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State Fire Chiefs Association of Virginia Executive Board Meeting
January 5, 2000
Charlottesville Fire Dept. HQ Bldg., Charlottesville Virginia
President Ed Plaugher called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m.
Attendance: Officers, Board and Chairs Present
Ed Plaugher
Selby Jacobs
Jimmy Johnson
Jack McElfish
Skip Hardesty
Lee Day
Bill Smith
Jimmy Carter
Iby George
Jim Epperly
Floyd Greene
Rick Burch
Richard Miller
Guests & Staff Present
Troy Lapetina, DFP
Don Brown, DFP
Robin Brannon, SFCAV
Officers, Board and Chairs Absent
Mark Light
Mike Coomes
Jim Dishner
Lloyd Runnett
Executive Director Robin Brannon was late arriving to the meeting as she
had been delayed in picking up some merchandise samples from the embroidery vendor
(Riches' Stitches) to show to the Board. Therefore the meeting was already in progress
when she arrived. She apologized to the Board and its guests for her tardiness.
DFP Support of 2000 Mid-Atlantic Expo & Symposium.
DFP Executive Director Troy Lapetina had presented the Board with a check
for $12,000 to be used for the 2000 MAES prior to Robin's arrival. He stated that DFP was
committed to supporting the MAES, but that DFP had been forced to cut back on funding to
virtually everyone, and that the SFCAV convention had been cut back the least. He also
stated that DFP would provide $3,000 in training & services (via the pre-conference
NIFRS seminar taught by Marion Long) and the supply of a trailer of AV equipment to the
conference.
Troy also stated that he supported the work of the State Fire Chiefs
Association, and as a symbol of that support he presented the Board with a personal check
for $50.00, to be placed in the Robert E. White Memorial Scholarship Fund. Scholarship
Committee Chairman Richard Miller thanked Troy for his donation, and hoped that his
actions would serve as a model for other members of the Association. Troy stated that at
the October Board meeting, Richard Miller & Lisa Garey of Marketing & Management
Solutions had made a donation to the Scholarship fund, and until that time, he had never
thought about his own personal responsibility in making the fund succeed. Ed Plaugher
stated that it would take "grassroots support" from the members to make the fund
successful.
Troy also stated that DFP had copies of a "Virginia State Fire, EMS
and Emergency-Related Laws" book for sale for $29 apiece available through the
bookstore. The Board purchased a box of them so that individual board members could
reimburse the Board rather than DFP. Troy also reminded the Board that the Virginia
In-State weekend at Ft. Lee would be held February 5-6, 2000. Troy Lapetina & Don
Brown then left the meeting for another appointment.
New Business
Upcoming Legislation. Other than the bills that had been mentioned
previously, Robin reported that not a lot of new legislation had been pre-filed with
Legislative Services. The bills that were showing up on the Legislative Information
System. One that had shown up was the " Deferred Compensation Retirement
Program", in which a person who is about to retire can save up their retirement funds
for a certain number of years (5 maximum), and then they get that money in a lump sum when
they retire. Iby George stated that a lot of jurisdictions were offering these programs
now, and they were becoming very popular. Robin said that DFP had called her about the
Association's position on the bill. Richard Miller recommended that SFCAV support it. Ed
stated that the Board would go through the list of bills, and if no one had any
objections, the Board would "move without objection" on each.
Next, Floyd Greene discussed a letter he had received from Del.
Whittington Clement about legislation he intended to submit that would allow the VA Fire
Services Board to borrow money via the issuance of bonds through the Public Service
Authority. The monies would then be used to finance all the burn building projects
currently on the "to do" list maintained by the VA Fire Services Board. Floyd
stated that he was basically a "pay as you go" type person, but that he was
aware of the benefits that this type of program could have. Richard Miller stated that
these types of projects were capital projects, and localities had used this type of
funding mechanism for quite a while in completing capital projects. Richard Miller stated
that he recommended that SFCAV support the legislation. Jim Epperly made a motion that
SFCAV support this bill, and Jack McElfish seconded the motion.
Robin also notified the board that the following Monday, the Virginia
Crime Commission would meet to discuss the "E-911 Tax Study" issue. Robin stated
that she had not taken any position on the study recommendations at the previous Crime
Commission meeting as she wanted the Board to have a chance to discuss the issue and its
ramifications. Robin also stated that VML and VaCo were going to ask the Commission to
correct the items they thought needed correcting on the wireline side without accepting
all of the other sweeping recommendations in the study. If that happened, SFCAV would
support the VML/VaCo position. Jack McElfish recommended that if the Crime Commission
passed the report recommendations, SFCAV oppose the study recommendations. Jim Epperly
seconded the motion, and the Board passed the motion unanimously. Ed stated that SFCAV
would monitor this issue closely and keep members up to date on developments.
Fire & Emergency Services Reception. Robin reported that the
Fire & Emergency Services Day at the State Capitol will take place on January 27,
2000. This day culminates in a reception at 5:00 p.m. at the Old City Hall for state
legislators. Rick Burch had spoken with Fred Weymouth of Chesterfield Insurers, who agreed
to donate $500 to SFCAV for the Association to use to be a "friend" of the
reception. This would allow 5 people from SFCAV to attend, and for one legislator to be
the guest of the Association. Richard Miller recommended that the President, 1st
VP, 2nd VP, Rick Burch and the Executive Director should attend. Robin asked if
perhaps Fred Weymouth should attend as one of the 5 from SFCAV. Rick stated that when he
approached Fred about the donation, there had not been a lot of interest on Fred's part in
attending, but he would ask him again. If Fred in fact did want to attend, he could go in
Rick's place. Rick also stated that perhaps SFCAV should try to get Morgan Griffith, the
House Majority Leader (elect) to be the legislator we invite. Richard Miller stated that
whichever legislator we invited, that person should be in a leadership position in the
General Assembly.
2000 Mid-Atlantic Expo & Symposium. Robin stated that the registration packages
had been printed and were ready to go to the mailing services house either on the 5th
or 6th. The Exhibitor packages had also been mailed out in November, and Jimmy
Carter stated that as of January 4th, 12 exhibitors had registered. He stated
that things were looking good at this point, as we had used the mailing lists from VEMA,
VAHMRS, VAVRS and ITSVA as well as SFCAV's list, and that 762 packages had been mailed
out. Jimmy also stated that SEAFC would have a comp booth as well as DFP; Dept. of
Forestry, etc.
Ed stated that the IAFC would make available, for about $.25 a name the
names of chief officers in a certain state on their mailing list. Ed wanted to know if the
Board would want to receive the names of individuals in Maryland, West Virginia,
Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia and the District for use in mailing our
registration packages. Jack McElfish stated that Pennsylvania alone had 700 members in the
IAFC. Ed suggested that perhaps Pennsylvania be dropped from the list. Rick suggested that
we contact the other states to see if they have a DFP, and try to get their mailing list.
Bill Smith suggested that perhaps this might be an option to look at for the next year.
Jimmy Carter suggested that perhaps the best thing to do at this point
would to be place an ad in "On Scene" magazine. For 2001, Jack McElfish SFCAV
could place a full-page ad in the Pennsylvania Fireman, which is widely read in the
mid-Atlantic states.
Jimmy Carter asked Ed if perhaps the IAFC might be willing to share their
vendor list with SFCAV. Ed suggested that we ask the IAFC for next year's conference
mailing, but it was really too late to do anything about it for the 2000 mailing.
Robin also asked if SFCAV wanted to let Cliff Vankirk of T-Rex Graphics
(West Virginia) sell the leftover SFCAV merchandise along with the Fireghost T-shirts and
other T-shirts. In exchange, he would get a small amount for each item sold. Jack McElfish
made a motion to allow Cliff to sell SFCAV merchandise in return for $.50 profit on each
item sold. The motion was seconded by Selby Jacobs, and passed without objection by the
Board.
VFPA Response to SFCAV Section Offer. Robin said that she had
talked on with Jan Mitchell, President of VFPA, regarding SFCAV's offer to allow VFPA to
become the "Fire Prevention" section. She indicated that VFPA was not interested
at the present time as they were concerned about maintaining their identity and that the
SFCAV dues were much higher than their present dues. Jan said that she would be sending a
letter to SFCAV stating their concerns in writing, but that she was grateful for the
Association's offer and hoped the two groups could continue to work closely together.
Robin also stated that she had informed Jan about the "affiliation" option that
VAGEMSA seemed ready to pursue, and that once she had cost figures worked up for that
option, she would send them to both VAGEMSA and VFPA.
Other Legislative Issues. Richard Miller stated that Henrico County would be
introducing the legislation to have crossing the double yellow line not be considered
reckless driving when done by an emergency service apparatus operator with "due
regard for safety". They would also be introducing the bill to allow yellow lights on
light bars of fire vehicles. He said that he had talked to George Grayson, who agreed to
sponsor the "patient access to 911" legislation in which HMOs could not require
their subscribers to call their emergency service number instead of 911.
Richard also stated that he had received a call from Wallace Robertson,
who stated that the Governor's budget has removed all funding for the new state emergency
operations building. The new EOC building will be a combined EOC building and State Police
Building. Richard stated that it was not known if the removed funding was just an
oversight by the administration or a refusal by the Governor to fund it. Wallace asked
that SFCAV support the restoration of funding to the EOC Building. Lee Day made a motion,
seconded by Selby Jacobs, and the Board voted unanimously in favor of the motion.
Rick Burch referenced Mike Player's report from the most recent EMS
Advisory Board meeting, and said that it looked like the recommendations of the EMS
Advisory Task Force (on which he served as the SFCAV representative during the summer)
were going to be refused by the Governor. Richard Miller said that Governor Gilmore had
already gone on record as refusing to support any tax increase, so his refusal of the task
force's recommendations was not surprising.
Scholarship Committee. Richard Miller said that he was happy to
report to the Board that Roxie White, widow of Robert E. White, had made a $10,000
donation to the Scholarship Fund. In light of this donation and her previous donation that
was the genesis of the fund, Richard recommended that the Board name the Scholarship Fund
"The Robert E. White Memorial Scholarship Fund" in honor of her late husband.
The Board concurred with this recommendation. Richard also suggested that the Board
present a resolution to Mrs. White at the 2000 MAES Opening Ceremonies, or at the Board
meeting if she does not want the publicity associated with the Opening Ceremonies. Richard
Miller said he would contact her to determine her wishes on the matter.
Executive Director Duties Committee. Jimmy Johnson stated that the
5-person committee designated by Selby Jacobs at the December Board meeting (himself; Jim
Epperly; Jack McElfish; Richard Miller; Bill Smith) to meet with the Executive Director to
set some priorities for her with regard to her job duties met at the Richmond Training
Facility on December 16, 1999. He stated that SFCAV was fortunate to have hired a person
as dedicated and talented as she, but that she was now trying to do the work or 4 or more
people (lobbyist; Janet Areson of VML; Peggy Blunt of VML; Paulette Alexander of VML; plus
support staff of VML with regard to mailings.) Jimmy said that Robin had asked for
guidance on this issue several months previously, but the Board had been unable to provide
it until the present time.
At the meeting, the committee drafted the following as the Executive
Director's list of priorities:
Mid-Atlantic Expo & Symposium
Processing of member dues
Relations with the Executive Board (minutes, correspondence, etc.)
Commonwealth Chief Newsletter
Legislation
All other activities
The committee stated that the Executive Director should stop attending
committee meetings and/or refuse to do committee work. The members of the committee should
carry the work of a committee. The committee concluded that the Executive Director should
follow up on the section offers she has already made to other groups, but she should
refrain from making any further section offers until the Association has the necessary
staff and resources to support the offer. Jack McElfish made a motion for the Board to
accept the committee's report, and Bill Smith seconded it.
Selby Jacobs stated that the President should send a memo to each of the
Committee Chairs explaining their duties and responsibilities, and that they should not
view Robin as "their personal secretary". Jack also stated that the memo should
encourage them to set up a committee structure that would include a Vice-Chairman and a
Secretary. It should also state that Ed is the chief officer of the Association, and that
the Committee Chairs should report to him. Ed said we could include this in the package to
be sent to the Committee Chairs. The Board voted unanimously in favor of the motion.
Financial Forecast. Ed stated that he understood that the Board was
concerned about the SFCAV financial picture, especially since the loss of money at the
1999 ABM. He stated that a working committee needed to be established to examine the
financial picture - to see where we are; what activities we need to curtail; and what we
need to keep doing. This group would report to the Board at the 2000 MAES. Ed stated that
he intended to appoint the two Vice Presidents to co-chair this committee, and it would
also include the Treasurer, the Executive Director and another Board member. Skip Hardesty
agreed to serve as the Board representative. Selby Jacobs made a motion that the finance
committee be established, and Jimmy Carter seconded it.
Jimmy Johnson also stated that Ed had called him a few days before
Christmas to suggest that SFCAV give the Executive Director a holiday bonus as a reward
for her hard work. He and Ed and Mark Light had approved the bonus, and they had tried to
reach Selby but were unable to contact him. On Christmas Eve around 2:30 p.m., he called
Robin, who was working at the time, and authorized her to write herself a check for
$300.00 for her holiday bonus. He also told her to stop working immediately, but he wasn't
sure if he she did. He thanked Robin on behalf of the Board for her dedication, and told
her to enjoy the holidays.
Robin thanked the Board for the bonus, and said it had come as a
delightful surprise to her. She had sent Ed a card to "officially" thank the
Board for their generosity, but she also wanted to express her thanks to every one
present.
SFCAV Strategic Plan. Ed stated that SFCAV developed a Strategic
Plan at the Retreat in September, and that it was a document that the Association could
use to make progress. Ed encouraged everyone to review it to see where we are with regard
to the goals outlined in the document. He stated that he wanted to ask the Executive
Director to keep the Strategic Planning Document in the forefront of everyone's mind, and
to regularly put it on the agenda for meetings.
SFCAV Board Meeting Schedule. Ed said that it was his intention to
return the Board to a meeting schedule that would place the meetings on the Wednesday
prior to the Virginia Fire Service Board, and in the same vicinity, so that individuals
travelling to the VFSB meeting could also attend the SFCAV Board meetings if they chose.
This type of schedule would also allow the Association to provide its representative on
the VFSB with direction prior to the meeting. Robin said that several board members had
asked to avoid Wednesdays, if possible, due to their work schedule. Ed said that he was
glad to get the feedback, but he wanted to try to reinstate the "before the VFSB
meeting" schedule to allow people to travel to the SFCAV Board meeting, and then stay
for the VFSB meeting the next day if they so desired.
On the "off" months (the odd-numbered months), just the members
of the Board would meet in a central location. The committee chairs and liaisons would not
be required to attend these meetings, though they certainly could if they wanted to. The
Board selected the Charlottesville Fire Dept. HQ building as the central location to use
for these meetings.
Volunteers. Ed stated that he had asked Skip Hardesty to take a
look at the mentoring program for Volunteer Chiefs as the first item to be addressed from
the Strategic Plan. Rick Burch stated that recruitment & retention of volunteers has
been made a priority in Roanoke County. In that vein, one of the ideas they have come up
with is holding a 1-day seminar on recruitment & retention of volunteers. The cost of
the seminar would be $2,000, and it would be aimed at Fire & Rescue groups with a
state-wide mailing to invite people, including non-fire-service groups such as the
American Red Cross and the State Office on Volunteerism. There would be no cost to the
participants, and right now they are looking at doing it March 18th.
Rick asked Selby if he could get a mailing list for him to use in
contacting the members of the American Red Cross. They had planned to approach VSFA, VAVRS
and SFCAV about co-sponsoring this event for $500 each, with Roanoke County also
contributing $500. He stated that it would be a great opportunity to "build
bridges" between organizations. If it works out well, then it may be a seminar that
SFCAV can put on as a pre-conference seminar in 2001 at the MAES. Selby Jacobs made a
motion that SFCAV contribute to this seminar with an amount to be named later, but no more
than $500. Bill Smith seconded the motion. Jimmy Johnson said that the Board had budgeted
$1,000 for "External Program Support", which is the category this would come
under, and he thought this was a worthwhile idea but it should stand apart from the MAES.
This type of program would fall under the "regional training" concept in the
Strategic Plan.
Ed broached the idea of approaching the vendor community to see if they
would contribute to the program, if not support it outright. Robin suggested that Rick
approach Greg Cross of ITSVA who attended the last meeting, as they were trying to reach
out to the emergency services community. Rick also asked that if anyone had any groups
that they thought should be contacted as part of the mailing, to please let him know.
Floyd Greene called for the question, and the Board voted unanimously in support of the
motion.
Approval of Minutes. As the Board members had received the prior
minutes at the start of this meeting and had not had a chance to review them, Jim Epperly
made a motion that the approval of the minutes of the last two Board meetings be postponed
until the February meeting. Iby George seconded the motion, and Board approved it
unanimously.
Executive Director's Report. For her report,
Robin showed the Board the various embroidered items she had picked up from Rich's
Stitches (long-sleeved turtleneck; golf shirt; sweatshirt; denim shirt; golf towel). The
Board gave her comments to take back to the vendor, including a request to use darker blue
thread in the SFCAV logo background, and the possibility of having "tall" sizes
available. They also suggested that all apparel items be dark colored, and that shirts
have pockets with the logo placed over the pocket.
Selby Jacobs also mentioned that the Matchbox line of fire trucks was
exceedingly popular with collectors, and that SFCAV might want to find out who distributes
them to see if they could attend the conference as well.
Jimmy Johnson also suggested that the T-shirt vendor have children's
shirts available if possible.
Robin also informed the Board that her sister, Melody Fowler, had started
working for the Association 10 hours a week on January 4th, entering member
information into the database and processing dues payments.
Treasurer's Report. Jimmy Johnson stated that he had already given
most of his report. He said that he and Robin would try and get the report ready for the
fourth quarter of 1999. Ed asked if the financial data would be available for the
"financial committee" to use in making its decision. Robin said that she needed
to know how far back the reports were supposed to go. Jimmy stated that all we would need
would be reports from each quarter of last year. Robin also asked if Jimmy had any
preference for a change in format from VML's spread sheet, and Jimmy said no. The
individuals that comprised the financial committee decided to try and meet at 1:00 p.m. on
February 4th at the Henrico County Training Facility. Robin said that she would
call and reserve a room for the meeting. Ed also stated that he would try to attend.
Second Vice-President's Report. No report.
First Vice-President's Report. Selby Jacobs said that he did not
have a report, but he did have a question about the Membership Application form that was
sent out with the dues notices. He stated that no where on the form was there a block for
"Life" or "Honorary Life" members to check when mailing in their dues.
Robin stated that she had sent a different memo with the form to Life and Honorary Life
members, telling them that the Association was updating its database and asking them to
provide the updated information. There was no "check block" on the new form as
there had not been one on the previous form, which she had used as a template. Several
Board members felt it would be a good idea to add a block to the form for Life members,
and Robin said she would make the necessary revisions.
SEAFC Report. Rick Burch mentioned that the SEAFC Board would meet
January 15-16 in Augusta, Georgia, and that he would be attending the meeting. He
mentioned that one of the items on the agenda would be the possibility of Virginia hosting
a SEAFC conference in the future. The SEAFC conference usually takes place in late May or
early June. Rick wanted to know if the Board had a time frame in mind for the conference
to take place, and if we wanted to try and combine the SEAFC conference with the MAES.
Ed stated that combining the SEAFC and MAES conference would, in his
opinion, be distracting, and would take away from the MAES which is the cornerstone of the
Association's training efforts. He said he would like to see SFCAV partner with SEAFC on a
May-June conference three years out so that the necessary time to do the pre-planning will
be available. Ed stated that the SEAFC conference can produce revenue if it is planned and
executed correctly, and he would like to see SFCAV make some money off the conference. He
also stated that it would need to be located where good accommodations and good travel
would be available to the attendees - Virginia Beach; Norfolk Waterside; Richmond;
Williamsburg; Roanoke; Lynchburg; etc. Jimmy Carter suggested that maybe a locality or
combination of localities could be brought in as a third partner in hosting the
conference.
Selby Jacobs made a motion for Rick to suggest that SFCAV partner with
SEAFC on a May-June conference in Virginia in 2003, and it was seconded by Lee Day. The
Board voted unanimously in favor of the motion. Ed told Rick to tell the SEAFC Board that
SFCAV would have a proposal for them this time next year, if the Association decided that
it was able to co-host the conference.
Rick also thanked Robin for the article she wrote for the SEAFC newsletter
that included a big article on the upcoming Mid-Atlantic Expo & Symposium.
President’s Report. As part of his report Ed worked with the Board members
present to develop the following Board meeting schedule for CY 2000:
The Board then set the following meeting schedule for CY 2000:
02/25/00 8:30 am - 12:30 pm in Pavilion Board Room, Virginia Beach
03/21/00 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in Charlottesville FD HQ Bldg (Board only)
04/12/00 10:00 am - 2:00 pm in Chesapeake, VA
05/16/00 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in Charlottesville FD HQ Bldg (Board only)
06/14/00 11:00 am - 3:00 pm in Winchester, VA
07/11/00 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in Charlottesville FD HQ Bldg (Board
only)
08/09/00 11:00 am - 3:00 pm in the Christiansburg Fire Dept. Bldg.,
Christiansburg, VA
09/12/00 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in Charlottesville FD HQ Bldg (Board only)
10/11/00 11:00 am - 3:00 pm in the Lynchburg Training Facility in
Lynchburg VA
11/14/00 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in Charlottesville FD HQ Bldg (Board only)
12/06/00 10:00 am - 2:00 pm in the Department of Forestry Building in
Charlottesville
Ed stated that Robin would send out this schedule in the minutes, as well
as publish it in the Commonwealth Chief and on the SFCAV web site.
Ed next told the members of the Board that he attended a meeting in
Dallas, Texas the previous month as part of the IAFC's special committee on terrorism. He
said that a tremendous amount of money had just been released to the states from the
National Defense Preparedness Office, but that the states have a very short window in
which to submit their plan for the money. The legislation identifies that the money has to
go to the first responder community, which includes the law enforcement community. Several
million dollars will be available in Virginia for first responder protective equipment and
training. There will be several hundred million dollars available over the next several
years that will go to directly to state and local governments. Ed said that there is an
opportunity for the Association to become the entity that distributes the funds or
provides oversight of the funds usage. This type of distribution method would not be
unusual for government funds as it allows the funds to avoid a great many restrictions
that they might otherwise encounter. Ed will continue to observe this process and report
to the Board on it.
In conclusion, Ed asked that the Board members not hesitate to call him or
Robin if they have issues they want to discuss or have addressed.
SIM Committee. Jimmy Carter stated that several items of interest
happened at the SIM Committee October meeting in Staunton, VA. One of these was that he
was made the Fire Services representative on the Board. He also said that he had
volunteered SFCAV and the VA Beach Fire Department to put together a video that outlines
what statewide incident management does and means for the emergency response community.
There being no other business to come before the Board, the meeting was
adjourned at
2:00 p.m. |
