Recap: April Pleasant View Board Meeting
Orchard Park bathrooms, firefighter training, fire inspections, and more!
The Pleasant View Board held its regular monthly board meeting at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18. Hopefully this recap is a helpful way for our community to stay informed!
Reminder that I’m not an employee or on the board, but I am running for the board. If you have feedback or questions, reach out at lauraforpleasantview@gmail.com.
The Short Version
Election Day is May 6! You need to vote in-person between 7 am - 7 pm at the district building at 955 Moss Street.
Orchard Park is one step closer to having bathrooms!
Camp George West updates are uncertain as the GLO Park project stalls out.
Firefighters are hard at work getting additional training to best serve our community
The board asked the fire chief to do a needs assessment and prioritize which apparatus and equipment need to be prioritized for replacement.
The fire department has entered an inter-governmental agreement with Golden Fire to handle fire inspections for Pleasant View
The Long Version
Pleasant View District General Updates
The election for board of directors is May 6! You have to vote in person unless you specifically request an absentee ballot. Voting hours are 7 am - 7 pm at the district building at 955 Moss Street (same building as the fire station).
If you want to request an absentee ballot, you can find more information here on my campaign website:
https://www.lauraforpleasantview.com/voting-by-mail
During the public comment section, I asked the board about the fishing derby and other community events. The board responded that the fishing derby was put on by the Pleasant View Lions Club, not the district, and unfortunately had to be discontinued when the pond dried up in Westblade Park.
The board also said that other community events were always sponsored and/or run by private companies or organizations. They didn’t have any current plans for more community events, but said they appreciated the reminder that members of the community are interested in them.
Pleasant View Park Updates
Orchard Park bathrooms are one step closer to being available!! Repairs have been done and the water is currently being tested. New steel doors have been installed and the district just needs to figure out how to give access to people who rent the pavilions. New tennis, basketball, and volleyball nets have also been ordered for Orchard Park!
The fate of the GLO Park at Camp George West is uncertain. Signs have been taken down promoting the park and no public meetings have been held recently. I asked the county what happens if the park is never built since part of the land swap deal was a $3.5 million inter-governmental agreement (IGA) between Pleasant View and Jefferson County. The IGA was supposed to pay for upgrades Camp George West in exchange for Jefferson County trading a portion of the park land for the GLO Park. For now, the project is stalled out.
Wolf Park is getting LED lights installed and new pavilions and sidewalk repairs.
Pleasant View Fire Department Update
Engineer Gregg Geiss recently graduated from the Oklahoma Smoke Diver Training, an incredibly difficult and prestigious qualification. Smoke Divers are the best of the best, and very few people make it through the training. Pleasant View is lucky to have someone as hard-working and dedicated as Gregg, who was also the oldest person to complete smoke diver training!
All Pleasant View firefighters are currently completing rope rescue training with Golden Fire, in addition to getting their wildland firefighting certifications. On top of that, Firefighter Gray Gardner recently become certified as a driver/operator; Engineer Aaron Genders achieved his driver/operator/pumper/aerial certification; and Lieutenant Dan Davis is now a certified live fire instructor! Congratulations and thanks for your hard work to keep our community safe!
The board also asked Chief Malmgren to do a needs assessment of the fire department’s apparatuses (trucks, engines, etc). The chief has talked about the need for a new fire truck before, but the department also has a very old brush truck (for fighting wildfire) and SCBAs (the air tanks and respirators that allow firefighters to breath in a fire).
The board asked Chief Malmgren to work with the staff at Pleasant View as well as Golden to determine priorities for replacing equipment based on what Golden has and what Pleasant View most needs. Pleasant View and Golden are two separate departments, but respond to 911 calls as one department to improve response times and increase the resources available to every emergency.
Thanks to Training Captain Oran Tool’s work, the department was awarded a $13,000 grant for wildfire protective gear and equipment for firefighters. The department also received a $6,300 grant for additional PPE, which paid for fire-proof boots and fire helmets.
Pleasant View has also entered an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) with Golden Fire to cover fire inspections for new buildings in the district. Employing a fire inspector in Pleasant View would cost the district at least $60,000-$80,000 annually. Instead, Golden will charge Pleasant View a $10,000 fee. Pleasant View will also work on a pre-planning system for large buildings in the district to best prepare for challenging responses.
Next Pleasant View Board Meeting
The next Pleasant View Board meeting is on May 15 at 4 p.m. Join me at the meeting if you’d like to learn more about our community!
Questions? Comments? Feedback?
I love hearing from you! Reach out at lauraforpleasantview@gmail.com or 720-675-8093 (call or text).