F.F.A.M.

Meeting Minutes – May 2023

April 2, 2023 • Sedalia, Missouri • Secretary/Treasurer Jaime Miller Draft • Final Approval at Next Meeting

President Larry Jennings called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fire Fighters Association of Missouri to order at 9:00 am Sunday, April 2, 2023, at the Missouri State Fair Volunteer 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; 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 5, Terry Plumb, Southern Stone FPD; District 6, Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; District 7, RB Brown, Union FPD; District 10, Greg Brown (V), Eureka FPD; District 11, Billy Smith, North Central Carroll Co FPD.

Assistant Directors
District 1, Janet Cain, Shoal Creek FPD; District 2, Vernon Cash, Shelbina FPD; District 3, Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 6, Alan Braun, Cole County FPD; District 10, Harriett Vaucher (V), Eureka FPD; District 11, Josh Koepke (V), Kansas City FD.

Others
Past President Ken Hoover, Little Dixie Fire Protection District.

Guests
Gail Hagans, David Hedrick, Harry Ward, University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Larry Eggen, Cameron Lauber, Andrew Rotter, Benjamin Burd, Johnson County FPD; Tim Bean, Missouri Division Fire Safety; Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; Roy Pennington, Pettis County Ambulance; Brian Smiley, Galt FPD; Brian Zinanni (V), Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistant Team.

*(V) denotes Virtual Attendance

Agenda
President Jennings asked for additions to the agenda. Gary Berendzen moved to accept the agenda as presented. Greg Wright seconded the motion and all approved.

Minutes
President Jennings asked for approval of the February 12, 2023, meeting minutes. Gary Berendzen to accept the February 12, 2023 minutes as presented. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.

Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the January-February 2023 financial report. Terry Wynne moved to accept the financial report presented. Gary Berendzen seconded the motion and all approved.

Report of Officers and Special Guest(s):
Harry Ward with the University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute reported they are currently working through the budget process for the upcoming fiscal year. Summer Fire School will be June 7-11 in Columbia. If you request a SIMS class, make sure that your broadband will support it. It takes a lot of bandwidth.

Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reported that things are going well. May 18 will be the final week for legislation.

The budget is looking good so far. They are asking for $200k more for firefighter training. If you know your legislator, reach out to them to support extra funding.

The 2023 Firefighter Day at the Capitol will be April 12 beginning at 11:00 am at the Division of Fire Safety. He reached out to high school fire science programs and encouraged those kids interested in the fire service to attend.

The bill regarding state employment residency requirements is making good progress.

Correspondence
None.

Old Business
No old business was presented.

New Business
President Jennings requested that Directors look at their Assistants and committee chairs look at their specific committees and make sure everyone is participating and working effectively.

Keith Smith, representing the Fire Fighters Memorial Foundation, opened a discussion regarding the completion of phase 1 of the museum project which includes utilities, restrooms and the lobby. Due to increasing costs of materials since covid, it is now estimated at $1.1 million to complete the inside of the building. This is an increase from the original $650k – $700k estimate pre-covid. In order to complete phase 1, at a cost of $210k, the Foundation is requesting $100k from FFAM as either a loan or donation to complete this portion.

The FFAM pledged $250k towards the project several years ago and $100k has already been donated. The Foundation does have the other $110k needed for phase 1.

Discussion followed. Rex Reynolds moved to give $100k to the Fire Fighters Memorial Foundation for the museum project phase 1. RB Brown seconded the motion and all approved.

Committee Reports

Awards Committee
Charlie Peel reported that several nominations were received, and letters were sent out this week.

Budget Committee
No report was given.

Bylaws Committee
Rex Reynolds reported that the committee does get a lot of requests for changes. He reminded everyone to make sure those requests are to benefit the organization and not a personal issue.

Chaplain Committee
David Hedrick reported the MFCC Annual Training Session and Meeting is scheduled for September 11-12, 2023, at the Green County EOC, Springfield, MO. The two classes scheduled will be Essentials of Fire Chaplaincy 101, and Pastoral Crisis Intervention. He also asked for prayers for the Mansfield firefighter who was killed in a traffic accident as well as a Mansfield police officer who was injured. If you have any questions, please contact MFCC Secretary/Treasurer Ed Hatcher at edhat@earthlink.net.

Contest Committee
Gary Berendzen reminded teams to get registrations in by the Wednesday prior to convention. He is requesting directors and assistant directors to help with the contest. New nozzles and a new generator have been purchased and the trailer is going into the shop for maintenance prior to convention.

Convention Committee
Charlie Peel reported that more hotel rooms have been secured at neighboring hotels. Jaime Miller encouraged everyone to get their registrations in as soon as possible.
Grant Oetting reported that he went to Springfield last week and met with several vendors regarding discounts to area attractions. Springfield FD will be bringing their Honor Guard.

President Jennings advised that no one has signed up to host the 2024 convention so talk to your local departments to see who would be interested.

Education Committee
Gail Hagans reported that the group met this week and discussed Summer Fire School scholarships. They will be choosing from MFA grant non-winners.

There are 10 registered for the board class at convention.

Four Winter Fire School scholarships will be given later in the year.

Fire Prevention Committee
RB Brown reported that the poster deadline has been moved to Saturday at noon instead of Friday night. The new theme is Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.

Legislative Committee
Greg Brown reported that the legislation is moving along well. There is a debate on the budget in the House this week. He will be testifying this week regarding SB24 pertaining to firefighter behavioral health and the critical illness pool.

The bill on personal property tax is stuck in fiscal review. It doesn’t seem to be moving forward. They are continuing to monitor HB962 regarding a home inspection.

Everyone is encouraged to read the weekly legislative reports that are sent out to be aware of what is going on.

Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 474 Directors/Councilman; 431 Retired; 10 Associate; 12 Sustaining; 22 Corporate, 326 Fire Departments; 5969 Active; 1 Educational Entity; 5 Educational Active; 115 Juniors; 2 EMS Department, 150 EMS individuals; 0 911 Entity; 0 911 individuals.

He attended the MO Chiefs conference at the end of February and had a lot of interest shown. He will be attending the Missouri Association of Fire Districts conference June 23-24 and the Revolutionary Fire Tactics conference July 28-30.

David Woodward with RFT would like the State Fair BBQ team to cook during their event. Discussion followed. Terry Plumb moved to allow the State Fair BBQ team to cook during Revolutionary Fire Tactics in July at no cost to the FFAM. Gary Berendzen seconded the motion and all approved.

Jaime Miller presented a request to give Honorary Membership to Robert Pauly who maintains the St. Louis fire museum.
Discussion followed. Greg Brown moved to present Robert Pauly with Honorary Membership. Rex Reynolds seconded the motion and all approved.

Nomination Committee
Ken Hoover reported nominations for open positions have ceased.

NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported he will be attending the spring meeting May 19-21 in Arlington, VA. He is on the nominating committee and all the executive committee is up for reelection. NVFC is coming to Kansas City in 2024.

Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen reported that several applications were received.
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. Applications are due June 1. Work weekends will be 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 April 17.

Historian report
No report was given.

Fire Funeral Team report
Brian Zinanni offered his condolences to the Mansfield FD. The team is completing a major upgrade to the team trailers which will include new radios.

EMS Funeral Team report
Greg Wright reported the team has had two non-LODD in Missouri and one non-LODD in Illinois call-outs since the last meeting. The Missouri Funeral Directors conference will be May 21-23.

The 2023 EMS convention will be held October 13-15, 2023, at Lake of the Ozarks.

Foundation report
Keith Smith reported that they are not going to accept non-LODD for 2023 for the 2023 services. The cut-off date for non-LODD will be December 31, 2022.

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.

President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 11:15 am.