2009 Buying Team Leader’s Meeting



|2009 Nat’l Buying Team Leader Meeting |April 14-16, 2009 |

| |San Antonio, TX |

| |Riverwalk Holiday Inn |

|Meeting called by: |Ron Schilz |Type of meeting: |National Buying Team Leader annual meeting |

|Facilitator: |Ron Schilz |Note taker: |Cindi Boukidis |

|Attendees: | |

|Ron Schilz (WO-AQM, National Buying Team Coordinator), Debby Wesselius (BT coordinator & BT alt leader Northern Rockies), Brad Bauer (Rocky Basin), |

|Janet Paul (Northwest Team 1), Tamie Thompson (Eastern Area), Maurica Owen (Northwest Team 2), Deb Strickland (Deputy leader, Alaska), Pat Dearing |

|(Southwest Team 2), Mark Hostetler (Alt. member, Southwest 1), Denise Storms (California Team 2), Judy Reddin (California Team 1) |

|Notes: |

| |

|Agenda item: |Welcome and Introductions |Presenter and |Ron Schilz |

| | |Date: |April 14 |

|Discussion: | |

|Concern that each buying team doing processes different, which will make it difficult on home units and transition of teams when multiple teams are |

|assigned. Hoping to define and agree on processes this week. |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Round Table, 2008 Assignments |Presenter and |All |

| | |Date: |April 14 |

|Discussion: |Every leader reviewed assignments and issues during these assignments. |

| | |

| |Debby Wesselius, CA and Texas assignment, issues with meals, recording issues when multiple teams are assigned. Shasta Trinity|

| |Audit, got to hear the person that did this (Kathy) concern of the forest changing the original make up of documents. |

| | |

| |Ron Schilz; went to CA and put together an adhoc team – Redding was a very busy assignment – only had 1 warranted person with |

| |him so he had to do a lot of the purchases over $3K although the team worked well together. Seems every team went to Redding,|

| |CA – was asked to buy bugles and stars which he did not do; turned it over to the IBA. Also went to Oregon. The type 2 team |

| |that was assigned had a BT on pre-order. The Forest AO did not know BT was coming; really did not need a BT for that fire |

| |alone. Stayed and worked because of a large type 3 incident also going on. Teams demobing and then being told they need a |

| |LUA (after the fact), on a concession operated campground and per the contract had to reimburse the concessionaire for use of |

| |sites. |

| | |

| |Denise Storms – Tahoe NF, on American River Complex for 45 days, had a PUL so that was helpful. Went to Redding. Same issues|

| |with the BT log. |

| |Mark Hostetler, EERA for incident only is a problem, used to be able to write for the entire contract period, incident only is|

| |inefficient. Suggests that EERA expiration date be in the winter not beginning of the summer. Linda (as reported by Pat |

| |Dearing) did go to Redding and it was overwhelming to keep up, but had a lot of local support to supplement the team. Had |

| |some difficulties with using the subtotal feature of the spreadsheet. Appears that when each new team comes in to support, BT|

| |ends up buying same items over and over. |

| | |

| |Pat Dearing, when you are the 5th or 6th team on the same fire it is difficult. Pat’s team did 4 assignments, 1 NM BIA fire 6|

| |days, real slow, good refresher. Then to CA on the Plumas NF, good assignment only had 5 people, challenge to find motel |

| |rooms in small community, used local college. 1 CA Six Rivers NF, challenges when camps were closing and equipment needing to|

| |be returned with no record of what was rented and having this equipment on the fire, two BT’s supporting 1 camp was a |

| |challenge. Went to Texas for Hurricane Ike, challenge for what to take when you are the first team and the hurricane has just|

| |occurred, motels – need cash because credit cards don’t work and no food to eat due to lack of electricity, look for airport |

| |motels because they usually have back up electricity, workload was not tremendous because FEMA normally gets the big stuff |

| |like water and Gatorade and they had equipment like generators staged, minimal equipment. Need to be prepared for the |

| |conditions when you are going to respond to a hurricane (i.e. flashlight, cash, food). Had to do a lot of internet orders due|

| |to businesses being closed, orders were being routed to a UPS station that was closed so orders were being held up for about |

| |4-5 days – FEDEX was delivering anyway so keep that in mind – might want to check with UPS or FEDEX to see who is delivering |

| |before you place your order. |

| | |

| |Deb Strickland, Alaska team went to Texas on hurricane assignment. One team to support the state of Texas (not connected to a|

| |local forest). Had to get laptops set up to wireless, adjusting to the state of Texas regulations could have used a few more |

| |BT members. Used spreadsheet, and followed the prior teams log and filing procedures, did an EERA for incident only – but did|

| |it through end of September because incident only EERA would not meet the needs, LUA’s – did not have base camps had folks in |

| |motels due to inability to sleep on the ground, did a few airport LUA’s. Did most of the negotiating on phone due to the long|

| |distances from ICP to camp. Had meal agreements set up and motel agreements set up to feed and lodge firefighters – changing |

| |charge card #’s for each motel and restaurant every two weeks is difficult for all the vendors when you have to lodge and feed|

| |all incident personnel – need a better way to track and pay this. Did most orders on phone, except for the businesses that |

| |required you to be there in person, so more check writing was done because you could not easily drive to all businesses due to|

| |the location being so far away when you are covering the whole state. Issue with having to pay for rooms being held that did |

| |not get used due to crews moving constantly, then FEMA took over some responsibility and had to try to adjust credit cards, |

| |some motels were charging each day separate for each room which was a disaster to reconcile. Texas does not allow government |

| |to pay tips, so they had to have the restaurants add a service fee on the bill, where as the FS allows payment of tips. |

| |Paying for motels and meals takes a high $ level CO due to high cost. Got an authorization from the State of Texas to allow |

| |for the need to pay for motel rooms where folks did not show due to being moved to follow the storm and could not cancel rooms|

| |not used. It took months to reconcile all the charges. Sometimes it’s best to keep large items (trash, phones) on the first |

| |teams card because to is too difficult to change every two weeks. Team was also staged in Arkansas for a hurricane but |

| |nothing happened – only a 5 day assignment. |

| |Maurica Owen, 4 assignments; 2 in CA, 2 in Oregon. Six Rivers assignment we got held in Redding for several days staging, |

| |then started supporting the Lassen NF but it was not real busy, supported the POD (rental vehicle operation out of Redding) |

| |spent 3 weeks in Redding, 2nd assignment in Yreka was very busy; spent two weeks there. 2 in Roseburg, Oregon 21 days and 14|

| |days; pretty busy on both Oregon assignments. Expanded in Roseburg did not seem to understand the ordering procedure for |

| |dispatch priority list, expanded is AD’s and they were not well informed so BT had to do some education which is awkward. Hard|

| |to clean up what has been ordered (i.e. phones, dumpsters, etc) by dispatch or district folks prior to BT arriving. |

| | |

| |Tamie Thompson; 3 assignments, 1st Iowa (FEMA flood) only needed small team wanted us to mentor FEMA – it was a problem |

| |because they ended up training two FEMA CO’s that did not really want the help to mentor in keeping logs and records. CO’s |

| |were not receptive to help given and short BT was released. Went to Yreka, CA behind a team and got very busy. Not many |

| |fires had PUL’s and IBA wanted BT leader to go to camp every other day, hard to keep up – struggle between Eureka and Yreka, |

| |had to split team to support both locations, the two IBAs could not get along between the two areas to support which became |

| |difficult. Burn over on Panther fire was very consuming to support and continue normal fire camp ordering business. They put|

| |two camps together from two different forests, it did not work well. Went to Nevada next, type 2 team assignments most land |

| |was on NF land except a US Marine base in the middle of the NF, fire burned some ammunition caches – then supported a type 1 |

| |assignment in same state and stayed 18 days in Elko. Paperwork to pay off the Marines and trailer rentals is still taking a |

| |lot of time. |

| | |

| |Brad Bauer, 1 assignment in Redding, CA – 21 day assignment. Did some LUA’s, supported 84 Base mostly. |

| | |

| |Debby Wesselius, as a PUL did lots of LUA’s for water where land owners wanted water replaced versus payment for water. Can |

| |negotiate with cities to pump water from irrigation department of water to pump water back in. Paid by the acre of water, |

| |based on records from air ops as to how much was taken out of each site. Difficult to ascertain who owns what body of water |

| |but water districts usually know who owns what land. |

| |Janet Paul, 5 assignments. 1st assignment in Santa Barbara; they were physically located with the IC team at ICP, this works |

| |well when Buying Team can be co-located with the IMT, better communications and interactions with the entire overhead team. |

| |2nd assignment in Redding, transitioned with the Northern Rockies Buying Team, supporting Iron Complex, Lime Complex and Base |

| |84, on day 1 of the assignment the helicopter accident occurred with nine fatalities, it was called the Iron 44 incident and |

| |was also supported by Buying Team, was a very emotional assignment. We supported several teams in conjunction with the |

| |accident: NIMO team, Serious Accident Investigation Team, Critical Incident Stress Teams, Honor Guard, OSHA, NTSB, and a |

| |Memorial Planner. All orders for Iron 44 were being reviewed by the NIMO team prior to going to the BT. Some of the unique |

| |orders we received were for flags, flag boxes, GPS survey of accident site, mourning bands for the uniform badges, purple |

| |ribbon and safety pins, sim card for downloading pictures off of cell phones from the accident site, rental of a hanger at the|

| |airport for helicopter parts, U-haul for transportation of helicopter parts (chain of custody issues), convention center |

| |rental for memorial service. There was pressure from the host Forest (Shasta-Trinity) to issue the death gratuity check to |

| |the family of Forest Service employee who died in the accident (and who resided in the Redding area). This created several |

| |questions on the appropriateness of Buying Team Leader, from out of the Region, writing this check. Eventually did receive |

| |USDA approval for the death gratuity check, however, close coordination with ASC-Benefits Section to ensure they had a copy of|

| |the check for the file, and to avoid a duplicate payment to the family. This function should remain with the local unit and |

| |not an out of area team. Everyone involved had time with the critical incident stress team except BT, in hindsight, I should |

| |have asked for this service as well for the Buying Team Members. 3rd assignment was Hurricane Ike in Dallas, Texas supporting|

| |2 Type 2 teams and a NIMO team in Jackson, MS. We staged for 4 days, and then returned to Oregon. 4th and 5th assignments |

| |were on the Mt. Hood NF, and the Rogue River/Siskiyou/Umpqua NF’s. |

| | |

| |Judy Reddin, Thank you to everyone who came to CA and helped us with the fires. |

| |Team had 7 assignments all located in California. First assignment was on the Angeles NF. During that fire all EERAs |

| |expired. Had to draft a number of EERAs. Moved to the San Bernardino NF for another small incident and had the same issue. |

| | |

| |Had two assignments on the Los Padres – Indians and Basin Incidents. |

| |Also had two assignments on the Shasta-Trinity. |

| |Had one other small incident on the Los Padres. |

| |Part of team were at the Sequoia for four days to give the local team days off. |

| | |

| |Problems encountered: |

| |BT records were not complete in regards to all of the phone lines that were installed. Consequently, it took months to get |

| |all the phone lines disconnected. Judy was still paying phone bills in January. Need to develop a system to track all phone |

| |lines. |

| |Difficulty determining what had been rented and who was paying the bill. |

| |Buying Teams did not all use the same spreadsheet. This made it difficult to research and track total costs. |

| |Copies of purchases were not left for a considerable number of orders. Difficult to research. Also, blanks in the fill |

| |information on the spreadsheets. |

| |Had to do 4 EERAs for same piece of equipment as it moved from fire to fire. Need a way to do one EERA for the season. |

| |On the Indians and Basin Incident executed approximately 100 EERAs. This was a substantial workload for the Buying Team |

| |Leader and other CO who was there for a portion of the assignment. |

|Agenda item: |Buying Team Records Audit on the Shasta-Trinity NF (Conference Call) |Presenter and Date: |Kathy Cromwell-Christian, |

| | | |Independent Resources |

| | | |Enterprise Team |

| | | |April 14 |

|Discussion: |Conference call to give observations about audit of BT records. Forest (SHF) hired the enterprise team to come review records|

| |from the 2008 fires. Forest wanted Kathy to review all BT records. Forest brought a non-FS team in after all the fires to |

| |organize all documents and put in order, this team did not understand the buying team recordkeeping and rearranged some |

| |records so that during the scanning of records the original integrity of purchase documentation may have been compromised. |

| |This also created a larger number of missing receipts. |

|9 Issues on report: |

|1) Spreadsheet (log) not maintained in the manner similar for all BT’s, incomplete entries, inconsistent. Kathy saw this as a critical role to have|

|competent data entry to monitor incomplete or missing information and leave a good product. Kathy supplies a PCMS report of missing receipts |

|showing which BT members made purchases that are missing receipts. |

|2) Invoices do not have proper documentation, i.e. if receipt gets detached can’t identify the fire it goes to. Invoices without S# or p-code/name |

|of fire, concern again if it gets separated. |

|3) Numerous receipts without waybills. If it has more information rather than less information it is helpful if it gets detached. |

|4) Receipts show taxes paid. |

|5) Meal receipts without list of who ate, incomplete. |

|6) Government purchase of newspapers, not for personal use, mixed # being purchased for fires above the 10 per day normal. |

|7) Should have been a set of folders for property items by fire, items to be returned, one master spread sheet. Utilities should be recorded |

|separate. Rentals of copiers and phones and utilities, rented for a very long time, records of payments were not complete – keep a running record |

|and file for each in a separate folder for each. Capture serial numbers. |

|8) Durable property (more than one incident) should be marked with agency specific marking, not a BT function. Extensive thumb drives and helmets, |

|hard to account for; not a buying team issue. Forest needs to set up a system to track and get back. |

|9) Missing invoices; had APC request report of any cardholder that charged to these incidents, so forest can seek out missing invoices from these |

|cardholders. |

|Conclusions/ |Kathy recommends better methods to improve records. |

|Decisions: | |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Plan to cover in topics this week for items that are BT related. |All |n/a |

|If a BT leader wants to see the list of missing receipts, contact Ron or Kathy, to get copies |All |n/a |

|so you can provide the Shasta Trinity with missing documentation. | | |

|Agenda item: |Qualifications and Training, 5109.17 Update, Refresher Training (BT) |Presenter and Date: |Ron Schilz |

| | | |April 14 |

|Discussion: |Proposed changes. |

|PROC Position modification proposed: Add BUYL to other positions that maintain currency. We are discussing the possibility of requiring a $100K |

|warrant or COR Certification; this would get more folks qualified and it would get more folks in camp to do the position. Updates to 5109.17 for BT|

|positions need AQM review, not just finance folks. Concern that some COR’s may not have well rounded experience. |

| |

|If they are qualified due to the COR certification, they may need to be fire COR certified to have the special skills needed. Would still need to |

|do the task book for a PROC. |

| |

|BUYL Position modifications proposed: Add S-260 and I-100 to required training. Add PROC to other positions that maintain currency. We are |

|discussing changing the warrant requirement to $25K currently says $100K, would keep the $100K requirement on the team, but not necessarily the |

|leader. |

| |

|BUYM Position modifications proposed: Add S-260 and I-100 to required training to agree with BT guide. |

| |

|Add Type 2 Buying Teams. Possibly to be used nationally, quals and training would be similar to Type 1 BTs. |

| |

|310-1 (NWCG fire qualifications), want to add BUYL and BUYM into this publication; this would add the requirement to complete a task book for these |

|positions to get qualified. |

| |

|What are we doing for Incident Procurement Refresher for BT folks? NPI has expressed a need for new instructors for the Incident Procurement course;|

|it is possible it will not be available in the future. Some regions do an annual meeting to provide updates, but it probably does not meet our |

|needs for an annual refresher – too costly. |

|Conclusions/ |Ron is on committee to review qualifications in 5109.17 now for procurement related positions. |

|Decisions: |Forest CO’s would need to support this PROC position or the BT Leader if the PROC did not have a warrant. If the PROC was not|

| |a CO, they could not adjudicate claims, but would be good to prepare the documentation needed by a CO to prepare the D&F. |

|They could not sign the actual LUA’s and EERA’s if they were qualified due to their COR status. |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Byron is going to present PROC modification to Ron Hooper for consideration for 2010 season. |Ron Schilz & Byron Brown |2010 |

|Each region needs to continue to provide annual refreshers to BT members |All |Annually |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Team Configuration |Presenter and Date: |Judy Reddin |

| | | |April 14 |

|Discussion: |Issue for discussion regarding team configuration |

|Current configuration is: Buying Team Leader, Assistant Buying Team Leader four buying team members and a trainee - One member must be a CO. |

|MOB Guide requires this configuration for dispatch of a team: three qualified procurement personnel (warranted), three personnel support positions |

|(micro purchasers), and one procurement or leader trainee on each team. |

| |

|Do we really need this configuration? |

|Do we need more than three warranted or would two be sufficient? Two are sufficient. |

|Is the team size of 7 personnel still the right size? Normally yes. |

|Do we need more or less? |

| |

|New configuration? Buying Team Leader, Deputy Buying Team Leader, three buying team members, data entry/clerical support, trainee. |

| |

|Or? Do we add an eighth position for the data entry/clerical support? |

|Conclusions/ |Recommend changes (deletions) to the Mob Guide. Team make up (how many warranted versus micro purchasers) left up to buying |

|Decisions: |team leader; have the requirement for three warranted personnel be a recommendation not a requirement. Mandatory minimum of |

| |two warranted. |

| |Keep team size at 7 people: |

| |Buying Team Leader |

| |Deputy Buying Team Leader |

| |four buying team members (one may be a trainee) |

| |data entry/documentation |

| |No need for an eighth position at this time. |

| | |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Mob Guide only needs to say 7 members, 1 needs to be a CO. Two warranted. Remove Section 64.1.1|Ron |Next revision to|

|(A, B, & C). | |Mob Guide |

|Mob Guide Section 64.1.2 (D) needs to be removed also. |Ron |Next revision to|

| | |Mob Guide |

|Buying team guide needs to say that only 5 members must have purchase cards, other two do not |All | |

|need card authority. | | |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Completion of Resource Orders & Waybills |Presenter and Date: |Janet Paul |

| | | |April 14 |

|Discussion: |Does the invoice/receipt go on top or the waybill on top of your stapled package? |

|Advantage to having the waybill on top for data entry. Invoice on top is good for audit purposes because audit samples want to see the |

|receipt/invoice. Breakdown of S#’s must go on waybill, but not on receipt. |

|Enter fill data on the resource orders in the master book, complete the right side of resource order with vendor used, date filled, purchaser, |

|method of payment, price (optional). |

|Conclusions/ |Cost totals of S#’s must go on waybill, but not on receipt. |

|Decisions: |Use new waybill, only need three parts (no goldenrod) in buying team guide (Exhibit). |

| |File waybill on top, not behind the invoice/receipt. |

|Due to data entry needs, we had to reconsider the order of documentation. |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Receipt/Invoice does need to reference the fire name and Resource Order # (S number) |All |2009 season |

|Waybill on top of package, receipt/invoice next, then the resource order |All |2009 season |

|MUST enter phone # on waybill of vendor |All |2009 season |

|Enter fill data on the resource orders in the master book, complete the right side of resource |All |2009 season |

|order with vendor used, date filled, purchaser, method of payment, price (optional). Standing | | |

|orders will need a second sheet for fill information. Put BT initials/name in “To/From” column, | | |

|vendor name in “resource assigned” column (include phone number and name of person you talked to| | |

|if a service), complete purchase date in the “ETD/ETA” column, complete method of payment | | |

|(including check #) in the “resource assigned column” column, note on front “SEE BACK” if there | | |

|is additional information (i.e. item being shipped and the ETA). | | |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Filing Procedures, Hard Copy & Electronic |Presenter and Date: |All |

| | | |April 15 |

|Discussion: |How are we going to file in our boxes? |

|Should we file alpha by vendor or just a file for each letter of the alphabet? |

|Should we leave hard copies or scan copies and have the ability to leave an electronic copy? |

|Conclusions/ |Make a separate file for each vendor, file alphabetically by vendor in container with hanging file folder for each vendor. |

|Decisions: |Make a plastic label to attach to the hanging file folder with the vendor name on it. |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Pat Dearing agreed to test scanning receipts versus leaving a hard copy during the 2009 fire |Pat Dearing |2009 fire season|

|season, if unit is willing. | | |

|Decide on a draft naming convention to file electronic receipts, cross reference on spreadsheet |Ron & Pat |2009 fire season|

|Agenda item: |Tracking Phone Lines, Rentals and Services |Presenter and |Tamie Thompson |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |How do we file and track? |

|Ask unit what they want tracked, and those are the items you must track. i.e. thumb drives, external hard drives, copy machines, printers, |

|computers (platypus), cell phones, helmets, etc. |

|Do you send an AD-107 or DI105? Yes, if we are going to track it. |

|Spreadsheet contains a column you can note with a P=property or R=rental and you can sort and print for a list of what needs to be returned. |

|What goes in the open file? |

|Conclusions/ |Inquire if the local unit will take the lead for all utility type orders (trash, phone lines, electric service). |

|Decisions: |Establish a separate file for each vendor to track utilities and rentals. Place the folder in the front of the file box. |

| |Call Verizon for satellite phones first – they are free. |

| | |

| |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Open rental/utility file needs to contain particulars, resource order, and log of all payments |All |2009 |

|made to date, for incoming team or local unit to close out. Place this file in the front of the | | |

|file box. | | |

|Tamie will share a copy of her payment log with all |Tamie Thompson |5/1/09 |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Tracking Personal Property |Presenter and |Ron Schilz |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |What do you track? How do you track property? |

|Conclusions/ |Discuss with the host unit what items they want tracked and which of those items they want on their property forms. You may |

|Decisions: |only need to track some items on the spreadsheet. Use the S# and incident name as the tracking number on the AD-107 or DI105.|

| |Use a separate file folder for each fire name. |

| |Documentation for each item includes AD-107 or DI105 & Resource Order. |

| |Denote with a “P” on the spreadsheet the property you are tracking. |

| |Filter and print a list of the property being tracked before you demob and place it in the property folder. Place the |

| |property folder in the front of the file box. |

|Agenda item: |GSA Rental Car Programs |Presenter and |Ron Schilz |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |Did a limited pilot of the Short Term Rental Program in 2008 (Region 3). |

| |Determined it will not work to have a national BOAC number. GSA billing was hard to decipher. |

| |Each unit can still do it on their own. |

| |The GSA RSVP program can be used. Established pricing. Call for quotes, pay with purchase card. |

|Pat Dearing’s team tried it. Turn around time was great (within 24 hours). Only ordered a small number, delay in paperwork (several weeks) – GSA |

|was truly not set up personnel wise for emergencies. Can get the rentals with or without a fuel card. |

|Conclusions/ |For 2009 season, Short Term Rental Program, need to use unit’s BOAC number, each forest has one. Bill comes in to fleet |

|Decisions: |person on unit if you are using a forest BOAC number and they will need to initiate an MO (obligation), need to provide |

| |supporting paperwork to unit fleet manager. Contact GSA, they get quotes and supply to BT, accept quotes. |

| | |

| |RSVP is the same, except BT would call vendors direct and negotiate direct. Someone would have to go to the rental company |

| |and sign each agreement; not sure if it would be the BT member or the driver. Consider this for limited team use, so it can |

| |be controlled. Or see if local unit would track this and take care of it. |

| | |

| |Maximum 60 day rental that can be extended, but you have to do a new order to cover each 60 day period. |

| |

|Agenda item: |Rental vs Purchase |Presenter and |Mark Hostetler |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |When would you rent and when would you purchase and item? |

| |What would you rent or buy? |

|Difficult to determine, due to uncertainty of time period needed. Consider renting and negotiate a maximum rental rate if you believe it is going |

|to exceed the value of the items (i.e. tents, generators, tables, chairs). |

| |

|“All-in-one” machines (copy, fax, print) requires tech approval before it can be purchased. |

|Conclusions/ |Come up with a checklist of “things to consider” when renting equipment. |

|Decisions: | |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Compile a sample checklist of “things to consider” when renting equipment. |Denise Storms |End of 2009 fire|

| | |season |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Buying Team Spreadsheet |Presenter and | Pat Dearing |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |Do we want a posted date? YES |

| |Do we want a purchase date? No |

|Conclusions/ |Enter resource orders as they are received, do not wait for fill information. |

|Decisions: |Order #, use leading zeros so that total digits are 5 (S-00001). (this makes it easier for sorting) |

| |Do not make spreadsheet wider than landscape 11” wide. |

| |Do not change the formatting in the spreadsheet. |

| |Do not change the column headings, delete columns, or add columns. |

| |Make a copy of the spreadsheet if you want to practice or sort for your team’s use. |

| |Spreadsheet contains a column you can note with a “P” (property) or “R” (rental) and you can sort and print for a list of what|

| |needs to be returned. |

| |Rename spreadsheet to “Buying Team Spreadsheet” (not Buying Team Expense log). |

| |Team Member column format is three initials of BT member in caps, i.e. CEB. Do not spell out name. |

| |Do not complete posted date until a payment is made, but it does not have to be the purchase date; it’s the date it gets |

| |posted to the spreadsheet. |

| |Once costs are reported to the Cost Unit Leader in camp, do not add any additional items to that “posted date.” The person |

| |inputting transactions into the spreadsheet must remember to use the following date as the “posted date” until costs are once |

| |again reported to the Cost Unit Leader. |

| |For partial fills and standing orders, change the quantity and in comments put partial fill i.e. “20 of total quantity of 40 |

| |filled”. Create a new line for the unfilled quantity with the same S#. |

| |If you receive a credit, have a mis-posting that needs correcting or have a return… create a whole new line with the day of |

| |the credit with same s#. |

| |If you need to enter items with estimated costs, put in with a posted date with a 0.00 dollar amount, make a note of the rates|

| |in the comment column. Later when it is paid, enter the S# again with an actual dollar amount. Don’t forget to create a |

| |second entry for that S# with NO dollar amount completed so it will drop to the bottom of the spreadsheet as an open order |

| |that needs fill information. |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Have an e-meeting for BT members to train how to enter data |Pat Dearing |5/19/09 |

|Pat will update instructions for completing the spreadsheet |Pat Dearing |Prior to 5/19/09|

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Transitioning Open Rentals & Services |Presenter and |Judy Reddin |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |What do you do with those rentals and services that are still going on when you leave? |

|In the past, the goal was to transfer to the incoming team’s credit card when a new team comes in, this normally results in the vendor being |

|confused or never changing the card #. |

|Conclusions/ |Consider setting up a BPA with the vendor agreeing to pay bi-weekly or at end of incident, without giving out someone’s |

|Decisions: |specific card number. Remember if there will be multiple payments or if ASC is going to pay, vendor would need to be entered |

| |in CCR. This would work well for laundry, auto parts, gasoline at a mini-mart. Would not work well for equipment rental |

| |companies (i.e. United Rentals). |

| |Try to get vendor to enter into an incident-only EERA so it can be paid through an emergency equipment use invoice (OF-286). |

| |Have vendor complete the Vendor Code Information Worksheet (FS-6500-231) to get banking info for the VEND table in FFIS so |

| |they can get an electronic payment. Also suggest vendor get into CCR if they anticipate additional work with the government. |

| | |

| |Tires and parts, need close coordination with someone in camp to accurately reflect which tires and parts are being charged to|

| |the fire and which are being charged to WCF or deducted from a contractor’s payment. Good idea to use a separate S# for each |

| |purchase. |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Email out the VEND set up form for FFIS again to BT leaders. |Ron Schilz |5/1/09 |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Standing Orders |Presenter and |Maurica Owen |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |Make arrangements with a vendor for a standing order of supplies or services for the incident until cancelled. Usually the |

| |arrangement is a verbal agreement between the buyer and the vendor. How do we set them up? What are they for? Do we want an |

| |automatic expiration of the standing order? |

|Need some written documentation in your file: |

|Supplies or Services required |

|Contact person & telephone number |

|Delivery schedule by vendor or pickup by government representative |

|Pricing agreement |

|Payment schedule |

|How payment will be made, i.e. purchase card or check |

| |

|Always review the terms with the vendor. Good for water, Gatorade, ice, fruit, gasoline at mini-mart, newspapers. |

|Conclusions/ |Give the vendor 24 hours notice prior to cancellation of a standing order. Let Food Unit Leader know that you need 24 hours |

|Decisions: |notice to cancel and change quantities. Don’t need automatic expiration of standing order, need to monitor when it is time to|

| |start a new order (i.e. change in quantities). |

| |

|Agenda item: |Transition Report |Presenter and |Denise Storms |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |Must prepare one to transition with a new team or to transition back to the home unit. |

|Transition file should contain: |

|1) Roster of BT (with phone numbers), including the last four digits of purchase card # for each member |

|Copy of warrants for each warranted BT member |

|Printed copy of entire spreadsheet to date |

|Pre-addressed envelopes for each BT member for next team to mail incoming receipts or date that needs to be forwarded |

|Open rental and utility files for each vendor |

|Letter of delegation from unit, if given |

|Conclusions/ |Good to get input from each BT member if they are handling a service or supply that will continue. Follow BT Guide sample for|

|Decisions: |format. Do not forget to review unfilled orders that are coming in the mail, or orders not placed yet. |

| |Remember to note significant events that occurred, i.e. deaths. Items being donated so the next team is not wondering how |

| |something is being paid. |

| | |

| |If you have logistical information that applies to the buying team accommodations, i.e. where to get your laundry done, |

| |good/bad places to eat, directions, etc. – please share with the incoming team. |

| | |

| |Try to share your transition report electronically. |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |FPDS-NG |Presenter and |Deb Strickland |

| | |Date: |April 15 |

|Discussion: |Follow FS guidelines for entry for procurements over $2,500.00 for service, supply over $3,000.00. |

|FPDS-NG says to enter within 3 days, not practical for incident procurements. If the vendor is not in CCR, there is an exception in FPDS-NG in the |

|contractor information portion of the screen, choose “emergency” for your exception – you must have the DUNS number to continue your entry. |

| |

|If there is a drop down menu, you must make a choice from the drop down. |

| |

|Do not rely on completing only the orange colored fields as mandatory entries; make sure all items on the audit checklist are completed in addition |

|to the orange colored fields. FPDS-NG has added more orange colored fields to agree with the audit checklist, but you cannot be certain all audit |

|checklist items are currently orange colored in FPDS-NG. |

| |

|Any warranted BT member must do their FPDS-NG entries. |

|Conclusions/ |Create one entry for each vendor at the end of the incident, not necessary for every single procurement (add purchases and |

|Decisions: |enter total). |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Send out the list of DUNS numbers you can use if vendor does not have a DUNS number |Ron Schilz |5/1/09 |

|Send out the audit checklist (Department created) so you will know what has to be completed for |Deb Strickland |5/1/09 |

|the audit sample compliance. | | |

|Send out the FPDS-NG numbering system specific to the Forest Service (i.e. use 5000 series at the |Ron Schilz |6/1/09 |

|end of the number for BPA’s and incident-only EERA; use 6000 series for purchase card | | |

|procurements). | | |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Purchase Card Issues |Presenter and |All |

| | |Date: |April 16 |

|Discussion: |What changes are proposed for new Department Regulation 5013-6 and other purchase card issues? |

|Proposal to remove allowance to procure fuel (must use fleet card, except emergency use?), blocking additional BOC’s, bottled water vs. potable |

|water. Recycling vs. donation of bottled water. Per diem for casual employees, review updates pay plan in Chapter 10 of IIBMH – can still pay for |

|lodging and meals. Debit card program for Job Corps, LE&I, fire crew lodging –management of this program is moving to AQM. Emergency roadside |

|vests, requirement to wear special vests when working near highways, could include firefighters. |

|Conclusions/ |Each warranted cardholder must fill out the Purchase Card Order Form (FS-6300-51) for all purchases over $3,000. |

|Decisions: | |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Death & Serious Injury Handbook |Presenter and |Ron Schilz |

| | |Date: |April 16 |

|Discussion: |New document that will encompass all the direction will be available |

|Not sure when the final is going to come out. Ron is part of a group to review it. AQM portion overview, only very specific items the agency can |

|pay for, there are specific Department approvals to pay the death benefits. Cannot charge any expenses to P-codes. Review process going on now, |

|final not expected until Fall of 2009. Can purchase flags and mourning bands for badges. |

|Conclusions/ |Ron will share draft when draft is complete. |

|Decisions: | |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |AQM 2011 Virtual Incident Support |Presenter and |Ron Schilz. Judy Reddin, Pat |

| | |Date: |Dearing |

| | | |April 16 |

|Discussion: |AQM 2011 recommended increasing BT support through the use of virtual buying team members. Goal is to minimize impacts to AQM|

| |that are already strapped for resources. Decrease instances of Unable to Fill (UTF) orders. |

|Judy Reddin, Ron Schilz, Roger Manning, Wendy Stephenson, James Bailey, Sue Prentiss, Bridgit Downing, on the committee. Pilot BT will be Alaska |

|Team – on full time virtual member in 2009. A national pool of candidates will be created for potential utilization as virtual incident team |

|members for the 2009 program. National rollout in FY2010 if approved. Other pilots - California 1 Team – will use a virtual member for sub. |

|Southwest 2 Team – will use a virtual member for sub. Team composition includes: BT Leader, Assistant BT leader, 4 members, and trainee. |

| |

|Assumptions for virtual support: at least one full-time member virtual, use current BT seven member structure, virtual member must have BT |

|experience, not limited to GACC of BT leader, purchase locally (incident area) from small businesses as much as possible, if need for additional |

|help BT leader to fill with virtual member if possible. |

| |

|Qualifications for virtual member for the pilot: Minimum $10,000 warrant for one position, additional members can be micro purchaser, training in |

|accordance with the BT guide, minimum of one geographic area assignment and recommendation from BT Leader, cannot be a trainee position. |

| |

|Qualifications for virtual member: good communication skills, ability to work independently, multi-task, prioritize workloads and perform in a |

|stressful environment. |

| |

|Equipment requirements: Computer with internet access, printer, fax machine, copy machine, phone, cell phone/trac phone (optional). |

| |

|Other requirements: supervisor’s approval, signed agreement (VM and supervisor), approved telework agreement if not working at office, flexible work|

|hours (i.e. 7 days a week, overtime, up to 14 days), evaluated by BT Leader at the end of each assignment. |

| |

|Operating procedures: BT Leader to notify GACC with roster, B continue to be located near incident, virtual member to participate from their duty |

|station, mobilization/demob, all resource orders and communication to come from BT Leader of designee. VM to use incident charge code for all time.|

| |

|Virtual Team Member Duties: Follow BT Guide, member to call camp directly for clarification, member to work same schedule as BT, BT Leader to |

|assign work via fax or e-mail, member to prepare own waybills and fax to BT, member to contact camp with exception status, BT Leader to include |

|member in briefings, BT Leader to provide member with phone numbers/addresses/ etc. for all fire organization contacts. Member to supply their |

|contact info to BT Leader. Member to notify BT Leader of unavailability of over one hour, member to close out orders, or transfer to incoming team |

|member, member to purchase local to incident unless on-line, BT will fax original invoices and waybills to member and follow up with hard copy. |

|Member to ensure timely submission of OF-288 for signature. |

| |

|After Season Review: An after Season Review will be held to determine the success of this pilot project, review to involve participating BT Leaders|

|and AQM 2011 Pilot Committee. |

| |

|Questions to be answered: |

|Does the list of purchase items need to be adjusted? |

|Does location of virtual member affect success? |

|Is the configuration of the BT still valid? |

|Is there additional technology needed? |

|Request feedback from IMT including timeliness. |

|Request feedback from member supervisor. |

|Request evaluation by agency administrator. |

|Request feedback from BT members, including Virtual Member. |

| |

|Measurement of Success: Does this increase in BT participation? Virtual member proportionally as busy as on-site members? Is it seamless to |

|customers? Were there cost savings? Were there problems with vendors? Did our operating procedures work? |

| |

|Draft list of types of procurements that will be tried by virtual members has been started, will need modification as the season and pilot |

|progresses. |

| |

|May be issues with home unit supervisor and conflict with normal work needs if virtual member is at normal work site. BT Leader needs to make |

|direct contact with virtual member’s supervisor to clarify expectations. It is expected that the virtual member would receive the full range of |

|duties the same as a member at the incident site. Use sametime (FS only) to communicate with the virtual member, because they may be on the phone |

|and hard to reach on the one phone line they have available to them. |

|Conclusions/ |Pilot applicants will be carefully selected in the first season to ensure maximum success of the pilot. |

|Decisions: | |

| |BT Leader should feel free to add to the list of types of supplies virtual members can purchase. Email Ron and Judy with |

| |additions to the list. |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Warrants for AD’s and Retirees |Presenter |Ron Schilz, Maurica Owen |

| | | |April 16 |

| | |and Date: | |

|Discussion: |Review warrant submission requirements, same for AD’s and Retirees as current employees |

|Do not have to be FAC-C certified, may retain current warrant type. Add a resume with submission showing all training including currencies and |

|narrative analysis (no specific format). Training does not need to be entered into ACMIS for AD’s. To maintain currency, review the casual pay |

|plan in the IIBMH (Chapter10) for guidance regarding the 80 hours allowed per year for casual employees to attend training, and 120 hours allowed |

|for teaching per year. As long as retirees have their maintenance training, they should be able to continue to be warranted. They will need to |

|re-apply each year. |

|Conclusions/ |Concern about the long time it is taking to get the warrant issued, regions may have to request assistance to accelerate the |

|Decisions: |process for those needing to work on buying teams. |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |BYUL or Team CO performing PUL Duties |Presenter and |Debby Wesselius |

| | |Date: |April 16 |

|Discussion: |New 310-1 language from 2008, no training required for PUL just experience with prerequisite of positions held with a red |

| |card. |

|Concern that 310-1 does not specifically require a task book to be red carded. Fireline Handbook does have a good description of PUL duties. Also |

|the PROC task book. PUL duties listed can be considered unreasonably attainable for some of the listed duties. PUL’s are required to do a more |

|intensive look at EERA packages because they are being transmitted directly to ASC for payment without a local forest unit review. |

|Conclusions/ |May need to request local CO assistance with LUA’s and EERA assistance to relieve the PUL’s burden. |

|Decisions: | |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |OWCP & APMC Update |Presenter and |Judy Reddin |

| | |Date: |April 16 |

|Discussion: |Incident Injury Reporting Process for US Forest Service Regular and AD employees |

|APMC is for first aid injuries only. APMC is not appropriate for care received at medical facilities requiring therapy, stitches, x-rays or other |

|non-first aid treatment. APMC may be used for the treatment of colds, sore throats, respiratory infections and similar conditions associated with |

|exposure to smoke, dust and weather conditions. If the illness is tied specifically to smoke inhalation and can be attributed to one work shift, it|

|is recommended a CA-16 be issued and a CA-1 be completed. Since poison oak/ivy/sumac cases often result in follow-up care after the employee leaves|

|the incident, it is recommended a CA-1 be completed and a CA-16 issued to authorize medical treatment. |

| |

|Prescription payments: if an employee is treated for a work-related injury and needs to have a prescription filled, a pharmacy should be used which|

|accepts the DOL fee schedule and will bill them directly. If there are no pharmacies in the area willing to bill directly, a government purchase |

|card can be used. |

| |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |Finalize Buying Team Guide |Presenter and |All |

| | |Date: |April 16 |

|Discussion: |Entire group to update BT Guide |

|Those in attendance updated the BT Guide, including all agreements made. |

|Conclusions/ |Check for formatting errors and numbering conflicts. Route to BT Leaders for final review. |

|Decisions: | |

| |

|Action items |Person responsible |Deadline |

|Check BT Guide for formatting errors and numbering conflicts. |Pat Dearing |5/1/09 |

|Route updated BT Guide with “Track Changes” included for BT Leaders’ final review. |Ron Schilz |5/15/09 |

| | | |

|Agenda item: |VIPR/I-BPAs Update |Presenter and |Ron Schilz |

| | |Date: |April 16 |

|Discussion: |Tents, Fallers, GIS Unit, Refers, Bus (2010), Weed washing (2011), Dozers with transports (2011) Copy service, laundry |

| |(2009), engines, water tenders, toilets, mechanic service trucks, hand wash stations (2009), potable water (2009), grey water |

| |(2009), Region 8 pilot program in 2009 for dozers & transports. Fuel tenders, medical paramedics and kits have been deferred.|

|Pre-season Incident BPA, formerly known as EERA’s, still exist but only for at-incident sign-ups (with old EERA form), for the length of the |

|incident. Use of at-incident agreements is permitted when I-BPAs are exhausted following established procedures. Can be competitive or |

|non-competitive, use SF-1449. |

| |

|Competitive agreements, Eventually VIPR will be used for all pre-season agreements, must use the national template, DOI will not use VIPR. |

|Non-competitive agreements; use national template. Templates available for chippers, modular office, vehicle w/driver. |

| |

|VIPR 1.0 was released in January 2009. Ready for 2009 implementation. Still some problems. Internal training is geared to CO’s. Vendor training |

|includes a national user guide with step-by-step instructions. Virtual demonstrations were scheduled for others interested (i.e. dispatchers). |

| |

|Vendors must have an email address, obtain a DUNS number, obtain an IRS TIN, register with CCR and CPS, register for a USDA eAuthentication account |

|for use of VIPR, and register at FedBizOpps and watch for business opportunities. Can only have one award per VIN nationwide. |

| |

|Helpdesk support is available for VIPR 1-866-224-7677. Forms downloaded on vendor computer (no help as we did in EATIS). |

| |

|Eventually DPL’s (Dispatch Priority Lists) will be on the web as .PDF files. DPL’s for competed equipment will generate from VIPR by dispatch zone |

|or GACC, per I-BPA. VIPR will generate resource lists for non-competed equipment. DPLs will be available on an external web site. |

| |

|Mobilization – use DPL, it is required for extended attack – FS only. Other agency jurisdiction is an option, follow their procedures. |

| |

|De-Mobilization – Per I-BPA, IC will determine de-mob priority, however… |

|Vendors who quoted and were awarded preseason I-BPAs have priority to remain on incident over at-incident sign-ups. This really pertains to |

|tactical equipment (not toilets, etc.) |

| |

| |

| |

| | | |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download