NHAFC Minutes - May 12 , 2005 - Great Bay Gallery, Dover (Somersworth), NH

Following a salute to the flag and a moment of silence, a quorum call was taken.

Welcoming everyone was Chief Perry Plummer, who thanked everyone for coming and thanked those attending the seminar.

Advocate Members John Merrill and Skip Sullivan were introduced.

A MOTION (Mason/O'Keefe) to dispense with the reading of the minutes, carried unanimously.

Deputy Chief Martin Carrier presented the financial reports for April and May. A MOTION (Hurley/White) to accept the reports, carried unanimously.

Chief Lemire noted that the applications for membership were not available and made a MOTION (Lemire/Lipe) to waive the second reading for those that would have been read tonight and accept the four new members. It carried unanimously. The NHAFC welcomes Chief Philip Tirrell of Lempster; Chief Allan Clarke of Sugar Hill; Asst. Chief Michael Mansfield of Nashua and Sales Rep. Byron Brooks of NE Fire Equipment and Apparatus Corp. as its newest members!

Chief Carrier reported on the following:

Two chiefs still needed to serve on a committee to disperse radiological equipment.
Chief Chris LeClaire working on getting another seat on the grants review committee.
A meeting held with Commissioner Flynn with Chiefs Carrier; Hurley; Plummer and Lemire, along with Douglas Patch.
Chief Shawn Murray will be heading the Membership Committee.
Chief LeClaire will be heading the By-law Committee.
Chief O'Keefe retiring - leaves vacancies on Fire Standards & Training and Fireworks Committees. Interested candidates are asked to contact the Secretary.
NEAFC Director slot open for NH - candidates asked to contact him.
June 8 meeting with PFFNH - Chiefs Carrier; LeClaire and Plummer.

Chief Perry Plummer, for the Legislative Committee, distributed a summary of activity this year and commented on the high points.

Fire Standards & Training Director Richard Mason reported on the following:

May 18 at 1000 hrs at the State House, Governor Lynch proclaiming EMS.
FFI and II classes ongoing and C2F2 classes to follow.
NHFA Recruit School graduation will be June 17.
Entrance testing - expect in excess of 500 applicants.
HB 257 (EMS rules) heard yesterday.
Eric Perry hired in EMS to replace Lenny Deane.
TEMSIS on track - $300 K grant received to start up.

State Fire Marshal William Degnan reported on the following:

Increase in plans review/code interpretation requests.
SB 93 - transferring Electrician's Board to FMO going well.
NFIRS 4.0 to 5.1 conversion - seeking input on timetable.
Final stages of assembly occupancies training program complete.
HazMat funding - seeking ways to refine legislative opinion.
Fireworks training held recently - municipal officials got to view how the retail outlets operate.
Amendment to State Fire Code on stairway dimension in single family dwellings.

Emergency Management and Bureau of Emergency Communications Director Bruce Cheney reported on the following:

Avian flu planning - may be a critical year for spread.
BioTerrorism audit conducted by Feds - NH found to be a model for country.
HB 618 - regarding Worker's Comp coverage for those who volunteer to work for state in crisis situations.

Asst. Commissioner of Safety Earl Sweeney reported on the following:

Visibility of NHAFC in legislature of late.
Failure of seat belt and residential sprinkler legislation - potential reasons.
Capital budget items.
HB 492 - relative to the reimbursement of cellular phone providers. NHAFC urged to support passage. **Later in meeting a MOTION (Pope/Mason) that the NHAFC send letter of support to the Senate for HB 492, carried unanimously.
PrimeMedia seeking funding from fire grants to keep TV programming to fire departments. **Later in meeting a MOTION (Lipe/Hurley) to draft a letter to Asst. Commissioner Sweeney indicating that the NHAFC does not support funding this request, carried unanimously.

Report of the National Volunteer Fire Council. Deputy Martin Carrier reported that:

He had attended the Council's meeting in Reno and described several initiatives that the NVFC is aggressively supporting. He noted that several, if not all of them parallel those of the IAFC.

Report of the Professional Development Committee. Chief Carrier commented on the afternoon's seminar on Firefighter Health and Safety and indicated that talks are commencing with the FIOANH for an October seminar.

Report of the SERC - Chief Stephen Allen reported on the frustration of the members that no reply has been forthcoming on the changes made to the structure/bylaws, etc. of the committee. Asst. Commissioner Sweeney assured him that action would be forthcoming soon.

Chief LeClaire again reported on the Homeland Security grants upcoming and stressed the need to meet the June 15 deadlines. He noted that many of them will be threat-based this round.

Chief Lambert spoke of the NEAFC conference in Springfield June 23-26 at the Big E and went over the programs and exhibit times. He reported that Chief Brian Comeau of Exeter has indicated his interest in the upcoming Director's position. While he was up he also reported (for the Building Code Review Committee) that the existing Building Code has over 100 proposed changes and that we were currently in "Safe Building Week", as proclaimed by Governor Lynch.

Chief Allen reported on the plans for a pre-conference seminar on Fire Service Accreditation in Springfield; stated that the NEDIAFC annual meeting was June 23 and urged all members to attend and touted the success of the IAFC in getting the FIRE Act funded.

Under Old Business, Chief Lambert asked if there was to be a Resource Directory printed this year. Deputy Carrier stated that there was but he needed to find more vendors for advertising and could use some assistance.

Chief Ron O'Keefe thanked all the members for their help and support as he retires from the Durham Fire Department.

The next meeting will be June 9 at the Black Forest Café in Amherst.

The meeting was adjoined at 2033 hours.

Respectfully submitted,

Chief Brent T. Lemire, ret.
Secretary, NHAFC