Region 7 St. Croix Valley Regional Firefighters Association Meeting Hosted by Center City Fire Department on 14 January, 2016 Call To Order: by Will Pennings President Region 7 at 1930 hrs. Welcome to Center City Center FD: by Chief Bob Bray, Center City FD. Roll Call Fire # Fire Department Attendance Department Almelund 2 Linwood Marine on St Askov Croix Bethel Milaca Braham Mora Brook Park 2 North Branch 3 Cambridge 3 Ogilvie Center City 9 Pine City 1 Chisago City 2 Princeton Dalbo 3 Rush City 1 East Bethel Sandstone Foreston Shafer Harris St. Francis Hinckley Stacy - Lent Isanti 1 Sturgeon Lake Isle / Wahkon Taylor Falls 1 Lindstrom Willow River Wyoming # Attendance
Approval of Minutes from 08 October, 2015: Motion to accept by: Pine City FD Second by: Rush City FD Vote: Approved Financial Report: by DeeDee Jankovich / $13,160.07 Motion to accept: Cambridge FD Second: Isanti FD Vote: Approved Old Business: Ensure that By-laws have been updated according to voted on previous changes Secretary has the by-laws as amended in 2015, soon to be posting on the website for the region. Clarify process for requesting funds for the Region from MSFDA Secretary has obtained the previously entered contract from the MN State Fire Department Association (MSFDA) and appropriate Expense Request Forms. Reports: Minnesota State Fire Department Association: Dave Matchinsky - Cambridge FD MSFDA will be co-hosting Fire Service Day at the Capitol March 9 th, 2016. MSFDA Annual Conference will be June 8-11 in Detroit Lakes, MN. MSFDA is looking for volunteers for the MN Firefighter foundation and the Governor s Fire Safety Council. MSFDA is also attempting to start an Employee Assistance Program to assist Firefighters. Matchinsky also presented literature on California Casualty (Insurance for Firefighters), Spouse information books for volunteer firefighters. Reminder that MSFDA has a Bi-monthly newspaper ($7 a year / 6 issues, http://l.b5z.net/i/u/10139957/f/order_form.pdf) that can be subscribed to and is always looking for departments to feature or articles to be submitted. There is available an Honorary Life
Membership application for 20+ years Firefighters. Matchinsky also updated the Region on the semi-recent former Treasurer who was Charged / Convicted / and is serving a sentence related to the misappropriation of funds. Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education (MBFTE): Kevin Sedivey and Steve Flaherty MBFTE: Look for contact information and department updates coming within the next couple of months. Reimbursements are about $160.00 per firefighter that is on the certified department roster sent to the MBFTE. If a current roster is not certified the default for a department becomes 10 members for the year. Issues for training can and should be brought to your board members (Christine Patrick). The board has passed an approval for Emergency Medical Responder as a reimbursable expense related to training. A reporton the Fire Safety account from the state is looking good for this year. It currently looks like reimbursements will be the same amount or more than the previous year for training. For emergency medicine reimbursements make sure that you have submitted to the regional EMS board before applying for the MBFTE. Basic Animal Rescue Training (BART) is now eligible for reimbursement. At current look, 9 departments within the region did not apply for any funds / reimbursements from the MBFTE. 17 departments did receive redistributions from the redistributed funds from the MBFTE. The MBFTE would like departments to consider reimbursements for the MSFCA Conference and $1500 for live burns. Now the MBFTE has an online the form for reimbursement. The state as a whole has shown good numbers in NFIRS reports. If you need a Fire Investigator, please call the state duty officer to get them, it creates a paper trail and record for tracking purposes. Fire Chief s Association (MFCA): Tom Miller There is a Fire Officers school being held in Alexandria, February 5 7 th. Currently there are 291 out of 300 possible slots registered for. A reminder that this school
is for more than just chiefs, it is open to all officers or upcoming officers. There is a Fire Instructor conference the weekend of 16 th and 17 th of January, 2016. Department of Natural Resources (DNR): Lisa Wagner / Bob Carlson There is a new Wildland Fire Technician at Wyoming. Basic Wildland Firefighter training is coming up throughout the state March 14 th -18 th. There is a new Firewise Program person coming to the region soon. Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM): Bob Berg The end for the Rail Safety training Phase 1 is ending soon. You will need this phase to continue on with phase 2, 3, or 4. Volunteer Firefighters Benefit Association: Tom Linhoff Currently registered in the state are about 16,500 out of 18,000 total volunteer firefighters. Watch your mail for yearly dues, they should be in the mail soon. In 2014, $106,800 where paid in claims for injuries through the association. In 2015, $83,500 where paid for injuries currently. The majority of injuries where sustained by getting on and off the fire apparatus. There is a meeting being held in St. Cloud on January 30 th. State Fire Marshall s Office: Steve Flaherty The State Fire Marshal s Office is going to be applying for HMEP and HSEM grants to create a fund. All departments in the state will then be able to request through the State Fire Marshal s Office for schools and classes. Reminder of MNICS courses L-380 and L-480 week long courses can be paid for through MBFTE. Minnesota State Firefighter Certification Board: Dave Machinsky The last meeting was held in October. Things that were discussed at that meeting where building new tests for certifications, recertification, and a unification process. The next scheduled meeting is January 28 th.
Stacy Lent Training: Will Pennings Recently 13 persons completed the Firefighter I and II. For the first time Stacy-Lent Training did all the practical s in one day, and the questions where done online. The burn tower has been very busy this year. A lot of different departments have been utilizing the tower. There are still 7 seats available for FF I &II in the spring class. New Business: Secretary will be updating some information to the MSFDA Site: Past minutes By-laws Upcoming Meeting Times and Places Contact information for President, Vice President, and Secretary Regional Dues: Regional dues are due on the 15 th of January, 2016. Look for a reminder coming soon. To date 16 of 24 departments have already paid. Scholarship: Proposal for Region 7 to offer a scholarship for 2 firefighters the conference registration fee to the MSFDA Conference by creating an application and selection process. Motion to create: Isanti FD Second: North Branch FD Vote: Approved July Meeting: Proposal to investigate hosting the July meeting on a boat based in Taylor Falls. In the past the region has traditionally hosted the meeting on the river in an attempt to boost participation and encourage involvement in the region. The proposal brought forward to the region was to investigate costs associated, the potential need for a $5 a head reservation fee, sponsors from vendors, and feasibility. Motion was made to reserve the boat trip for the 2 nd Thursday in July. Motion by: North Branch FD
Second: Isanti FD Vote: Approved Announcements: Next Quarterly Meetings: April 14 th at Chisago City July 14 th at Taylor Falls on the river October at Dalbo Pro Hydro Testing: Jim Tollefson was on site to encourage business with Pro Hydro Testing LLC. They can do onsite testing and certification of steel, aluminum, or fiberglass SCBA tanks. Contact # 952-300-0221 Cambridge Fire Department: Annual Gun Raffle is Saturday January 16 th 1600 to 2200 at the Cambridge Armed Forces Reserve Center. Motion to adjourn: Brook Park FD Second: Cambridge FD