Annual Meeting Minutes July 28^th 2011 Calumet

·        Meeting called to order at 10:00 Est. by Chief Caudill

o   Chief Caudill Apologized for the confusion of the meeting time.

·        Membership Present. (Do not have a sign in sheet.)

·        Pledge of allegiance said aloud

·        Welcome from the Fire Chief and Firefighters Wife’s prayer recited. There was also a moment of silence for our fallen firefighters.

·        Roll Call;

o   President Caudill – Present

o   Vice President Perlongo – Present

o   Secretary Seppala – Absent (was working)

o   Trustee Yon – Present

o   Trustee Jacobson – Present

·        Approval of the Agenda

o   Motion by Tri-county to approve with support from Forsyth Township, all were in favor, motion carried.

·        Minutes of the April 23^rd Meeting was read aloud by Chief Jacobson.

o   Motion by?     With support from Ironwood Township, all were in favor, motion carried.

·        Treasurers Report

o   Motion by Tri-County to accept with support from Forsyth Township, all in favor to accept the treasurer’s report as printed.

·        Web Site

o   Same as the last time, any suggestions or comments are always welcome.

·        Training

o   Chief Caudill has made contact with two instructors for the spring training seminar. Details will be mailed out following the fall meeting. The date will be February 4^th at the Tail Winds conference center in Gwinn on the old K.I. Sawyer Base. There was some discussion on the date because of the UPVFFA meeting with the host of next year’s tournament. It was mentioned that that meeting date is flexible. Chief Caudill stated we need to make our reservation with the complex in a timely manner.

·        Reports

o   Joe Grutza from the Office of Firefighter Training apologized on behalf of Fire Marshal Ron Farr who could not be here because of a prior engagement.

o   Joe complemented Region 1 Supervisor Dan Hammerberg for doing an exemplary job; there was a round of applause.

o   He went over new policies that were adopted and spoke of the new fire prevention code. Anyone who attends the code class will receive a copy of the code.

o   NFIRS reporting is at 85% up from 47%. Joe asked that we keep up the reporting and hopes those that do not report will start as the statistics help at the State level for funding the Michigan fire service.

o   Joe spoke about the lack of fire investigators in the UP and our concern of that. Fire Marshal Farr is aware of our concern and steps are being taken to resolve the problem.

o   He asked that those who have not signed up to receive the Michigan Fire Service Connection may do so at www.michigan.gov/bfs and just click on the link at the top of the page to sign up.

o   The IMS system is doing well and now has a 5 day turn around on test scores instead of the 6-8 weeks due to back log.

o   The Region retest will be at the West Iron County Fire Department September 24^th 8:00 am CST.

o   Went over the Instructor 1 program and reciprocity issue. The OFFT will accept IFSAC and Pro-board certifications. Any questions call Joe directly at 517-235-3496.

o   Spoke about County training funding.

o   Dan Hammerberg Thanked the UP training Coordinators for their fine work.

o   Blaine Howell from MSFA thanked everyone for being here and just touched base on the Insurance policy changes and mentions the fall school in Alpena.

o   Wendy Simon from Front Line Services introduced herself.

·        Board Comments

o   Perlongo – none

o   Yon – none

o   Jacobson – Please sign the sign in sheet

o   Caudill – Mentioned Gogebic County has their own Fire Investigator through the Sheriff’s Department and he did a great job on a recent fire they had. Ironwood Public safety has a fire investigator as well, Brandon Snyder. Also don’t forget to sign up for the Fire Service Connection.

·        Next Meeting

o   October 1^st in Spaulding 10:00 am Local time (Central)

·        Adjournment

o   Motion by Ironwood with support from Marquette Township to Adjourn, all in favor.