WISCONSIN FIRE INSPECTORS ASSOCIATION
QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING
MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2004
PIONEER INN, OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN
Call to order by President Vajgrt at 1900 hoursRoll Call
President Bob Vajgrt present
1st Vice President Dave Lind present
2nd Vice President Steve Koback present
Executive Secretary/Treas Gil Hucek present
Recording Secretary Tim Rasmussen present
Past President Jan Harter present
Parliamentarian Jeff Pollard present
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 present
Area 15 Arthur Gil de Lamadrid present
Area 16 Mark Hoppenjan present
Dept. Of Commerce Cathy Cliff excused
Others present: Paul Yakawenko, Sue BirrenSECRETARIES REPORT
Motion by Dave Lind, seconded by Mike Boehmer to accept the minutes as distributed. Motion carried.
TREASURER'S REPORTGil Hucek reported that we presently have:
$ 1657.50 checking
51550.68 savings
53208.18 total
SPRING CONFERENCESue Birren reported problems with the IAAI and getting the conference organized. She also reported that some of the programs in the flier were changed and a new schedule will be printed for the registrants..
FALL CONFERENCEKevin Timm sent a report that they will be meeting in the near future with the conference committee.
Ron Omernick reported that the mayor and hotel are looking forward to our coming back to Wausau. Area businesses are donating items for the door prizes.FIRE AND EMS COALITION
Mark Hoppenjan reported that the fireworks law was being looked at and the local liability for user permits were being looked at.
Motion by Mark Hoppenjan, seconded by Steve Koback to have the President send a letter to the governor recommending that the fireworks bill be vetoed. Motion carried. J Harter recommended emailing this letter for faster action.
M Hoppenjan also reported that they will be meeting in the first weeks of April and there is a lot of EMS legislation coming up.
Of the bills that were brought up last year, the bill for reimbursement of calls on the state s highways was passed. The bill for fire fighters not getting penalized by their employers for missing or being late for work was defeated.
WEARS AND NOVELTIESPaul Voigt reported that he needed someone to staff the wears and novelties booth for the spring conference. He also reported that new items were purchased and they came in under budget.
WEB PAGE WWW.WSFIA.COMJan Harter reported that the web site is up and running and that Jon Holcomb, our new web person is doing a great job. Email will be set up for each board member. New pictures of the board members will be taken for the web page.
Dave Lind reported that more links could be added and if anyone could think of other links, they should contact Jon at the web site.
FIRE FIGHTER MEMORIALSteve Koback reported that the Fire Fighter Memorial is set to have an October 2 unveiling. The statue will arrive in July. A freeze on expenditures has been enacted until more money is raised.
COMM 10 COMMITTEESteve Koback reported that the tank program for the fall conference is set and the agenda will be given to the conference committee for distribution. The committee met on March 5 in Plover.
Ron Omernick requested pictures of tanks with problems for the classes at the fall conference.
FIRE SERVICE JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEETod Doebler reported that they met in March and that the push is on for federally mandated fire fighter credentialing. We were advised that fire fighter ID's are now used throughout Walworth County and Emergency Management runs the system. Fire fighters have red badges, law enforcement, black: public works, brown: EMS, green.
T Doebler also reported that all classes are being pushed toward IFSAC accreditation. Fire Inspector certification curriculum is being rewritten again and any ideas for the new curriculum should be sent to Tod. They are hoping to have the rewrite ready before the fall conference.
D Lind reported that Commerce is offering credentialing for architects and engineers for the IBC, but they are not offering this for fire inspectors.
Motion by Mike Boehmer, seconded by Dave Lind to have the President write a letter to the Department of Commerce to request credentialing of fire inspectors. Motion carried.
T Doebler reported that we will be using the curriculum we developed for the fall conference for fire inspector training. We are not planning on offering the vocational school version of this course.
10 minute breakSOG AND BY-LAW
M Boehmer introduced an SOG change to increase the amount an area chapter may spend annually from $100 to $250.
M Boehmer introduced language in the SOG's to require an annual outside audit.
M Boehmer introduced a change in the SOG's to allow an increase in the meal allowances. They would be increased from $5 to $6 for breakfast, $6 to $10 for lunch and $12 to $20 for dinner.
Motion by Dave Lind, seconded by Tom Weber to accept the changes in the SOG's as introduced with a discretionary authority for the executive board to allow a higher meal allowance in areas where the cost of living is much higher. Motion carried.
M Boehmer introduced a by-law change to lengthen the term for executive officers from 1 year to 2 years. After discussion a voice vote was taken Change defeated.
M Boehmer introduced a change in the nominating committee for officer elections at the fall conference. After discussion a voice vote as taken and change defeated.
M Boehmer introduced a change in the conference location selection in bylaw V C 6 to have the board of directors vote on conference locations. This will be brought to the body for a membership vote.
G Hucek and P Voigt returned from break at this time
M Boehmer introduced a change in the dress code for board members at conferences as was brought up at the fall conference. Motion defeated on hand vote. 9 for, 7 against.
FINANCE COMMITTEEG Hucek reported that the records for the Association are at the auditor at this time.
MEMBERSHIPG Hucek reported that membership is down about 80 members at this time.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR COMMERCE EDUCATIONJ Pollard reported that the revised format for the fire inspectors class is ready and has been sent out to several board members. Those who did not receive one will get one in the near future.
COMM 14 COMMITTEED Lind reported that the March meeting was canceled and the April meeting has been put on hold. No action has been taken.
SITE SELECTIONT Rasmussen reported that the site selection committee received three proposals for the fall conference sites. Other hotels have shown interest. The committee will be meeting with some hotels to see what they will offer.
AWARDS COMMITTEES Koback reported that the awards committee received nominations for Fire Educator of the Year from career and volunteer departments and two awards will be given out on Thursday at lunch. They also received on nomination for Fire Chief of the Year and this will be given out in June at the Chiefs' conference.
OLD BUSINESS
none
NEW BUSINESSB Vajgrt reported that we were solicited to put an add in the ICC newsletter for a conference in Salt Lake City. Cost of the ads is from $100 to $1500.
Motion by Mark Hoppenjan, seconded by Mike Boehmer to not purchase an add in the ICC newsletter. Motion carried.
D Lind reported that B Vajgrt and D Lind will attend the IFMA (International Fire Marshals Association) conference in Salt Lake City.
Motion by Jan Harter, seconded by Gary Puljas to provide $100.00 toward a hospitality room from our Association. Motion carried.
D Lind reported that he did send a letter to an area legislator to see where the code comparison is and he is looking for a written response.
M Hoppenjan reported that Chief Cleveland has a petition with over 50,000 signatures requesting the code comparison.
D Lind suggested offering a grant of fire departments who cannot afford to send a member to our conferences. This could be made possible through a dues increase. P Voigt suggested offering a group discount for memberships from one department. J Pollard suggested that this be brought up to the membership.
D Lind suggested that we look once again at combining the fall and spring conferences. The conference could be run with public education and code enforcement mingled throughout the agenda.
T Weber suggested shortening the opening and closing ceremonies to get more time for the classroom part of the conference.
R Omernick requested looking into CEU's for seminars offered at the conferences.
D Lind suggested keeping on track with the code adoption and sticking with the fire prevention side of the house.
S Birren suggested checking out the Commerce Frequently asked Questions and watch the direction the answers are going.
The law change to allow substantial compliance to the fire inspections is on the governors desk.
Motion by Paul Yakawenko, seconded by Jan Harter to donate $2000 to the Wisconsin Alliance for Fire Safety Burn Camp. Motion Carried.
D Krupich asked about redistricting his area and combining it with Area 12. This would need a by-law change and it was suggested combining the meetings but keeping the areas separate.
Motion by Steve Koback, Seconded by Dave Krupich to adjourn. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned: 2200 hours.
Respectfully submitted,
Tim Rasmussen
Recording Secretary