BEAVER LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES
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Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Beaver Lake Fire Department, Station 1
Location: 16035 Cypress LN, Rogers AR 72756
Zoom Link: Watch the meeting Zoom ID 895 9812 4894
1.
CALL TO ORDER
1.1.
Directors attending in person: Jeff Easley, Monte Gagliardi, Curtis Hathcock, Jerry Hudlow, Steve Long, Gisela Mejia, Larry Smith (7 of 10)
1.2.
Special Board Members attending in person: Chief Qualls
1.3.
Attending via Video: Todd Weber, Justin Stanbery
1.4.
Absent: Kelly Lewis, Laura Tucker
1.5.
Quorum Status. Quorum is requirements met. Seven (7) Directors present in person and one (1) present via Zoom.
2.
Chairman Comments.
3.
Disposition of Previous Meeting Minutes.
3.1.
Review Board of Directors Meeting Minutes for February 11, 2025.
3.2.
Motion made by Steve Long to approve BOD March Meeting minutes. Motion seconded by Larry Smith. Motion approved by voice vote. Approval votes totaled eight (8) (seven (7) directors present in person, one (1) director present via Zoom).
4.
Open to Public Comments.
5.
Reports of Officers
5.1.
Fire Chief Operations Report.
5.1.1.
Reviewed monthly response numbers. February was a light load. There was one structure fire that was quickly resolved without much damage.
BEAVER LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES
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5.1.2.
Special recognition on an EMS seizure call. Our live-in, Tyler Harrold, was first responder on scene and applied immediate action to resuscitate the patient. If not for his actions, things could have been very bad for the patient.
BEAVER LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES
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5.1.3.
Introduced Lane Hutchens, our new live-in firefighter at station 1.
5.1.4.
Chief let board know the ISO rating team is visiting departments in the area and will probably do an update on BLFD. There is no expectation of major changes to be made, however, the Chief and Chairperson explained that if there is a change in rating it probably wouldn’t be much. Chief Qualls let everyone know that it would take a drop in rating to a level 6 or below to cause a significant impact on potential homeowner insurance rates. He just wanted everyone to recognize that a change could occur since during the last review, BLFD was staffed at a significantly higher level with full time firefighters, which was not sustainable. Hence the changes made in our board of directors, and firefighter staffing procedures.
5.2.
President’s Report. No comments.
5.3.
Treasurer’s Report.
5.3.1.
Review Monthly Financial Documents. Financial position of the BLFD is good. Liquid cash on hand in checking and savings is $484,929.66. Actual to Budget figures are on track for the year to date.
5.3.2.
Motion made by Larry Smith to approve monthly Balance sheets, P &L, and Budget review documents for February. Motion seconded by Steve Long. Motion approved by voice vote. Approval votes totaled eight (8) (7 directors present in person, 1 of director via Zoom).
5.4.
Secretary’s Report. Secretary Curtis Hathcock stated he will change next month’s meeting format for the agenda to more closely follow information presented during the Fire Chief’s Report. Some items that are tracked as Old Business will have updates provided during the Chief’s report.
6.
Reports of Committees – Chairperson Easley gave a brief overview on discussions he had with Chief Qualls concerning storage of equipment and need for more room specifically for the new multi-purpose Firefighting/Rescue apparatus during the last quarter of this year.
7.
New Business. None.
8.
Old Business
8.1.
Acquisition of new Firefighting/Recue Apparatus. No significant updates. Apparatus could possibly be ready for service in September or October timeframe.
8.2.
Backup Generator Project. No updates.
8.3.
New storage building. Chairperson Easley provided quick overview of initial assessment of needs. Process will become more detailed and involved as the requirements become more apparent. Refer to comments in Report of Committees.
8.4.
BLFD Bylaws Review/Update/Amendment.
BEAVER LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES
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8.4.1.
Chairman Comments. Comments here were made by several directors wishing to clarify how inputs can be made to the Secretary. Chairperson Easley stated that directors should feel free to send in potential change comments as they deem needed. However, we would continue to conduct discussion of changes during monthly meetings.
8.4.2.
Review of Paragraph 2.3. Determination and Collection of Response Charges
8.4.2.1.
Some language change was made by Larry Smith to simplify reading of the paragraph. Curtis presented that the original choice of words was based upon a direct quote of Arkansas Code Annotated. However, after further research it was determined that based on other sections of the Code, the word fire could be removed.
8.4.2.2.
Steve Long requested clarification of when charges may be made for services rendered during an incident, referring to Bylaws review paragraph 2.3.2. His concern arose from issues arising from the Rogers Fire Department case of the fire response at the transfer station near Arkansas Avenue and Cloverdale intersection. What level of resource commitment is BLFD willing to provide in a situation where potentially dangerous materials are found to be stored. Consensus of the board is that we would be committing our departments resources based upon the circumstances at the time of an incident. If a court case were to arise from a specific incident. The courts determination of responsibility would be a significant factor in what could be charged outside of the scope of the $5000 limit normally allowed.
8.4.2.3.
A re-write of paragraph will be done and reviewed at next meeting.
8.4.3.
Review of Paragraph 3.2. Quorum. Minor grammatical corrections made.
8.4.4.
Review of Paragraph 3.3. Proxy. Deemed acceptable.
8.4.5.
Review of Paragraph 3.4. Manner of Acting (significant rewrite, key is that the minimum for a quorum is 6, however it would only be able to vote for simple procedural things like approving minutes, forming committees and such). Major actions like changing dues, voting rights, removal of board member might require a higher quorum to meet minimum votes of approval from members that exceeds a majority of the basic quorum. Deemed acceptable.
8.4.6.
Review of Paragraph 3.5. Board of Directors and Special Members. Discussion covered many aspects of subparagraphs. Minor changes were addressed and some changes made to require acknowledgements for acceptance to be a director be in written form.
8.4.7.
Review of Paragraph 6. Article VI – Amendments (rewrite based upon last month’s meeting.) Deemed acceptable.
9.
Other Business.
9.1.
Chairperson Jeff Easley offered a “item for thought” concerning number meetings a normal Board of Directors might conduct during a year. He cited how most boards he has dealt with met quarterly. He emphasized this is just a item to think about that might improve potential director pool and or make our board more standard with other organizations. Discussion from
BEAVER LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES
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some directors indicated they prefer the monthly Board Meeting requirement. It helps with
continuity and camaraderie of the organization.
9.2.
FY 2025 Annual Membership Meeting. Need to finalize a date for meeting. Chairperson Easley commented that September 13 and 20 appeared to be the best possible choices the Annual Meeting this year. Board members should be prepared to vote on final date selection next month.
9.3.
Next Board Meeting scheduled for April 8, 2025, at BLFD Fire Station 1, 16035 Cypress LN, Rogers AR 72756.
10.
Adjournment. Motion to adjourn meeting made by Larry Smith. Motion seconded by Jerry Hudlow. Motion approved by unanimous voice vote at 7:52 P.M.
SUBMITTED BY: Curtis Hathcock, Board Secretary