Date: March 25, 2021
Time: 10:15 a.m.
Location: Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Tulsa, OK
Call to Order by President
Made by First Vice-President Chris Woodall as President Bill Hollander was running late.
Roll Call
PRESENT: Bill Hollander (Pres.)- present at 10:35 a.m., Chris Woodall (1st VP), (appeared by phone), Fred Henderson (3rd Yr.), Steve Rhodes (1st Yr.), Tim Reeves (2nd Yr.), David VanBuskirk (Past Pres.), Renee Southerland (Secretary), Jonathan Wilk (Treasurer)
ABSENT: Jeremy Robbins (3rd Yr.), Todd DeSmet (2nd Yr.), Ashley Stephens (2nd VP), Jim Wilhelm (1st Yr.)
Reading and Approval of Minutes
Chris Woodall read the Minutes from February 25, 2021. It was requested to correct the spelling of Jonathan’s last name from Wilks to Wilk. Jonathan Wilk made a motion to accept the minutes when amended, seconded by Steve Rhodes, motion carried and approved. Renee will correct the Minutes and have Dan VanBuskirk post on the website.
Membership
New membership – Chad Oubre. Motion was made by Jonathan Wilk to accept Chad as a new member, seconded by Tim Reeves, motion carried and approved.
A discussion was had that a few members that have paid their dues this year are retired from fire service and that will be discussed in old business as how to proceed with retired members.
Treasurer’s Report
Jonathan Wilk advised the balance was $13,424.79 and had provided the bank statement to everyone the day before the meeting. This amount does not include a recent transfer of $92.96 that was made, nor the other checks received from Renee, nor the refunds that were made to the members that had paid their dues twice.
David VanBuskirk made the motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report, seconded by Tim Reeves, motion carried and approved.
A discussion was also had that GoDaddy was paid on March 22, 2021, for website services.
Annual Conference:
- Jonathan Wilk advised that Jeremy Robbins told him that the Reed Center was a no go because the dates were not available.
- Jonathan Wilk also advised that Jeremy had checked into Gordan Cooper Vo-Tech in Shawnee, but he had not heard back by the time Jonathan Wilk received this information the day before our meeting. There are grounds there where we can burn if that venue is available.
- Chris Woodall advised that Joe Elam cannot get the Edmond Chief to commit for us to use the Edmond Fire Training Center for the conference at this time due to COVID.
- Jonathan Wilk also advised that Jeremy Robbins stated that Rose State would be approximately $2,000 to use their facility.
- A discussion was had concerning using the Grand Casino conference room and blocking rooms there as Renee Southerland had already spoken to Krystle, the Events Coordinator. Krystle confirmed in writing that we could have the facility from Tuesday afternoon, October 19th, through half day Friday, October 22nd, for $1,250. The cost is free on Tuesday to set up, $500 each for Wednesday and Thursday, and $250 for that Friday. There was not a charge to block the rooms and we would not be responsible for any rooms that were blocked that did not get booked. For every 35 nights that are booked, we get one night free. This location is nine miles to the Gordon Cooper burning grounds if we elect to burn anything. Krystle also advised that we could set up vehicles on display in the parking lot, and Renee advised her that orange cones would be placed around those vehicles so as to not have them disturbed. Krystle also advised that we would have our own private entrance to the Grand Conference Room.
- Chris Woodall advised that the Hilton Garden Inn in Edmond advised they would have a packet ready for Chris to bring to the meeting with room requirements and conference cost, but it was not ready. They did have their conference room available and he did not believe there was a requirement on rooms being booked, but, again, the cost is unknown.
- Chris Woodall also checked the new Oklahoma City Convention Center next to the Omni Hotel, but he has not received any information from them, but the dates were open for our conference. We would receive a 25% discount on the normal charges of $900 per day, but it would cost to park in the parking garage and it would not be walking distance to Bricktown.
- Jonathan Wilk advised that Phoenix Restoration should be a vendor as he talked to them recently.
- An in-depth discussion was had concerning having the conference at Grand Casino. Bill Hollander made a motion to have the conference at the Grand Casino in Shawnee, seconded by Fred Henderson, motion carried and approved.
- Chris Woodall left a message with Mr. Albano to confirm he will speak on mental health on that Friday.
- Chris Woodall also spoke with Mike Custer, who does smart technology, and he will speak at no charge.
- Chris Woodall stated he will nail down the agenda for the next meeting.
- Chris Woodall advised that Trip Wagoner, who is on the 921 Commission with Jensen Hughes, can also give a presentation. If Ashley Stephens’ guys are still willing, then we would have more information to provide at the conference.
- Renee Southerland advised Bill Cathcart is still willing to speak for an hour as he was willing to give up his other hour to Mike Custer if that time was needed for him.
- Chris Woodall is also going to reach out to Jerry Bach concerning JH Batteries.
- David VanBuskirk suggested Cameron Novak to speak about batteries.
- Jonathan Wilk advised that Cary Dooley might have a lithium battery expert as he recalled working a case with him involving those batteries.
- As for giveaways, it was decided to do the short-sleeve T-shirts from Midwest Trophy with our older logo with the white lettering. Renee Southerland will check with Midwest Trophy about the 12” tool bag and if it can be monogramed with our logo.
- Chris Woodall stated he was going to buy three or four hand-held metal detectors as giveaways in the raffle as he recently saw one being used. Everyone agreed that would be a good purchase.
- We are not going to do the earbuds this year as Tim Reeves had proposed.
CFI
None
Website
Renee Southerland will have Dan VanBuskirk switch the location of the conference on the website from Edmond to Grand Casino and an email blast will be done after the April meeting.
An in-depth discussion was had concerning the photographs that were placed on the website from the 2019 Conference as to whether or not those individuals that were pictured actually wanted their pictures on the website. It was discussed whether a photo release was needed.
Renee Southerland is going to have Dan VanBuskirk revise the payment method wording on the website billing area as she is still getting notifications from people that they do not have “PayPal” even though you can pay with a debit card. She will have Dan VanBuskirk more boldly display that debit cards or VISAs can be used.
Old Business
- Chris Woodall stated he and Jonathan need to meet and discuss the 501c(3) and put together the paperwork needed by the accountant to get that reinstated so that we can be tax exempt.
- A discussion was had concerning Associate membership, and Jonathan Wilk advised that the By-laws state associate membership can be pursuant to the International Guidelines. The International states that if you are not active in fire service, you can be an Associate member, but you cannot be on the Board and vote.
- Bill Hollander advised that he is now retired but will be working for the Sheriff’s Office and that this should be a discussion to have at the Annual Meeting at the conference so those firefighter service or insurance personnel that are going to retire can still be Associate members.
- Chris Woodall will discuss this with Bill Cathcart so that it can be addressed at the annual conference. He noted there might be a time constraint to submit this to our current members. We would need to advise that a change might be coming at the annual conference that “member status will follow International By-laws” and that our By-laws will have the same wording. Jonathan Wilk advised he would put it all together and talk with Bill Cathcart since Chris advised the consult would be needed with Bill Cathcart.
- At the last meeting we discussed that Sherry Montes had paid dues to our Association even though she worked in the administrative department at Rimkus Consulting. Since our By-laws state Associate members are members pursuant to International Guidelines, Sherry is now considered an Associate member.
- Bill Hollander advised that since the International Conference got cancelled in April due to a spike in COVID in New Jersey, he could not get a refund on his flight but could get a refund on the conference fees. He has one year to use the flight credits. Chris Woodall advised we could reimburse Bill Hollander for the flight amount, but Bill said he would use the flight within the year and it was okay not to be reimbursed.
New Business
None.
Next Meeting
Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. at the Grand Casino located at 777 Grand Casino Boulevard in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Jonathan Wilk made a Motion to adjourn, seconded by Bill Hollander, motion carried and approved.
