Board of Directors

Regular AFPD Board Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM at Station One (except December).  See the Calendar on this website for specific days.  Dates are subject to change for extenuating circumstances and will be noted on the calendar at least three days in advance.  Members of the public are welcome at all open Board Meetings.  Time is provided for public comment at the end of the meeting, but can be taken at any time during the meeting with approval by the Board.

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

November 19th, 2025

•  Call to Order

President Bill Ellis called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm, with board members Rachel Barkworth, Paul Rekow, Jim Hocker, and Mark Ingram. Also present; Board Secretary, Natalie Gould, Fire Chief Mike Cousineau, Chris Rich, Leo Touzjian, Alicia Paddock, Les Male, Rich Palestro, Teresa Hoffman, Ryan Foster, Jen Cook, Erle Collom, Rick Sullivan, and Gene Mackey.

•  Minutes from Previous Meeting

Paul Rekow made a motion to approve minutes for October 15th, 2025, seconded by Bill Ellis, motion passed.

•  Submission of Bills

Paul Rekow made a motion to pay the bills, seconded by Mark Ingram, motion passed.

• Treasurers Report

The Treasurer’s Report was given by Rachel Barkworth.

·       A motion was made to transfer $50,000 from the truck fund for upcoming bills while we wait for the CD’s to mature. After they mature, we will repay the truck fund. Motion passed unanimously.

• Chief’s Report

Incidents—21: 9 Medical, 3 Motor Vehicle Accident, 6 Fire Assist, 3 Smoke Report, 1 Fire Alarm

·        Fire Fighters

o   Jen Cook graduated from FF1 Academy, she is currently in the HazMat class.

o   Working on training schedule for 2026 and revamping the rookie training program.

o   Linda Alexander has retired. We are hoping to recruit/train a paramedic to maintain ALS services.

·        Grants

o   Safer Grant- No update

o   1B Grant- No update

·        CWPP Update

o   The committee will review all comments and meet to finalize the CWPP.

·        Miscellaneous

o   WRC State Wildfire Code: We have until March to decide on an option.

o   Long-Term Committee Meeting is looking into ways to lower our ISO in an effort to help residents with homeowner policies.

o   Department holiday party 12/14/25.

·        Stations/Land

o   Station One (Main; 14861 Hwy 7; Osmun)- Drywall is finished and the men’s bathroom is working. The generator is here and will be installed soon. We are working on putting risers on the septic tank so that we can access it to pump it out.

o   Station Two (2770 Riverside Drive; Heathermeade)- A fleet bay has been set up. Starlink now available for wifi.

o   Station Three (4 County Rd. 113 E; Meeker Park)- Nothing new

o   Station Four (7400 Hwy 7; The Heights)- Nothing new

o   Station Five (32 Bunce School Rd; McCulloch)- Nothing new

o   Land at 23 Business Route 7- Nothing new

·        Apparatus

o   5234 (Brush Truck)- No update

o   5225- The new cot will be here next week and will be scheduled for installation.

o   5222- The plow is being installed.

o   5232- No update

·        Update to board - AFPD apparatus 

o   Chief Cousineau, Rick Sullivan, Erle Collom, and Leo Touzjian presented an update on AFPD truck status.

•  Old Business

·        Truck Plan Update

o   The truck plan update was presented by Treasurer Rachel Barkworth and Chief Cousineau. They will continue to look at options and play with the numbers to present a final plan in the coming months.

• New Business

·        Mill Levy impacts after large donations.  No further investigation necessary.

·        Paul presented information regarding COLO Trust to consider when the CD’s are mature. He will continue to look into this.

·        2026 budget.  Treasurer Rachel Barkworth went over the updated 2026 budget plan that will be presented to the public for review.

•  Public Comments

·        Board Secretary Natalie Gould tendered her resignation.

• Fire Fighter Comments

·        Chris Rich commented that the 2026 budget should not be being impacted by wildland fire payments.

·        Teresa shared that she will include Starlink information in the newsletter and wanted to make sure everyone was subscribed.

• Board Member Comments

·        Acting President Bill Ellis requested that at a future meeting Mike provide an update regarding the Alpine Acres fire mitigation project.

·        Bill Ellis tendered his resignation as a board member effective after the December 11th board meeting citing personal reasons.

• Executive Session (as needed)

·        N/A

• Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 9:58 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Natalie Gould                                                                                  November 19th, 2025

Board Secretary

(minutes revised by board member Jim Hocker)

MINUTES OF REGULAR BOARD MEETING

December 11, 2025

• Call to Order

President Bill Ellis called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm, with board members Rachel Barkworth, Paul Rekow, Jim Hocker and Mark Ingram. Also present; Fire Chief Mike Cousineau, Teresa Hoffman, Ryan Foster, Gene Mackey, Rainia Derrington, Logan Derrington (Via Web), Ralph Patrick (Via Web) 

• Minutes from Previous Meeting 

Paul Rekow made a motion to approve minutes for November 19th, 2025, seconded by Bill Ellis, motion passed. 

• Additional Agenda item 

Bill Ellis brought up the question whether the discussion of adding a full time Fire Chief position should be discussed at this board meeting or tabled until the January 2026 board meeting when the new board will be installed.  

Mark Ingram motioned to have the subject tabled until the next board meeting, Jim Hocker seconded, motion passed.  

• Submission of Bills 

Paul Rekow made a motion to pay the bills, seconded by Mark Ingram, motion passed. 

• Treasurers Report 

The Treasurer’s Report on the 2025 Budget Summary was given by Rachel Barkworth. 

A motion was made to transfer $40,000 from the truck fund for upcoming bills while the board works on accessing money from the money market account. Motion passed. 

A motion was made to remove Jill Allington, Natalie Gould and Bill Ellis from the signature cards at both the Bank of Colorado and First bank and add Mark Ingram to both signature cards. Motion passed. 

A motion was made to remove the SAFER Grant and any expenditure relating to the SAFER Grant from the 2026 budget with the agreement that if a decision is made to hire a full time Fire Chief that the SAFER Grant and said expenditures can be audited back into the 2026 budget. Motion passed. 

The resolution to pass the 2026 Budget was passed unanimously by the board. 

The resolution to set the 2026 Mill Levies was passed unanimously by the board. 

The resolution to Appropriate Sums of Money was passed unanimously by the board. 

• Chief’s Report 

Incidents: Medical – 3, Motor Vehicle Accident – 1, Fire – 1, Lift Assist – 1, Powerline/Electrical issues – 3   Total 9 incidents for the month of December. 

Total of 173 for the 2025 calendar year. 

• Fire Fighters 

2026 Training Schedule has been published. 

Capt. Rich and FF Sullivan have completed all JPR’s for FF1 (Rick), Hazmat (Both) recertification 

Working on updating EMT CE’s during the weekly Wed pm trainings for EMT recertification 

Revamped Rookie Training Program and Recruitment Welcome Packets  

Waiting on a quote from Vector Solutions to be able to have all members included. 

FF Sullivan is helping to develop training strategy based on his military training background 

• Operations 

Working with LT Opperman to develop an EMT coverage calendar 

Working on a grant for Swiftwater gear so the department can form a swift water rescue team 

Working on a Bunker Gear turn-over plan so that all FF1’s have a second set of unexpired gear. 

• Grants 

1B Grant – The 1B Grant will be distributed in January 2026. This will supply the department with $54,000 for PPE, structure equipment, hoses and 20 pagers. 

SAFER Grant - The Safer Grant has been tabled by the AFPD board until 2026 

• CWPP Update 

This week we will be sending the final copy to the committee for them to approve and sign, and then we will publish it. 

•  Stations and Grounds 

Station 1: Justin has located the tank, which is 6 feet underneath the driveway. He is working on getting risers installed on the tank so we can get access to it to be able to pump it out. Justin stated that when he put the camera down the line to the tank it looked like it needed to be cleaned out. There is no update as to when he can get any of this completed; we are still on his list.  

No updates for stations 2-5 

• Apparatus/Equipment 

• 5234 Brush truck 

No update – We have equipment on the truck and it is in service. We still have things to do on it, including installing radios and buying new hose. Lights have been spec’d and we are looking at an installation date 

• 5225 Ambulance  

The new cot arrived on Tuesday, and we will be scheduling for installation. 

• Miscellaneous 

Capital Generator replacement at Station One - The generator is her. The electrician and I plan to install it next week 

WRC- State Wildfire code – No updates. 

Long-term Committee – See Mike Daleys attached timeline for a November 2026 Bond Issue 

• Upcoming Events 

Christmas party is on December 14th. It will be hosted at the Allenspark Lodge, with the “Grill Guy” catering.  

• Old Business 

Update to Truck Plan deferred to January of new board membership 

Board Secretary Position – Deadline was December 11th for applications/resume submittals 

Two applicants have applied for the position 

Approval of Tereas’s research into if AFPD can serve as the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) for mitigation activities in our district has been tabled until January 

Rachel Barkworth requested on updated wildland mitigation plan from Fire Chief 

The board voted to change the stipend that the Board Secretary and the AFPD bookkeeper will receive in 2026. The motion passed. 

• AFPD bookkeeper - $700 per month stipend 

• AFPD Board Secretary - $100 per month stipend 

• New Business 

Should the board secretary position and the bookkeeping position be split? 

Jim Hocker suggested that the bookkeeper be managed by the board treasurer and the Fire Chief and the board secretary is managed by the board.  

Chief suggested moving the board meeting to a different day and/or time of the week due to the new AFPD training schedule and potential conflicts. 

Discussion regarding a full-time paid Chief position in 2026 

• Public comments 

FF Ryan Foster asks to comment as “Public” praising the board and the FD administration for doing a great job throughout 2025. 

• Fire Fighter Comments – None 

• Board Comments 

Bill Ellis submitted and read his resignation letter to the board. In the letter he expressed his concern over the conduct between the Chief, Fire fighters and the board members and noted disrespectful dialog between the parties. He also highlighted that this behavior might be the reason we have such a hard time with retaining board members and volunteers and asks that in the future people conduct themselves in a professional manor. 

Bill Ellis mentioned that he would like to see the board figure out how to get our Wildland fire fighters that are deployed paid as soon as they get home instead of having to have for the state to send the department a check. 

Respectfully Submitted, December 11th, 2025 

Rainia K. Derrington 

Interim Board Secretary