CLOQUET AREA FIRE DISTRICT (CAFD) REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
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CLOQUET AREA FIRE DISTRICT (CAFD)
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
August 18, 2021 6:00 P.M.
Scanlon Community Center – CAFD Station 3
The mission of the Cloquet Area Fire District is to provide our member communities with unified fire protection,
rescue, emergency medical services, and public safety education. We will deliver these services with
accountability, efficiency, and quality.
The vision of the Cloquet Area Fire District is to be the state leader in the provision of regional fire and EMS
services to our citizens.
The values of the Cloquet Area Fire District are: Integrity, Professionalism, Dedication, and Respect.
1. Call to Order and Roll call at 6:03 P.M.
a. DeCaigny opened the meeting at 6:03 P.M.
Members Present: Bruce Blacketter (videoconference), Warren “Bun” Carlson
(videoconference), Bob DeCaigny, Gary
Harms(videoconference), Marshall Johnson, Jason Paulson
(videoconference), Linda Way (videoconference)
Members Absent: Sheila Lamb (absent)
Others Present: Matt Ashmore (Chief), Molly Cooper (Recorder), Jamie
Matthews (Recorder), Steve Olson
2. District Recognition
a. Officer Oath
(1) The following promotions were announced, and officers present were sworn
in:
1. Jeremy Hutchinson – Battalion Chief
2. Brandon Rautell – Captain (not present)
b. Meritorious Awards
(1) On June 13, 2021 there was a structure fire with a resident trapped inside the
apartment. BC Hutchinson, BC Meager, Firefighter DeBondt, Firefighter Jahr,
Firefighter Pulford, and Firefighter Krause responded and were able to
remove the resident and suppress the fire. Everyone listed received a
meritorious award for their heroic efforts on this day.
3. Meeting Agenda
a. DeCaigny requested approval (or changes) for the August 18, 2021 Meeting Agenda.
(1) Date to be changed to August 18, 2021
MOTION (Johnson/Blacketter): Motion to approve the August 18, 2021 meeting agenda
with one change noted above. Motion carried unanimously.
Roll Call Vote: Marshall Johnson, Bun Carlson, Bruce Blacketter, Linda Way, Gary
Harms, Jason Paulson, Bob DeCaigny
4. Approval of Meeting Minutes
a. DeCaigny requested approval (or changes) for the July 21, 2021 regular meeting minutes
for the meeting held at the Scanlon Community Center – Station 3.
(1) Under item 5, section a.1.1, change four ambulances to three ambulances.MOTION (Harms/Carlson): Motion to approve the July 21, 2021 regular meeting
minutes with one change noted above. Motion carried unanimously.
Roll Call Vote: Marshall Johnson, Bun Carlson, Bruce Blacketter, Linda Way, Gary
Harms, Jason Paulson, Bob DeCaigny
Consent Agenda
b. Monthly Financial Report
(1) Ashmore had a conversation with Ehlers who confirmed that the $98,000 that
was received in the reserve fund is for the bond that purchased the ambulances
in 2020. This money is restricted and can only be used to pay on the
ambulance bonds. There is currently $54,000 in the account and the Finance
Committee recommended paying $54,000 to the principle. To pay the bond in
full and early, payments must be in $3,000 increments.
MOTION (Johnson/Harms): Motion to approve the payment of $54,000 to the
ambulance bond, paid in $3,000 increments. Motion carried unanimously.
Roll Call Vote: Marshall Johnson, Bun Carlson, Bruce Blacketter, Linda Way, Gary
Harms, Jason Paulson, Bob DeCaigny
MOTION (Johnson/Blacketter): Motion to approve the financial report. Motion carried
unanimously.
Roll Call Vote: Marshall Johnson, Bun Carlson, Bruce Blacketter, Linda Way, Gary
Harms, Jason Paulson, Bob DeCaigny
c. Approval of Payment of Bills
(1) Matthews gave clarification that The Knox Company was for a purchase of a
Knox box and the MN N.D. Bricklayers HRA was an ambulance
reimbursement.
MOTION (Harms/Johnson): Motion to approve the payment of bills. Motion carried
unanimously.
Roll Call Vote: Marshall Johnson, Bun Carlson, Bruce Blacketter, Linda Way, Gary
Harms, Jason Paulson, Bob DeCaigny
5. District Fire Chief’s Report
a. Ashmore met with Chief Lewis from the Virginia Fire Department, Adam Shadio from
Arrowhead EMS Association, and Cloquet City Counselor Sheila Lamb to discuss the
effects of the frequency of local hospitals going on diversion for EMS services. The Pine
Knot wrote an article on this subject and was published. Hospitals still accept critical
patients while on diversion. However, EMS personnel are utilized next for transfers
because there is not an outside regional transport service in the area. The concerns with
the EMS portion that affect the CAFD are vehicle maintenance, over time hours, and out
of service personnel and vehicles for the community needs. Way requested more detailed
data to include, how long the transfers are, how long it takes, how often, etc. There isn’t a
clear answer on how to fix the issue other than working together to try to make systemic
change.
b. The CAFD received $26,575 from the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training
Education to reimburse training cost. Special thanks to Training Administrator Larson for
obtaining this reimbursement.
c. The CAFD received $20,978.57 for CY 2019, an enhanced match payment for 2019.
8/18/21 Minutes Page 2 of 6d. Hose testing was completed by FireCatt on August 11, 2021.
e. An invite was received for the CAFD to attend a National Night Out block party that was
held by the Cloquet Police Department. Ashmore, engine 1, BC, and B shift attended to
show support.
f. A building in Cloquet was donated to the District which enabled weeks of training for our
staff. A live burn training took place on August 14, 2021. The live burn included training
evolutions and then a final burn down. Training Administrator Larson did an excellent
job conducting and planning trainings and the day of the final burn. Larson spent hours to
prepare and execute a safe and knowledgeable experience for our District staff and others
to have this training. The 148th Fighter Wing of the National Guard was also in
attendance for this training.
g. Training Administrator Larson was awarded the runner-up IAFC volunteer and
combination officers section training office of the year award for the second year in a
row. His dedication and work are greatly appreciated by all members of the District to
achieve this award and to be recognized for his tremendous work that he provides for the
CAFD.
6. District Business
a. Committee Meetings
(1) To help eliminate confusion, DeCaigny would like all committee chairs to
communicate with Matthews by e-mail or phone for all committee meeting
dates and times. She will be the primary contact for these and in charge of
sending out invitations/reminders to all committee members and others that
are to attend.
b. Finance/Budget Committee
(1) The Finance /Budget Committee met on August 2, 2021 and the following
items were discussed in the meeting:
1. Station 1
a. Emergency overtime was decreased by $30,000
b. $3,000 was added to build a wall for crew separation
2. Station 2
a. POC wages were decreased by $10,000
b. Part time wages were decreased by $37,000
3. Station 4 and 5
a. Building maintenance was decreased by $3,000
b. POC wages were decreased by $3,000
c. Personal protective equipment was decreased by $3,000
4. Capital Spending
a. Radio’s will be ordered when the 1st payment occurs in 2023
b. The Capitol Plan was reduced by $83,000
c. There will be $100,000 for other items in the Capitol Plan
d. $300,000 is the budget for vehicles
e. Due to the changes in the Capital Improvement Plan, the 10-year
Plan will need to be revised. More information next month.
5. The committee recommends the five-year warranty plan for $35,000
for extended coverage on the ambulance stretchers
6. Cost increase of $50,000 to support a full-time Administrative
Assistant
8/18/21 Minutes Page 3 of 6c. Strategic Planning Committee
(1) The Strategic Planning Committee met on August 9, 2021. Quinten Anderson
was approved as a new member on the committee. The committee decided to
invite Wally Dupuis, current Tribal Council Member of the Fond du Lac
Reservation to attend the Board Retreat that will be held on September 13,
2021 at 9:00 a.m. at the Cloquet Public Library. The Board retreat agenda was
finalized with time limits on each topic to ensure all topics will be discussed.
See item h. below for the retreat agenda.
d. Succession Planning Committee
(1) The Succession Planning Committee met on July 29, 2021 and August 3,
2021. The committee supports all administration job descriptions but
requested to have them re-formatted. The Deputy Chief position is still under
review and a discussion will be held on how this position fits in the
organizational structure at the Board retreat. The committee asked for support
and approval to change the committee’s name to the Human Resource
Committee as this committee works closely with Cooper on human resource
activities and compliance.
(2) In the committee charter, DeCaigny questioned item 3.h. It includes
negotiation terms and conditions of all collective bargaining and employment
agreements. Way gave clarification that the Negotiation Committee will
merge into this committee once current BC negotiations are finalized. All
committee members present agreed with this.
1. DeCaigny would like item 5.h. to be re-written for more depth and
clarification as, “Due to the sensitive nature of some topics some
members may be asked to not attend portions of meetings due to
potential conflict of interest, privacy laws or other rules”.
2. DeCaigny would like item 7.b. to be re-written as, “With the CAFD
Board: Communication with Board will be an oral and/or written
presentation at the next Board meeting after Human Resource
meeting”.
(3) The Succession Planning Committee (The Human Resource Committee)
Charter has been completed and request approve at this time.
MOTION (Johnson/Harms): Motion to approve the Succession Planning Committee
Charter with the amendments noted above which included the name change to The
Human Resource Committee. Motion carried unanimously.
Roll Call Vote: Marshall Johnson, Bun Carlson, Bruce Blacketter, Linda Way, Gary
Harms, Jason Paulson, Bob DeCaigny
e. Facilities Committee
(1) The Facilities Committee met on August 16, 2021 and the following
discussions took place.
1. The potential and options of administration and training staff
working at a different Station and what effects would take place to
relocate these staff. The potential cost savings to not include these
departments in the new building could be significant.
2. A meeting will take place after Sappi engineers review and evaluate
the potential building site for Station one.
8/18/21 Minutes Page 4 of 63. Recognizing the priority to address leads and issues for Perch Lake
and response times due to high call volume.
f. Negotiations Committee
(1) Ashmore spoke with IAFF Local 880 President Cyson and they will be ready
to sit down in the next couple of weeks. Dates have been sent out, waiting to
hear which one works to schedule a meeting for negotiations.
g. Fire Chief Evaluation Committee
(1) The Board members met on August 5, 2021 and discussed the performance
evaluation plan for Ashmore and it was approved.
h. Paid-on-Call (POC) Pay Plan Structure and Committee Discussion
(1) Mistakes have been found that some POC members are not in the correct step
that they should be in. A POC pay scale was provided which includes
adjusting the pay scale to a consistent amount, requirements to move forward
to the next step, and includes a good performance evaluation. It was
determined that this is not a policy but will act as a stand-alone document to
be amended as needed. Steve Olson expressed interest to participate on the
POC Committee.
MOTION (Johnson/Way): Motion to approve the Paid-on-call Pay Scale as presented
including backpay to January 1, 2021. Motion carried unanimously.
Roll Call Vote: Marshall Johnson, Bun Carlson, Bruce Blacketter, Linda Way, Gary
Harms, Jason Paulson, Bob DeCaigny
i. Board Retreat Agenda Discussion
(1) The Board retreat will be held on September 13, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. at the
Cloquet Public Library. Personnel to attend the retreat include Ashmore, BCs,
Cooper, the Delivery Model Committee, Wally Dupuis, and Matthews. The
agenda will have time limits to allow sufficient time to discuss all topics.
DeCaigny to keep track of time limits and keep conversations moving. These
topics include:
1. Delivery Model (45 min)
2. Facilities (45 min)
3. Organization Structure & Job Descriptions for Buhs, Cooper, Deputy
Chief, Larson, and Matthews (45 min)
4. Finance (15 min)
5. POC Issues (Committee; Anderson, Ashmore, BC, Blacketter,
Cooper, RJD) (15 min)
6. FDL Cooperation & Partnership (15 min)
7. Lunch (20 min)
Total time: 200 min
j. Legislative Resolution
(1) The tax levy bill has been passed. New legislation removes all levy caps and
Frank Yetka prepared a legislation adoption resolution for the CAFD. This
was also reviewed by Libby Law. Johnson requested a third party involved for
a detailed levy expenditure report for any future questions that may arise from
8/18/21 Minutes Page 5 of 6member communities. Cooper to update the legislation adoption resolution
21-02 with standard CAFD formatting to include the same content.
MOTION (Paulson/Way): Motion to approve resolution 21-02 adopting legislation as
prepared by Frank Yetka with Cooper utilizing the standard CAFD formatting. Motion
carried unanimously.
Roll Call Vote: Marshall Johnson, Bun Carlson, Bruce Blacketter, Linda Way, Gary
Harms, Jason Paulson, Bob DeCaigny
k. FDL Contract Review
(1) FDL Contract was included for review however, it does not expire until
September 30, 2022.
7. Questions or Comments
8. Other/Next Agenda
a. Action Items Review
(1) DeCaigny mentioned that item 19 has not been forgotten but will be deferred
a little longer.
(2) Add action item, Detailed Levy Expenditure Reports
b. CAFD Annual Task List Review
(1) 2022 CAFD Levy
(2) 2022 Capital Improvement Plan
(3) Date for Public Hearing
(4) Investment Policy Review
(5) Board Retreat
c. Future Agenda Items
d. Confirm Next Meeting Date
(1) Board Retreat – September 13, 2021 @ Cloquet Public Library at 9:00 a.m.
(2) Regular Meeting – September 15, 2021 @ Scanlon Community Center –
Station 3
9. Adjourn
a. DeCaigny adjourned the meeting at 7:24 p.m.
SIGNED: ____________________________________ DATE: _____________
Robert DeCaigny, Chair
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