The Hill County Emergency Services District (ESD) 1 Board of Commissioners met in regular session Thursday, July 16, and reorganized the board after the recent resignation of three commissioners last month.
Bill Heffner was nominated as the new president of the board. Newly appointed commissioner Justin Schulz was nominated to fill the treasurer position and former assistant treasurer David Hesselbrock was nominated to fill the secretary position.
With the board reorganized, commissioners addressed several items that were on the agenda last month, including reviewing funding requests for volunteer fire department grants from Blum, Mertens, Lakeview and Mount Calm.
The board approved two requests for Blum—one in the amount of $1,250 for fire and rescue equipment and another in the amount of $13,250 for a brush truck grant.
Commissioners approved a loan amount to Mertens Volunteer Fire Department for $26,102. The funds will be used to cover a grant for wildland fire gear. Mertens will reimburse the ESD $25,000 when the grant check is issued to the department.
The board approved funding to Lakeview Volunteer Fire Department in the amount of $26,295. The funds will be used to cover a $25,000 grant for fire equipment that will be reimbursed to the ESD when the grant is awarded.
The Mount Calm Volunteer Fire Department was tentatively approved for $25,000 to cover a grant for fire equipment. The board voted to cover the grant match after a complete itemized list of what will be purchased is received from the department.
Commissioners requested that departments submit the number of accountability tags needed for firefighters. The purchase of the tags was approved at a previous meeting. President Heffner said that the ESD would prefer to make a one-time purchase for all departments.
The board voted to sell two of its firefighting vehicles that are out of commission. One of the units was previously approved to be used as signage for the ESD 1 facility. Board members pointed out that while the vehicle could be used as an aesthetic addition, it would also need to be maintained and add costs to the budget. With the vehicles falling short of requirements and standards, commissioners decided that both vehicles will be prepared to be sold in the near future.
The board discussed adding a technical advisory position to give commissioners a better understanding of firefighting equipment when considering purchases. The position may also include canvassing of departments to assess training needs. The board said that ideally
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