BLOUNT COUNTY FIRE & EMS ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF JULY 14, 2016 MEETING
Straight Mountain Fire Department
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jon Head. Mel Wade gave the invocation. The following member organizations were represented: Allgood, Bangor, Blount County Rescue Squad, Blountsville, Cleveland, Dallas-Selfville, Holly Springs, Locust Fork, Mt. High, Murphree Valley, Nectar, Oneonta, Pine Mountain, Remlap, Ricetown, Rosa, Royal, Snead, St. Mountain, Summit, and West Blount. EMA, 9·1·1, Forestry, Special Ops, BREMSS, Law Enforcement, Lifesaver and American Red Cross were also represented. 9·1·1 Director Caleb Branch and Board Members Chief Bob Sanford and Tim Kent were also present. 43 people signed the attendance sheets.
GUESTS – Keith Sharp of Central Alabama Training Solutions (C.A.T.S.) sponsored the meal and discussed their product line as well as their pump testing and training capabilities. Probate Judge / Commission Chairman Chris Green and District 3 Commissioner Dean Calvert thanked all departments for what you do day in and day out. Mike Hill, new Regional Coordinator, of the Alabama Fire College and Tommy Liverett of DEC Fire & Water Restoration were also present.
Chairman Head asked for the approval of the minutes of the June meeting. Motion by Chief Frye, seconded by Chief Willis, and carried by voice vote. The Financial Report was approved by a motion from Chief Booth, seconded by Assistant Chief Robertson, and carried by voice vote.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
CHAIRMAN – Chairman Jon Head announced that it is Blount County’s turn to host the District 2 AFC meeting which will be at Al & Mick’s in Snead on Thursday, July 28 at 7:00pm. Vice-Chairman Ken Edwards will attend the annual AAVFD Conference in Monroeville later this month and will deliver our proxy votes.
EMA – Director Don Roybal reminded all that the EOC Ops & Planning training class will be held on August 23-25 at Lester Memorial. There is still time to get your name on the list. 2016 ERG books are available but the limit is 7 per department at this time. Fuelman use for June was at 61% of budgets; 3rd QTR at 72%; and year-to-date use at 52% of budgets. Please send in your weekly Fuelman reports every Monday morning.
9·1·1/COMMUNICATIONS – Director Caleb Branch said the Alabama Fire College will conduct Tele-communicator 1 & 2 training at the 911 Center. The CAD implementation will go in to effect around September 13. Please review maps of your automatic aid response choices – make sure the closest neighboring department is set up to respond to the correct portion of your coverage area.
TRAINING – The start of the 160 class will be postponed until September 12 to complete the ECP class. Please put any training information on the Egroups so it can be seen by everyone. Station 65 will start a Hazmat A&O July 19. Tactical Medic training is available at the AFC.
FIRE PREVENTION – Chiefs Booth, Coleman, Hill and Willis were appointed to the Fire Prevention Committee to assist with the County Fair and other public outreach activities. Joe Ray Daily said he would still help with the Fair booth organization this year. The Blount County Fair is Tuesday through Saturday, September 13 – 17. It was noted that Alabama is 3rd in the nation in per capita fire deaths at 55 and Blount County is in the higher range compared to other Alabama counties. The need to focus on fire prevention is great, but “Get Out-Stay Out” also needs to be pushed stronger.
FORESTRY – Forestry Project Specialists Terry Helms asked that any department with Federal Surplus vehicles needs to get him a copy of your updated proof of insurance coverage. Also he said the Federal inspection teams require that insurance information is kept in the vehicle.
SPECIAL OPS – Chief Willis had no report.
ST. VINCENTS BLOUNT – Jon reported that Amy Shelton is now at STV-Downtown. Information about the AED replacement pad procedures were emailed out recently. There is a sign-out sheet at the ED and pads are kept in a drawer there.
BREMSS – John Reed reminded everyone that any Continuing Education for credit must be pre-approved by National Registry before the class which includes receiving a Course ID #. BLS Instructor training will run from July 21 – August 9 at a costs of $350.00 but there is a discount code available from John. BREMSS offers critical incident stress debriefing to anyone who makes that request. BREMSS has requested a variance so that UAB will be recognized as a Level 1 Stroke facility and STV-Blount as a Level 3. The next SMECC meeting will be at the Alabama Chiefs Conference in September in Oxford. John requested a letter of support from the Association asking that BREMSS be continued as a Regional EMS Agency. The next Executive Committee will be July 27.
Blount EMS – No report.
AMED – Nor report.
LAW ENFORCEMENT – Operations Officer Tim Kent announced that the BCSO has some light bars available for transfer. Contact Sgt. Chastain for information. Lt Wes Neill reported that there will be a fundraiser for Project Lifesaver. There are currently 31 patients with several more to come on line soon. Donations can be made to Cleveland Volunteer Fire Dept, designated to Project Life Saver.
CORONER – No report.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY – No report.
LIFESAVER – Don Wilson advised that aircraft are now carrying whole blood products.
AIR-EVAC – No report.
ALABAMA FIRE COLLEGE – Mike Hill was introduced as the new Regional Coordinator for the Alabama Fire College covering Blount County. He is a career firefighter with the City of Cullman and a volunteer fire department chief in Morgan County. He can be contacted at 256-590-6647 or at
RED CROSS – Gabbie Rhett announced that the ARC is planning smoke alarm installations during the Fall. The ARC will bring the supplies to your department as the state goal is 6000 units. She also has 10000 9-volt batteries as replacements so let her know what is needed. The ARC Canteen was recently dispatched to Summit with a quick response time and is available upon request.
GOOD & WELFARE – No report.
OLD BUSINESS:
l Chief Booth was asked to give an overview of the recent Junior Firefighter Academy which was very successful and received a lot of state-wide attention. She thanked everyone who had any part in the planning, organization and execution of the Academy which had a tremendous amount of partnerships to make it successful. She received very positive feedback from the students and suggested that next year’s planning process begin in January.
NEW BUSINESS:
l A nominating committee will be appointed at the next meeting for Officer Nominations.
l Alyson Claburn advertised a “Fire & Rescue Family Fund Day” she is promoting as a community outreach program and fund raiser for any and all departments. (See attached letter) This will be held on Saturday, September 3 at the Agri-Business Center in Oneonta.
l Probate Judge Chris Green and Commissioner Dean Calvert distributed checks to Straight Mountain, Pine Mountain and Holly Springs Fire Departments that assisted with the Highland Lake tornado response in April, 2014. The FEMA checks covered expenses by these departments that responded with equipment and chainsaw crews. They also discussed the One-Cent Sales Tax Referendum that will appear on the November ballot. A hand-out sheet detailing projected revenues and the designated agencies that will receive these funds was given out and discussed.
The next meeting will be August 4 at Royal Community Center. The meal will be at 6:30 sponsored by Steve Hogue with Clark Associates, Inc.
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Jon Head, Chairman