F.F.A.M.

Meeting Minutes – September 2018

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 5, 2018, at the Missouri State Fair Fire Department in Sedalia, Missouri. President Hoover 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; Sergeant-at-Arms Rex Reynolds, Southern FPD of Holt County.

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 6, Gary Berendzen, Cole Co 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 1, Janet Cain, Braymer Fire and Rescue; District 3, Steve Gentry, Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 4, Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 5, Shelby Phifer, Southern Stone FPD; District 7, Andrew Caldwell-Boles FPD; District 10, Harriett Vaucher, Eureka FPD; District 11, Ryan Miller, Norborne FPD; District 11, Josh Koepke, Kansas City FD; District 14, Glen Dittmar, South Central Buchanan Co FD.

Others
Past President Keith Smith, Warrenton Fire Protection District.

Guests
Kevin Zumwalt, Gail Hagans, MU FRTI; Joe Jennings, Johnson County FPD; Doc Kritzer, Memorial Foundation; Donald Vaucher, Eureka FPD; Charlie Peel, Southeastern Randolph FPD; Holden Peel, Madison West Monroe FD; Kyle Arnold, Kearney FPD; Donnie Rogers, Darrell Wright, Chillicothe FD; Timothy Mattox, Billy Smith, North Central Carrol FPD; Ethan Ralls, Hale Fire; Chris Thompson, Holts Summit FPD; Cy Fields, Paris Rural FPD; Tim Bean, Missouri State Fire Marshal.

Agenda

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

Minutes
President Hoover asked for additions or corrections to the June 3, 2018, minutes. Shelby Phifer 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 June – July 2018 financial report. Rick Dozier moved to accept the financial report presented. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.

Report of Officers and Special Guest(s)
Kevin Zumwalt with MU FRTI reported that the year’s final report will be available in September. They had an increase in classes with eighty being held in June.

The Fire Education Commission did provide additional funding. Contact your regional coordinator to schedule classes.

MU FRTI is participating with the Missouri State Fair Fire Department this year to hold a grain bin extrication training. They are also working with University of Missouri Extension for a day promoting farm safety.

They will also be introducing new certificate programs this fall.

Fire Marshal Tim Bean with the Division of Fire Safety reported that he has received good feedback from the new Governor who comes from a law enforcement background. He encouraged everyone to get to know those running for office in your local area and help promote the fire service.

The new budget got signed in early July. Raises were secured for inspectors and investigators. Training dollars sustained no loss of funding.

There were a record number of people getting state certified this year with more than 5,000 taking state certification testing.

The workers compensation funding bill did pass the house and senate however the Governor vetoed the bill. It will be back on the table during the veto session in September. The bill would provide a $2,000 grant for non-tax-based entities for workers compensation insurance. He also wanted to reiterate that if you are eligible to receive any funding from the state, your entity needs to register with the state as a vendor to receive money. This is different from the DFS fire department annual registration. Contact the Missouri State Treasurer’s office to register as a vendor. Entities are encouraged to do this now so if funding for the bill is approved, you can immediately apply for the grant.

There were two fire related deaths in Missouri last week. Please push fire prevention in your local communities. Free smoke alarms are available. Contact DFS for more information. Missouri is ranked third in the nation for fire related deaths.

Fire Marshal Bean wants to know how the state fire investigators are doing in your area, responses, working for you? Drop him an email or call and let him know.

The DFS is working on updating mutual aid contracts.

September 8, is the DFS memorial stair climb to support the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. $12,000 was raised last year. Discussion was held regarding sponsorship of the event. Monty Thompson moved to support the stair climb with a $350 donation. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.

Correspondence
None.

Unfinished Business
None.

New Business
None.

Committee Reports

Awards Committee
Joe Jennings announced that nominations are due February 28, 2019, and can be submitted at any time.

Budget Committee
Larry Jennings reported budget requests are due by the October meeting.

Bylaws Committee
No report was given.

Chaplain Committee
No report was given.

Contest Committee
Rob Erdel reported that everything went well during the contest however, participation was down. He wanted to remind members that a contest team doesn’t have to all be from the same department as long as they are FFAM members, so everyone is encouraged to get with their department and neighboring departments and get teams put together for next year.

Convention Committee
Larry Jones reported $1,500 was received from the St. Joseph Fire Department for the 2018 convention proceeds. He also reported that no departments have submitted proposals to host the 2019 convention therefore, the FFAM Board of Directors will be hosting.

2019 Convention Chairman Larry Jennings advised that the 2019 convention will be held April 12-14, in Sedalia. The Executive Committee met with concerns about attendance and participation. Surveys will be sent out to get more feedback about past and future conventions.

Education Committee
Rick Dozier reported that they will be providing funding for the grain bin extrication class being taught during the state fair. There will also be a CPR class during the fair. Contact Kyle Arnold if you would like to sign-up.

Greg Wright reported that the EMS and Fire Service Funeral Assistance Teams will be providing three free classes regarding line of duty deaths. More information will be made available.

Fire Prevention Committee
RB Brown reported the 2018 Fire Prevention Week theme is Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware fire can happen anywhere. Poster contest rules are on the FFAM website and all posters are due the Friday night of convention.

Legislative Committee
No report was given.

Membership Committee
2nd VP Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 468 Directors/Councilman; 280 Retired; 23 Associate; 13 Sustaining; 17 Corporate, 336 Departments; 6335 Active; 11 Educational; 90 Juniors.

Nomination Committee
No report was given.

NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that two names have been sent through for representation.

Scholarship Committee
Larry Jennings reported on behalf of Larry Eggen that scholarship applications are due by February 28.

State Fair Committee
Monty Thompson reported that they are ready for the fair. A small day room was built, and first aid was remodeled due to the water damage.

Website Committee
No report was given.

Newsletter
The deadline for the next newsletter will be September 1, 2018.

Historian report
No report was given.

Funeral Team report
Harriett Vaucher reported the EMS and Fire Service Funeral Assistance Teams will hold a conference in October at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Greg Wright reported that the EMS Memorial site has be approved at the Missouri Western State University campus in St. Joseph.

Foundation report
Keith Smith reported that they are working on getting the current plan out for bid. Thank you to all those that helped at the memorial getting things moved inside due to the rain. He is working on collecting names for the 2019 service. Deaths from 2016-2018 are still eligible to be recognized at the service and there is no date limit on LODD recognitions.

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

President Hoover adjourned the meeting at 10:15 a.m.

Jaime Miller,
Secretary
Fire Fighters Association of Missouri