OKIAAI Board Minutes 12/9/21

Date: December 9, 2021
Time: 10:02 a.m.
Location: Oklahoma Farm Bureau – Tulsa, OK

Call to Order

Made by President Chris Woodall

Roll Call

Present at Meeting: Chris Woodall (Pres.), Bill Hollander (Past Pres.), Steve Rhodes (2nd yr.), Jim Wilhelm (2nd yr.), Marc Sutphin (1st yr.), Gina Coleman (1st yr.), Renee Southerland (Secretary), Jonathan Wilk (Treasurer)

Absent at Meeting: Ashley Stephens (1st VP), Todd DeSmet (2nd VP), Tim Reeves (3rd yr.), Nick Nodeau (3rd yr.)

Reading and Approval of Minutes

Jonathan made a motion to forego the reading of the October conference minutes, seconded by Bill Hollander, motion carried and approved.

Membership

A request for membership was received from Nick Kelley, Assistant Fire Marshal of Moore Fire Department. Bill Hollander made the motion to accept his membership, seconded by Steve Rhodes, motion carried and approved.

Treasurer’s Report

As of October 15, the Arvest bank account balance was $13,578.32. More deposits were made after the conference as well as a PayPal transfer to now total $17,569.57. Additional checks have been received at this meeting for late conference payments in the amount of $1,320.00 which will be deposited making the total in the bank account to be $18,889.57. Steve Rhodes made the motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report, seconded by Marc Sutphin, motion carried and approved.

Gina Coleman suggested using Zelle as a possible option for bank transfers instead of Square because no fees are charged. Bill Hollander also suggested Venmo and CashApp. Any further discussion was tabled.

The Treasurer stated we are now in a financial position to explore hosting and providing additional services to the members for the upcoming conference in October 2022.

CFI

None. A discussion was had with Marc Sutphin regarding the credentials for CFI and the procedure for him applying.

Website

Bill Hollander requested that we change the photo award deadline date from October 1^st to September 1^st in order to have time to get all of the photographs in, frames purchased, and plates made.

Renee Southerland discussed when payments come in for the conference that some of the members are not filling out the membership form and bypassing it just to pay directly. It was discussed that it was okay to get with Dan VanBuskirk, our IT person, to change the payment format on the website so that members have to fill out the membership form first before payment can be made.

Annual Conference

The 1^st Vice President, Ashley Stephens, was not able to make the conference but had sent an email stating he would be working on the agenda as some of his ATF co-workers would be speaking at the conference. He also stated his vote would be to have the conference at the Grand Casino again in Shawnee as it appeared the surveys Bill Hollander sent out were all favorable with that venue.
Renee Southerland had a conference call with Krystle prior to the board meeting and she advised that the dates we had requested for her to reserve the ballroom for the conference, October 19-21, 2022, were still on her books. We can also have Tuesday the 18^th free for set-up if it was voted on by the board to keep the conference at that venue. She said the cost would remain the same at $500 for Wednesday, $500 for Thursday, and $225.00 for Friday. Even though she had cut the cost for Wednesday and Thursday in half at this past conference (because we had to order buffet lunches and a lot of snacks since the food court was not open), she stated she could not cut the conference cost in half this coming year. She advised that all of the coffee we had ordered at this past conference was free because catering did not turn in their invoice in to her until a week after we had paid for the conference and she was not going to request additional money from us. She advised that food court would definitely be open by October 2022 as it was supposed to be open in February 2022. She further explained that since the food court would be open, no buffet lunches could be ordered for this next conference since a lot of food options would now be available for lunch. Hotel rooms were not discussed at this time.
Since less than 30 surveys were turned in at this past conference, a suggestion was made to have everyone turn in the surveys at the end of the day on Thursday and possibly get a free ticket to use for one of the bigger giveaway items that would be raffled off at the end of Thursday. At least this would ensure that maybe more surveys could get turned in instead of waiting until Friday when a lot of members don’t attend and have had to leave the conference early.
Since the items purchased from OCI (Oklahoma Correctional Industries) were such a big hit for this past conference, it was discussed to go ahead and order those items from them again to ensure that enough time is given for these items to be made. Jonathan advised the three items that we gave away only cost our organization $1,000.00 even though the cost should have been $1,100.00 as OCI ate the additional $100.00 and gave us that discount.
At this time, the OCI pamphlet for outdoor furniture was passed out and reviewed and a motion was made by Gina Coleman to order the same items, seconded by Bill Hollander, motion carried and approved.
As for the giveaway items for the members when they attend the conference, David VanBuskirk (past board member) had suggested during this past conference to go ahead and get 511 hoodies as those had never been given away, only the sweatshirts. Jonathan advised he would contact his rep at 511 and send an email to everyone concerning the hoodies available and the cost.
Marc Sutphin requested an explanation about the monies that go to the burn camp from the raffle, and it was advised that 100% goes to that organization.
Renee Southerland advised that the burn camp will attend the next conference in October 2022 as they already have the dates on their calendar.
A discussion was had to encourage all board members to get raffle giveaway items starting now since the members really enjoy a chance to win these items since the money goes to the burn camp.

501(c)3

Chris Woodall advised that he will meet with Jonathan Wilk to get the past bank records for the last three years as the accountant needs this in order to start the process to reinstate our 501(c)3 status.
Bill Hollander then had a discussion with the new board members stating that our 501(c)3 had expired and that we were trying to get it reinstated.

New Business

Chris Woodall suggested doing a one-day class in the spring, and Jonathan Wilk suggested possibly using a class from the National organization. Bill Hollander advised he was involved in one of those classes that Mr. Magalassi had done in the past.
Marc Sutphin advised that the FMAO hours versus OKIAAI hours are about the same and that we should possibly squeeze in more CLEET hours. He advised the Department of Agriculture has a class we could use. Jonathan Wilk advised he attended that Ag class in the past, and it was also discussed about the Arson for Prosecutors Class which is a two-day class that the ATF would conduct. Jonathan Wilk advised that ATF hosted his class for free and they did a live burn as well.
Chris Woodall has suggested that we go ahead and pay for a venue and do a class and form a committee but it was suggested to wait until Ashley Stephens was at the next meeting to discuss further.
Board positions were discussed and how current positions were filled based on certain vacancies.
At this time Jim Wilhelm submitted his resignation to the board which Chris Woodall read to the board and thanked Jim Wilhelm for his conference help these past few years. At this time a new 2^nd year appointee needed to be nominated. Renee Southerland nominated David VanBuskirk, and Bill Hollander advised that he had spoken with David the week prior and he was okay to be back on the board but would be out of attending any meetings during the summer due to his sprinkler business. Jonathan Wilk advised that Fred Henderson would fill any vacancy until a permanent replacement was found. Jim Wilhelm also advised if he was needed for a vote he could be available until a permanent replacement can be determined because he does need to resign. He also let his EMT, Hazmat and CLEET certifications expire.
Chris Woodall suggested if we called one of the other potential nominees that did not get voted in to see if they would be willing to be a board member at this time, we could do that. Jonathan Wilk advised that Jesse Benne ran the last two years and really wants to get involved and would be a good resource going further. His supervisor also advised that Jesse Benne could make the meetings whenever they were scheduled.
At this time, Chris Woodall appointed Jesse Benne a 2^nd year board member as Jim Wilhelm’s replacement. Jonathan advised he would call Jesse Benne and advise him of his new appointment. Renee Southerland will add him into the letterhead, email chain, and website for the board members going forward starting January 2022.
Renee Southerland had Chris Woodall sign a new W-9 for the 2022 year.

Old Business:

At our conference annual meeting, it was voted on that the language in our Bylaws be changed to reflect the membership language used by the International Association. Jonathan Wilk will extract that language and add it into our Bylaws and present it at the next meeting. Gina Coleman questioned why Hugh Graham had a dissention vote and it was because he thought the board needed to be addressed sixty (60) days prior, but Jonathan Wilk had spoken with Bill Cathcart, our legal counsel, prior to the conference concerning eligibility status and he stated that we needed to address it in our Bylaws. Bill Cathcart advised it was okay to take a vote during the Annual meeting. It was discussed concerning associate membership and student membership, and what eligibility was needed to be on the board, and that the word “International” would be redacted when applying their language to our Bylaws.
Bill Hollander advised that he still had plane credits from the last International meeting that was cancelled in April of 2021, and it was discussed that it was okay for Bill Hollander to go to the International conference this year since he did not get to go last year.
Steve Rhodes had also been on the schedule to go last year and would like to go this year, so that discussion was had and he will be attending also.
It was further discussed that those board members attending the International conference will be reimbursed at the government per diem rate, and their hotel and flight will also be reimbursed. A motion was made by Jonathan Wilk to accept this, seconded by Bill Hollander, motion carried and approved.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be on Thursday, January 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. at Oklahoma Farm Bureau located at 10777 S. Memorial Drive in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bill Hollander made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Jonathan Wilk, motion carried and approved.