a packet about one week prior to the meeting and is expected to read all material. Board members must be accessible via email as interim decisions are occasionally made via email and then ratified at the next board meeting. Terms are for three years with a maximum of two successive terms. Community board members must either live or have their full time employment within the city they represent. In Blaine and Mounds View, the board acts as the local Board of Appeals for all fire orders and must meet and render a decision when an appeal is filed. In the past ten years the appeals board has met only four times. New board members are invited and encouraged to spend some time visiting the stations and conversing with the chief and president to become familiar with the operation, technical lingo, and idiosyncrasies of the fire service.