Date: April 21, 2022
Time: 10:10 a.m.
Location: Oklahoma Farm Bureau – Tulsa, OK
Call to Order
Made by President Chris Woodall
Roll Call
Absent at Meeting: Nick Nadeau (3rd yr.)
Present at Meeting: Chris Woodall (Pres.), Ashley Stephens (1st VP), Todd DeSmet (2nd VP), Tim Reeves (3rd yr.), Steve Rhodes (2nd yr.), Jesse Benne (2nd yr.), Marc Sutphin (1st yr.), Gina Coleman (1st yr.), Renee Southerland (Secretary), Jonathan Wilk (Treasurer), Bill Hollander (Past Pres.) – by phone
Reading and Approval of Minutes
Ashley Stephens made a motion to forego the reading and approval of the minutes from March 9th, seconded by Todd DeSmet, motion carried and approved.
Membership
No new members.
Treasurer’s Report
Jonathan Wilk advised since last month there had been no expenses or additions to the account other than a $5.00 service fee from the bank. The current balance is $18,129.04. Tim Reeves made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report, seconded by Gina Coleman, motion carried and approved.
CFI
Jesse Benne is still working on his CFI. Johnny Sawyer from Tulsa Fire Department received his CSI.
Website
Renee Southerland advised that IT Dan VanBuskirk fixed the spam problem that we were having in our Gmail account.
Annual Conference
- There was a lengthy discussion concerning the agenda and speakers, and Ashley Stephens advised that the ATF guys that will be speaking will not charge to speak. He will check on other speakers regarding whether or not they need to be paid or have a room for attending. At this time, it was discussed to just list the topics and case studies in the “Save the Date email blast” that is being sent out in April.
- Bill Hollander advised that a board member from the International Board will come to our conference and that if we needed him to speak regarding 921, he would.
- There was a discussion concerning all speakers’ documentation and outlines that need to be turned in to CLEET, ODI, and OBA and their deadlines.
- Ashley Stephens advised he would have the agenda completed by July as the second blast needs to be sent out by the beginning of August.
- Todd DeSmet advised he would turn in all of the documentation to the ODI for CLE, and Ashley Stephens advised he would turn in the paperwork to OBA and CLEET, and that he would get his information to Todd DeSmet by July.
- Gina Coleman advised she went to the PLRB conference in San Antonio recently and obtained several vendor cards and will send out a vendor/sponsor email to those that attended that conference to see if they would be interested in being a vendor or sponsor at our conference.
- Bill Hollander advised Laurel Mason might want to be a vendor as well and he will send her a vendor form. She is with Analytical Forensic Associates in Georgia.
- There was a discussion had concerning who would do opening remarks, and Marc Sutphin advised he would check with the Lawton Pipe and Drum Corp. to see if they would be willing to attend and if any payment or donation would be needed.
- There was a discussion had concerning awards and investigator of the year. Renee Southerland advised that request would be added in the email blast for nominations to be sent in as well as photo of the year nominations.
- Jonathan Wilk advised he drove to the Department of Corrections facility and still did not receive any answers concerning the status of our order. Jonathan Wilks advised he had not received a call back from the Department of Corrections concerning the items he ordered back in December for the conference raffle. Bill Hollander advised he would pull out his paperwork and call the corrections department concerning his order as he received the items, he ordered personally within 60 days after placing his order in December.
- Todd DeSmet advised that Travis Rider from Farm Bureau has his federal license and can do the gun order and run the background check if we want to give a gun away. A discussion was had concerning the cost of an over/under shotgun, a tote shotgun and an AR in the price range of $400 each. Todd DeSmet will check with Travis on the pricing of those guns to be sure.
- Marc Sutphin received a text back from the Lawton Fire Department and Pipe and Drum Corp. and they agreed to do the honor guard ceremonies at the conference, and he will check with them concerning what kind of donation, if any, would be needed and that there is a possibility they might need to stay the night at the casino and us pay for their hotel since they would have to be ready to go by 8:00 a.m. the day of the conference.
- It was decided to table any discussion regarding any room payment or donation for Lawton Pipe and Drum until they advise Marc Sutphin what they will actually need. But Jonathan Wilk made a motion to pay for their room for one night and a donation to the Lawton Pipe and Drum for a total of both not to exceed $500.00, Tim Reeves seconded the motion, motion carried and approved.
- Bill Hollander advised when he attended the International Conference, there was an electrical engineer that spoke concerning a Kansas City fatality fire about pulling the meter when the fire was in progress. He wants to provide an investigator tip with the email blast concerning the valuable knowledge obtained from pulling the meter with that type of fire situation.
- Todd DeSmet advised that Batteries Plus has flashlights with 400 lumen at $26.90 each which are the Slyde brand. He advised the guy at Batteries Plus will see if we can get a bulk discount as we need 120 of them.
501(c)3
Chris Woodall advised he is getting the bank statements from Stillwater National Bank, our past banking facility, and will be submitting those to the tax firm to work on past tax statements to get our 501©3 reinstated. He also needs the minutes signed by Jonathan Wilk where he took over as Treasurer from Neil Moore as we will have to submit that as well to bank to confirm we are allowed to get the bank statements needed since we have a new Treasurer.
Old Business
Bill Cathcart advised he wants to revise other areas of our Bylaws besides the membership changes we had discussed at the last meeting. He will advise of those changes for our May meeting.
New Business
Steve Rhodes attended the International Conference and advised his reimbursement amounts were $739.40 for the hotel, $800.00 for the conference fee, $488.00 for his flight, $60.00 for his luggage and $354.00 for the per diem, for a total reimbursement amount of $2,441.64.
Bill Hollander advised he had not added up his expenses but would get those to Jonathan Wilk for reimbursement.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be on Thursday, May 19, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. in the Bears Room at the Grand Casino located at 777 Grand Casino Boulevard, Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Bill Hollander made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Steve Rhodes, motion carried and approved.
