Sutter Basin Fire District Minutes 4/9/2025

Opening

The regular meeting of the Sutter Basin Fire Protection District was called to order at 1:05 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 at the Robbins Fire Department by Mark Richter.

Present

Mark Richter, Samuel Martin, Anthony Van Ruiten, Kim Richter, Matt Lichenstein, Joan Stephens, Mona Sakurada and Mike Bush were in attendance.  

Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved. Motion by Samuel Martin. Second by Anthony Van Ruiten and unanimously approved.

Public Comments

There were no comments from the public.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of March 13, 2025, meeting was approved. Motion by Anthony Van Ruiten. Second by Samuel Martin and unanimously approved.

Fire Chief Report 

Robbins Interim Fire Chief, Matt Lichenstein, gave the Fire Chief Report.  During the month of March of 2025 there were six answered calls.  There are still four active, part-time firefighters, and eight active, volunteer firefighters.  However, there are two new volunteer firefighters.  Ricky Bravo will be returning as a Robbins Firefighter, and Esmeralda Rankin, a CPR trainer and EMT certified firefighter, will become a Robbins Volunteer Firefighter. 

Regrettably, Sutter Basin Fire Protection District is not eligible for the Fire House Grant at this time. Yet, the CAL FIRE matching grant is available and runs from May through July.  Interim Fire Chief Lichenstein will be asking for the new turnouts and hose clamps to be covered by the CAL FIRE grant which covers 50% of those items costs.

Matt Lichenstein spoke about the equipment concerns and needs of the Sutter Basin Fire Protection District. Engine E48’s bumper has been fixed and replaced.  Additionally, a new pump will be installed in Engine 640. 

There will be four upcoming training courses offered by Interim Fire Chief Lichenstein. The Wild Land Fire Training was attended by all volunteer firefighters. 

Old Business

Status of Volunteers was provided by Interim Chief Lichenstein.  As stated earlier, Ricky Bravo and Esmeralda Rankin will be joining the Robbins Volunteer Firefighters.

Status of the Paid Firefighters were discussed.  There are presently four active paid firefighters.

Tax Assessment with SCI was discussed.  After the discussion, Anthony Van Ruiten made a motion to tell SCI to go forward with the Tax Assessment. The motion by Anthony Van Ruiten was second by Samuel Martin and unanimously approved.

Lot Line Adjustment was briefly discussed.  The matter is moving forward.

Outsourcing Payroll was discussed.  Kim Richter has asked that outsourcing payroll be placed on hold.

Structural Estimate for Fire House repairs were updated.  Corey is actively making repairs while waiting for the window order.

Fire Chief Position was briefly discussed.  The Commissioners will be going into Closed Session to discuss the Fire Chief position after the meeting adjourns.

New Business

Five Year Plan was placed on hold until the new Fire Chief can provide input.

Fee Schedule for Compensation was presented by Interim Fire Chief Lichenstein.  Lichenstein will create a fee schedule for incident reports or faulty responses for reimbursement.  Fees to be charged will be for DUIs and negligence.  Additional determination will be on resident versus non-resident incidents.

Audit information was shared by Kim Richter.  Smith and Newell will be handling the audit of the Sutter Basin Fire Protection District.  The Accounting Firm has asked to be notified after April 15^th to schedule an audit.

Equipment Manager update was given by Mike Bush.  Mike Bush inspected the tires on all SBFPD vehicles.  After the inspection, Bush determined that six tires need to be replaced.  A motion to replace all six tires was made by Anthony Van Ruiten.  Samuel Martin second the motion and it passed unanimously.

Correspondence to report was the donation letters that were falsely sent to residents. 

Approval of monthly bills was discussed. At present there is a balance of $391,930.49 in the Sutter County Treasury, and $54,352.87 in the First Northern Bank account.  All bills were approved, a claim for $16,077.70 to restore the First Northern Bank account was approved by Commissioners and signed. In addition, all invoices and timecards were reviewed by Commissioners, and payable checks were signed by the Commissioners.

Agenda for Next Meeting

There were no agenda items mentioned for the May meeting.

Closed Session

The Commissioners adjourned into closed session.

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 2:17 p.m. by Mark Richter. Motion by Samuel Martin. Second by Anthony Van Ruiten and unanimously approved.

Minutes submitted by:	Kimberly Richter
Approved by:	Mark Richter