Michigan Fire Service Instructor’s Association
Executive Board Meeting
June 18, 2003
Minutes

Executive Board Meeting
Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 18, 2003

Present: Executive VP Michael Cousins, Secretary Brian Blomstrom, Treasurer Michael Greis, Northern VP J.R. St. Croix, East VP Ken Lawfield, Western VP Bob Systema, Southern VP Ray Wilson, Trustee Pete Mata, Trustee Don Bigger

Absent: President Bob Austin, Trustee Lenny Underwood, Trustee Bryce Tracy, UP VP Robert Schwarz

Roll Call: Blomstrom took roll call at 905AM; Cousins advised Austin was excused from the meeting and Schwarz, Tracy, and Underwood were unexcused.

Minutes from Last Meeting: The minutes from May 7, 2003, were accepted at typed (Systema/St. Croix).

Communications: Cousins and Blomstrom advised that neither had received any communications during the past month.

Treasurer Report: Greis stated the starting balance for the checking account was $12,710.19. After an income of $63.33 and expenses of $476.67, the total for the account is $12,296.85. Report accepted as presented (Lawfield/Systema).

Standing Committees:
Constitution and By-Laws: Mata had no report.
Public Relations: Underwood was absent; no report.
Membership: Wilson had no report.
Education/Research: Tracy was absent; no report.
Instructor of the Year: Cousins stated that the International Instructor of the Year form has changed; he and Terry Massengill are completing the form to be sent. Conference/Program: The tentative date of the Instructors Conference (held jointly with the Chief's Convention) is October 23-26, 2003, at Treetops in Gaylord. There will be a "flashover" simulator present. Henry Green (CIS) and Jeff Krist (Columbine, Colorado) are scheduled to speak as well; two more openings for speakers remains. The main banquet will be on Friday night, and the Instructor of the Year will be presented at that time. The cost of the conference is still being negotiated, but the MFSIA is pushing for 1 and 2 day registration fees again for members who want to utilize that option.

Special Committees:
Joint Council: Doug Doefer stated that Joint Council is not in session at this time. However, the Training Funding Bill will be re-introduced this fall. Doefer will be contacting the MFSIA E-Board advising when MFSIA members need to start calling representatives encouraging the passage of the legislation. FFTC:

Greg Kirt stated that a task force has been created to work with the insurance companies reference the training funding bill. Insurance companies originally thought 25% or 2 million dollars were just for training--it was explained that part of the money would fund the MFFTC as well.

2002 Training Year: There was an increase of attendees for all services and programs. Statistically, there are 20% more firefighters now than before September 11, 2001.

Fire Officer I and II problems: There are 6 issues brought forth to the MFFTC regarding the new fire officer courses. These problems include schedules of the classes (blocks of classes and length of time), the number of instructor/student manuals (seems to be quite a bit of cut and paste), three different manuals being used to teach ICS or IMS, duplication between FOI and FOII classes (redundancy), course ideas not suitable for Michigan, and not enough tactical training. Therefore, the staff will begin to work on these issues and update the classes within 6-12 months, with a projected date of May 31, 2004.

4th Edition issues: After receiving complaints last year about the new curriculum, talking with other states, and changing the homework, the first round of statistics for 2002-2003 are completed. As of June 17, students were scoring an average 82% on the exam, up from 75%. The national average is 80%-85%. The pass rate on the exam has risen to 93% from 82%.

Train-the-Trainers: September: Saginaw, Driver Training

November: Lansing, NFA Tactical program

December: Lansing, NFA ICS for High Rise Operations

Budget: MFFTC hopes to have the budget in hand by July to plan for next year's operations. As of now, this fiscal year will be the same as last fiscal year with no more cuts in funding but no extra money available.

Fire Service Expo: "We are here!!" Recap will occur at August meeting.

Application for Membership: There were 6 applications for membership: Dale Caten, Fenton Twp Fire Dept.; David S. Ramsay, Pinconning-Fraser Fire Dept.; Gregory Sharp, Coldwater Fire Dept.; Rick Musall, Burns Twp Fire Dept.; Dan Munro, Perry Area Fire Rescue; and Scott Johnson, Corunna Fire Dept. All applicants already paid dues in full. The applicants were accepted into the organization by vote (Blomstrom/Lawton).

Old Business:
Blomstrom advised Schwarz is still working on a way to EMAIL the minutes to members or post the minutes on the website and advise all members of the posting. Blomstrom stated that when this occurs, he would like to send a postcard to each member until October with the reminder the minutes are posted. Evaluation of the EMAIL system minutes would occur at the Instructors Conference. Hard copies will still be available for members with limited Internet access. The reason for the conversion from hard copy to the website is that cost per month to mail minutes ($200).

New Business:
Paul Wilcox spoke about Public Safety Officer benefits, and the issue that many firefighters are not receiving benefits due to a loophole regarding heart attacks. Currently, a firefighter having a heart attack 24 hours after an alarm is not covered. Legislation has been written to change the coverage; it has passed the Senate, and now the House must vote on it.

The group was reminded of no July meeting.

Mike Greis stated a non-member of the MFSIA, Chief Ed Holtcamp, represented the group at a training funding bill meeting recently. Greis felt this was improper as he is not a member and does not pay dues. Cousins stated that this issue was researched and it will never happen again.

Good of the Order:
Mata passed out a survey reference training and asked those interested to complete it.

Doug Doefer commended the board for the hard work over the last year and stated he felt he has been well informed of the actions of the board during the past year.

Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Blomstrom, seconded by Mata. Meeting adjourned at 953AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Brian K. Blomstrom
Secretary