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, February 12, 2023, 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 Charlie Peel, Southeastern Randolph FPD; Secretary-Treasurer Jaime Miller, Johnson County FPD #2; Sergeant-at-Arms Rex Reynolds (V), Southern FPD of Holt County.
Directors
District 1, Terry Wynne, Galt FPD; District 2, Greg Wright, Shelbina FD; 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 9, Kurt Wilbanks (V), West Plains FD; District 10, Greg Brown, Eureka FPD; District 11, Billy Smith, North Central Carroll Co FPD; District 12, Rob Francis (V), Fruitland Area FPD; District 14, Rick Dozier, Southern FPD of Holt County.
Assistant Directors
District 1, Janet Cain, Shoal Creek FPD; District 2, Vernon Cash, Shelbina FPD; District 3, Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 3, Josh Loyd, Martinsburg Area FPD; District 4, Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 5, Dylan Honea, Southern Stone FPD; District 6, Alan Braun (V), Cole County FPD; District 7, Andrew Caldwell (V), Boles PFD; District 11, Kris White, Mayview FPD.
Others
Past President Ken Hoover, Little Dixie Fire Protection District.
Guests
Gail Hagans (V), David Hedrick (V), University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Larry Eggen, Kegan Wilson, Johnson County FPD; Ed Daugherty, Chillicothe FD; Chris Thompson, Holts Summit FPD; Tim Bean (V), Missouri Division Fire Safety; Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; Dylan Farrell, Union FPD; Blake Beahler, Cosby Helena FPD; Doc Kritzer, Fire Fighters Memorial Foundation; Shawn Ritchie, Gravois FPD; Roger Meyers, Concordia FPD; Roy Pennington, Pettis County Ambulance.
*(V) denotes Virtual Attendance
Agenda
President Jennings 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 Jennings asked for approval of the December 4, 2022, meeting minutes. Rick Dozier to accept the December 4, 2022, minutes as presented. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.
Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the November – December 2022 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 (MU FRTI) reported Winter Fire School was well attended. 87 counties were reached with over 700 attendees. The vendor expo had 88 companies in attendance.
Thank you to the FFAM Directors who assisted in grading the MFA grant applications. $50k was awarded through 29 grants.
A $75k grant was awarded to MU FRTI for computers and programs for a virtual reality pilot program for classes.
Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reported that the budget is looking good and the legislators are working well on current issues. There will be statute changes relating to fireworks.
Fire department registrations are due now and are required by state statute.
The 2023 Firefighter’s Day at the Capitol will be April 12.
Discussion was held on the three-year residency requirement for employment with the state of Missouri and how that is affecting potential employees seeking employment with the DFS. Get to know your legislators and encourage them to change this legislation.
Correspondence
None.
Old Business
No old business was presented.
New Business
President Jennings reported that Gary Berendzen has requested the appointment of Shawn Ritchie with Gravois Fire Protection District to serve as Assistant Director for District 6. RB Brown moved to appoint Shawn Ritchie as District 6 Assistant Director. Billy Smith seconded the motion and all approved.
President Jennings reported that Joe Vaughn has recommended Chris Thompson to fill the vacant position on the Awards Committee. Rick Dozier moved to appoint Chris Thompson to the Awards Committee. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
Joe Vaugh reported that the award nomination deadline is February 28.
Budget Committee
No report was given.
Bylaws Committee
No report given.
Chaplain Committee
David Hedrick reported the MFCC Annual Training Session and Meeting, is scheduled for September 11 and 12, 2023, at the Green County EOC, Springfield, MO. The two classes scheduled will be Essentials of Fire Chaplaincy 101, and Pastoral Crisis Intervention. A reminder to members that the 2023 dues are currently due. If you have any questions, please contact MFCC Secretary/Treasurer Ed Hatcher at edhat@earthlink.net.
The MFCC has a new website, please visit: missourifirechaplaincorps.org.
Contest Committee
Gary Berendzen reminded teams to get registrations in by the Wednesday before the convention. The committee is getting pricing on nozzles and a new generator.
Convention Committee
Charlie Peel reported that we have received several verbal commitments for sponsorships. Directors are encouraged to get sponsorships in their areas.
Education Committee
Kurt Wilbanks reported that the four winter fire school scholarship recipients did attend training.
Fire Prevention Committee
Andrew Caldwell reported that the poster deadline has been moved to Saturday morning of the convention instead of Friday night. The new theme is “Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape”.
Legislative Committee
Greg Brown reported that the legislation just finished week 6. SB 24 pertaining to behavioral health is out of committee. The personal property tax bill is still in the works.
There are a number of bills dealing with re-occupancy inspections. HB 625, HB 580 and HB 962 are being watched closely. The budget process is going well. They are looking at volunteer departments and volunteer firefighter incentives or funding to help to try to retain firefighters. Look for his weekly emailed reports for detailed information each week.
Membership Committee
Jaime Miller reported the following membership counts: 356 Directors/Councilman; 347 Retired; 7 Associate; 8 Sustaining; 12 Corporate, 284 Fire Departments; 4560 Active; 1 Educational Entity; 5 Educational Active; 91 Juniors; 2 EMS Department, 91 EMS individuals; 0 911 Entity; 0 911 individuals.
Nomination Committee
Ken Hoover reported that the following positions are up for election at the 2023 convention. 1st Vice Present, Secretary/Treasurer, Sergeant-at-Arms, District 1, District 3, District 7, District 11 and District 14. If you are interested in filling one of these positions, contact him.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that NVFC is working a lot on training and program development. There are also several grant opportunities for behavioral health. He will provide more information in his upcoming magazine article.
Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen reported that the deadline for scholarships is February 28, 2023.
State Fair Committee
RB Brown reported that the 2023 Missouri State Fair is August 10 – 20. Applications for firefighters who would like to attend are available on the FFAM website.
They will have work weekends on June 23-25, July 7-9, July 21-23, and August 4-6.
Website Committee
No report was given.
Magazine
Jaime Miller reported that the next magazine deadline will be February 20. There is a three-week turnaround for the printer at this time so deadlines have been moved up in order to allow the magazine to be sent out timely.
Historian report
No report was given.
Fire Funeral Team report
No report was given.
EMS Funeral Team report
Greg Wright reported the team has had one non-LODD and four non-LODD callouts since the last meeting. The 2023 convention will be held October 13-15, 2023, at Lake of the Ozarks. The team is now expanding to Illinois.
Foundation report
Keith Smith reported that a retired firefighter donated a large number of memorabilia to the museum.
The 2023 memorial services will be on October 7 and 8.
The candlelight service on October 7 will now begin at 7:00 pm instead of 9:00 pm. They are facing a large administrative challenge at this time as there have been 50 non-LODD names missed since covid. There are 80 non-LODD so far for this year.
They received $1500 from the COMO gives program.
They are meeting with a possible general contractor in the near future and are still working on a bid to complete the inside.
The goal is to first complete the utilities and restrooms so the building is functional.
President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 10:20 am.
FFAM
