F.F.A.M.

Meeting Minutes – March 2016

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, January 31, 2016 at the Missouri Highway Gardens in Sedalia, MO.

Roll Call of Board of Directors

Officers

President Kenneth Hoover, Little Dixie FPD; First Vice President Tim Bean, West Plains FD; Second Vice President Charlie Neubert, Highlandville Rural FPD; Secretary Treasurer Jaime Miller, Johnson County 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 5 Terry Plumb, Southern Stone FPD; District 7 RB Brown, Eureka FPD; District 9 Roy Sims, West Plains FD.

Assistant Directors

District 1 Janet Cain, Braymer FR; District 2 Vernon Cash, Shelbina FPD; District 3 Rob Erdle, Little Dixie FPD; District 3 Steve Gentry, Little Dixie FPD; District 4 Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 5 Shelby Phifer, Southern Stone FPD; District 6 Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; 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

Past President Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; David Hedrick and Gail Hagans, MU FRTI; Larry Jennings, Johnson County FPD; Harriett Vaucher, Eureka FPD; Grant Oetting, Higginsville FPD; Brayden Miller, Norborne FPD; Chris Thompson, Holts Summit FPD; Cody Johnson.

Agenda

President Hoover asked for additions to the agenda. Greg Wright moved to accept the agenda as presented. Charlie Neubert seconded the motion and all approved.

Minutes

President Hoover asked for a review of the December 6, 2015 meeting minutes. No corrections or changes were made. RB Brown moved to accept the minutes as presented. Roy Sims seconded the motion and all approved.

Financial Report

President Hoover asked for a review of the December 2015 financial report. Charlie Neubert moved to accept the financial reports as presented. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.

Report of Officers and Special Guest(s)

David Hedrick, Director, with MU FRTI reported that 509 courses are scheduled so far for the fiscal year.

Winter Fire School will be February 5–7, 2016 in Columbia. There are several new training topics. The Expo will be February 5 at the Holiday Inn. The Division of Fire Safety and Missouri Fire Safety Commission are sponsoring 21 scholarships to Winter Fire School. The information is in the brochure. The scholarships are open to volunteers and everyone is encouraged to apply. Registrations are up.

The Recruitment and Retention courses, hosted by FFAM and instructed by MU FRTI instructors has three locations scheduled so far including February 5, during Winter Fire School. Contact Gail Hagans if your department is interested in hosting.

Correspondence

No correspondence was received.

Unfinished Business

Discussion was held on the $250,000 pledge that was made by FFAM to the Memorial Foundation for the resurrection of a museum. President Hoover advised that the executive committee has met to discuss the current financial status of the FFAM and recommends that the FFAM designate $100,000 from the reserve account to the foundation for the building. The foundation currently has approximately $200,000 which doesn’t meet the $763,950 required to complete phase 1 of the building project. Discussion followed. Greg Brown moved to release $100,000 from the FFAM reserve account once requested but only after the foundation has exhausted all of their funding for phase I. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.

New Business

President Hoover made the recommendation that Assistant Director Gary Berendzen be appointed to the District 6 Director position vacated by Richard Gordon when he retired in December. Glenn Dittmar moved that Gary Berendzen be appointed as the District 6 Director until the 2016 election. Larry Jones seconded the motion and all approved.

President Hoover made the recommendation that Rob Erdel be appointed to the Chairman of the Contest Committee, a position that was vacated by Richard Gordon. He also recommended that Gary Berendzen be appointed to the Contest Committee. RB Brown moved that Rob Erdel be appointed as the Chairman and Gary Berendzen be appointed as a member of the Contest Committee. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.

Secretary Miller requested a one-time approval of a $750 expense to purchase a new copy machine. Discussion followed. Charlie Neubert moved to approve a one-time $750 expense from the reserve funds for the purchase of a copy machine. Glenn Dittmar seconded the motion and all approved.

Secretary Miller presented a new benefit for members. Code3 CME, an online EMS education site would like to partner with the FFAM. Two different programs are available, a discount to members or a revenue share with the FFAM for every member who signs-up for courses through Code3 CME is proposed. Discussion followed. Greg Brown moved to enter into a revenue share partnership with Code3 CME. Larry Jones seconded the motion and all approved.

Discussion was held on the Supporting Heroes proposal presented by Brian Zinanni during the December board meeting. Zinanni had requested FFAM’s endorsement to assist in bringing the program to Missouri. Terry Wynne moved that the FFAM endorse Supporting Heroes. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved. The board requested that Zinanni give a brief presentation about the program during the convention.

Committee Reports

Awards Committee

Larry Jennings advised that very few nominations have been received and reminded everyone that the award nomination deadline is February 28.

Budget Committee

No report.

Bylaws Committee

No report.

Chaplain Committee

David Hedrick reported that the Missouri Fire Chaplain Corp spring training will be May 2-3, in Springfield.

Contest Committee

Rob Erdle invited any director or assistant director who would be interested in assisting with the contest Friday or Saturday to meet at the contest grounds on Friday at 10:00 a.m.

Convention Committee

Larry Jones advised that directors and assistant directors need to make their hotel reservations at Tan-Tar-A as soon as possible. The 2017 convention will be hosted by the State Fair FD and Cole County FPD has requested to host the convention in 2019. So far, no one has requested to host in 2018. Jones also advised that the 2017 convention committee has requested $2,000 start-up funds from the state fair committee budget to assist in preparations for the convention. Charlie Neubert moved to approve $2,000 start-up funds from the state fair committee budget for the 2017 convention committee. RB Brown seconded the motion and all approved.

Education Committee

Gail Hagans advised that the recruitment and retention classes and the board of directors training class will both be held during the convention.

Prevention Committee

RB Brown advised that all posters are due by opening ceremony of convention.

Legislative Committee

Greg Brown reported that the session has started. The Governor did not increase the firefighting training budget but there is a lobby to get that done. The 911 bill is moving through the house. HB1534, an extension on the reimbursement of several federal reimbursements should not be an issue. HB1858 recommends charging those that attempt to defraud or harass through filing documents be charged with a felony instead of a misdemeanor. May 3, is Firefighter Day at the Capital.

Membership Committee

2nd VP Neubert reported the following membership counts: 277 Directors/Councilman; 149 Retired; 7 Associate; 10 Sustaining; 13 Corporate, 256 Departments; 4027 Active; 10 Educational; 18 Juniors.

Nomination Committee

Keith Smith reported District 2, District 6, District 8 and District 12 all have Director positions up for election in 2016.

NVFC Committee

Keith Smith reported that the NVFC has launched a recruitment and retention program called “Make Me a Firefighter” which has already had 10,000 hits. The website is designed to put tools in the hands of people and departments to assist with the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters.

Scholarship Committee

Grant Oetting reported that the scholarship application deadline is February 28 and he encourages those eligible to apply.

State Fair Committee

Steve Gentry advised that applications are being received. President Hoover advised that the pipes at the State Fair fire station burst due to a furnace issue. The state is working on repairs.

Website Committee

Secretary Miller advised that a new recruitment and retention website is now live and a link has been added from the FFAM.org homepage.

Newsletter

Jaime Miller advised that the submission deadline for the next newsletter is March 1.

Historian report

No report.

Funeral Team report

Harriett Vaucher reported that some members of the team recently attended a national fallen firefighter training. Over 50 attendees were present from 6 states. In 2015, there were 6 line of duty deaths and 33 non-line of duty deaths that the team assisted with. The NFFF is looking for information on pre-1980 line of duty deaths. They are needing pictures and biographies. Send information to Harriett.

Foundation report

The memorial services will be May 14-15. Engraving requests are down. He needs information by the end of February. The Sunday guest speaker is a survivor.

The Foundation Treasurer, Kyle Fansler, has resigned. The committee is making contacts to fill the position.

President Hoover advised that in lieu of flowers, his department often donates a brick at the Memorial for the lost loved one. He offered as a suggestion to assist in raising money for the Memorial.

Glenn Dittmer moved to adjourn the meeting. Roy Sims seconded the motion and all approved. President Hoover adjourned the meeting at 10:25 a.m.

Jaime Miller, Secretary
Fire Fighters Association of Missouri