F.F.A.M.

Meeting Minutes – September 2019

President Ken 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, 2019, at the Missouri State Fair Fire Department in Sedalia, Missouri. Vice President Jennings led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call of Board of Directors and other officials

Officers
President Ken Hoover, Little Dixie FPD; First Vice President Larry Jennings, Johnson County FPD; Second Vice President Grant Oetting, Higginsville FPD; Secretary Treasurer Jaime Miller, Johnson County FPD #2.

Directors
District 1 Terry Wynne, Galt FPD; District 2 Greg Wright, Shelbina FD; District 3 Larry Jones, Madison West Monroe FPD; District 4 Joe Vaughn, Pleasant Hill FPD; District 7 RB Brown, Union FPD; District 10 Greg Brown, Eureka FPD; District 11 Monty Thompson, Kearney FPD; District 14 Rick Dozier, Southern FPD of Holt Co.

Assistant Directors
District 1 Janet Cain, Braymer Fire and Rescue; District 3 Charlie Peel, Southeastern Randolph FPD; District 4 Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 6 Alan Braun, Cole County FPD; District 7 Andrew Caldwell, Boles FPD; District 10 Harriett Vaucher, Eureka FPD; District 10 George Sheets, St. Charles FD; District 14 Glen Dittmar, Dearborn Area FPD. 

Others
Past President Keith Smith, Warrenton Fire Protection District.

Guests
Tim Bean, Missouri Division of Fire Safety; Kevin Zumwalt, Gail Hagans, David Hedrick, University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Doc Kritzer, FF Memorial Foundation; Billy Smith, Timothy Mattox, North Central Carroll FPD; Dylan Farrell, Union FPD; Holden Peel, Madison West Monroe FPD; Lafe Stone, South Eastern Randolph FPD; Ryan Miller, Norborne FPD; Larry Eggen, Joe Jennings, Johnson County FPD; Neal Clark, St. Joseph FD; Emily Sweet, Gower FD; Dylan Honea, Southern Stone FPD; Cy Fields, Paris Rural FPD; Brian Zinanni, MO Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team.

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

Minutes
President Hoover asked for corrections to the June 2, 2019, meeting minutes. RB Brown moved to accept the minutes as presented. Larry Jones seconded the motion and all approved.

Financial Report
President Hoover asked for a review of the May–June 2019 financial report. Terry Wynne moved to accept the financial report presented. Greg Wright seconded the motion and all approved. 

Report of Officers and Special Guest(s)
State Fire Marshal Tim Bean with Missouri Division of Fire Safety wanted to express thanks to the Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team. They are a great asset for our state. 

There have been 26 fire fatalities in Missouri this year. This is down from last year. The Division is drilling down on the cause of these fire and also encouraging education to prevent tragedies. There is a free smoke alarm program available through the American Red Cross. You may contact the Division for more information. 

The DFS Stair Climb will be October 19, in Jefferson City. Online registration will be available this week.

As previously discussed, there will be new training requirements that are going to be implemented that will stipulate that departments wanting training utilizing state funds will have to request the training through the state and the new system will then designate what training entity will provide the training. The state is controlling the training entities/training partners. All training requests, if you want to utilize state training funds, will go through the DFS. The DFS will publicize when this will go live.

Director Kevin Zumwalt with the University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute reported that June 30, was their fiscal year end. They had 745 classes with 15,000 students. This was 57 more classes than last year and 700 more students than last year.

Due to increased costs, some fees will be increasing this year. The University has been seeing reductions in funding from the state therefore there are a few services that they won’t be able to provide any longer. Once example is the online hazmat course. The Division of Fire Safety has been funding the course the MU FRTI subsidizing but due to the new state funding requirements, this course will now be fee based.

The University of Missouri Extension has been reorganizing and has created a Center of Excellence for First Responder Education. There is a major push through extension to gather funding so that all entities are under one roof, MU FRTI, EMA, the Law Enforcement Training Institute and EMS training. 

There will be a fire service stake holders meeting September 10, in Columbia. FFAM and other state organizations are invited to attend to discuss training goals. 

MU FRTI has partnered with MFA, Inc. for a 50/50 matching funds grant program for training and equipment. The grant will be up to $2,000 but the departments who apply must be registered through DFS.

The Missouri Emergency Services Instructor Conference will be November 1-3, 2019, at the Lake of the Ozarks.

There is a new training coordinator for Region C and Region H is looking for a new coordinator.

Director Zumwalt also advised that as a director, he is trying to get out more throughout the state so if you would like him to come to your area for something, just reach out to him.

Correspondence
None.

Unfinished Business
None.

New Business
Gail Hagans reported that there is a new fund-raiser for the museum project. Terry Wynne has donated a steer to be butchered. 1,000 tickets will be raffled for a chance to win the processed beef. There will be two chances to win a ½ side of beef with every $10 ticket purchase. Contact the FFAM Board or Memorial Foundation Board to purchase a ticket.

Bill Wald with 7710 Insurance Company introduced himself. The company writes workers compensation policies for fire and EMS and are now coming into Missouri. They focus on a loss control program to address the loss in this industry and control the claims. Contact him at bill.wahl@7710servco.com for more information.

Grant Oetting reported that he recently attended two conferences, the Revolutionary Fire Tactics Conference and the EMS Conference. He had a lot of positive feedback from the departments and vendors he spoke with. David Woodward with Revolutionary Fire Tactics donated the FFAM’s vendor fee of $215 back to the museum project. He was also invited to attend the Missouri Ambulance Association Conference in September.

President Hoover presented the recommendation to appoint Emily Sweet as District 14 Assistant Director. Monty Thompson moved to appoint Emily Sweet to the District 14 Assistant Director position. Rick Dozier seconded the motion and all approved.

President Hoover advised that Ryan Miller has resigned as District 11 Assistant Director. 

Charlie Peel reported that the 1929 fire engine has received a new carburetor and new tires. He is working on pricing for an enclosed trailer. 

Committee Reports

Awards Committee
Joe Jennings reported that 40 applications were received for the department grant. $1,000 was awarded to Fishing River, Palmyra and St. James. He has also already received one award nomination. Departments are encouraged to submit nominations as they happen. They can be submitted anytime before the February 28, deadline. 

Budget Committee
Larry Jennings advised that budget requests will be due by the October meeting.

Bylaws Committee
Jonathan Evens reported they are assisting the Auxiliary with updating their bylaws.

Chaplain Committee
David Hedrick reported that the Missouri Fire Chaplains Corp has been working with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in the development of The Missouri Disaster Chaplaincy Program. The program will establish a list of qualified volunteer emergency service chaplains that can be activated by SEMA during a disaster to provide chaplaincy services and behavioral health services to citizens and responders when requested. More information on this program is available through the MFCC or SEMA.

The Missouri Fire Chaplain Corp (MFCC) annual meeting and training conference will be held September 9-10, 2019, in Springfield, Missouri, at the Green County Emergency Management Center. The training schedule will include the ICISF Trauma to Addiction class and Chaplains Tool Kit class. Registration information will be sent out in early August.

The Federation of Fire Chaplains will host their 2019 FFC Annual Conference October 19-24, 2019, at the Double Tree by Hilton in Cathedral City, California. More information on the conference is available on the FFC website at: ffc.wildapricot.org.

Contact information for the Missouri Fire Chaplains Corp is: MFCC President, Jim Cummings, medic4christ@hotmail.com or 417-230-0610. Secretary Treasurer Ed Hatcher is edhat@earthlink.net or 618-207-9487.

Contest Committee
No report was given.

Convention Committee
Larry Jones reported that Kearney is working on preparations for the 2020 convention.

Larry Jennings reported that the 2019 convention financials have been completed with a positive balance of $683.25 after all expenses.

Education Committee
Rick Dozier advised to contact him with any training requests.

Fire Prevention Committee
RB Brown advised he will have the posters and award checks at the fair for the contest winners. All of those submitting posters are reminded to review the poster contest rules and be sure to utilize the most current poster label. Both of which are available on the FFAM website. 

Legislative Committee
Greg Brown reported that the Missouri Fire Service Alliance will be meeting in September. Topics will include firefighter training funds, workers compensation, cancer legislation, PTSD and internet sales tax issues. Legislators Day at the Missouri State Fair is August. 15.

Membership Committee
2nd Vice President Oetting reported the following membership counts: 493 Directors/Councilman; 309 Retired; 23 Associate; 11 Sustaining; 19 Corporate, 346 Fire Departments; 6301 Active; 20 Educational; 95 Juniors; 3 EMS Department, 80 EMS individuals. 

Nomination Committee
No report was given.

NVFC Committee
Keith Smith advised he would have a detailed report in October. NVFC is working on a hard push for membership. Rob Erdel will be attending the fall meeting in Georgia in October.

Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen encouraged everyone to remind their local schools to push the scholarship information to their students.

State Fair Committee
Monty Thompson advised they are ready to go for the fair. There is a new air conditioner in part of the building. 

Website Committee
No report was given.

Newsletter
The deadline for the next newsletter will be September 1, 2019.

Historian report
No report was given.

Funeral Team report
Brian Zinanni reported they have ordered two new trailers. They have had several responses lately and have been very active.

Foundation report
Keith Smith reported that the museum building is within 3 weeks of final walk through. Phase 2 of the building project will cost an estimated $250,000.

A fire truck from Dr. Colburn has been donated. He and Gail spent a day in Hannibal cataloging donated items. 

State Farm Insurance will be hosting a fundraiser for the museum in Centralia October 12.

Little Dixie Fire Protection District donated $10,000 towards the project.

Rick Dozier moved to adjourn the meeting. Monty Thompson seconded the motion and all approved. 

President Hoover adjourned the meeting at 11:05 a.m.

Jaime Miller 
Secretary
Fire Fighters Association of Missouri