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 9, 2020, at the Missouri State Fair Fire Department in Sedalia, Missouri. The meeting began with 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; Sergeant-at-Arms Rex Reynolds, Southern FPD of Holt County.
Directors
District 2, Greg Wright, Shelbina FD; District 3, Larry Jones, Madison/West Monroe FPD; District 4, Joe Vaughn, Pleasant Hill FPD; District 5, Terry Plumb, Southern Stone FPD; District 6, Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; District 7, RB Brown, Union FPD; District 11, Monty Thompson, Kearney FPD; District 14, Rick Dozier, Southern FPD of Holt County.
Assistant Directors
District 3, Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 3, Charlie Peel, Southeastern Randolph FPD; District 4, Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 6, John Scheper, Gravois FPD; District 7, Andrew Caldwell, Boles FPD; District 10, Harriett Vaucher, Eureka FPD; District 11, Josh Koepke, Kansas City FD; District 11, Billy Smith, North Central Carroll Co FPD; District 14, Glen Dittmar, Dearborn Area FPD.
Others
Past President Keith Smith, Warrenton Fire Protection District.
Guests
Eric Hartman, Missouri Division of Fire Safety; Gail Hagans, David Hedrick, University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Larry Eggen, Benjamin Burd, Johnson County FPD; Donald Vaucher, Eureka FPD; Dylan Farrell, Union FPD; Ronnie Fields, Cy Fields, Paris Rural FPD; Cory Putnam, Moberly FD; Dylan Honea, Southern Stone FPD.
Agenda
President Hoover asked for additions to the agenda. Gary Berendzen moved to accept the agenda as presented. Rick Dozier seconded the motion and all approved.
Minutes
President Hoover asked for corrections to the June 7, 2020, meeting minutes and the April 2010 convention minutes. Rick Dozier moved to accept the minutes as presented. Grant Oetting seconded the motion and all approved.
Financial Report
President Hoover asked for a review of the May – July 2020 financial report. Gary Berendzen moved to accept the financial report presented. Greg Wright seconded the motion and all approved.
Report of Officers and Special Guest(s):
Gail Hagans with the MU Fire and Rescue Training Institute reported Kevin Zumwalt retired Friday and Interim Director John Wordon would begin duties on Monday. They are downsizing office space from 12 personnel due to space configurations in the office.
The Division did start releasing training funds. The application process to request training is through the Division of Fire Safety website. Most classes from the spring have already rescheduled due to the pandemic.
Mutual Aid Coordinator Eric Hartman with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reported that they have lost three personnel from the training division due to promotions and retirement.
The memorial stair climb will be October 10, and registration will be available through the DFS website.
The DFS took possession of a burn trailer awhile ago and plans to conduct its first burn with the Missouri State Fair Fire Department during the fair.
Sergeant-at-Arms Rex Reynolds conducted a roll call of the delegates. There are 31 delegates present.
Keith Smith reported that five positions are up for election. Terry Wynne, District 1 Director; Larry Jones, District 3 Director; RB Brown, District 7 Director; Monty Thompson, District 11 Director; Rick Dozier, District 14 Director. Billy Smith moved to approve the director’s appointments as presented. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.
A discussion was held on a harassment policy and training for the Missouri State Fair Fire Department. Greg Wright moved that all employees of the Missouri State Fair Fire Department complete the applicable training and employee acknowledgment form each year. Charlie Peel seconded the motion and all approved.
Charlie Peel moved that the Missouri State Fair Fire Department operates under the 1994 harassment policy that is currently in place. Dylan Honea seconded the motion and all approved. The Board directed the State Fair Committee to start updating the policies and procedures for the MSFFD.
A discussion was held on obtaining FFAM license plates from the Department of Revenue. Grant Oetting reported that he has a state representative that is willing to sponsor the proposal in the legislation however, there is a $5,000 application fee and there has to be a list of 200 applicants who wish to purchase the plates. The FFAM can set the fee for the plates and all proceeds can go to a non-profit of our choosing. The Board recommended that Oetting get some feedback from the membership to see if that many people would be interested in paying the extra fees for an FFAM plate.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
Larry Jennings reported on behalf of Joe Jennings that those who received awards have been presented or will be presented by the district directors at their respective departments. The committee is also working on better definitions for the meritorious and life-saving awards.
They will also be recommending expanding the department grant program due to the overwhelming number of applicants each year.
Budget Committee
Larry Jennings advised that committee budget requests will be due at the October meeting and those committees are asked to itemize their requests.
Bylaws Committee
No report was given.
Chaplain Committee
David Hedrick reported that the annual Federation of Fire Chaplains Conference that was scheduled for October in Texas has been canceled. The conference is rescheduled for 2021 in Irving, Texas. More information on the schedules will be available on the FFC website soon.
A new pandemic resource book for chaplains is available through the FFC. The book is Ministry During Pandemic by Dr. Naomi Paget. The book is available for download at no cost from the FFC website: ffc.wildapricot.org.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has postponed the 2020 Firefighter Memorial Weekend in Emmitsburg, MD, due to the continuing concerns related to the coronavirus. On October 4, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation will broadcast a National Tribute to honor America’s fallen firefighters. More information will be announced on this web event.
The Missouri Fire Chaplains Corp’s annual meeting and training session scheduled for September 14-15, 2020, in Grandview, MO, has been canceled due to the pandemic.
MFCC President Jim Cummings term of office is up, and he has stepped down as President. The current Vice President will fill-in as President, Charles “Charlie” Schultz. His contact email is pastorschultz@hotmail.com.
SEMA conducted a Mass Fatality tabletop exercise (TTX) on July 7, 2020. Personnel participated at both the State EOC and through remote WebEx format. This disaster exercise included the first participation of the SEMA Disaster Chaplain’s core group. Additional training sessions are expected to be set up and conducted during the fall.
The chaplains organizations continue to pray for the safety and well-being of our emergency responders as they deal with the added stresses brought about by the pandemic and civil unrest that is occurring throughout our country. You are in our thoughts and prayers. Take care and be safe.
Contest Committee
No report was given.
Convention Committee
Larry Jones reported that Washington Fire Department has agreed to move to host in 2022 so that Kearney may host in 2021. Discussion followed. Charlie Peel moved to hold the 2021 convention in Kearney. Andrew Caldwell seconded the motion and all approved. The 2022 convention will be presented for final approval at the 2021 convention.
Education Committee
No report was given.
Fire Prevention Committee
RB Brown reported that the posters submitted electronically have been judged and award winners will be notified. A discussion was held and the committee advised that the 2020 award winners will be given their day at the fair in 2021 since the 2020 fair was canceled. The 2021 theme will be “Serve up fire safety in the kitchen.”
Legislative Committee
No report was given.
Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 492 Directors/Councilman; 354 Retired; 20 Associate; 15 Sustaining; 24 Corporate, 360 Fire Departments; 6447 Active; 10 Educational; 122 Juniors; 6 EMS Department, 97 EMS individuals.
FFAM was represented at the Revolutionary Fire Tactics at the Lake conference in July. The 9-1-1 conference and the Jeffco Fire Engine Rally have both been canceled.
Ken Hoover recommended that Kevin Zumwalt be named as an honorary member. Monty Thompson moved to make Kevin Zumwalt an honorary member. Ken Hoover seconded the motion and all approved.
Nomination Committee
Keith Smith advised that the positions up for election in 2021 will be President, 2nd Vice President, District 4 Director, District 5 Director, District 9 Director, and District 10 Director. Contact him for nominations.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that the fall meeting has been canceled. The current focus of NVFC is on COVID-19 and the impact it is having on smaller departments. There was a stipend relief fund that was available in April for volunteers who were impacted financially by the pandemic. The funds ran out in 6 weeks.
Other topics that NVFC is still working on include recruitment and retention with a focus on declining numbers of volunteers as well as firefighter cancer.
Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen reported that the scholarship award winners were announced during the virtual awards presentation and they did receive a thank you note.
State Fair Committee
Monty Thompson reported due to the cancellation of the fair, they will be proceeding with 40-45 volunteers, but services will not be reduced. They are working on updating the dispatch center with new and donated equipment and have had approximately $26k in equipment donated.
Website Committee
No report was given.
Newsletter
The deadline for the next newsletter will be August 30.
Historian Report
No report was given.
Fire Funeral Team report
Harriett Vaucher reported the two new trailers are in service.
EMS Funeral Team report
Greg Wright reported that the team assisted in four non-LODD services and three training sessions. The October 23-24 conference in Lake Ozark will still be held. Tickets for the event and banquet are still available.
Foundation report
Keith Smith advised that they received approximately $25k worth of items donated and those items are temporarily being stored in the storage space in Kingdom City.
The memorial services in October will now be held virtually. More information to follow. All the engraving has been completed.
The Foundation is working with MODOT on continued water drainage issues.
Ken Hoover advised that the shelter and benches will be delivered to the site in the 1st week of September.
Monty Thompson moved to adjourn the meeting. Rick Dozier seconded the motion and all approved.
President Hoover adjourned the meeting at 11:32 a.m.
Jaime Miller
Secretary
Fire Fighters Association of Missouri
FFAM
