F.F.A.M.

Meeting Minutes – March 2021

President Ken Hoover called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fire Fighters Association of Missouri to order at 9:00 AM Sunday, January 31, 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 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 5 Terry Plumb, Southern Stone FPD; District 6 Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; District 7 RB Brown, Eureka FPD; District 10 Greg Brown, Eureka FPD; District 11 Monty Thompson, Kearney 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 6, Alan Braun, Cole County FPD; District 6, John Scheper, Gravois FPD; District 9, Kurt Wilbanks, West Plains FD; 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 FPD.

Guests
Tim Bean, Eric Hartman, Missouri Division of Fire Safety; Gail Hagans, University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Dave Hedrick, MO Fire Chaplains Corp.; Larry Eggen, Johnson County FPD; Cy Fields, Paris Rural FPD; Evan Clark, St. Joseph FD; Kevin Dusheke, Aflac; Kyler Oliver, NTA Ems Rescue; Doc Kritzer, Memorial Foundation; Matt Frankenberg, Washington FD.

Agenda
President Hoover asked for additions to the agenda.

RB Brown moved to accept the agenda as presented. Gary Berendzen seconded the motion and all approved.

Minutes
President Hoover asked for corrections to the December 6, 2020 meeting minutes. RB Brown moved to accept the minutes as presented. Monty Thompson seconded the motion and all approved.

Financial Report
President Hoover asked for a review of the November – December 2020 financial report. Gary Berendzen moved to accept the financial report presented. Terry Plumb 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 Winter Fire School will now be all virtual. They have 33 classes and approximately 300 people registered. They will kick-off with an opening session online on Friday at 12:30. The MFA grant winners will be announced during that time as well.

State Fire Marshal Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reported that the Division received an AFG grant for a new records management and learning management system. Each person will now have access to the DFS portal to access their training records and certificates.

Eric Hartman reported that he will be sharing more information in the next month regarding the VW grant for emissions. There will be approximately $3 million available through the grant. Two of the grant requirements will be a current fire department registration through DFS and if you are a fire protection district or ambulance district, your board members must have completed the statutorily required training.

Please make sure DFS has a valid email on file for your department as this is how they contact departments.

Jefferson City will be hosting Patriots Day on September 11, 2021, with several events.

The annual memorial stair climb will also take place at that time. More information to follow.

Firefighter Day at the Capitol has been scheduled for April 14, 2021.

If you have a fire fatality, please contact DFS so they have the data, even if your department has investigators and DFS is not requested to respond.

Greg Wright with the EMS Funeral Team presented Tim Bean with a recognition award for his continued support of their organization.

The deadline for the annual fire department registration through DFS is March 1. They are not asking for specific identifiable information but there is information needed on demographics. The registration must be completed in its entirety to be compliant.

President Hoover advised that Theresa Cox donated to the Fire Fighters Memorial Foundation on behalf of the late Kay Asher.

Kevin Dusheke, District Sales Representative with Aflac, presented a proposal for additional benefits for FFAM members. The proposal includes three policies through Aflac including accident, hospital, and critical illness. Aflac has partnered with a company called iSolutions which will be available as an online enrollment platform for members who want to sign up for insurance benefits.

He also presented proposals for life insurance and short-term disability through Standard Life. The enrollment process for both would be online, by phone, or face-to-face if departments would like him or another representative to come to a meeting. Discussion followed. The Board will review the materials proposed and table until the next meeting.

Monty Thompson reported that Clay County is still on lockdown until May 1 and the school in Kearney has gathering restrictions. There is no other location large enough to social distance for the convention and with the convention scheduled to begin April 30, Kearney is unable to host for 2021.

Larry Jones spoke with Washington FD and they are unable to host in 2021 due to gathering restrictions. Discussion followed. Grant Oetting moved to cancel the 2021 convention but still hold the annual business meeting on May 2 in Sedalia. Monty Thompson seconded the motion and all approved.

President Hoover advised he is reviewing the current committees and how they are functioning.

Committees should be meeting regularly and sending their meeting reports to him. He will be making adjustments to committees as necessary.

Committee Reports

Awards Committee
Charlie Peel reminded everyone that award nominations can be sent at any time. All nominations are due by February 28.

Budget Committee
Larry Jennings asked everyone to do their due diligence again and stay within budget.

Bylaws Committee
No report given.

Chaplain Committee
David Hedrick reported that membership dues for 2021 in the Missouri Fire Chaplains Corps are due in January. Information on dues was included in the MFCC Newsletter that was sent out in early January. If you have any questions regarding dues, please contact MFCC Secretary/Treasurer Ed Hatcher, edhat@earthlink.net.

The MFCC is planning on offering the ICISF Assisting Individuals in Crisis class via ZOOM, tentatively scheduled for March 1-2. If you are interested in taking the class please contact Ed Hatcher.
The Federation of Fire Chaplains has scheduled their FFC Annual Conference 2021 for October 24-28, 2021 in Irving, Texas. More information will be available soon through the FFC.

Contest Committee
Gary Berendzen reported that there will not be any contest this year and the trailer is being housed in the museum.

Convention Committee
Larry Jones reported that he is still working with Washington FD on hosting 2022.

Education Committee
Gail Hagans reported that the committee had a meeting on December 9. They discussed that the Winter Fire School scholarships should come from their budget and not from the Membership Committee budget.

They are also discussing possible scholarships for Summer Fire School. She asked that if the State Fair FD would like to host a training during the State Fair, she will need to know well ahead of time for planning purposes. A discussion was held on the Certified Fire and Ambulance District board training that is normally held during the convention. The Board advised FFAM would still host the class on Saturday, May 1 but the location would be moved to the State Fair Fire Department in Sedalia.

Fire Prevention Committee
RB Brown advised they would still hold the poster contest this year, but posters will need to be submitted electronically. Information will be made available on Facebook and the website.

Legislative Committee
Greg Brown reported that the firefighter training funding has been retained in the state’s budget this year.

They are working to establish a trust to cover firefighters for certain cancers. This will replace a previous initiative to make certain cancers, outlined in SB54, presumptive coverage for worker’s compensation. The presumptive cancer bill will not pass so this new trust is trying to get upfront money to start. Presumptive COVID-19 legislation has been extended through July.

There are several bills now that will affect property and tax cuts to budgets. Links for active bills and language are provided in the weekly legislative report that is emailed to member departments.

Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 365 Directors/Councilman; 222 Retired; 8 Associate; 8 Sustaining; 13 Corporate, 248 Fire Departments; 4382 Active; 1 Educational; 69 Juniors; 6 EMS Department, 89 EMS individuals. A few upcoming conferences have been canceled but he is planning to attend the MO Public Safety Conference in Lake Ozark March 21 – 23.

Nomination Committee
Keith Smith reported that the positions up for election in 2021 will be directors in Districts 4, 5, 9, and 10 as well as President and 2nd Vice President.

District 8 and 12 also have open director positions. Nominations are due by March 1.

President Hoover announced that he will not be seeking reelection as President. He will continue to serve as Past President once his term has ended.

NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that NVFC has been active with legislation and his latest report can be found in the January/February newsletter.

Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen reminded everyone that scholarship applications are due by February 28.

State Fair Committee
Monty Thompson reported that the committee met yesterday. 31 applications have been received so far. They are still planning on a full fair. Charlie Peel advised he has found an enclosed trailer for the 1929 engine. The 32’ trailer is approx. $15k-$20k. Discussion followed. The Board advised Charlie to bring back a price for the trailer to the next meeting for purchase approval.

A discussion was held on the Spectrum cable and internet in the State Fair Fire Department. The Committee advised Secretary Miller to cancel the cable and the FFAM general budget will now cover the cost of the internet instead of the State Fair Committee.

Website Committee
Jaime Miller reported that she is still working on a new website with Travis Johnson.

Newsletter
Jaime Miller reported that the next newsletter deadline is March 1.

Gail Hagans advised that with the new newsletter, pictures will need to be at a higher resolution, or they will not print well.

Historian Report
President Hoover advised that Theresa Cox has been asked to assume the Historian duties. Discussion followed. Rick Dozier moved to appoint Theresa Cox as the new Historian. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.

Fire Funeral Team report
Harriett Vaucher reported that the team has been working around two services a month. Things are starting to slow down.

Brian Zinanni is still working on the LODD trailer. Creve Coeur FPD made a $10k matching funds donation to the team for the purchase of the platform and risers. $20k was also budgeted through state legislation for the purchase of the platform.
EMS Funeral Team report
Greg Wright reported that the team has not responded to any incidents recently. Their annual conference will be October 22 – 23. There will be online classes this year as well.

Foundation report
Keith Smith reported that Greg Wright is the new Foundation Treasurer.

There has been an overhaul of the memorial electrical system.

They are still planning for on-site memorial services May 15–16. Attendance may be limited with priority given to LODD families.

Their next meeting is Tuesday. They are exploring funding options to continue to Phase 2 to complete the inside of the museum.

Greg Wright moved to adjourn the meeting. Gary Berendzen seconded the motion and all approved.

President Hoover adjourned the meeting at 11:00 a.m.