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, August 4, 2024, at the Missouri State Fair Volunteer Fire Department in Sedalia, Missouri. 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.
Directors
District 1, Terry Wynne, Galt FPD; District 3, Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 4, Joe Vaughn, Central Cass Co FPD; District 5, Terry Plumb, Southern Stone FPD; District 6, Shawn Ritchie, Gravois FPD; District 7, RB Brown, Union FD; District 10, Greg Brown, Eureka FPD; District 11, Billy Smith, North Central Carroll Co FPD; District 12, Rob Francis, Fruitland Area FPD (V); District 14, Rick Dozier, Southern FPD of Holt County.
Assistant Directors
District 1, Janet Cain, Shoal Creek FPD; District 3, Dale Ransdell, Madison West Monroe FPD; District 4, Jonathan Evans, Lincoln FD; District 5, Dylan Honea, Southern Stone FPD; District 5, Shelby Honea, Southern Stone FPD; District 7, Andrew Caldwell, Boles FPD; District 11, Josh Koepke, Kansas City FD.
Guests
Gail Hagans, Tracy Gray, University of Missouri Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Tim Bean, Missouri Division of Fire Safety; Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; Kenneth Hoover, Little Dixie FPD; Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; Larry Eggen, Brandon Cole, Cameron Lauber, Johnson County FPD; Doc Kritzer, Fulton, MO; Mathaniel Mullins, Quad County FD; Roger Brown, Milan FD; Matt Snorgrass, Calhoun Vol FD; Mark Arnold, Thayer Rural FD; Mike McNeill, Moreau FPD; Greg Wright, Retired; Deidre Batliner, Gravois FPD; Kylie Frerking, Concordia FPD; Jason Deitch, Carrollton FD; Logan Neer, Lexington FR; Roy Pennington, Pettis Co Ambulance.
*(V) denotes Virtual Attendance
Agenda
President Jennings asked for additions to the agenda. No additions were made.
Minutes
The 2024 convention minutes will be presented for approval at the 2025 convention.
Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the May-June 2024 financial report. Discussion was held and the board advised to file the report for the annual compilation.
Report of Officers and Special Guest(s):
Gail Hagans with the University of Missouri Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute reported that they ended the fiscal year with almost 600 classes and 10,500 students. There are lots of classes already scheduled for the new year. Tracy Gray advised that they are meeting with fire service organizations to get feedback on the annual Summer Fire School. Enrollment has been declining and they are wanting feedback on how to get attendance up. Please reach out to him if you have suggestions.
Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reported that the new budget year started July 1. There are lots of new legislators coming to Jefferson City so get to know your legislators.
District reports
District 1
Terry Wynne reported that there are four new departments coming on board.
District 2
No report given.
District 3
No report given.
District 4
Joe Vaughn reported that he and Jonathan Evans attended two retirement ceremonies and a recognition ceremony, and they also assisted with the fire marshals conference in Kansas City.
District 5
No report given.
District 6
Shawn Ritchie reported that they have a new department coming on board.
District 7
RB Brown reported that he has been in contact with several new departments.
District 9
No report given.
District 10
Greg Brown reported that they assisted with two LODD funerals in their area.
District 11
Billy Smith reported that they have been reaching out to several departments.
District 12
Rob Francis reported that he attended two regional meetings.
District 14
Rick Dozier reported they have met with St Joseph FD and Maysville FD.
Correspondence
No report given.
Old Business
Aaron DeBuhr with Image Mark Advertising presented the new recruitment/retention video. Jaime Miller advised that it would be available on the website and each director and assistant director would receive a flash drive with the video.
New Business
President Jennings recommended that Jonathan Evans serve as the Sergeant-at-Arms until the next election. Billy Smith moved to appoint Jonathan Evans as the Sergeant-at-Arms until the next election. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.
President Jennings advised that with the retirement of Kurt Wilbanks, there is an opening on the Education Committee. He is recommending that Josh Koepke be appointed as chair of the committee and Shawn Ritchie fill the vacant position. Rick Dozier moved to appoint Josh Koepke as chair of the Education Committee. Joe Vaughn seconded the motion and all approved. Rick Dozier moved to appoint Shawn Ritchie to the Education Committee. Joe Vaughn seconded the motion and all approved.
President Jennings advised he would like to remove Charlie Peel from the Awards Committee. Terry Wynne moved to remove Charlie Peel from the Awards Committee. Grant Oetting seconded the motion and all approved.
President Jennings advised that with the retirement of Greg Brown later this year, he is recommending the appointment of Charlie Peel to the Legislative Committee. Rick Dozier moved to appoint Charlie Peel to the Legislative Committee. Joe Vaughn seconded the motion and all approved.
Discussion was held on several open positions for director and assistant director.
Billy Smith moved to appoint Blake Callen – Grundy County FPD as District 1 Assistant Director. Charlie Peel seconded the motion and all approved.
Charlie Peel moved to remove Jonathan Evans as District 4 Assistant Director. Joe Vaughn seconded the motion and all approved.
Rick Dozier moved to appoint Kylie Frerking of the Warrensburg FD/Concordia FPD as District 4 Assistant Director. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.
Terry Plumb moved to appoint Brandon Cole of the Calhoun FD as District 4 Assistant Director. RB Brown seconded the motion and all approved.
Grant Oetting moved to appoint Mike McNeill of the Moreau FPD as District 6 Assistant Director. RB Brown seconded the motion and all approved.
RB Brown moved to appoint Robert Floyd – El Dorado Springs FD as District 8 Director. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.
Rick Dozier moved to appoint Mark Arnold of the Thayer FD as District 9 Director. Charlie Peel seconded the motion and all approved.
Joe Vaughn moved to appoint Chris Sterner of the West Plains FD as District 9 Assistant Director. Rob Erdel seconded the motion and all approved.
President Jennings advised he is looking for recommendations for a new District 10 Director to fill the position later this year.
President Jennings received a request from the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks to support their movement against new regulations. Discussion followed and the board chose to take no action
President Jennings reported that work on individual memberships with the Critical Illness Pool through FFAM is still in the works and information will be available later this year.
President Jennings advised that FFAM, MO Chiefs and MAFPD partnered and released a joint letter to the Missouri Fire Service regarding the proposed OSHA rule changes. The proposed changes don’t affect Missouri at this time, but it is unclear where it is headed.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
Joe Vaughn reported that 32 department grant applications were received, and four grants were awarded to Skyline, Dadeville, New Florence and Moberly.
He also presented estimates for a two-tier bust for the Phil Sayer Award traveling trophy for a total of $1,856.91. Discussion followed. Terry Plumb moved to accept the bid received from Stone Laser Imaging and Liberty Artworks and to reimburse Joe Vaughn for the deposit he made to the project. Mark Arnold seconded the motion and all approved.
Budget Committee
Charlie Peel advised that budget requests for 2025 are due September 18.
Bylaws Committee
No report was given.
Chaplain Committee
Jaime Miller presented on behalf of Dave Hedrick. There has been a change in the Missouri Fire Chaplains Annual Conference. The meeting and training sessions will be conducted at Rock Community Fire Protection District in Arnold, MO on September 9-10, 2024. Participants will be able to choose between one of two courses, Essentials of Fire Chaplaincy for new chaplains, or Crisis Informed Peer Para-Counseling. The cost is $100 for MFCC members and $125 for non-members. A limited number of scholarships are available. Additional information will be sent out shortly. For more information contact MFCC Secretary Ed Hatcher at edhat@earthlink.net.
The Midwest Chaplain Network will be hosting a Fall Summit on September 7, 2024, in Kansas City, MO. For more information visit their website at: mwcn.online/events.
The National Federation of Fire Chaplains Annual Conference will be held in Annapolis, Maryland, October 24-31, 2024. More information is available at ffc.wildapricot.org/.
Contest Committee
Rob Erdel reported that the grounds have been secured for the 2025 contest.
Convention Committee
Dylan Honea reported that the 2025 convention will be May 2-4 at Chateau on the Lake. He is finalizing the sponsorship package and will send out information when it becomes available.
Education Committee
No report was given.
Fire Prevention Committee
Andrew Caldwell reported that there has been a change in the rules. There is no longer a paper thickness requirement. He also advised that submitted posters need to be using the correct label. There will be one winner attending the state fair. Fire Prevention Week is October 6-12 and the theme is Smoke Alarms: Make them work for you!
Legislative Committee
Greg Brown reported that there are several strong supporters of the fire service running in the election, so he encouraged everyone to go vote on Tuesday and in November. August 15 will be Legislators Day at the State Fair.
If you have any issues in regard to next year’s legislative session, bring them to the committee so they can address them with the Missouri Fire Service Alliance.
Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 524 Directors/Councilman; 435 Retired; 21 Associate; 9 Sustaining; 16 Corporate, 349 Fire Departments; 6644 Active; 3 Educational Entities; 9 Educational Active; 161 Juniors; 6 EMS Department, 183 EMS individuals; 0 911 Entity; 0 911 individuals.
Oetting reported that he attended the MAFPD conference and Billy Smith attended the Independence Fire Fest. Representatives will be attending the Jeff Co Engine Rally in September.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that there will be a public hearing process on November 11 regarding the OSHA proposals.
The NVFC fall meeting in Kansas City will be September 18-20. FFAM has helped in arranging transportation for the event and Larry Jennings and Tim Bean will be opening the meeting.
Nomination Committee
Ken Hoover reported the following district director positions are up for election in 2025: Districts 2, 6, 8, 12 as well as President and 2nd Vice President. Contact him if interested.
Public Relations Committee
Jaime Miller advised that the next magazine deadline is August 30.
Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen advised that the scholarship deadline is February 28.
State Fair Committee
Larry Eggen advised that they will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of FFAM at the fair on August 10 with dinner for all past and present FFAM members beginning at 5:00 pm. The MSFFD is also being recognized in the fair book schedule of events.
RB Brown reported that 40 new people are coming to the MSFFD this year. They also hosted a critical illness training course at the station last week.
Brown also reported that he has been meeting with a project manager and architect regarding the fire station renovations. After discussion it was determined that the allotted funds by the state were not sufficient for the renovations needed so through many efforts and contacts with legislators, Governor Parson signed a bill allocating $4.635 million for the construction of a new fire station on the fairgrounds.
Historian report
No report was given.
Fire Funeral Team report
Charlie Peel thanked the team for their assistance during a funeral in his area. Tim Bean reported that the team has been involved with several callouts in the last month. The state also allocated $20k in the budget for the team.
EMS Funeral Team report
Greg Wright reported that the team has responded to 6 non-LODD services since the last meeting. They also attended the Serving Heroes conference and the Supporting Heroes gala. Raffle tickets are still available for the EMS conference in October which will be held October 11-13. Over 100 firefighters, EMS and law enforcement will be honored. The primary training topic this year will be logistics.
Foundation report
Larry Eggen presented Keith Smith with a check for the $70 for 70 years donation campaign.
Keith Smith reported there will be a foundation meeting today as they continue to prepare for the October services. There will be 3 LODD names this year. Operation BBQ Relief will be serving lunch on Sunday after the services. The Sunday speaker is a survivor. Due to some work in through the city of Kingdom City, there are now additional parking spaces available at the memorial.
The Field of Flags fundraiser is open. Contact Gail Hagans for more information.
The charity BBQ contest has been canceled due to a lack of “sponsors” (BBQ teams).
The new website is working well.
President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 11:25 am.
FFAM
