2018-02-01 Minutes

BLOUNT COUNTY FIRE & EMS ASSOCIATION MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 1, 2018 MEETING HAYDEN COMMUNITY CENTER

 

 

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jon Head. Chief Gilbert gave the invocation. The following member organizations were represented: Allgood, Bangor, Blount County Rescue Squad, Blountsville, Brooksville, Cleveland, Dallas-Selfville, Holly Springs, Locust Fork, Mt. High, Murphree Valley, Nectar, Oneonta, Pine Mountain, Remlap, Ricetown, Rosa, Royal, Snead, Summit, Susan Moore and West Blount.        EMA, 9·1·1, Forestry, Special Ops, BREMSS, Blount EMS, Coroner, Life Saver and Blount County VOAD were also represented. 9·1·1 Director Caleb Branch, Operations Manager Neal Brooks and Board Member Chief Bob Sanford were also present. 47 people signed the attendance sheets.

 

GUESTS – Probate Judge/Commission Chairman Chris Green, County Administrator John Bullard, District 1 Commissioner Allen Armstrong, District 2 Commissioner Mike Painter and District 3 Commissioner Dean Calvert. Blount County Sheriff candidates Ron Chastain and Mark Moon spoke briefly to introduce themselves. Tommy Liverett of Royal Restoration was also present.

 

Chairman Head asked for the approval of the minutes of the January meeting. Motion by Chief Reed, seconded by Assistant Chief Hobson, and carried by voice vote. The Financial Report was approved by a motion from Chief Ivey, seconded by Co-Captain Baril, and carried by voice vote.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

CHAIRMAN – Chairman Jon Head reminding all Chiefs about the upcoming AL Fire Chiefs Conference in Tuscaloosa. Several Blount chiefs will be in attendance. The AAC will meet February 2. Chief Reed provided the numbers breakdown for January as 610 residential transports, with 65 calls over the non-compliance threshold. Some departments still have outstanding equipment inspections and financial review letters which could result in frozen Fuelman accounts if not received. There are several ISO reviews going on in the county and the State EMS inspectors are also working the area.

 

EMA – Director Don Roybal reported he has started the interview process for hiring a Deputy Director. He introduced Nicole Singleton as the new Coordinator for the Blount County VOAD. Remlap received a Homeland Security grant and Don is working with them to close out all paperwork. January Fuelman was at 111% of monthly budgets.  He urged all departments to be aware of your fuel use.

 

9·1·1 – 911 Director Caleb Branch advised that the monthly reports were sent out automatically and that run reports now include all mutual-aid calls. Let Caleb know if you need any information for the Dispatch Center to assist with your ISO inspections. A 40-hour Telecommunicators Course will begin Monday, Feb. 5.

 

COMMUNICATIONS – The Committee is putting information together from various brand representatives and will present minimum specifications soon. They are working on reconditioning an 80-foot portable tower.

 

TRAINING – The West Blount 160 class will begin in April and a 911 Communications class for west side departments will be scheduled.


FIRE PREVENTION – Chief Booth announced that the Fire Fighter Academy will be held June 12 – 14 at Susan Moore High School.  Students will be provided breakfast and lunch.

Accepted ages are 12-18 and at least 50 students have registered so far. Instructor applications will be sent out soon. There is a need for any excess gear to be donated and used for the students and the Academy. There is also a need for a trailer to store gear for the Academy throughout the year. Several funding possibilities for acquiring a trailer are being discussed.

 

EXPLORER POST – No report.

 

FORESTRY – Forester Matt Tucker handed out required AFC fire reports for those departments wanting to participate in the 50/50 Wildland FF Grant program. He will be coordinating times to inspect the FEPP surplus equipment for all departments soon that have inventory. He asked that all departments email your FF Tag List to him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

He also advised that there are no AFC personnel who can investigate arson fires. ALEA removed all officers and placed them with other agencies. Please call the Fire Marshall’s office if you need assistance with arson investigation.

 

SPECIAL OPS – Chief Willis reported that Mike Gladden is working on the light trailer which will also include painting and wiring. Special thanks to Tractor Supply for their support. The Special Ops Command Bus is now for sale on GovDeals.com

 

ST. VINCENTS BLOUNT – It is reported that Dr. Ballentine is interested in the role of Medical Director for Blount County departments.

 

BREMSS – Mike Minor advised that BREMSS will host classes for STEMI updates available on Feb 6,7 or 8; Feb 12 will be the NCCR National Registry for all levels with a webinar; and the National Registry meeting will occur mid-March.

 

BLOUNT EMS – Blount EMS will provide Dementia Training on Thursday, Feb 8 at 1800 at Wallace State / Oneonta. One item that will be addressed concerning the ambulance contract is to ensure that Blount EMS ambulance crews use the Fire Channel to give unit locations.

 

LAW ENFORCEMENT – No report.

 

CORONER – Coroner Mark Vaughn addressed the group to announce that he would not seek re-election for his office due to health reasons. He said it has been an honor to serve the people of Blount County.

 

STATE FIRE MARSHALL – No report.

 

DISTRICT ATTORNEY – No report.

 

ALABAMA FIRE COLLEGE – Chief Booth announced that the Alabama Fire College will partner with the State Fire Marshall’s Office in funding a smoke alarm initiative for Alabama. Thanks to a major donor, there is an unlimited supply of smoke alarms available to all departments state-wide.  Please let her know what your needs are.

 

LIFESAVER – Don Wilson advised that he is glad to assist personally with the Fire Fighter Academy again and also announced a ride-a-long program available for EMS personnel.


RAMS – Josh Bankston introduced himself as the Base Director of RAMS, an air transport division of Regional Paramedical Services, Inc. (RPS), based in Walker County. Their initial service flights began last week with on-board personnel that include the pilot, paramedic EMT and nurse.

 

 

 

AIR-EVAC – No report.

 

 

 

RED CROSS – No report.

 

 

 

VOAD – Coordinator Nicole Singleton organized a meeting of all interested agencies and people this morning at EMA and had a great turnout.

 

 

 

GOOD & WELFARE – No report.

 

 

 

OLD BUSINESS:

 

Ÿ A motion to move $1200 from the General Fund to two Designated Accounts was made by Chief Booth with a second from Assistant Chief Robertson. $500.00 will be moved to the Fire Prevention Fund and $700.00 to the Fire Fighter Academy fund. The motion passed by voice vote.

 

 

 

NEW BUSINESS:

 

Ÿ The Blount County Board of Education is conducting a Career Day program at Locust Fork Baptist Church on Thursday, February 8, to present information on firefighting and EMS careers. Chief Ivey volunteered for West Blount to cover the program.

 

Ÿ There was discussion concerning moving the EGroups email system to another platform due to recent issues with the Yahoo platform not responding. Information was shared and there will be more discussion at the March meeting.

 

Ÿ There is a proposal from the Executive Committee to change the By-Laws concerning minimum annual attendance requirements at the monthly meetings. Currently each department is required to attend a minimum of 8 meetings per year and is allowed 4 proxy votes annually. The new proposal will maintain the minimum of 8 meetings but will reduce the allowable number of proxy votes to 3 per year. A written vote will be taken at the March meeting on this change of the By-Laws.

 

Ÿ Chief Netherton won the drawing for the TV from Tommy Liverett of Royal Restoration and four other individuals won Top Golf tickets.

 

Ÿ Judge Green thanked all departments for protecting the residents of Blount County and gave a brief history of the tax money the Commission has provided to the fire departments through the years. The Commissioners handed out the disbursements from the Moving Blount County Forward 1 cent sales tax and the annual insurance coverage check.

 

 

 

 

The next meeting will be March 1, 2018 at Blountsville VFW.  The meal will begin at 6:30.