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, December 5, 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; First Vice President Rob Erdel, Little Dixie 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 6, Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; District 7, RB Brown, Union FPD; District 10, Greg Brown, Eureka FPD; District 11, Billy Smith, North Central Carroll Co FPD; District 12, Rob Francis, Fruitland Area FPD; District 14, Rick Dozier, Southern FPD of Holt County.
Assistant Directors
District 3. Josh Loyd, Martinsburg Area FPD; District 4, Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 7, Andrew Caldwell, Boles FPD; District 14, Glen Dittmar, Dearborn Area FPD. District 14, Emily Sweet, Gower FPD.
Others
Past President Ken Hoover, Little Dixie FPD.
Guests
Tim Bean, Eric Hartman, Missouri Division of Fire Safety; Gail Hagans, David Hedrick, University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Larry Eggen, Ben Burd, Kegan Wilson, Johnson County FPD; Chris Thompson, Holts Summit FPD; Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; Chase Greeninges, Eureka FPD; Dylan Farrell, Union FPD; Ed Daugherty, Chillicothe FD; Craig Armstrong, SEMA; Doc Kritzer, Memorial Foundation; Kris White, Mayview FPD; Jonathan Ayres, Public Safety Solutions.
Agenda
President Jennings 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 Jennings asked for corrections to the October 3, 2021, meeting minutes. Billy Smith moved to accept the minutes as presented. Grant Oetting seconded the motion and all approved.
Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the September – October 2021 financial report. Rick Dozier 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 the Winter Fire School brochure is now available. WFS will be held February 4-6, 2022.
MFA Grants will be sent out to the FFAM directors this week for scoring. There were 82 applications received for $33k in grant funds.
State Fire Marshal Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reported that there has been a LODD in Belgrade Volunteer FD in Jefferson County. There was also a LODD last week in Cape Girardeau due to covid.
The state of Missouri no longer recognizes covid as a LODD as of August 31 but it does qualify as a federal LODD for the next two years.
January 3 starts the next legislative session. They are going to be working on statute 320 regarding residency for fire investigators which now requires that an investigator has lived in Missouri for three years before applying for the position. The Division is hoping to get that provision removed.
Eric Hartman has been reaching out to volunteer fire departments and associations to apply for the $2k worker’s compensation grant funding. Participation has been low so far so all departments that qualify are encouraged to apply. Contact the Division for more information.
Investigator Steve Grass is retiring. The Division also has a deputy chief and regional chief opening. There are four new investigators with the Division so you will be seeing some new faces. Deputy Chief of Training Becky Trapani will also be retiring in March.
Firefighters Day and the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Division of Fire Safety will be held on April 5, 2022.
Eric Hartman advised that fire department registration opened on December 1. They are due by March. They are no longer collecting ISO data. He also advised that educational and volunteer rescue squads are no longer being issued FDID numbers.
If there are any local fire chief organizational meetings in your area, send Eric Hartman the information. The Division would like to do a face-to-face at these meetings.
Correspondence
A thank you letter was received from the JeffCo Fire Engine Rally for our support and participation.
Old Business
President Jennings advised that the trailer for the 1929 engine has been received. Charlie Peel will report further at the next meeting.
A discussion was held on the request from DMAT to house equipment at the State Fair Fire Department. Craig Armstrong with SEMA was present to answer any questions. DMAT would like to store a truck, trailer, and generator inside the station. Rick Dozier moved to partner with DMAT to house their equipment inside the State Fair Fire Department building with the arrangement to be reviewed annually in December. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.
New Business
President Jennings advised that Billy Smith has recommended Kris White with Mayview FPD be appointed as the new District 11 Assistant Director. Greg Brown moved to appoint Kris White as the District 11 Assistant Director. Rex Reynolds seconded the motion and all approved.
President Jennings advised he will be taking a harder look at the Director and Assistant Director positions that are less active. He advised the Directors to review their positions as well as their Assistants to make sure they are taking part or to step down if they are no longer able to fill their appointed/elected positions.
A discussion was held regarding the February meeting date since it conflicts with Winter Fire School. RB Brown moved that the meeting be moved to February 13. Billy Smith seconded the motion and all approved.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
President Jennings reported that the deadline for awards submissions is February 28 but he encouraged everyone to start submitting now.
Budget Committee
Rob Erdel presented the 2022 proposed budget. Discussion followed. Terry Wynne moved to accept the 2022 budget as presented. Josh Loyd seconded the motion and all approved.
Bylaws Committee
No report given.
Chaplain Committee
David Hedrick reported that the Missouri Fire Chaplains Corps will be conducting a winter training session the Wednesday and Thursday before Winter Fire School, February 2-3, in Columbia, MO. The two classes are the Essentials of Fire Chaplaincy both days, and Psychological Body Armor on Thursday. The Essentials of Fire Chaplaincy is the Federation of Fire Chaplains entry-level course required for chaplains to be full members of the organization. Additional Information is available by contacting MFCC Secretary/Treasurer Ed Hatcher at edhat@earthlink.net. MFCC is also planning on having an exhibit booth at the Winter Fire School Expo on Friday, February 4.
On behalf of the MFCC and the FFC, we wish all of you and your families a safe and blessed holiday.
Contest Committee
Gary Berendzen report that he will have contest information in the next magazine.
Convention Committee
No report was given.
Education Committee
No report was given.
Fire Prevention Committee
RB Brown reported that the posters are due on Friday, before the start of the convention, and can be turned in to the Auxiliary. The theme is “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety”. The rules can be found on the FFAM website.
Legislative Committee
Greg Brown reported that the new legislative session starts January 3. The Missouri Fire Service Alliance is looking at firefighter training money, firefighter I and II classes for each region, work comp grant, PTSD, and a secondary program separate from work comp, and cancer.
The Missouri Firefighter Critical Illness Trust Committee has submitted all paperwork to the department of insurance and the Secretary of State for approval. The program will be running by January 1, 2022.
Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 518 Directors/Councilman; 369 Retired; 20 Associate; 11 Sustaining; 24 Corporate, 370 Fire Departments; 6558 Active; 1 Educational Entity; 6 Educational Active; 124 Juniors; 7 EMS Department, 99 EMS individuals; 1 911 Entity; 10 911 individuals. There are lots of conferences coming up in 2022.
Nomination Committee
No report was given.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that NVFC is looking at coming to Kansas City in 2024 for their annual meeting. He and President Jennings attended a Zoom meeting to get more information on what they are looking at.
He advised he will be sending a summary of the NVFC fall meeting to the board and he also attended a networking meeting in Iowa.
Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen reported the deadline to apply for scholarships is February 28.
State Fair Committee
RB Brown reported that they are working with the state regarding the issue in the women’s restroom. The 2022 fair will be August 11 – 21.
Jonathan Evans presented Keith Smith with a donation to the museum project from the proceeds of the Patriot’s Day BBQ sales.
Website Committee
No report was given.
Magazine
Jaime Miller reported that the next magazine deadline will be December 31.
Historian Report
No report was given.
Fire Funeral Team report
No report was given as Harriett is assisting with a LODD.
EMS Funeral Team report
Greg Wright reported they have had two non-LODD call-outs. They now have a team and trailer in region 9.
Greg reported that he went to Kentucky in October to learn more about covid and PSOB benefits. The current PSOB benefit for a LODD is $389k.
The 2021 conference went very well with the largest number of registrations. They are no longer having a charity golf tournament but will now be selling challenge coins as a fundraiser.
The annual conference is scheduled for October 14-16, 2022, at the lake and they will also be having a national honor guard academy.
Foundation report
Keith Smith reported that they held a board meeting two weeks ago and the next meeting will be in January. They are working on a list of suggestions for the next memorial.
The October service honored 10 LODD and 64 non-LODD. The 2022 memorial service will be held May 21-22.
The picnic shelter is done. 300’ of brush along I-70 has been removed. The inside of the museum has been painted. WSKF Architects is waiting on a memorandum of understanding to finalize the interior design and then they will send it to contractors.
If you are wanting to purchase a kneeling firefighter statue, do it now as the price is increasing in 2022.
President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 10:55 a.m.
FFAM
