F.F.A.M.

Meeting Minutes – August 2013

President Kenneth Hoover called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fire Fighters Association of Missouri to order at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, August 4, 2013 at the State Fair Fire Department in Sedalia, Missouri.

Roll Call of Board of Directors:

Officers: President, Kenneth Hoover – Little Dixie FPD; First Vice President, Tim Bean – West Plains FD; Secretary Treasurer, Jaime Miller – Johnson County FPD; Sergeant-at-Arms, Rex Reynolds – Southern FPD of Holt County; Past President, Keith Smith – Warrenton FPD; Historian, Kay Asher – Wentzville FPD.

Board of Directors: District 1, Terry Wynne – Galt FPD; District 2, Greg Wright – Shelbina FD; District 3, Larry Jones – Madison West Monroe FPD; District 6, Richard Gordon – Cole County FPD; District 7, RB Brown – Eureka FD; District 9, Roy Sims – West Plains FD; District 11, Monty Thompson – Kearney FPD; District 14, Rick Dozier – Southern FPD of Holt Co.

Assistant Directors: District 1, Janet Cain – Braymer FR; District 3, Rob Erdle – Little Dixie FPD; District 4, Jonathan Evans – Lincoln FD; District 6, Bill Hilden – Boonville FD; District 10, Greg Brown – Eureka FPD; District 11, Ryan Miller – Norborne FPD; District 11, Roger Meyers – Concordia FPD; District 14, Glenn Dittmar – South Central Buchanan County FD.

Guests: Randy Cole – Missouri Division of Fire Safety; David Hedrick, Gail Hagans – MU FRTI; Larry Jennings, Joe Jennings – Johnson County FPD; Donald Vaucher, Harriett Vaucher – Eureka FPD; Steve Gentry – Little Dixie FPD; Rob Schrage – Jefferson R7 FPD; Grant Oetting – Higginsville FD; David Miller – Johnson County FPD #2; Josh Meyer, Scott Olson – Alma FD; Gordon Ekedahl – Madison West Monroe FPD; Ron Paubel – FFAM Director Retired.

Agenda: President Hoover asked for additions to the agenda. Rick Dozier moved to accept the agenda as presented. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.

Minutes: President Hoover asked for corrections or additions to the June 2, 2013 board meeting minutes. R.B. Brown moved to accept the minutes as presented. Monty Thompson seconded the motion and all approved.

Financial Report: President Hoover asked for a review of the June/July 2013 financial reports. Kay Asher moved to accept the financial report as presented. R.B. Brown seconded the motion and all approved.

Report of Officers and Special Guest(s): David Hedrick with MU FRTI reported that the 81st annual Summer Fire School has been completed and enrollment was up this year.

$101K has been approved for subsidiary funding for training and a full schedule of classes have been assigned for the new fiscal year however, if there are classes someone wants to see in their area, they should contact their regional coordinator.

The 2013 MU FRTI annual report will be available later this summer.

September 14th-15th is the Region I Fire School in Waynesville. October 11th-13th is the Instructors Conference at Lake of the Ozarks.

MU FRTI held their open house for new facilities last week and thanks to everyone who attended.

State Fire Marshal Randy Cole with the Division of Fire Safety reported that the Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team responded to Arizona recently to assist with the funerals of the 19 wild land firefighters lost in the line of duty. Special thanks were sent out to the team who responded.

Lt. Blankenship with the Marshfield Fire Department passed away in July as the result of injuries suffered in a structure fire. The memorial was well attended.

The Governor vetoed several tax credit bills which will cut state budgets. Currently the funds allocated to purchase new vehicles and to hire a Training Technician are being withheld but should be released in the upcoming months.

$344K in training funds has been allocated. The Phil Sayer scholarship requests have increased and there is now a certified hazmat tech course available.

Fire Marshal Cole met with the Louisiana State Fire Marshal last week and discussed ideas for recruitment and retention including the need for dedicated funding to help support workers compensation throughout the state. He will be reviewing some ideas discussed.

Parking validations are still going well and are being used on a regular basis.

Correspondence: None received.

Unfinished Business: Chief Jennings reported that the SAFER recruitment and retention grant period opened last week and he and grant writer Steve Myer are working on the FFAM’s proposal for submittal.

New Business: President Hoover recognized retired FFAM Director Ron Paubel with a clock and thanks for his 41 years of service to the FFAM.

President Hoover advised that Rob Schrage has stepped down from the website committee. A new website will be developed through a proposal from Travis Johnson and new committee members will be Jaime Miller, chairperson; Joe Jennings and Travis Johnson. Monty Thompson moved to appoint Jaime Miller, Joe Jennings and Travis Johnson to the website committee. Greg Wright seconded the motion and all approved.

Discussion was held on making a donation to the Help Patch a Broken Heart campaign fund raiser for the 2014 National Fallen Firefighter Survivors Conference. Rick Dozier moved to donate $150 and two patches to the Help Patch a Broken Heart fund raiser. Kay Asher seconded the motion and all approved.

Harriett Vaucher reported that the 2014 National Fallen Firefighter Survivors Conference will be held in Clayton, MO on May 4th-9th. There are several fund raising opportunities available including a Stair Climb and Mystery Dinner Theatre. Contact her for more information.

Committee Reports

Awards Committee: No report.

Budget Committee: Tim Bean reported that budget requests have been given to each committee chair.

Bylaws Committee: No report.

Chaplain Committee: No report.

Contest Committee: Richard Gordon reported that a few more items have been purchased for contests.

Convention Committee: Larry Jones reported that Carthage Fire Department reported a net loss of $2,361.48 and attendance was down from previous years. The 2014 convention will be hosted by Jefferson R-7 Fire Protection District in Festus. Rob Schrage reported that the convention will be May 2-4, 2014 at the Best Western in Festus and the contest will be north of the host hotel. More information will be available in the next newsletter.

Education Committee: No report.

Fire Prevention Committee: R.B. Brown reported that the 2013/14 theme is “Prevent Kitchen Fires”. No change will be made on the poster page size as the current size is a common size available.

Legislative Committee: Greg Brown reported that Sunshine Law Exemption – HB 256 passed and now limits information accessible by the media. HB 307 passed which addresses Community Paramedics. SB 282 passed which increases penalties for moving violations and traffic offenses occurring within an active emergency zone. HB 533 passed and exempts a paid, full-time fire chief from the crime of unlawful use of a weapon if carried as a concealed weapon.

The Missouri Fire Service Alliance meeting is August 29 if anyone has new issues they would like to address.

The Missouri Association of Fire Protection Districts is working on a workers compensation program which will allow fire departments and districts a privatized option for insurance.

Randy Cole reported that he is getting more information regarding the fallen firefighter dependent scholarship and will report back at a later meeting.

Membership Committee: Secretary Miller reported the following membership counts: 428 Directors/Councilman; 231 Retired; 10 Associate; 6 Sustaining; 11 Corporate, 356 Departments; 7,847 Active.

Nomination Committee: Keith Smith reported that there is still no representation in District 8 or District 12. Discussion has been held regarding a webcast meeting option but no decision has been made. Anyone interested in a Director position in District 8 or 12 should contact him.

NVFC Committee: Keith Smith reported that he is working on a list of state benefits that will be made available to the NVFC. The fall meeting is in College Station, TX. NVFC is also providing some regional classes upon request.

Scholarship Committee: Grant Oetting thanked those directors that assisted with the scholarship recipient pictures. The pictures will be on display during the Missouri State Fair. The committee has submitted their budget proposal to the budget committee and has asked for additional funds for two Continuing Education Scholarships.

State Fair Committee: Monty Thompson reported that the fair will be August 8th-18th. The FFAM has already received the contracted funds from the state. The MSFFD is ready to begin operations on August 7th. There have also been several responses to the 50th Anniversary coin sale that was advertised in the last newsletter.

Website Committee: No report.

Newsletter: The deadline for the next newsletter September 1.

Historian report: Kay Asher reported that she needs old pictures with names and dates as well as old shirts from departments throughout the state that no longer exist.

Foundation report: Keith Smith once again thanked the Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team that responded to assist in Arizona. He also reported that Harriett Vaucher has been appointed as a Director with the Foundation and Glen Dittmar will be filling the seat vacated by Ron Paubel.

The next Memorial Foundation meeting is scheduled for September 22nd.

The Foundation reviewed a request to hold the memorial services closer to September 11th. After discussion, the Foundation opted to continue to hold the services in May.

The 2013 memorial service DVD’s are now available for purchase. Contact Keith Smith to obtain them.

Next year’s services goal is to have an individual picture for each person recognized. Also as a reminder that for those individuals recognized at the memorial services, their respective fire department will be notified and the fire department needs to contact the family. The Memorial Foundation doesn’t contact each individual family.

There will be a motorcycle run fund raiser taking place in the St. Louis area in the future. He is working with the group to possibly obtain donations for the memorial.

Monty Thompson moved to adjourn the meeting. Roy Sims seconded the motion. President Hoover adjourned the meeting at 10:39 a.m.

 

Jaime Miller, Secretary

Fire Fighters Association of Missouri