President Larry Jennings called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fire Fighters Association of Missouri to order at 9:00 am on Sunday, February 11, 2024, 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 (V), 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 3 Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 5 Terry Plumb (V), Southern Stone FPD; District 6 Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; District 7 RB Brown, Union FD; District 9 Kurt Wilbanks (V), West Plains FD; District 10 Greg Brown, Eureka FPD.
Assistant Directors
District 1, Janet Cain, Shoal Creek FPD; District 3, Josh Loyd, Martinsburg Area FPD; District 4, Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 5 Dylan Honea (V), Southern Stone FPD; District 5 Shelby Honea (V), Southern Stone FPD; District 6 Alan Braun, Cole County FPD; District 7 Andrew Caldwell, Boles FPD; District 11 Kris White, Mayview FPD; District 14 Kyler Oliver, Rosendale FPD.
Guests
Gail Hagans, Harry Ward, David Hedrick (V) – University of Missouri Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Tim Bean (V), Missouri Division of Fire Safety; Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; Cameron Lauber, Kegan Wilson, Johnson County FPD; Roy Pennington, Pettis County Ambulance; Roger Meyers, Concordia FPD.
*(V) denotes Virtual Attendance
Agenda
President Jennings asked for additions to the agenda. No additions were made.
Minutes
President Jennings asked for additions or corrections to the December 3, 2023, meeting minutes.
Rob Erdel moved to accept the minutes as presented. A vote was held, and the motion was approved.
Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the November/December 2023 financial report. Discussion was held and the board advised to file the report for the annual compilation.
Report of Officers and Special Guest(s):
Harry Ward with the University of Missouri Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute (MU FRTI) reported that Winter Fire School was held last week. There were 940 in attendance representing seven states. They received great feedback from the vendors who attended the expo. There were several dignitaries who attended. Missouri Fire Chiefs had a booth and MU Extension Interim Vice Chancellor Chad Higgins also attended.
Summer Fire School will be from May 29 – June 2. They are bringing back wildland classes.
The Fire Service Enhancement Leadership Program started in January. There are 24 signed up.
Spring classes are filling up fast so if you are interested in training, contact the Division of Fire Safety.
The advisory council met in January. There are two new members, Travis Gregory and Nathan Manuelly.
Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety thanked MU FRTI for a great Winter Fire School.
There is $500k available in the state training budget. Please take advantage of the funding available for training. Contact DFS if interested in applying for this funding.
Reach out to your local legislators. They have been supportive of the Missouri Fire Service with these training funds and it is important for them to know the continued need for this funding.
March 26 is Firefighters Day at the Capitol. The theme is Women in Fire.
Legislators are back in session and the DFS budget is good. He will be presenting it to the House tomorrow.
The National Association of Fire Marshals will be in Kansas City July 29-31. The event will be open to the public.
NFPA has recently changed the fire investigation course which will now be 80 hours.
District reports
District 1 – no report given.
District 2 – no report given.
District 3 – Rob Erdel reported that emails were sent to the departments in District 3. Both Assistant Directors have also made several contacts.
District 4 – Jonathan Evans reported that he had met with several departments including assisting with an eyeglass claim. He assisted at the WFS booth. Joe Vaughn also submitted contact forms for several departments.
District 5 – Dylan Honea reported that he attended the Tri-Lakes Chiefs Association meeting and met with five departments. Terry Plumb reported that he spoke with Hurley and Aurora and provided literature.
Dylan also advised that Silver Dollar City will be holding a grand opening event for their new Fire in the Hole ride. More information to follow.
District 6 – Gary Berendzen reported that he and the two Assistant Directors split their district and have made several department contacts as well as plans to attend area chief’s meetings.
District 7 – RB Brown reported that several contacts have been made and he is looking for a second Assistant Director.
District 9 – Kurt Wilbanks reported that he has contacted several departments in Howell County. He sent emails to all departments in his area but due to the large amount of turnover, much of our contact information is not current.
District 10 – Greg Brown reported that he met with Fenton and several other departments with some interest. He is still waiting to hear back from the IAFF council.
District 11 – Kris White reported that they split the district into 3 areas between the Director and Assistant Directors. They did gain a new membership with Lone Jack.
District 12 – no report given.
District 14 – Kyler Oliver reported that he attended the Nodaway County Chiefs Association meeting.
Rick Dozier has contacted several other departments.
Correspondence
No report was given.
Old Business
Nothing to report.
New Business
President Jennings advised there are two vacancies on the memorial foundation. Reach out to him prior to March if you are interested in filling a vacancy.
Charlie Peel presented a proposal for new district boundaries. Discussion followed. Everyone was advised to review and present any questions to the Executive Committee before the April meeting.
President Jennings advised that District 6 Director Gary Berendzen has submitted his resignation.
He will be visiting with the Assistant Directors regarding the position. Berendzen has also submitted his resignation as the Contest Committee Chairman. If anyone is interested in that position, please let him know.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
Charlie Peel reported they are working on the bell for the Sayer award.
Budget Committee
No report was given.
Bylaws Committee
Jonathan Evans presented several proposed bylaw changes.
Discussion followed. The committee will review the suggestions and the proposed changes will be posted on the website for review before the convention.
Chaplain Committee
David Hedrick reported that the Fire Chaplains Conference dates have been set for 2024. Missouri Fire Chaplains Corp will be conducting their Annual Conference in Jefferson City on Sept. 9-10, 2024. For more information contact MFCC Secretary Ed Hatcher at edhat@earthlink.net. The Federation of Fire Chaplains will hold its Annual Conference in Annapolis, MD, Oct. 21-24, 2024. For more information see the FFC website.
Contest Committee
No report was given.
Convention Committee
Josh Loyd reported that the convention will be May 17 – 19, 2024 at the Lodge of the Four Seasons in Lake Ozark. Links for registration and hotel are ready and will be sent out this week.
Education Committee
Gail Hagans reported that the Missouri Propane class will be at the Missouri State Fair Fire Department in Sedalia from March 24 – 25. Contact Larry Eggen if you want to stay at the fire station.
Fire Prevention Committee
Andrew Caldwell advised that posters will be accepted until 10:00 am on May 18. The theme is Cooking safety starts with YOU.
Pay attention to fire prevention.
2024 Fire Prevention Week is October 6-12.
Legislative Committee
Greg Brown reported that week six has wrapped up. The House is working on several things including the Federal Reimbursement Act for EMS, fireworks reform legislation, and HB1769 Firefighter bill of rights.
They are working on additional funding for the critical illness pool and continuing to build on mental health injuries. This will roll out later this year. They are also working on a process where individuals could join the critical illness pool without a department being a member if they are a member of a “sponsoring” agency. This is still being discussed. Anyone can use the information and training available on the website without being a member. There are currently 3,240 firefighters covered in the pool through 96 agencies.
Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 352 Directors/Councilman; 353 Retired; 7 Associate; 4 Sustaining; 11 Corporate, 272 Fire Departments; 4815 Active; 2 Educational Entities; 5 Educational Active; 102 Juniors; 4 EMS Department, 107 EMS individuals; 0 911 Entity; 0 911 individuals.
Oetting reported that he will be attending the MO Chiefs conference in Branson in late February. He will also be attending the Missouri Association of Fire Districts conference in June and the JeffCo Engine Rally in September.
Nomination Committee
Ken Hoover reported the following district director positions are up for election in May: Districts 4, 5, 6, 9, 10. Contact him if interested.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that the NVFC fall meeting will be September 18-20 in Kansas City. His full report will be available in the next magazine.
Scholarship Committee
The scholarship deadline is February 28.
State Fair Committee
RB Brown reported that there was a water leak in the laundry room and restroom. The state fixed the issue. The fair will be August 8-18. Applications are available online and work dates will be announced later.
Website Committee
No report was given.
Magazine
Jaime Miller reported that the next magazine deadline will be February 28.
Historian report
Theresa Cox asked that anyone with donation items, please bring them to the next meeting.
Fire Funeral Team report
No report was given.
EMS Funeral Team report
Jaime Miller reported on behalf of Greg Wright that the team has responded to 3 non-LODD services since the last meeting, including our board president Paramedic Kevin Cash. The annual funeral teams conference at Camden at the Lake in Osage Beach is set for October 11-13. Registration starts May 1. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Barry Young, Chaplain Independence Missouri Police Department. All are welcome to attend. They will hold a fundraiser on that Friday-The Tom G Yates Boggie classic golf outing at the Bear Creek golf course in Osage Beach Mo. More to come on both.
Foundation report
Keith Smith advised that his report will be available in the next magazine.
President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 11:10 am.
FFAM
