DRAFT Minutes - Northwestern Special Service District Meeting December 16, 2025
Notice Type(s)
Meeting
Event Start Date & Time
December 16, 2025 06:30 PM
Event End Date & Time
December 16, 2025 08:32 PM
Description/Agenda
DRAFT MINUTES FROM REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING
Northwestern Special Service District
Central Fire Station - 155 E Center St, Central, UT 84722
December 16, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Attendance:
Board Members & Staff Present:
- Mike Johnson, Chair - Veyo
- Mark Cain, Vice Chair - Central
- Slade Hughes, Public Affairs Officer - Veyo (Arrived at 6:48 PM)
- Rosemary D'Amato, Treasurer - Central
- Paula Guthrie - NWSSD Clerk (Via Audio Link)
- District Chief Guthrie
- Veyo Chief Larsen
- Central Chief Flores
Absent: Scott Holt - Gunlock
General Public: Five members of the general public were in attendance.
Agenda
1. Call to Order - M. Johnson
2. Pledge of Allegiance - Chief Flores
3. Invocation - Chief Larsen
4. Approval of Consent Agenda - The consent agenda is a means of expediting routine matters that come before the Board for approval. The consent portion of the agenda is approved by one non-debatable motion. If any Board Member wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda, that item becomes the first order on the Regular Agenda - Minutes of the November 11, 2025 Board Meeting were approved 3-0
5. Monthly Accounting - The district's billing database is outdated due to a lack of timely notifications from the county about property changes, which could lead to incorrect billing and lost revenue.
- District staff will work with WASHCO County staff to continue to update district property owner names and addresses from will-serve requests and Certificates of Occupancy.
- Request Pelorus to issue IRS Form 1099's to appropriate individuals that received pass-through payments for local 2025 wildfire deployments.
6. Consideration of 2025 Budget Amendment - Chief Guthrie reviewed budget changes for 2025 that will be reported to the Utah State Auditor. The Board approved a Resolution approving the changes. Approved 4-0
7. Consideration of 2026 Draft Budget - Chief Guthrie reviewed the proposed budget for 2026. The Board approved the presentation of the proposed budget at the January 15, 2026 Public Hearing and regular board meeting. Approved 4-0
8. Water Tender update - The District completed its purchase of a 2023 International 2000- gallon water tender in pristine condition. Cost: $38,640 paid in full
9. Central Fire Station Medical Response Vehicle update - The District is awaiting final certification of its new 2024 Ford Explorer AWD medical rescue vehicle after several medications, radio control head, and console lock box have been received.
10. Update on purchase of additional radios - Four Harris portable radios were received, programmed and distributed to Veyo and Central Fire Departments. We are awaiting delivery of 3 more portables and the mobile control head for Rescue 171. They are already paid for.
11. Veyo office server training update - Director Johnson has created access portals for authorized personnel. Training will commence in the new year.
12. Station Chief's Reports:
Chief Flores, Central Fire Department -
- Report given on the successful Central Chipfest; considering holding the event twice yearly.
- The CFD/Enterprise wildland fire crew worked 146 man-hours on fuel mitigation in Central this year!
- Three new volunteers joined the department, one having Firefighter 1/2 and Paramedic certifications.
Chief Larsen, Veyo Fire Department - Mostly medical calls in Veyo this month
District Chief Guthrie; District report, Gunlock & Brookside Fire Departments -
- Gold Cross has started posting a backup ambulance unit at the Ledges to provide coverage when the Veyo ambulance is on a transport.
- The next SR-18 Chiefs Association meeting is in January, 2026.
- Will investigate the status of the Knox key box for the new Central church building.
- Suggested formation of a District fire department Auxiliary.
- Brookside station is understaffed and its Captain lives in St. George. We will start looking in 2026 to build Brookside Fire Department back up.
13. Directors Comments:
- Director Holt, Gunlock - Absent
- Director Hughes, Veyo - No additional comments
- Director D'Amato, Central - Expressed gratitude for the work that the chiefs and staff performed this year.
- Director Cain, Central - Concern was expressed regarding the ongoing issues with certain mutual-aid fire agencies (SR-18) self-dispatching to district calls and going so far as canceling our response, while not on even on-scene, and in some cases, while their command was in St. George. While the Board hoped that the formation of the SR-18 Chiefs Association would be the vehicle to eliminate this situation, recent events demonstrate that the issue is possibly worse than the past. Director Cain suggests that it may be time for Board intervention, should a solution not be found at the next chiefs meeting. A consensus among board members and chiefs present was affirmed.
- Chairman Johnson, Veyo - No additional comments
- Clerk Guthrie, Gunlock - No additional comments
14. Final Public Comments - A suggestion was made to consider having a toy drive next Christmas season. Refer to Audio file for further details
Adjournment at 8:32 PM- Have a Blessed Christmas Holiday!
REMINDER: The Regular Meeting of the NWSSD Board of Directors & Public Hearing on the 2026 Budget has been moved to Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 6:30 PM in Central, UT.
Notice of Special Accommodations (ADA)
The NWSSD will make every effort to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled members of the public to access meetings. Please call Chairman Johnson (435) 619-4495 or Chief Guthrie (435) 680-0401 if you have any special needs.
Notice of Electronic or Telephone Participation
NA
Other Information
The Northwest Fire & Rescue website URL is: www.nwssd.utah.gov
NOTE: We are currently running in a test environment. The website will go live on New Years Eve 12/31/2025 at 11:59:59 PM
Happy Holidays!