Business Meeting Minutes
October 24, 2004
Plaza Suites, Wausau Wisconsin
Meeting called to order 6:05 p.m.
Roll Call President Bob Vajgrt present
1st Vice President Dave Lind present
2nd vice President Steve Koback present
Past President Jan Harter present
Parliamentarian Jeff Pollard present
Secretary Treasurer Gil Hucek present
Recording Secretary Tim Rasmussen excused
Area 1 Bob Gower absent
Area 2 Tom Weber present
Area 3 vacant
Area 4 Mike Boehmer present
Area 5 Tod Doebler present
Area 6 Paul Voigt present
Area 7 Dick Trilling excused
Area 8 Bill Becker absent
Area 9 Ron Omernick present
Area 10 Paul Wirth absent
Area 11 Jerry Paulson absent
Area 12 Gary Puljas present
Area 13 Dave Krupich present
Area 14 Ed Jeffries absent
Area 15 Arthur Gil de Lamadrid present
Area 16 Mark Hoppenjan present
Department of Commerce absent
Secretaries Report
No secretaries report. Motion made to approve the June 17, 2004 board meeting minutes as posted on the email to the board members. Motion by Mark Hoppenjan, seconded by Steve Koback. No discussion, motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report
Checking Acount 5842.12
Savings Account 45530.69
Total in Accounts 51373.08 No outstanding bills coming into conference. Gil informed the board that CD interest rates are going up so we will be putting half the monies into a CD. This was approved a number of years ago.
Committee Reports
Fire Prevention Liaison – Steve Koback – no meetings and doubts that there will be until after the elections.
Legislative Coalition – Mark Hoppenjan –
1. Legislative breakfast will be held on March 16, 2005 at the Concourse. Rooms have been set aside for anyone wishing to attend. This would be at your own expense. Each represented membership has been asked to share some of the costs of this breakfast. The cost this year is $70.00. A motion was made by Paul Voigt to cost share up to $100.00 for the legislative breakfast. Seconded by Gil Hucek, motion carried.
2. This group has been asked to support the change in the building code to remove ceiling vents and curtains. We have been asked to send a letter of support for this code change. A motion was made by Mark Hoppenjan to send a letter of support for this code action. Seconded by Mike Boehmer, motion carried.
Wears and Novelties – Paul Voigt – Paul is set for this conference. Gil brought up that we need to implement a better accountability of our items for the audit. It was also discussed that we have a certificate to give to our speakers so that we can track how many items we give out.
Website – Janet Harter – Discussion on whom should have access to make changes. Was discussed that at least Gil since he gets the changes. Once membership is done it will be posted on the website. Jon will hopefully be at the business meeting. Have a lot of good comments about the website but we need to push it more. Members are not using it to its potential. Jon is willing to work with us to make it what we want. Area chairs send your minutes and any information that you want shared statewide. One comment that was made is that the forum has bumped a couple of people out. Will discuss with Jon.
Fire Fighter Memorial – Steve Koback – The statue was put in place in Wisconsin Rapids on October 2nd. Corey Johnson a committee member is continuing to raffle for this. He will be here on Monday to discuss the raffle. There is also a raffle for a fire fighter print and a wildlife print. The proceeds will go for the memorial. Steve Koback purchased the fire fighter print and the owner of the gallery “Born Free Gallery” donated the framing as well as the wildlife print. A motion was made by Dave Lind to reimburse Steve Koback for the print and to send a thank you letter to the gallery. Seconded by Mark Hoppenjan, motion carried.
Comm 10 – Steve Koback – nothing new. Revision is done or almost done. Program is set for Monday and Tuesday.
Fire Service Joint Advisory – Tod Doebler – the committee is looking at the current curriculum and final tests for all fire service tests. The committee is reviewing the test bank questions, they have met once and will meet one more time to finish it. It will be sent to the VTAE person Greg and then from there it will to the IFSTA for their input.
Inspector Certification – Tod Doebler – currently reviewing the curriculum. Would like input from the board. NFPA has a certification program for Fire Inspectors. It was recommended that this Association encourage the State of Wisconsin to adopt a ready made program. Some discussion on the cost of the program and/or test. Lots of misinformation is out there on what the costs are. NFPA would be willing to make concessions to go state wide for this certification. Discussion on whether this program could be used for either the IFC or NFPA 1, it wouldn’t matter what code, the basic premise is the same. Motion made by Dave Lind that Tod Doebler pursue contact with NFPA for details and costs of the NFPA Fire Inspector Certification. Seconded by Paul Voigt. Motion failed. A second motion was made by Mark Hoppenjan for the Association to support the Advisory committee to pursue implementation of NFPA Fire Inspector Certification for the State of Wisconsin. Seconded by Mike Boehmer. Motion carried.
SOG’S and By-Laws – Mike Boehmer – Changes were made to the SOG’s at the June 17, 2004 meeting. Those changes will be posted. By-law changes will be posted for action at the business meeting to be held on Tuesday, October 26, 2004. Please see separate postings.
Finance Committee – Gil Hucek – No report because audit is still being done. Gil did state that area chairs need to get the audit reports to him. He is getting a lot of static from the auditors about lack of accountability for moneys. This report can be faxed or emailed to him. The auditor recommended that Gil take all the money back and reimburse as needed.
Membership – Gil Hucek – the memberships will be sent out in November. These go to the current members.
Comm 14 Code Advisory Committee – Dave Lind – Fire Safety Coordinators are back to S&B. S&B are now in charge of the committee, they removed the chair Terry Nolan. They gave the committee their agenda and now appear to have equal representation on the committee. At the October 12, 2004 meeting the committee passed the motion to adopt NFPA 1 – 2003 version with all the Wisconsin statute requirements. The committee will meet again in January to look at the impact of this code to the adopted building code. Dave requested guidance from this group on the next step. Discussion on what the impact will be if this version is adopted in 2005, the 2006 version of NFPA 1 will be ready. A motion was made by Mike Boehmer that the Association supports the Comm 14 committee to legislate and act on the 2006 version of NFPA 1 in order to mirror the adoption process of the building code. Seconded by Paul Voigt. Motion carried.
Sprinkler Trailer – Bob Vajgrt – the sprinkler fitters are taking care of this. Their website has a calendar on it to let you know when it’s available and where it is. They are doing a nice job with getting it around the State.
Site Selection Committee - Gil Hucek – the committee visited three sites other than Wausau. They were Eau Claire, Wisconsin Dells and Green Bay. Tim Rasmussen should have the results for the conference. Discussion on 1 versus 2 conferences. A survey was sent out but very few responses. Discussion on moving the conference around the State.
Awards Committee – Steve Koback – one recipient for Inspector of the Year.
Commerce – no report
Old Business – none
New Business
Fireworks survey that was sent out to various departments. It’s confusing because it has Class C and 1.4g. Will talk to State Coordinators about responding to this. ICC would like the dates of our meetings so that they could post them on their website.
Discussion on survey that was sent out about the conference. It was given out at the Chief’s conference and sent to fire departments. Dave went over what was in the survey and the feedback he received.
Gil Hucek asked about membership and what it entails. Discussion about adding 2 more membership types and clarifying existing types. Mike Boehmer asked about the design of the card, further discussion on maybe color coding voting and nonvoting memberships. See SOG and by-laws for changes.
Assignments given
Motion to adjourn by Dave Lind, seconded by Mark Hoppenjan. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:42 p.m.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Janet Harter