Regular Fire Board Meeting - October 25, 2023

Agenda Item #5.B

TO:

Governing Board Members

FROM:

Marcarlo Roanhorse, Administrative Assistant

APPROVED BY:

Dewayne Woodie, Fire Chief

SUBJECT:

Update on ACT Communication Barrier

DATE:

October 24, 2023

On October 3, 2023, Ganado Fire District arranged a meeting with Apache County Treasurer Begay at Ganado Fire Station. Fire Chief Woodie and Administrative Assistant Roanhorse waited at the office until 5:30 PM with a no show from Treasurer Begay. On October 4, 2023, Administrative Assistant Marcarlo Roanhorse traveled to St. John and meet with ACT staff Candice. It was expressed that Ganado Fire District Administration and Board had concerns why GFD stopped receiving monthly report, ACH expenditure receipts, Journal Activities, and all regular communications with ACT since June 2023. Apache County Treasuer’s Office has been going though transitions of staff and has three staff, two of them only been on the job for less than three weeks. It was determined that Apache County went though a technology upgrade and loss connect to their phone line and their server had new firewalls restricting a lot of new emails. She entered Fire Chief Woodie and I’s emails to the server bypass and showed that she started receiving our emails back in August 2023. In August 2023, GFD started going through a computer, phone, and technology upgrade. It was determined that there was a new firewall proxy established and caused a lot of restrictions. GFD personnel were not given orientation on how to check the restriction and it was determined that a lot of incoming mail was being caught up in the firewall, which included the ACT. All these matters were cleared up by October 10, 2023. ACT and GFD have strong communication again. Administrative Assistant Roanhorse and ACT Senior Account Candice have been working daily to realign the ACT and GFD’s books. There are a few issues still, but it should be resolved by the end of the year.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Thank you for your patience and understanding.

LEGAL REVIEW: N/A

FINANCIAL IMPACT: N/A

SUGGESTED MOTION: I move to accept the update on ACT Communication Barrier report.