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. on Sunday, April 6, 2025, 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; 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 1 Terry Wynne, Galt FPD; 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 (V); District 11 Billy Smith, North Central Carroll Co FPD; District 12 Rob Francis (V).
Assistant Directors
District 1 Janet Cain, Shoal Creek FPD; District 3 Dale Ransdell, Madison West Monroe FPD; District 5 Dylan Honea, Southern Stone FPD; District 9 Chris Sterner, West Plains FD (V); District 11 Josh Koepke, Kansas City FD; District 11 Jason Deitch, Brunswick FD.
Guests
Dave Hedrick (V), Gail Hagans, University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute; Tim Bean, Missouri Division of Fire Safety; Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; Larry Eggen, Ben Burd, Johnson County FPD; Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; Stephen McLane, Doc Kritzer, Tracy Gray, Memorial Foundation; Roy Pennington, Pettis Co FPD; Eric Hartman, Little Dixie FPD; Larry Jones, Madison FPD; Chris Thompson, Holts Summit FPD.
* (V) denotes Virtual Attendance
Agenda
President Jennings asked for additions to the agenda. The Sayer award was added to the old business.
Minutes
Present Jennings asked for a review of the February 2, 2025, meeting minutes. Grant Oetting moved to accept the minutes as presented. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.
Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the January/February 2025 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 Universtiy of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute reported that they are working on preparing for Summer Fire School. The Division of Fire Safety has funded several of the classes for SFS and some will be fee-based. Classes are filling up with 175 registered so far. There are several 4-hour and 8-hour sessions. There are several free classes that have minimum enrollment requirements so don’t delay in registering or the class may get cancelled if the minimum enrollment isn’t met.
Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reported that the 2025 Firefighters Day at the Capitol was very successful. He appreciates all that came and to FFAM for the financial support.
There are two new recent LODD in Missouri and a total of eight so far for the year. A moment of silence was held.
Lots of departments have been reaching out to DFS who are faced with limited funds but need brush trucks. DFS is starting to investigate possible avenues for brush trucks including the Missouri Department of Conservation. There have been lots of requests for training funding.
District Reports
District 1
Terry Wynne has talked with three new departments.
District 2
Vernon Cash attended a Region E fire chiefs meeting and also shared SFS information
District 3
Dale Randsell has been working with Howard County to add all of their members. Rob Erdel met with the new chief of Little Dixie and Holts Summit. Madison West Monroe FPD will be holding their annual fish fry on April 19 at 4 p.m.
District 5
Dylan Honea has a meeting with Highlandville this week.
District 8
Bob Floyd reported he and his two new assistant directors have began making contacts. He has a meeting with Shell City next week. Rusty Darnell will be going to Logan Rogersville this week.
District 9
Mark Thayer thanked the Region D team for their support during the recent flooding. He is trying to get with neighboring chiefs so he can attend their chiefs meetings.
District 10
Larry Jennings advised there is still a District 10 director position open.
District 11
Billy Smith reported that he and the assistant directors have divided the district up and are making contacts. Jason Deitch will be attending a Chariton County chiefs meeting soon.
District 12
Rob Francis attended a Cape County fire chiefs meeting and is working on Bolinger County.
Discussion was held on new benefits that could be added. Everyone was encouraged to bring their ideas to the next meeting.
Correspondence
None
Old Business
President Jennings advised that the Phil Sayer traveling award is done. At the next meeting, it will need to be decided where it will be housed after the convention. Tim Bean advised he would be happy to display it at the DFS.
New Business
No new business.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
Chris Thomspon reported that award selections were made last week and will be announced at the banquet.
Budget Committee
No report was given.
Bylaws Committee
No report was given.
Chaplain Committee
Dave Hedrick reported that the MFCC is providing a Chaplain to assist with Fire Chief Gary Moore, Whitewater Fire Protection District, LODD Funeral at the request of the Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team. The MFCC is asking Fire Departments in Missouri that have a Fire Chaplain to share that information with the MFCC even if they are not members of the Corp in order to help establish a better mutual aid network of Fire Chaplains across the state.
The Corps’ Fall Conference is scheduled for September 8-9, 2025 in Jefferson City. More information on the conference should be coming out in June. The Corp plans on offering the Essentials of Fire Chaplains class each year before MU FRTI’s Winter Fire School in Columbia to make it more available. A one-year complimentary membership in the Corp will be offered for those completing the class and submitting application and authorized endorsement forms.
The Federation of Fire Chaplains (FFC) will be requiring Chaplains to have the “Essentials” Class for full membership. They also will be increasing their dues for next year, the first increase in 20 years.
For questions or information, please contact MFCC Secretary Ed Hatcher at edhat@earthlink.net.
Contest Committee
Rob Erdel reported that everything is ready for the convention. The deadline for team registration is April 30. They do have an opening on the committee with Jessica resigning.
Convention Committee
Dylan Honea reported that all 100 blocked rooms at the Chateau on the Lake have been reserved. There are currently 166 registered. The registration deadline is April 21. Hughes Brothers Theatre has also offered free tickets for members.
Education Committee
Josh Koepke reported there will be a certified board class at the convention on May 2. There are over 20 registered. They are also working on classes for the state fair.
Fire Prevention Committee
Posters are due May 2 at 7:00 pm. The theme is Smoke Alarms – make them work for you.
Legislative Committee
Tim Bean reported that three bills are being presented including MERC, firefighter compensation/workers compensation and LODD benefit. See the weekly report for more information.
Membership Committee
Grant Oetting reported the following membership counts: 458 Directors/Councilman; 420 Retired; 13 Associate; 20 Sustaining; 14 Corporate, 323 Fire Departments; 6373 Active; 2 Educational Entity; 16 Educational Active; 143 Juniors; 4 EMS Department, 52 EMS individuals; 0 911 Entity; 0 911 individuals.
Grant Oetting advised that he attended the MO Chiefs conference and was able to present and show the recruitment video. He will also be speaking at the Women in the Fire Service conference later in April. He will be attending the Missouri Association of Fire Districts conference in June. District 11 representatives will be attending the Independence Fire Fest in June.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that he will be attending the spring meeting, May 8-10, in Alexandria, VA. To minimize possible perceptions of misinformation development regarding expenses in a razor-tight budget year, FFAM will be assisting with the fall meeting, not the upcoming spring meeting.
NVFC remains on record they are not fighting against firefighter safety for volunteers, but it must be scalable to existing budget restraints and not set up an easy win for 3rd party liability. Both could put a department out of business. No update regarding how the new Secretary of Labor feels about all of this.
The Executive Committee of NVFC is up for election this spring. There is a challenge to the Chair position. There could be new leadership by May 10th. His committee position on NVFC is nomination and has been involved with this process for the past 3 months.
President Jennings reported that with the federal cuts, NIOSH and the National Fire Academy are no longer functioning. Everyone is encouraged to research who their local representatives are and push that these programs remain funded as they are critical federal programs.
Nomination Committee
Ken Hoover 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 April 25.
Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen advised that four high school and one continuing education scholarship will be awarded.
State Fair Committee
The application deadline is June 1. The new station plans are still in the works and are out for bid. There will be some storage expenses after the fair ends. More information will be to follow.
Historian report
No report was given.
Fire Funeral Team report
No report was given.
EMS Funeral Team report
No report was given.
Foundation report
The Foundation has met in January, February, and March and will again today following this meeting.
Melissa Old, the contracted Treasurer has submitted a notice for June 1st. They are looking for a replacement for her at this time.
The 8th and 9th LODD since January 1 has occurred this week. With delays in administrative determinations at the DOJ, only two of those have been finalized as of mid-March. Four names > (two previous of 2025 and two current) are progressing ahead of others but no word yet.
There are 95 non-line-of-duty names that will be honored in October including those currently awaiting administrative determinations. They will be giving service recognition for now and service honors at such time as formally determined LODD.
A survivor and a firefighter will be the keynote speaker for the Sunday service on October 5th at 10:30 am. Candlelight Service October 4th at 7:00 pm.
500 chairs have been purchased. Thanks to a deal with Sam’s Club, they saved $8,600 over the best discount in the regular market. They will pay for themselves in 7 years vs. continuing to rent plus 1000% better chairs than the rentals.
They completed some stamped concrete flatwork repairs with raising and leveling in March. Likely some additional work will continue this year.
Also talking with Kingdom City regarding some deterioration of the concrete parking lot surfaces. They are 24 years old, not unexpected, but not a welcomed development.
President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 11:00 a.m.
FFAM
