Speigletown Fire District

The Board of Fire Commissioners of the Speigletown Fire District met in regular session on Monday, August 17, 2026 at the firehouse, 146 Speigletown Road, at 6:00 p.m. This summary is drawn from a community recording, not from district minutes, which are not posted online. The recording does not capture a usable roll call, and motion makers and seconders are not always audible; motions below passed by voice vote with no opposition heard. Private individuals are not named.

Public comment

A resident asked for access to the board’s past minutes for the last three years and for the district’s call statistics, and was told to file a Freedom of Information Law request and make an appointment to review the records.

Treasurer’s report

The treasurer presented four reports. The monthly warrant was routine apart from two items: service and new tires on Tanker 357 at $15,400, and the district’s information technology contract at $200 a month, for which a signed copy of the agreement was being obtained.

Year to date, the treasurer had moved $46,530 from reserves to checking to reimburse an equipment project paid from the operating account. On the truck refurbishment, $92,000 had been paid and a $60,000 invoice was outstanding against the $150,000 the board had approved; with a few remaining items, including two tower lights being replaced, the total would run slightly over, and the difference would come from the regular maintenance budget. The chief said the board had declined the vendor’s request to be paid before the work was complete. Grant purchases so far totaled about $4,200, to be tracked on a spreadsheet.

Revenue year to date was unchanged; the district’s income is property tax. Two transfers were noted, a partial payment on the truck and a draw from the building fund.

The treasurer asked to begin 2027 budget preparation with one or two workshops in late September or early October, as was done the previous year, when the board approved the budget on September 20. The board agreed to schedule the workshops after the required dates were confirmed.

The warrant and the treasurer’s report were accepted. Motion carried, no opposition.

Minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted. Motion carried. Correspondence: none.

Insurance and LOSAP

The commissioner handling insurance reported that the Length of Service Award Program investment account had grown by almost $38,000 over the twelve months ending in August, a little over 10 percent. The vehicle insurance renewal had arrived with options the board had not knowingly selected in past years; the commissioner would review them this year. The LOSAP contract also offered a choice between a flat 3 percent return and a market-based option with withdrawal restrictions, elected each January 1; the district had missed this year’s window. The board budgeted $72,000 for LOSAP in 2026 and had paid $35,000 to date; the treasurer would confirm the billing schedule with the plan administrator, whose reporting the board described as hard to follow.

Buildings and grounds

The commissioner responsible was absent and sent word of no report. The ice machine repair part had arrived and was awaiting installation.

Future needs

The board was still waiting for a report from H2M, the district’s engineers, to continue a building survey; if it could not be located, the survey would have to be rebudgeted at $11,000 or more.

Grants and policies

The policy manual remained in progress and was expected to be finished within the week. New members are receiving background checks through the company and the board.

Purchases

None.

Cameras and keys

A security vendor had looked at the broken camera and the digital video recorder; the board asked for separate quotes for the recorder and for relocating a camera to the hallway, and would also ask Capital Security, which services the fire alarm, to quote cameras.

Chief’s report

• 24 calls in July. The two captains were on vacation at the same time.
• The July structure fire at the Field of Horrors on Farrell Road: the chief thanked everyone who responded and called the mutual aid good. The owners planned a free first responder night on the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend.
• Tanker 357 is back with new tires; the old tires were disposed of after no taker was found. The engine’s preventive maintenance will be pushed a month or two to keep trucks in the bays. The tower lights on Engine Ladder 351 still needed completion, with a heavier switch installed. The chief’s car needed a new alternator.
• An EMT class begins in September at the firehouse on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, worked around drills and hall rentals.
• An EVOC driver course, two evenings and a Saturday road course, will be run before winter for new members.
• A work detail is coming to clear the brush pile and burn pit. A local excavating contractor donated rock for the culvert behind the station; the wire fencing installed there caught logs during heavy rain and the parking lot did not flood. The chief wants more stone for the handicap ramp, the memorial stone and the back fence line, and will offer to split the cost.
• Calls are being entered in Alpine, the department’s new records software; once caught up, the department will drop ESO and submit reports to the state from Alpine.
• The chief’s drill drew about 30 members.
• Pleasantdale has new box alarm assignments: Speigletown is now dispatched on all Pleasantdale structure fires, fire alarms, brush fires, carbon monoxide alarms and accidents while that company rebuilds its numbers.
• West Sand Lake has asked Speigletown to provide EMS rehab on second alarms and above; EMTs staffed rehab at the August 11 live burn at the county training tower. A county rehab trailer arrangement was mentioned but not confirmed.
• The chief and assistant chief are registered for American Heart Association CPR instructor training at $325 each and asked whether the district would pay.
• Car 1, the 2017 chief’s vehicle, will be 10 years old next year; the chief asked to start getting quotes, estimating about $75,000 for an equipped Tahoe. Commissioners steered away from Dodge products because of recalls. Quotes to be brought back as new business in September; the old car’s resale value would return to the budget.
• Car 2 may need tires, about $1,000, to be budgeted.

New business

The board named Commissioner Brosnan vice chair, to run meetings in the chair’s absence and to serve as second signer on the bank account; payments over $5,000 require two signatures. Motion carried.

Adjourned at about 6:45 p.m. Motion carried.

This summary is unofficial. It was prepared by speigletown.org from a community recording of the August 17, 2026 meeting; the district’s approved minutes, available from the district secretary, are the record. Private individuals are not named; commissioners, officers and vendors on the public record are.