Board of Directors

The Allenspark Fire Protection District is seeking a community-minded individual to serve on its Board of Directors.

Position: Board Director

Term Length: Until next regular election May 2027.

Eligibility: Any eligible elector residing within the district boundaries may apply.

Responsibilities include:

• Help guide district policy and budget decisions.

• Support fire protection and emergency service initiatives.

• Attend regular board meetings and special sessions as needed.

Accounting skills would be beneficial as a new Board Treasurer will be elected to work with the staff bookkeeper.

Interested parties should send an email to BoardSec@allensparkfire.com.

Concerns, Complaints, Compliments

Volunteers should feel free to express any concerns or complaints they may have to the Board by writing or emailing directly to the Board President.  Such communication will be held in confidence.  

Also, it is important that  volunteers follow the Standard Operating Procedures for Grievances before contacting the Board.

If you would like a copy of any open documentation, costs are $33.58 per hour after the first hour of research and retrieval of our public records, plus $.25 per page for printed material.   §24-72-205(6)(a)(b), C.R.S 

Requests for open documentation can be sent to BoardSec@allensparkfire.com.

Meeting minutes are preliminary. They will be reviewed and either changed or approved by the Board at the next meeting.

MINUTES OF REGULAR BOARD MEETING

May 20th, 2026  

Call to Order -  16:00

Mark Ingram (P), Paul Rekow (VP), Mike Cousineau (Chief), Leo Touzjian (Assistant Chief), Rachel Barkworth (Treasurer), Rainia Derrington - (Secretary), Jen Cook (Accountant), Board Members: Jim Hocker, Ilse Gayl. 

Public: Logan Derrington, Alysha Paddock, Bill Ellis, Phil Stern, Ryan Foster, Teresa Hoffman, Erle Collom, Les Male

Agenda:

•  Approved

Minutes from Previous Meeting:

• Approved - with additions

Submission of Bills  

• Approved

Treasurers Report 

• Rachel Barkworth supplied the Treasures Report to the board.

• Paul Rekow asked that in the future the Interest Column is broken down by account,

 Chief’s Report:

• Incidents: Medical – 7, Motor Vehicle Accidents - 4, Smoke/Campfire - 2, Cancelled Enroute - 1,Stand By/Assist - 1. Total 4/15/26 thru 5/20/26 = 15, 56 for 2026 

Operations: 

• Chris Rich stepped down as Captain. Need to divide/delegate his tasks.

• The department needs to purchase remaining wildland gear for 1B Grant

• We are looking to restructure some roles, potentially adding area specialists (wildland, tech rescue, EMS) in the hopes of developing a more intentional leadership progression.

• Potentially reclassify membership to Active, Reserve, and Auxiliary

Training:

• Rick Sullivan just completed his CPR instructor certification

• BC Beightol earned 1403- Live Fire Training Certificate

• Rookie program complete (5 new members will be probationary until task book is complete)

• Wildland pumping training last week

• Structure pumping scenario last weekend

• Swiftwater rescue training next Wednesday

Grants: 

• Safer Grant –  No Updates 

• 1B Grant - Working on getting gear into service

• Fire Fighter Safety & Disease Prevention Grant (FFSDP) - Did Not Receive

• Volunteer Firefighter Assistance Grant (VFA) - Submitted a grant on April 2 for: Ground Monitor, SuperVac Fan, Tempest Fire Rescue Chainsaw, QTAC 40S tanker for UTV.

Updates: 

• (IGAs) Intergovernmental Agreements and Auto/Mutual Aid Agreements - The Chiefs met with the new operations chief of Estes Park and surrounding departments to discuss improving our relationships and updating our response plans for mutual aid.

• Estes Park Power just wanted to update and remind you that Estes got an almost $1 million infrastructural and wildfire mitigation grant to install new poles and tree wire. They have replaced everything from there to around Ski Rd. so far, and this summer they’re going to be continuing to make their way toward Estes.This improvement will eliminate most of those issues, and the power up here will be more reliable.

• DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) license: Erle and Teresa submitted the application and it was approved. Now we can order our department medications ourselves. With Estes Park Health changing ownership we no longer had a way to order the ALS medications needed. This pushed us to get our own license, so we can continue providing our community ALS services.

Stations and Grounds:

• Station 1 - Waiting for payment on the new security door, once this is done we will schedule it for installation.

• Station 2 thru 5 - No Updates

Apparatus/Equipment:

• No Updates

Upcoming Events:

• Open House – June 6th, 11-2 

• Community Event First Aid: Thursday, May 21, 2026 6-7 PM

• Allenspark Fire Mitigation Volunteer Day  - July 11th

Old Business: 

• Mill Levey Resolution -Passed

• ColoTrust Resolution - Passed

• Wildland account through Bank of Colorado

• Cell Tower Presentation - Tabled to after November election

New Business:

• Insurance Broker Presentation - AJ Gallaher

The board reviewed the different policies for AFPD. It was requested that Deb Barrow (Insurance agent) send the board a spreadsheet with a breakdown of all of the policies, the exclusions to the policies and a breakdown of the policy liabilities. Mike, Teri, Rachel and Mark will have a meeting to review all of the policy information.

• Debit cards vs Credit cards - Rachel Barkworth motions to switch from using Bank of Colorado debit cards to Bank of Colorado Credit cards for all members of the department that use the current debit cards. Ilse Gayl seconds the motion - Motion Passed

• Mill Levy Committee - Mike Daley in the Chair of this committee. First meeting has been held and two more meetings are scheduled for June

• Mill Levy Increase Position Statement DRAFT - The board has decided to hold a Special Meeting to discuss the Mill Levy Increase Position Statement and decide who much to raise the Mill Levy. Rachel Barkworth has asked to have more information about ALS Service the AFPD provides.

• Fire Fighter deployment pay timeline - Rachel Motions to Change policy currently in place to pay Fire Fighters the full amount of owed amount for deployments within two weeks of returning home without board approval. Jim Hocker Seconds the motion - Motion Passed

• “Action Items” added to Agenda - Tabled to June

• Fire Fighter Comments and Public Comments moved to the the top of the agenda - Tabled to June

• Rachel wants 5229 sold ASAP - Tabled to June

• Discussion on Timing for Bookkeeping and accounting timeline - Tabled to June

Public comments: 

• Bill Ellis - Mill Levy Committee mentioned concern of the public's response to the Fire Chief's salary proposal and that the committee needs to see more transparency where the cost of maintenance is concerned. 

• Phil Stern commented that he feels that if the fire department is running the way it should that we should be shrinking the budget not raising it. 

Fire Fighter Comments:

• Rick Sullivan - The community has a vague view of what the Fire Department does. We need to sell the Mill Levy to the public and talk about improving outcomes.

• Rainia Derrington - The Mill Levy is important to the make sure that the department can continue to grow. More and more people are moving into the APFD district that are living here full time, we need to be able to keep up with that demand.

• Logan and Rainia Derrington - The AFPD needs to retain 5229 as a resource for the FF and EMT’s when they have training

• Teresa Hoffman - She wants the Mill Levy Committee to think about what the department loses if we do not receive the Mill Levy Increase.

• Jen Cook - Feels that the Mill Levy suggested increase be doubled, we shouldn't be low balling that Mill Levy amount. The Mill Levy Committee needs to defend the department needs and the community needs.

Board Member Comments: 

• Mark Ingram
  agrees with Jen Cook about the Mill Levy increase and suggests a Special Meeting to discuss the Mill Levy Position Statement.

• Jim Hocker states that the current work the Long Term Committee has done seems to be wasted time and effort and feels the Current Mill Levy Draft should move forward with the work that has been done and a Special Meeting is not necessary. 

• Ilse Gayl states that the Long Term Committee’s work is not wasted, she just feels that all the board members are on the same page. Isle also asks for the board secretary to inform the counties that we will be adding a Mill levy Increase to the November Ballot 

• Paul Rekow mentioned the time line that Mike Daley put together to make sure the Mill Levy gets put on the November Ballot.

• Mark Ingram
  motions to have a special board meeting to address Mill Levy Increase and content. Isle seconded motion - Motion Passed

• Ilsle would like to invite “Friends of Allenspark” to join special meeting

Meeting was adjourned at 20:24

Respectfully Submitted,

May 25,  2026

Rainia K. Derrington  - AFPD Board Secretary