FireSafe Montana
Board of Directors Meeting
Helena, MT
July 27, 2010
Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 12:30 p.m. by Dick Rath, president. Others present were: Carol Daly, Rocky Infanger, Jake Kreilick (by telephone), Don Lorenzen, Pat McKelvey, Sonny Stiger, and Bill Swope, directors; Bob Fry, Dave Peters, Mike Dannenberg, Terina Mullen, and Bruce Suenram, agency liaisons; Greg VanHorssen, State Farm Insurance representative; and Matt Wolcott, executive director.
Greg VanHorssen said State Farm is proud to be part of FireSafe Montana. He especially acknowledged the active participation of Don Lorenzen on the board of directors. State Farm and FireSafe Montana share the purpose of saving lives and structures. In that effort, education is a major tool, helping property owners learn how to reduce risks and losses. Such efforts help State Farm keep the cost of insurance as low as possible for its customers. To help sustain that effort, he presented a $5,000 check from State Farm to FireSafe Montana help support our organization’s work. Dick thanked Greg for the generous contribution and for hosting lunch at the meeting. Greg and Don received a round of applause from everyone.
Pat made and Bill seconded a motion that the minutes of the last meeting be approved. The motion passed unanimously. Sonny made and Rocky seconded a motion that the financial report be approved. The motion passed unanimously.
There was no old business.
Introducing the first item of new business, Dick said he has been enjoying getting to know Matt, the new FireSafe Montana (FSM) executive director. They meet every three weeks or so to discuss FSM’s activities.
Matt thanked everyone for attending the meeting, and gave a brief update of his recent work. He participated in the annual fire season briefing that all concerned agencies give the governor, and explained that since FSM is not an emergency response agency, we can continue to focus on – and even increase – our prevention education efforts throughout the fire season. The governor was interested in FSM’s work with the insurance industry and how FSM might interface with community planning.
Sonny asked how the state’s Fire Ready program mission differs from FSM’s. Matt said that Fire Ready thinks the answer to the preparedness problem is in individual volunteers, while we focus on FireSafe Councils, homeowners, and other key audiences.
Matt then presented his analysis of FSM’s mission, goals, staffing, and current operating plan, and suggested a number of modifications that he thinks could improve FSM’s efficiency and effectiveness.
Following Matt’s presentation, the board discussed several of the key points, including functioning more like a business than a charity, diversifying funding sources (including providing contract services as a potential source of revenue), seeking greater involvement of the insurance industry in preparedness activities, and emphasizing FSM’s role as a bridge among diverse stakeholder groups/interests. Board members and liaisons asked for a copies of Matt’s powerpoint presentation, so they could study it more closely before the next meeting. Matt said he would send everyone a disk.
Dick said he would like everyone to study the presentation and then get back to him by the 15th of August with their recommendations of the top three priorities that need to be addressed. The next board meeting will be in the early part of September, and it is hoped that as many as possible of the agency liaisons will attend to provide their input and advice as FSM charts its future course.
Dick showed a recently produced Ready, Set, Go video, and talked about other FSM-related activities going on in his part of the state. Following that, he asked each person present to talk about their current FSM work.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
FireSafe Montana
Annual Meeting
Fairmont Hot Springs, MT
February 27, 2010
Minutes
The meeting was called to order by Jake Kreilick, president. Others present included: Carol Daly, Rocky Infanger, Pat McKelvey, Bob Mutch, Jim Nethercott, Dick Rath, Paul Spengler, Sonny Stiger, and Jon Trapp, directors; Bob Fry and Bruce Suenram, agency liaisons; Ray Hageman, Whitney Schwab, Bill Swope, and Alan Tresemer, members; and Crystal Hagerman, executive director.
Carol presented the year-end 2009 financial report and the January, 2010, month-end report, along with a report of total corporate assets as of January 31, 2010.
Paul made and Rocky seconded a motion that the minutes of the 2009 annual meeting be approved. The motion passed unanimously.
An election was held among the candidates for the five positions available on the board of directors. Incumbents Don Lorenzen, Jim Nethercott, and Jon Trapp were re-elected, and Bill Swope and Travis Hansen were elected to fill the two open positions. Bob Mutch and Paul Spengler, who did not run for re-election, were thanked for their years of dedicated service to the organization and their contributions to the work of the board.
Jim suggested that FireSafe Montana needs to keep a “genealogical” record of how the organization started and progressed and who was involved in its work. He felt it is important that Bob and Paul and others who have valuable knowledge and experience continue to be involved as directors emeritus or in some other way. Jake suggested the creation of an advisory board on which such individuals could serve and continue to provide input to the organization. There was general agreement with that idea. Crystal said that any member who wishes to be involved in committee work or on a particular FireSafe Montana project is more than welcome to do so.
Bruce said he and Mike Dannenberg, the Bureau of Land Management liaison to FireSafe Montana, would like FireSafe Montana to clarify at some point the role it would like BLM and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to play in the organization.
This concluded the annual meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Daly, Secretary-Treasurer
FireSafe Montana
Board of Directors Meeting
Fairmont Hot Springs, MT
February 27, 2010
Minutes
The meeting was called to order by Jake Kreilick, president. Others present included Carol Daly, Rocky Infanger, Pat McKelvey, Jim Nethercott, Dick Rath, Sonny Stiger, Bill Swope, and Jon Trapp, directors; Bob Fry and Bruce Suenram, agency liaisons; Ray Hageman, Bob Mutch, Paul Spengler, and Alan Tresemer, members; and Crystal Hagerman, executive director.
Jake said that because of the increasing demands of his teaching job, he felt he should step aside as president, although he still plans to remain active on the board. After discussion, the board agreed that Jake would become vice president, and Dick would become president.
Bob M. said he had really enjoyed being on the board of directors, but now he wants to devote more of his time to creating an active FireSafe Council in the Painted Rocks district. Any time he can be of assistance to FireSafe Montana, however, he will be glad to help. Recently he has been talking with Ian Marquand, a videographer, about a project Bob is calling “One-third Mile to Safety”. It would involve a reconstruction at Painted Rocks of what happened to one family trying to escape a wildfire in southern California in 2003.
Bob has asked the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center for $10,000 for the project, and the Bitter Root RC&D also is considering providing some financial support. Bob asked if FireSafe Montana would be interested in participation. Pat made and Sonny seconded a motion to support the video production, with the type and amount of assistance to be determined following the receipt of a specific proposal from Bob. The motion passed unanimously.
Applications for the executive director position are still being received. When they are all in, Crystal will send copies to the board.. It was decided that the selection committee will meet in Missoula on April 8, 2010, to do an initial screening of the applications and determine those who should be further considered. The time and place of that meeting will be announced later. After interviews, reference checks, etc. are completed, the entire board will participate in the final selection of the successful candidate. Carol noted that if we do not have any candidate we feel is qualified and capable of doing the job, we do not have to hire anyone.
There was a short discussion of possible dates and times for the next board meeting. Dick suggested a conference call. Jim said he is unable to participate in conference calls during the work day, and asked that we consider other scheduling options. There will be further discussion of meeting possibilities, and a date and time will be announced later.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Daly, Secretary-Treasurer
FIRESAFE MONTANA
Board of Directors Meeting
Helena, Montana
January 18, 2010
Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 9:40 a.m. by Jake Kreilick, president. Others attending were: Carol Daly, Rocky Infanger, Don Lorenzen, Pat McKelvey, Bob Mutch, Jim Nethercott, Dick Rath, Paul Spengler, and Sonny Stiger, directors; Crystal Hagerman, executive director; Bob Fry, DES liaison; Bruce Suenram, DNRC liaison; and, Guelda Halverson, guest.
Minutes: Paul made and Bob M. seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report: Pat asked that in addition to the regular financial report, which is prepared using the cash basis of accounting, the board also be given a regular report on funds available, including funds committed to FireSafe Montana (FSM) but not yet received or drawn down. Carol said that could be included in future treasurer’s reports.
Executive Director Recruitment Committee: Dick handed out various documents he had drafted for use in the recruitment and selection of a permanent executive director. These included a “position available” advertisement to be placed in various newsletters, on websites, and in other appropriate venues; evaluation criteria to be used in assessing applications received; a suggested compensation package; and an outline of the recruitment process, together with a proposed timetable. Crystal said she will not be applying for the position. A meeting of the recruitment committee and other interested board members will be held in Missoula at 9:30 a.m. on February 3rd. Bruce will make arrangements for a meeting room at DNRC. Those unable to attend in person can participate by conference call. The goal is to have someone hired by early April so that s/he can work with Crystal through May and ensure a smooth transition.
In discussing the qualifications and experience desired, board members agreed that the successful candidate should have demonstrated fundraising abilities, good communication skills, and prior management experience. Experience in fire-related activities would be useful, but is not essential because the board has significant strength in that area. Dick asked that anyone with suggestions regarding the compensation package get them to him by January 25th.
BLM Agreement: The board discussed the status of FSM’s current agreement with the BLM, given that FireSafe USA has decided not to set up as a non-profit organization. There was $30,000 in the FSM agreement for support for FSUSA until that group was able to obtain its own non-profit status. Bruce suggested we draft an amendment to the agreement to reallocate the $30,000 to help fund the FSM executive director position and aid in the development of local FireSafe Councils in Montana. Carol agreed that would be appropriate. After further discussion, Dick made and Paul seconded a motion that Crystal and Jake phone Mike Dannenberg at BLM to get clarification of the situation and discuss an amendment to the agreement. The motion passed unanimously.
FSM Website: Crystal displayed the new website and discussed its current layout and future use. It is available now for people to use in registering for next month’s Communities and Wildfire conference. Bob F. said that when anyone sends new information to Crystal for posting on the site, s/he should indicate where on the site that information should go. Having a photo gallery of mitigation work and other FSM activities was suggested. Carol said it would be nice if we could get copies of the written remarks and/or the PowerPoint presentations used by the speakers at this year’s conference and post them on the site. Bob F. suggested that any videos be included through links to YouTube, rather than by taking up a lot of space on our site. Bruce suggested that the abbreviation “FSM” by replaced by “FireSafe Montana” fully spelled out in the page headings on the site.
Bob F. said the site we have now is not a lot different than what we had previously when we were working with Meagher County, and that it will still be very labor intensive to maintain. We need to be sure that we allow for that as we allocate FSM staff time. Jake suggested Crystal could spend more time working on the site and less time preparing a newsletter. Perhaps we could go to a quarterly rather than a monthly newsletter. Bob M. said he thought both the website and the newsletter were valuable. Different people like to get their information in different formats.
Communities and Wildfire Conference: Crystal discussed the print advertisements and other publicity for the upcoming conference. She would like to spend up to $2,000 on advertising this year, an increase from the approximately $1,500 spent on the 2008 conference. There was general agreement that that was acceptable. Newspaper advertisements will be in major daily papers, but press releases will be widely disseminated. Various weekly papers were suggested. Anyone with specific publicity suggestions should get them to Crystal as soon as possible.
Registration is going well. Jake said it’s important to let people know there is some scholarship money available to help offset travel and per diem costs for attendees who need it. Board members are expected to pay their own registration fees. The conference food and beverage committee met last week and selected the menu. Fairmont Hot Springs needs our guaranteed meal numbers three days before the conference begins.
Sonny and Rocky have been working on the conference packets. Sonny showed the board some of the available options for folder covers. There was general agreement that textured paper was the most appropriate and cost effective. Rocky is preparing a list of relevant acronyms to be included in the conference materials. He will send the list around for review and to get suggestions for additions.
Crystal passed around one of the packets that FSM sent to all fire departments in the state in December. There hasn’t been as much response yet as had been hoped. Out of roughly 500 mailed out, we have had responses from four fire departments.
There was considerable discussion of the conference agenda, with suggestions for possible changes that may be needed to accommodate the Governor’s schedule. A session on the future of the lumber industry in Montana has been added. The “lunch with the experts” idea has been dropped.
Only two vendors have signed up so far. Registration reminders will be sent to organizations that had displays at the last conference. Pat suggested we get the University of Montana’s biomass trailer. Jake said the Missoula fire laboratory will have a display including a state map showing forest condition classes and fire regimes that has been prepared with his and Bob M’s participation. Text will be added to explain the map.
Four or five nominations for this year’s FireSafe Montana awards have been received so far. The deadline is February 15th. Crystal asked who should select the winners, and it was decided that the board would.
Crystal reported that she had been pricing items which could be sold at the conference and through the website. Ball caps embroidered with the FSM logo would cost us $10; short-sleeved tee shirts, $13. Other possible items suggested were polo shirts, safari hats, and cups. There will be 36 speakers. Suggested gifts for them were FSM mugs, pen and pencil sets, patches, and tote bags.
Board members were reminded that they are each responsible for securing an item suitable as a door prize at the conference. A sample letter for use in asking local merchants for prize donations was provided.
Requests from Other Organizations: The Whitefish Area FireSafe Council asked if FSM would be willing to handle the collection of and accounting for WAFSC membership fees. The board felt that was not an appropriate activity for FSM.
The state fire prevention group each year provides useful handouts as part of its fire prevention campaign. This year the campaign will be targeting debris burners, and it appears that cotton work gloves with debris burning information printed on them will be the hand-outs. FSM has been asked to be a partner in the campaign and buy some gloves. Crystal will continue working with the group on that.
FEMA Grant: Crystal announced that FSM has been awarded $8,203 to use in printing additional, updated copies of Living with Fire. FSM will match that amount using grant money received from State Farm and Farmers Insurance. It will cost $15,190 to have 50,000 copies printed.
Webinar: FSM’s first Webinar was originally scheduled for January 26, but it will be held later this spring instead. There are just too many other things going on now.
Next Board Meeting: The next board meeting will be Saturday, February 27, immediately following the FSM 2010 annual meeting held in conjunction with the Communities and Wildfire conference. An additional board meeting will be scheduled later in the spring.
Grant Applications on Behalf of Local Councils: There was a discussion of future grant applications made by FSM on behalf of local FireSafe Councils. Crystal explained that such “pass through” grants were authorized in the FSM by-laws, and were important to local groups that did not have the desire and/or financial wherewithal to become 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations themselves. Bob M. and Jake said they saw this as a valuable service that FSM could provide, and Jake said that the grant activities would be monitored carefully. Pat said that he was okay with providing grants to local councils to help cover their start-up costs, but he is concerned about FSM getting into long-term funding relationships with local councils. He cautioned the board that FSM will bear the ultimate responsibility for how any pass-through grant is expended.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m.
BOARD MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2009
STRATEGIC PLANNING MEETING SEPTEMBER 11, 2009
BOARD MEETING SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
BOARD MEETING AUGUST 4, 2009
BOARD MEETING JULY 10, 2009
BOARD MEETING JUNE 2, 2009
ANNUAL MEETING MAY 15, 2009