McCormick Fire District struggling to move ahead

A small fire district northwest of Troy near the Idaho line is struggling to move forward in the face of a potential recall of three of its board members.

The McCormick Fire District held its monthly meeting on Thursday, Oct. 27, and some 20 people attended.

Fire District board chairman John Driebusch said the board hired Bradley Evans Consulting of Troy to audit its general fund dating back to 2009. (Former board member Kathy Humberg has alleged that some $19,000 in receipts or documentation has gone missing from the McCormick Fire District over the past five-six years.) Driesbusch said that the audit revealed some discrepancies related to web payments that had been made dating back to February 2014.

Angie Huisentruit, a employee of Bradley Evans Consulting, said she found a total difference of $877 between the “register” and bank account. She said that $761 was attributed to payments to Northern Lights Electric Cooperative.

Huisentruit called the discrepancies “pretty minor. Nothing seemed to be out of line,” she said, noting that she had checked over a seven-year period.

In a statement that he read at the meeting, Driebusch said four utility payments totaling $752 had been made online to the private account of board treasurer Linda Lundin. Lundin deposited a total of $752 into the fire district bank account in August and October to make up for the discrepancies, Driebusch said.

He said that he and Lundin talked with a Northern Lights representative on Oct. 18 to try to find out how the “web payment errors” occurred. “Northern Lights has changed their online payment methods more than once in the last 2½ years so there was not any way to tell exactly how this happened,” he said.

“I did not deliberately try to make payments on my own account,” Lundin said at the meeting.

Driebusch said he emailed County Attorney Bernie Cassidy twice in August to ask for advice about the situation, but never heard back.

Humberg, who was defeated when she ran for re-election in May, has begun the process of attempting to recall Driebusch, interim fire chief Trevor Pelling and Lundin from the board. Lincoln County elections official Leigh Riggleman said the petitions were filed Sept. 21 and that they have to be returned by Dec. 21 with at least 33 valid signatures of registered voters. Driebusch, Lundin and Pelling will have the opportunity to submit a 200-word rebuttal or resign, Riggleman said. If they are recalled, the county commissioners can appoint replacements or call a special election, she said.

During last week’s meeting, board members and fire department officials detailed several items they are working on to try to move the department forward.

Driebusch said he is looking into getting a $10,000 loan at an interest rate of 1-3 percent so that the department can insulate an unfinished bay at its fire hall next to McCormick School. The project involves installing insulation and sheetrock on the walls and ceiling so that an engine can be housed inside during winter months.

He also said the district needs to ask for a mill levy increase so that it can bring in more equipment and lower its ISO rating, which currently is 8.5. (The insurance office ratings range from the best, 1, to the worst, 10.)

Mike Conte, a former fire chief who returned to help the department four months ago, said the fire department currently has 3,950 gallons of water on hand at its McCormick and Pine Creek stations, but needs another 50 to qualify for an improved ISO rating.

“We’ve gotta locate another structure engine, and we need more manpower,” he said, adding that these are the two biggest things the fire department can do to lower its ISO rating.

The department currently has seven firefighters after five quit following May’s election.

“We use every nickel we have to maintain what we have and buy what we need,” he said.

Driebusch said that fire department officials have noticed some things missing during inventory, including CB radios, which the department will try to track down via GPS.

Pelling, the interim fire chief, said recently that he’s retired but is trying to rebuild the fire department.

On Thursday, Lundin said the department recently received a donation of $25.88 from a jar at the Stateline Bar.

Driebusch said the district, which was formed in 1979, gets $15,000 annually from the county. It recently purchased a 1983 fire engine from the Fisher River Volunteer Fire Company for $5,000, adding that it is worth more than that. “They were going to sell it for $12,000,” he said.

The fire board’s next meeting is Dec. 1.

Caleb M. Soptelean can be reached at 293-4124 or by email at csoptelean@thewesternnews.com.