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Board Meeting The board met prior to the quarterly meeting. The following persons were present: John Piper, Denise DeMars, Mike Urbanski, Charlie O'Brien, Jeff Schadegg and Mike Tremain. The following persons were absent: Jamie Novak, Don Howell, Jerry Streich, and Jerry Rosendahl. The Board met with representatives of Provident Insurance in follow-up of Crawford Wiestling’s request for the Board to consider purchasing Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance as a membership benefit for MNIAAI. Six options were presented ranging from $1,000 of coverage to $50,000 of coverage. The Board is considering the $5,000 option which would cost us $1490.66/ year or $3.24 / member. No action was taken because all board members had not seen the proposal yet. Schadegg directed to copy all Board members by e-mail. Charlie O'Brien presented the quarterly transaction report. Motion by Tremain, seconded by Urbanski to approve the quarterly transaction report as presented. Motion passed. Jeff Schadegg presented the Executive Directors report. Motion by O’Brien, seconded by Tremain to accept the report of the Executive Director and authorize the payment of our 2008 MN 100 Club dues in the amount of $100.00. Motion passed President Piper reported that Jerry Streich has asked for someone else to take over as chair of the awards committee in 2008. This will allow him more time to devote to the arson awareness project. President Piper appointed Mike Urbanski to fill the position. Thanks to Jerry for all his hard work on both the awards committee and the arson awareness project. President Piper reviewed the arson awareness committee grant application that was recently entered by Jerry Streich on behalf of the chapter. Motion was made by Tremain, seconded by Urbanski to accept and approve the grant application with two minor amendments: 1) Add the insurance industry to the list of members in the introduction paragraph. 2) Add the MN Fair Plan in the Partnerships section. Motion passed. President Piper presented a letter of response to a party regarding denial of their membership application at the June 2007 Chapter meeting along with a request to pay our insurance deductible. President Piper has been working with our insurance carrier’s legal staff in this matter. Motion by DeMars, Seconded by Urbanski to pay our Insurance Policy Claim deductible in the amount of $1000.00. Motion passed. Chapter Meeting The chapter meeting was called to order by 1st Vice President Denise DeMars in the absence of President Piper who was attending the National Fire Academy. Secretary’s Report Motion by Anderson, seconded by Tebow to approve Minutes of September 12, 2007 as published in the newsletter. Motion passed. Treasurer’s Report Motion by Swisher, seconded by Anderson, to approve the Treasurers report as published in the newsletter. Executive Director’s Report Jeff Schadegg reviewed the Executive Director’s report presented and approved by the Board at the December Board meeting: 1. Membership numbers: Active
207 Total 466 Renewal notices are being prepared and will begin to go out next week. 2. I have received the 2008 Minnesota 100 Club renewal notice. With your approval I will mail our 2008 dues in the amount of $100.00. 3. Due to a problem with the database I do not have outstanding balances at this time. Quarterly billing will go out but it will take a little longer because it requires reconstruction of the billing report and query. 4. There were no e-mail motions this quarter. Arson Reward Committee Report Arson Reward Committee Chair Charlie O’Brien reported that there were no rewards paid out last quarter. We have signs available. Contact Charlie charlie.obrien.bjt0@statefarm.com State Fire Marshal Report State Fire Marshal Jerry Rosendahl reported there are 36 fire deaths to date this year. Last year there were 46 fire deaths. We have never been below 40 so this could be an all time low again this year if the current trend continues. Three decades ago it was not unusual to have 80 fire deaths per year. What we are doing is working but we need to get deeper into behavior to reduce fire death numbers further. Alcohol, drugs, poor housekeeping and other dangerous behaviors continue to result in fires. Ninety-six percent of the of the fire departments in Minnesota reported in the NFIRS Program this year. Another new record. The State plans to go with an online reporting system in 2008. We are attempting to reach 100 %. Basic and On-scene Investigation training class information and registration is available on the SFM web site at http://www.dps.state.mn.us/fmarshal/fmarshal.html Investigator training is also available to individual departments on request. The MN Fire Association Coalition (MNFAC) is conducting outreach to set its 2008 legislative agenda. They have received about twenty-eight issues. Of most interest to investigators is probably the discussion on changing the arson statutes on negligent fire to simple negligence. Arson Awareness Committee Report Committee Chair Jerry Streich reported that the committee is very active. Community awareness … what is the problem? The answer unfortunately is we do not know. There is very little data out there and most of it is outdated or the numbers are skewed. We were unable to get a grant to answer the question so the Chapter has approved $10,000 to conduct research. We formulate a plan and apply for a grant for materials to institute programs once our data has been analyzed. We will also be preparing a 2 hour class to give to fire department personnel. Awards Committee Report Committee Chair Jerry Streich reported that the committee has reviewed the current program and has forwarded change recommendations to the board. Mike Urbanski will be taking over the awards program to allow Jerry to devote more time to the Arson Awareness project. Governor’s Council on Fire Prevention and Control Jeff Schadegg reviewed Council Member Mike Tremain’s 12/3 07 committee report. The following were re-elected at the November 28, 2007 Gov’s Council Meeting:
The Builders Association of Minnesota advised they intend to move forward with statewide building code legislation at the 2008 session. The Council is in the process of identifying 2008 initiatives. Discussion was held regarding the competency of plan reviewers, inspectors, designers, etc. involved the fire protection systems. All member organizations were asked if they had a stance on the subject. The MNIAAI Board discussed the matter at the Board meeting and decided to defer to and support the position of Fire Marshal Association of Minnesota (FMAM) as they are more directly involved with issue. HazMat / OSHA Committee ReportJamie Novak asked the members present what their preference was in holding the refresher class in conjunction with the annual conference or at a separate date. Based on a show of hands it was decided the class would be separate. Membership Committee Report Committee Chair Denise DeMars presented 5 applications for membership. Motion by Schroeder, seconded by Hale to accept. Motion passed. Training and Education Committee Report Committee Chair Don Howell reported the conference will be held in St.Cloud, MN March 26 – 28, 2008. We will be offering online registration with credit card payment in a cooperative partnership with the Holiday Inn. Forms will be found on the chapter web site with charges posted for us by the Holiday Inn. Old Business Charlie O’Brien reported on the progress of the Fire Investigation Manual for Prosecutors. The County Attorney’s Association will be mailing the document out to attorneys and will provide eleven copies to the State Fire Marshal’s Office for their investigators. The Chapter gave $2000 to help in the cost of printing so we will be receiving a digital copy that we will share with the membership and post to the web site library. New Business President Piper reported that the Board met with representatives of Provident Insurance and is looking at providing an accidental death and dismemberment policy as a membership benefit. He reviewed the information reported in the board meeting notes in these minutes. President Piper reported that Lee DeVries has agreed to take over as District 7 Director. Lee’s e-mail address is 4Devries@q.com if you need to reach him. Adjournment Motion by Anderson, to adjourn. Motion passed.
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