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, December 1, 2024, at the Missouri State Fair Fire Department, 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 FD; Secretary-Treasurer Jaime Miller, Johnson County FPD #2; Sergeant-at-Arms Jonathan Evans, Lincoln Comm FD (V).
Directors
District 2, Vernon Cash, Shelbina FPD; District 3, Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 5, Terry Plumb, Southern Stone FPD; District 8, Bob Floyd, El Dorado Springs FD; District 9, Mark Arnold, Thayer Rural FD; District 11, Billy Smith, North Central Carroll Co FPD; 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 3, Josh Loyd, Martinsburg Area FPD; District 4, Kylie Frerking, Concordia FPD; District 4, Brandon Cole, Johnson County FPD; District 6, Mike McNeill, Moreau FPD; District 11, Josh Koepke, Kansas City FD.
Guests
Harry Ward, Dave Hedrick, Gail Hagans, University of Missouri Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute (MU FRTI); Tim Bean, Missouri Division of Fire Safety (MO DFS) (V); Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; Larry Eggen, Johnson County FPD; Ed Daugherty, Chillicothe FD; David Miller, Johnson County FPD #2; Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; Doc Kritzer, Memorial Foundation (V).
*(V) denotes Virtual Attendance
Agenda
President Jennings asked for additions to the agenda. No additions were made.
Minutes
Present Jennings asked for a review of the September 29, 2024, meeting minutes. Rob Erdel moved to accept the minutes as presented. Rick Dozier seconded the motion and all approved.
Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the September/October 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):
Harry Ward with the University of Missouri Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute (MU FRTI) reported that there is a new updated online hazmat awareness course. It also now has a skill to complete which you can then take to the Division of Fire Safety for certification.
He reported that the VR system has been updated with lots of new simulations. You can apply for a class through DFS.
They have been working with Mike McCord in Independence trying to upgrade the confined space industrial program.
They have one more pilot program for Instructor 3 and then it will be ready to go out.
They completed maintenance on the trailers and training props over the summer. They do have one trailer for sale on govdeals.com.
Gail Hagans reported that the MFA grant grading will start tomorrow. District Directors will be scoring so make good comments. Grading is due by December 13. MU FRTI, FFAM, MFA and DFS will complete the final grading on December 19.
Winter Fire School registration opens this week.
Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reported that they are preparing for the transition of the new government in January. There are 50 new legislators coming to the House and 14+ new Senators.
The chief deputy in elevator and amusement rides is retiring. The job opening has been posted on the DFS website. There is also an opening in the boiler unit in the St. Louis region. Rolla Fire Chief Jeff Breen is now the Region I Coordinator. Rich Stirts is stepping down as the Region D Coordinator and Travis Trent with Logan-Rogersville FPD will be replacing him. Greg Brown has retired as the Region C Coordinator and Jim Silvernail will be replacing him. There is also a fire investigator job opening in Region G.
They have lots of classes being requested and not many funds left available. He advised to keep requesting classes to show legislators there is a continued need for training funding.
District reports
District 2
Vernon Cash reported that he attended the Region B chiefs meeting.
District 5
Terry Plumb advised to contact Dylan Honea with any convention questions.
District 6
Mike McNell thanked everyone for their support after the recent loss of his wife.
District 8
Bob Floyd reported that he has been meeting with departments in his area and is also taking with a couple of people about the Assistant Director position.
District 9
Mark Arnold reported that he met with departments in Douglas County and attended the Skyline FD open house.
District 11
Billy Smith reported he recently met with Mendon FD Assistant Chief. Josh Koepke reported that he has a meeting scheduled with the KCFD union and Central Platte FPD.
District 14
Rick Dozier reported that he attended the Cosby Helena FPD fundraiser, and he has a meeting scheduled with Maitland FD.
Correspondence
None
Old Business
Discussion was held regarding a future dues increase and any feedback that the Directors received from their areas. Discussion was also held on the dues of the surrounding state associations and what benefits are offered. Further research will be done regarding what additional benefits could be offered.
New Business
President Jennings advised he received a recommendation to appoint Brooke Herrin with Randolph County Ambulance District to the Awards Committee. Rick Dozier moved to appoint Brooke Herrin to the Awards Committee. Terry Plumb seconded the motion and all approved.
The 2025 proposed budget was presented. Discussion followed. Charlie Peel moved to accept the budget as presented. Rob Erdel seconded the motion and all approved.
The 2023 compilation report from Gillum & Gillum CPA was presented. Discussion followed. Charlie Peel moved to accept the report as presented. Rick Dozier seconded the motion and all approved.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
Charlie Peel reminded everyone the deadline for award nominations is February 28. Stone Laser Imaging is still working on the Phil Sayer Award trophy.
Budget Committee
No report was given.
Bylaws Committee
No report was given.
Chaplain Committee
Dave Hedrick reported that the Missouri Fire Chaplains Corp will conduct a winter training session on February 5-6, 2025 at the Campus Lutheran Church in Columbia. MO. The two classes offered will be Essentials of Fire Chaplaincy, and Managing School Crises: From Theory to Application. The MFCC will also be participating in MU FRTI’s Winter Fire School Exposition, and teaching the class, Stress Management for the Trauma Service Provider. A limited number of scholarships are available. For more information contact MFCC Secretary Ed Hatcher at edhat@earthlink.net.
MFCC President Charlie Shultz has accepted a ministry call to a congregation in Wisconsin, and Vice President Nick Farrel will be moving to the President position. Membership dues for the MFCC for 2025 are due in December.
Contest Committee
No report was given.
Convention Committee
Josh Loyd reported that he compiled a list of final numbers for the 2024 convention. There were 14 vendors registered for the vendor fair. There were 114 registered for the convention and 141 attended the banquet. No financial report is available.
2025 convention information is available on the website. Contact Dylan Honea with questions.
Education Committee
No report was given.
Fire Prevention Committee
Keith Smith showed a poster book that is printed and sold by the Wisconsin Firefighters Association as a fundraiser to give an idea of what other associations are doing. Discussion was held on various ways to get posters completed and everyone was reminded that the posters don’t have to be completed through a school. They can be done through schools, civic groups, churches, organizations and individually if all requirements are met.
Legislative Committee
Charlie Peel reported that the Committee will be meeting with the Fire Service Alliance on December 16.
Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 524 Directors/Councilman; 447 Retired; 21 Associate; 10 Sustaining; 16 Corporate, 356 Fire Departments; 6717 Active; 3 Educational Entity; 9 Educational Active; 165 Juniors; 6 EMS Department, 183 EMS individuals; 0 911 Entity; 0 911 individuals.
Jaime Miller reported that membership packets were mailed to all fire departments in October, and several have already been received back.
Keith Smith reported that he attended a multi-state networking meeting in Iowa. 8 states were in attendance. Topics discussed included ambulance funding, PTSD, firefighter suicide, safer grants, convention and membership.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that public hearing testimony for the proposed OSHA Emergency Response Standard was held. 29 states presented their cases.
Tim Bean reported that he will be meeting with the National Fire Marshals as there is movement by the labor unions.
Nomination Committee
Jaime Miller advised that the following positions are up for election at the 2025 convention: President, 2nd Vice President, District 2 Director, District 6 Director, District 8 Director, District 12 Director and the Sergeant-at-Arms and District 9 Director will need to run to fill unexpired terms.
Public Relations Committee
Jaime Miller advised that the next magazine deadline is December 19.
Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen advised that the scholarship deadline is February 28.
State Fair Committee
Rick Dozier advised that work dates will be announced at the next meeting, and they are making progress on plans for the new building.
Historian report
No report was given.
Fire Funeral Team report
No report was given.
EMS Funeral Team report
Jaime Miller reported on behalf of Greg Wright – we have had 1 Line of Duty response and 2 non-line of duty responses since the last FFam Meeting. Total for 2024 year as of December 1 is 1 line of duty and 13 call outs for a total of 14.
We have a new web site coming in December. We wish to thank the fire funeral team for their donation to our team.
Ed Angle is our new Deputy Executive Director for the team.
Our 2025 annual conference is open to all fire, EMS, and Law. CEUs and Post will be provided this year and will be held October 17-19, 2025, at Camden on the Lake in Lake Ozark. Information will be on the new website once it goes live. This year we will be focusing on taking care of our first responders and training in PTSD. 4 instructors, all experts in their field, will be there.
Foundation report
Keith Smith reported they are looking at purchasing chairs to be used for the services instead of renting. Two chairs were available at the meeting for feedback.
The 2024 candlelight service had 400+ in attendance. They sold 50% more t-shirts than last year (300+) and had the second largest engraving with 118 names. They already have 85 names for 2025.
Smith advised that they do send notices to families 2-3 months prior to the service. They are looking at more ways to get family contact information instead of going through the fire departments as information often doesn’t get relayed to the families.
The Foundation is needing more volunteers to help with tasks at the memorial. Reach out to him if you are interested.
Charlie Peel was able to get rebar donated for the concrete sidewalks. The Missouri State Fair BBQ Team raised $600 during the Revolutionary of Fire Tactics conference. Larry Eggen presented Keith Smith with a donation of $1,233 raised during the annual Burg Fest in Warrensburg.
They are finalizing the bylaw update on December 11.
President Jennings reminded members that the Critical Illness Pool is open until December 31. FFam members can join individually if their department isn’t a member of the pool
President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 11:15 am.
FFAM
