Golden Gate Fire Board motions fail
John Scarffe
Golden Gate Canyon
All motions failed before the Golden Gate Fire Protection District Board during a regular meeting on January 23, 2024, at 7 p.m. at the Grange, 25231 Golden Gate Canyon Rd,...
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GOLDEN GATE CANYON - All motions failed before the Golden Gate Fire Protection District Board during a regular meeting on January 23, 2025.
Board members present were Deb Curlee, President; Marith Reheis, Secretary; Steve Green, and Dave Primmer. Niffy Ovuworie, Vice-President and Treasurer, attended online.
Green wanted to add to the agenda discussion the election and discrepancies. Green and Primmer voted not to approve the December 5, 2024, minutes, while Curlee and Reheis voted yes. Since it was a tie vote, it did not pass.
Regarding the January 20, 2025, meeting minutes, Green asked why did there was a special meeting. Curlee said that Ovuworie realized he would have a problem attending the meeting on the 23rd, and he called the special meeting.
Green said it was not advertised. Curlee noted that an announcement was on the front page of the website. Two people signed in to attend the meeting at 2 p.m. and no one else was there.
Because of the miscommunication, they changed the meeting time to 7 p.m. At 5 p.m. the front page on the website was changed.
Green and Primmer voted no on the motion to approve the January 20 minutes, with Curlee and Reheis voting yes. The tie vote did not pass.
Under Old Business, Primmer moved to approve a resolution to appoint Primmer as Sergeant at Arms, and it was seconded. Other members of the Board said the resolution does not define what he will be doing; which would therefore need to be in the bylaws. The motion did not pass.
Green introduced a resolution for censure of Ovuworie and Curlee. According to the resolution, “The Board of Directors of the District has determined that Board Member Nifogale [sic] Ovuworie has violated Colorado State Statutes and the District By-Laws Oath of Office by his conduct at the Board Meeting on Thursday, October 24th, 2024 as follows:
“At the October 2024 board meeting audio time 1:13:04, Board Member Niffy Ovuworie stated he did not need permission to go on Green’s agricultural and fenced property which is posted ‘No Trespassing.’ Ovuworie made this statement knowingly and without permission or consent of the property owner and attempted to organize other board members to trespass with him onto Green’s property.
“Green specifically told Ovuworie to stay off his property.
“Deb Curlee at audio time 1:16:48 made the false implication in a public statement that Green had also trespassed but supplied no evidence of when or where. At the October 2024 board meeting Nifogale Ovuworie minute 1:13:04 of the audio recording falsely accused board members Dave Primmer and Steve Green of trying to defraud the fire district of $20,000.
“This fraudulent and unsubstantiated claim by Ovuworie was made in relation to ongoing discussions of fixing the drainage on Green’s property behind Station #3. These actions as well as fraudulent statements and false accusations by Deb Curlee and Nifogale Ovuworie are a violation of: District By-Laws.”
At the January 23 Board meeting, Green said “The Board has been playing the censure game for two years. Now this is back at you.” The motion for censure did not pass.
Primmer moved to require itemized transactions, including credit card and bank statements, be presented at Board meetings. He has been in contact with Jeffery Roberts, and the Board should be able to receive transactions.
Ovuworie said this has already been discussed and voted down once. Curlee added that “we have discussed this numerous times. Credit card statements are not part of Board report.”
Green said that this matter won’t go away. “You’re hiding stuff.”
Regarding elections, Green said that three members on this board spent $7,000 on mailing ballots. Before, ballots were sent to the wrong address. Problems do not exist with a polling place.
Reheis said it would not save $7,000 to have a polling place. They still have to go through voter lists to determine who wishes to receive absentee ballots, and anyone who wants to have a ballot can have one.
Chief Kyle Benson reported that, earlier in January, Jeffcom underwent a restructuring that now affords the northwest area departments to have their own area manager and point of contact. This should help simplify our non-emergency communications with Jeffcom, as well as help with district specific needs.
The Arvada Fire-Fairmount Fire merger was completed on January 1, Benson reported. Arvada Fire is officially our new neighbor to the northeast. Additionally, Arvada is now providing their own ambulance transport to this area. Medic/Ambulance 23 has been moved to a daytime post at Golden FD station 24.
The website update project is nearing its final stages of completion. “We expect to transition fully to the new state website sometime in the next 60 days,” Benson said.
The GGFPD annual award dinner was on January 11 and was a great success. A big thank you to the auxiliary for making such a special night happen!
The end of 2024 saw a significant pickup in call volume and severity. The District ended 2024 with 110 calls for the year.
January 1 saw the final switch over from Emergency Reporting to ESO Suite for operational reporting and departmental management. GGFPD is now using ESO suite for all Fire Reporting, EMS reporting, asset management, personnel management, truck checks, training management, and shift scheduling.
Benson said the purchase of our first UTV from Peak Honda World has been completed and the initial outfit of the vehicle was completed as of January 17. He continued, saying the auxiliary has graciously approved the funding for the purchase and upfitting of a second matching UTV.
As a part of the UTV project, the station lieutenants have identified the need for additional storage space at stations 81 and 82. Staff are currently investigating the purchase or rent of two 20-ft containers, one for each station, to function as designated UTV garage spaces and also to provide additional storage for durable equipment such as tools and hose.
The 2025 CWPP update is on schedule, and we are seeing solid engagement from all stakeholders. The team at The Ember Alliance presented preliminary fire behavior modeling data and began working on evacuation modeling in January. The preliminary modeling and mapping processes have already exposed significant deficits in the 2011 CWPP and have re-affirmed the importance of this process for all involved.
A community meeting in April will begin to create future plans. There has been interest in a volunteer mitigation division, which has been set up in neighboring communities such as Coal Creek, Nederland, and Gilpin County.
“It is a great idea, and we will support them,” Benson said.
The next regular board meeting will be on February 27, at 7 p.m. at the Grange, 25231 Golden Gate Canyon Road, Golden CO, 80403.