Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM

Portal Rescue-Minutes-Agenda

Minutes Of March9th Annual Meeting

Attending: Board members Cary Booth, Dinah Davidson, Penni Parrish, Alina Downer, Jackie Lewis, David Newton and Aaron Smith; Additional Active Members: Victor Shawe, Laura Stratton, Marilyn Forestall, Henry Essary, Scott Huber, Brian Whitehorn; Community Member: Erik Lee, Naomi Lee, Bill Wilbur, Vinnie Maniola, Delane Blondeau, Barbara Miller, Susanne Apitz, Lee Dyal, Kit Sipperly, Carol Simmons, Bec Webster 

    •    1)  Call to Order President Cary Booth called the meeting to order at 12:38 pm.

    •    2)  Adoption of Agenda
The Agenda was adopted unanimously with amendment to move 2024 budget to 5b, to add Portal Rescue BBQ to For The Good of the Order. Motion by Jackie and a second by Dinah.

    •    3)  Acceptance of Minutes
The January 22, 2024 minutes were adopted as written unanimously after a motion by Cary and a second by Aaron.

    •    4)  Reports
Fire Chief (David Newton) 

    •    a)  Operations: No Fires. On 3/5/2024 Portal Rescue assisted Cochise County Search &
Rescue with transportation of injured hiker off the Silver Peak Trail.

    •    b)  Training: 

    •    i)  Trainings well attended.

    •    ii)  Two firefighters trained to drive Tender 7

    •    c)  Vehicles:

i) Red Brush 6 was sold at Bowls & Spoons Fundraiser. Auctioned off for $4,500. 

     

d) Grants: 

i) David purchased equipment with the 50/50 grant from the Arizona State Forestry department. Portal Rescue ordered $1200 of supplies and paid only $600. Supplies ordered: replacement hose for Brush 9, one large fire shelter, AA batteries, and MRE rations. 

e) Building Maintenance: 

i) A rat was heard in the east wall of the classroom. David identified entry location. Suggestion from Jackie to contact Peter Wasser for advice on how to humanely extract/deter the rats. Dinah recommended a work party to extract rat and install footers around the building to prevent rats in the future.
ii) Thanks extended to “silent helpers” with tree pruning around the Landing Zone and access to the large tank. 

EMS Chief (Alina Downer) 

    •    a)  Calls: 6 calls since January 22, 2024 meeting, 2 in March.

    •    b)  Equipment: 

    •    i)  Rescue 233 and Rescue 4 are both in service. David Newton installed off-road lights on Rescue 4 to improve visibility on nighttime calls.

    •    ii)  Next EMT training is scheduled for March 10, 2024.

    •    c)  Personnel: No updates.

Treasurer (Jackie Lewis) – current as of January 22, 2023 

    •    a)  Updated 2023 Year End Numbers provided (see Appendix A).

    •    b)  Assets 2024 Year-To-Date Financials (see Appendix B.)

Member Without Portfolio (Aaron Smith) 

a) On March 9, 2024, Aaron and other EMS/Fire personnel attended the Portal Farmers Market for community outreach. 

Secretary (Penni Parrish) 

a) Acknowledgement from Jackie Lewis on Penni’s work in updating Portal Rescue’s Facebook page. 

Vice-President (Dinah Davidson) 

    •    a)  Dinah has been working on Portal Rescue’s profile on website : Charity Navigator. She is working with website overseers to adapt our information to their very rigid site categories and boost PR’s rating score from 13%

    •    b)  Dinah has been in touch with Juan Ciscomani’s office to determine if Portal Rescue is eligible for funds/grant money to aid with large purchases; replacement repeater, equipment, upgrading older vehicles to 4WD, water filtration system for the Portal Rescue classroom, etc.

President (Cary Booth) 

a) Cary’s deadline to take on the responsibility for the DNS (Domain Name Services) admin for the Portal Rescue website and email services is April 1, 2024. 

5) Continuing Business 

a) Bowls and Spoons Fundraiser- Marilyn Forestell 

    •    i)  Over 100 people volunteered and contributed to make the event successful. Set Up,
Clean Up, Food Prep, Food Donations, Serving, Fundraising.

    •    ii)  Jackie Lewis and Donna Meenach with Barbara Roth and Marjorie Camacho
prepared 4 soups and fed over 138 people

    •    iii)  Live Auction, Raffles, and Silent Auction pulled in a total of $11,115.83 (amount includes donated food & supplies).

iv) Special thanks to JJ Pooley for organizing the auction and raffles and Bill Cavalier for being the auctioneer. 

v) Feedback from community was positive. Many thanks to Marilyn and all who contributed for a well-organized and well attended event with a successful outcome. 

    •    b)  LOSAP Length of Service Awards Program 

    •    i)  David Newton kept records of volunteer time spent in 2023 and began looking into the LOSAP program as a means of rewarding our volunteers for their contributions
to Portal Rescue.

    •    ii)  David’s research has determined that concerns with how the documents for the VFIS
LOSAP program make the program unworkable in its present format, citing the
terms for “vesting monies” were poorly written.

    •    iii)  Jackie recommended taking LOSAP funds out of the 2024 budget. Aaron suggested
that each board member take time to read the VFIS literature and as a board get on a Zoom call or arrange an in-person meeting with VFIS before we give up on the program for 2024.

    •    iv)  Alina asked if there is an alternative company toVFIS for a LOSAP programand volunteered to put out an anonymous survey to PR volunteers to determine interest in a LOSAP program.

    •    v)  Cary’s recommendation for Order of Tasks: 1) Alina to issue survey to Fire and EMS volunteers to determine interest. 2) If the majority of PR volunteers are interested, then a thorough board review of VFIS LOSAP program will be conducted. 3)Reach out for other LOSAP programs from different providers. 4) Ask VFIS for references

    •    c)  Helicopter Membership for Active Members Review: 

    •    i)  Group Rate for PHI Care is $55 per active member, and AirMed is $85 per active
member (does not cover overlap if member is currently covered). With 23 active members, that would be a total of $3,320 ($1265 for PHI Care and $1955 for AirMed).

    •    ii)  After discussion of costs, Alina offered to add helicopter membership to the survey going out to volunteers and it was agreed that helicopter membership would be added as a potential budget item for 2025.

    •    d)  Classroom Ongoing Usage/ Rental Paperwork Update- Discussion continuing.

i) Feedback from Bonnie Bowen to Dinah- A policy is needed for classroom usage 

when the organizer is not paid. After discussion, Dinah will get specifics from Bonnie 

on what is needed. Penni moved to table until next meeting, Seconded by Jackie. 

6) New Business 

    •    a)  New Active Member Nominations: 

    •    i)  EMT: Laura Stratton. Alina’s motion seconded by Jackie

    •    ii)  Firefighter: Scott Huber. David’s motion seconded by Dinah.

    •    b)  Wall of Fame Nomination – Joan Jensen and Jeanne Williams. Delane Blondeau shared contributions made by Joan and Jeanne during their years as active members of Portal Rescue. Jackie’s motion seconded by Dinah. This recommendation has the support of the entire PR Board. (See Appendix C)

    •    c)  Portal Rescue Board Member Election

    •    i)  Active Members to continue on the Board: Aaron Smith, Jackie Lewis. Cary’s motion seconded by Alina.

    •    ii)  Community Members to continue on the Board: Cary Booth, Dinah Davidson, Penni Parrish. Jackie’s motion seconded by Aaron.

d) The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 9th, 6:00 p.m. 

    •    7)  For the Good of the Order 

    •    a)  The next blood drive is set for March 14th. There is one open slot for blood donation

    •    b)  Portal Rescue BBQ to be moved from Spring to Fall. A date will be selected at the May 2024 Board Meeting.

    •    c)  Feedback from Community Member Kit Sipperly. Kit expressed that she has witnessed the hard work of the Portal Rescue volunteers over the last 6 months. Kit was impressed and appreciative of PR EMT and Fire professionalism with patients.

    •    8)  Adjournment Cary adjourned the meeting 1:50 pm. 

Appendix C. Wall of Fame Nominations 

Joan Jensen 

Supporting mother while Debbie was going through the EMT class and her EMT Intermediate class. In 1987 Joan started dispatching from the Portal Peak Store/Café under Russ & Devorie Griffeths & Mary & Dan Reece. The emergency phone number rang in the Jensen residence and she would go to the store in order to dispatch and relay radio between Portal Rescue EMTs and Douglas Fire. Dispatchers also requested Douglas Fire and/or helicopter services as the EMTs were not able to do so from the scene. She also dispatched area fires contacting Arizona State Lands, Forest Service and local fire departments for assistance. She prepared meals for fire fighters during those fires. She went above and beyond on several occasions (can’t really go into detail). Joan dispatched through 2007 (approximately 30 years!!). Chuck assisted with the helicopter landing zone during Debbie’s time as an EMT and EMS Chief. He also was key in building the Portal Rescue classroom. 

Jeanne Williams 

Jeanne moved to Portal around 1983. She became a fire fighter before becoming an EMT. Jeanne was in the late 1986 class with Delane Blondeau and Debbie Bernard and certified in 1987. She served approximately 10 years as an active EMT and 14 years as a fire fighter. She remained in an advisory role for years after her retirement. She always spoke highly about Portal Rescue and actively recruited members. She and Bob were strong advocates for getting people to support Portal Rescue financially with the building funds and vehicles. Jeanne was also very persuasive when it came to recruiting new EMTs.