President Larry Jennings called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fire Fighters Association of Missouri to order at 9:00 a.m., Sunday, June 6, 2021, at the Missouri State Fair Fire Department in Sedalia, MO. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call of Board of Directors and other officials
Officers
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 5, Terry Plumb, Southern Stone FPD; District 6, Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; District 7, RB Brown, Union FPD; District 10, Greg Brown, Eureka FPD; District 11, Monty Thompson, Kearney FPD; District 12, Rob Francis, Fruitland Area FPD; District 14, Rick Dozier, Southern FPD of Holt County.
Assistant Directors
District 1, Janet Cain, Shoal Creek FPD; District 3, Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 3, Charlie Peel, Southeastern Randolph FPD; District 4, Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 10, Harriett Vaucher, Eureka FPD; District 11, Josh Koepke, Kansas City FD; District 11, Billy Smith, North Central Carroll County FPD; District 14, Glen Dittmar, Dearborn Area FPD.
Others
Past President Ken Hoover, Little Dixie Fire Protection District.
Guests
Tim Bean, Missouri Division of Fire Safety; Gail Hagans, University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Larry Eggen, Ben Burd, Johnson County FPD; Cy Fields, Paris Rural FPD.
Agenda
President Jennings asked for additions to the agenda. Rick Dozier moved to accept the agenda as presented. Greg Brown seconded the motion and all approved.
Minutes
President Jennings asked for corrections to the May 2, 2021, meeting minutes. Gary Berendzen moved to accept the minutes as presented. Rob Francis seconded the motion and all approved.
Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the April 2021 financial report. Monty Thompson moved to accept the financial report presented. RB Brown seconded the motion and all approved.
Report of Officers and Special Guest(s):
Gail Hagans with the University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute reported that Summer Fire School went very well. There were 148 attendees. MU FRTI is moving to a different building beginning this week. They plan to have the move completed by July.
State Fire Marshal Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety (MO DFS)reported that $500k for work comp grants for volunteer fire departments was approved. They have a short window to see if the program will move forward in the future. Contact DFS to see if you are qualified for the grant. More information will be made available soon.
The new online training system will be available soon. There is a discussion on DFS moving/relocating to a different building due to renovations. More information to follow.
New Business
President Jennings advised that due to the vacancy of the 1st Vice President position, a new 1st Vice President will be appointed by the board. That person will serve until the next annual meeting at which time an election will be held to fill the unexpired term to 2023. Discussion followed. President Jennings recommended Rob Erdel to fill the 1st Vice President position. Terry Plumb moved to appoint Rob Erdel to 1st Vice President. Monty Thompson seconded the motion and all approved.
President Jennings presented a no-cost membership proposal that would allow each district two agencies, fire or EMS, who have not held membership for the previous 10 years, department membership free for one year. The guidelines of the proposal were discussed. Rick Dozier moved to approve the no-cost membership proposal as presented. Greg Brown seconded the motion and all approved.
Charlie Peel reported that the State Fair FD BBQ Team will be competing in the Missouri Fire Service Charity BBQ and Smoke-Out on July 31 in Columbia. This year’s event supports the Missouri Firefighters Museum Project and the Firefighters Cancer Support Network. The team is requesting $500 for food and supplies and a $1,500 sponsorship from FFAM. Discussion followed. Rick Dozier moved to approve a $2,000 one-time purchase for the BBQ charity contest.
$1,000 will come from the State Fair Committee budget and $1,000 will come from the Membership Committee budget. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.
Charlie Peel reported that the State Fair FD BBQ Team will be cooking during the Patriot’s Day events in Jefferson City on September 11. The team is requesting a loan of $500 for food and supplies. The $500 will be repaid from the proceeds received with all other proceeds being donated to the Missouri Firefighters Museum Project.
Discussion followed. Greg Brown moved to loan the State Fair FD BBQ Team up to $1,000 for food and supplies. Rob Erdel seconded the motion and all approved.
Discussion was held on purchasing a trailer for the 1929 engine. Charlie Peel presented three bids. Big Tex, $9,450 (bumper pull); Doolittle, $11,350 (bumper pull), $15,900 (gooseneck); Utility Trailer, $16,100 (bumper pull), $29,100 (gooseneck).
Discussion followed. Rick Dozier moved to purchase a bumper pull enclosed trailer from Doolittle for $11,350 as a one-time expense. Rex Reynolds seconded the motion and all approved.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
Charlie Peel reported that the 2021 virtual awards ceremony has been published online. A link can be found on the FFAM Facebook page. The committee has also received 30 department equipment grant applications.
Budget Committee
No report given.
Bylaws Committee
No report given.
Chaplain Committee
Jaime Miller reported on behalf of David Hedrick that the Federation of Fire Chaplains (FFC) 2021 Annual Conference registration information has been posted on their website at ffc.wildapricot.org. Once on their website, there will be a conference link for more info. The conference will be held October 24-28, 2021, in Irving, Texas. The conference hotel will be the Westin Dallas Fort Worth Airport.
As a reminder, the Missouri Fire Chaplains Corps Annual Meeting and Training Conference is scheduled for September 13 – 14, 2021, and will be held in the Lee Summit area. More information will be made available shortly.
On June 6th we should take time to honor and remember the sacrifices made by the United States military and citizen soldiers as they stormed the beaches on “D – Day” at Normandy, France, June 6, 1944, to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe. Please pray for our veterans, military, first responders, and their families as they continue to serve and protect our citizens and nation.
Contest Committee
Gary Berendzen advised they will be working with Washington soon regarding the contest site and needs for the event.
Convention Committee
Jaime Miller reported on behalf of Matt Frankenberg that more information will be available soon regarding advertising, location of events, and lodging. There will also be an app/website online soon for convention registration.
Education Committee
Gail Hagans advised that if anyone has a request for training, let her know.
Fire Prevention Committee
RB Brown reported that the committee is working on judging the posters received and that the 2020 award winners will be invited to the fair along with the 2021 winners.
Legislative Committee
Greg Brown reported that the legislative session has been completed but they will continue to have special sessions. Firefighter training funding has been retained in the state’s budget for next year. Prescription drug monitoring has passed. SB 45 critical illness pool did pass.
The committee is working on logistics, but the goal is to have an acceptable premium that departments can buy into. A $500k work comp grant for volunteer departments did pass. More information will be forthcoming.
Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 516 Directors/Councilman; 366 Retired; 18 Associate; 11 Sustaining; 20 Corporate, 364 Fire Departments; 6481 Active; 1 Educational Entity; 6 Educational Active; 121 Juniors; 7 EMS Department, 99 EMS individuals; 1 911 Entity; 10 911 individuals. There are several upcoming conferences that FFAM will be attending.
Nomination Committee
No report was given.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that each state has Covid LODD presumptions. There are lots of issues with those being sorted out. Sarah Lee has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer.
Firefighter suicide is happening at a rate of two per day across the country. Resources are available through NVFC to help including the Share the Load program.
The fall meeting will be in Jackson, Wyoming. He and Rob Erdel are planning to attend.
Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen reported that six scholarships were awarded. The official announcement of winners was done along with the virtual awards presentation.
State Fair Committee
Monty Thompson reported that 115 applications were received. Pettis County Ambulance is providing a large refrigerator to the department. The MSFFD will be working the 4-H horse show the Thursday – Sunday before the fair.
Website Committee
No report was given.
Magazine
Jaime Miller reported that the next magazine deadline will be June 25.
Directors and assistant directors are asked to submit articles regularly.
Historian Report
No report was given.
Fire Funeral Team report
Harriett Vaucher reported that 38 people attended the Taking Care of Our Own class a couple of weeks ago. There will be a golf tournament on June 28. The LODD trailer is still on order. They did receive the risers and are working on training with them.
EMS Funeral Team report
Greg Wright reported they did have a request for supplies for a non-LODD in Wellington. The team has had no other funeral retsponses. They did have 32 people attend a recent class in Boles. They will host another class in August in St. Charles. They are also still having their raffle. Reach out to any team member for tickets.
Foundation report
Keith Smith reported that the memorial services will be on October 9-10 in Kingdom City. The Field of Flags is happening now at the Memorial. A special thanks to Gail Hagans-Reynolds for taking over that program. The shelter house donated by Ken Hoover is done. The picnic tables have been ordered. There has been some electrical work done at the Memorial as well as new lighting and all the engraving has been done.
The Foundation is still seeking $400k to finish the inside, Phase 2, of the new museum. They do have several funding sources lined out. All departments are encouraged to hold fundraisers in their areas to help with the project. No amount is too small.
They did receive permission from MODOT to clear out brush and trees along the property near I-70.
President Jennings advised that the next meeting will be moved to August 8 to coincide with the fair.
President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 11:15 a.m.
FFAM
