Present: Meeker, Hunjadi, TeStroete, Schilder, Blount, Madigan, Merrill, McCarrier, Weir
Notified Absent: Teale, Playman
Absent Without 48-hour notice: Zurbuchen
Called to order by President Meeker at 12:00 PM
Motion by Madigan, second by TeStroete to approve the July 1999 minutes as printed. All in favor. None Opposed. Motion carried.
President: None
Vice-President: None
Sec/Treasurer: None
Exec Manager: Don Hunjadi presented financial information to date. Membership crossed the 3,000 point briefly prior to the end of September. The half price offer for renewals has been dropped. About 80 people took advantage of the offer over the 22 months it ran. Less than 60% of the offer members renewed their membership. Nearly 10% were already members when a friend put in their membership a second time.
Conference: Meeker reported on the latest conference information. Brochures are set for mailing on October 15, 1999. Only one brochure per address will be delivered this year to cut down on waste and needless mailings. Like last year, board members are provided their choice of a Friday/Saturday tuition or one night hotel stay in exchange for their participation on these two days. Banquet is included for all board members.
Meeker discussed the thoughts regarding doing another CQI workshop. Discussion with board members followed. Motion by Schilder to pass on a CQI workshop for 2000 but to revisit the topic in the future. Second by Weir. All in favor. None opposed.
OLD BUSINESS
Fire & EMS Legislative Coalition Membership: The Wisconsin EMS Association has been voted into the coalition. We have attended the past four meetings.
EMS Rule Changes: Discussion over proposed change in hours
from 120 maximum to now read 120 minimum to 140 maximum hours.
Discussion on merits of raising the course hours. Discussion
on the vote taken at the July meeting to not support the increase.
Motion by Madigan second by Blount to survey the membership
on raising training hours. All in favor. None opposed. Motion
carried.
Templates Project: Wellner is nearing completion on the
project and hopes to have a draft of the final product by January
1, 2000.
Planning Session: Four of twelve board members did not respond prior to the October 1, 1999 deadline. Discussion on moving forward with the planning session. It appears that 7 or 8 of the 12 board members are available and planning to attend. Consensus to move forward with the planning session.
Association Cruise: Motion by Schilder to commit to an association cruise for March 2001. Second by Merrill. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried. Discussion followed regarding proposals from various travel agencies. Hunjadi provided a grid break down of cruise line and ship ratings obtained from a cruise book source. Discussed strengths and weaknesses of the various agencies making proposals. Motion by Schilder to approve Magic Carpet Travel as the sponsoring travel agency and negotiate the Carnival Inspiration cruise with the option to identify a comparably priced Carnival cruise from Miami with Ocho Rios as a port of call. Second TeStroete. All in favor. None opposed. As part of the promotion 4 cruises and air (two couples) will be provided a free cruise during the 2001 conference. Additional cruises may be available to the association based on sales. Motion by Madigan second McCarrier to initiate a lottery of board members to determine who "cruise conductor" fares will be provided to. Board members will be provided one ticket chance for every meeting or planning session they attend from April, 1999 through January 2001. Winning tickets are not transferable. Only one ticked per board member. Ticket includes cruise and air from Milwaukee. Port charges and taxes as well as incidentals are not included. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carries.
EMT-Intermediate Position: The draft statement was reviewed by the Board Members. Motion by Schilder second by TeStroete to approve the EMT-intermediate position as drafted with the words "and competency has been tested" inserted into point number two. All in favor. None opposed. The position will be distributed to Wisconsin EMS leaders and on the association web site.
Provider Alliance: The Mobile Health Care Provider Alliance first asked for support and additional members to increase their group buying in the spring of 1999. Meeker and Hunjadi met with the leadership and then provided a memorandum of understanding pursuant to the WEMSA Board's vote at the July meeting. Without further negotiation, the alliance has informed us that they have voted to table our offer in order to concentrate on writing by-laws and other internal matters. Motion by TeStroete second by Madigan to sever current proposals with the Provider Alliance. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried. The association will pursue expanding its current group buying program on its own.
2000 Awards: A mailer has gone out to all members providing information on the 2000 awards process as well as the 2000 Board of Directors Election.
EMS Reference List: Approximately 35 letters have gone out to persons identified in and out of Wisconsin that may have expertise and interest in providing support and consulting to services in Wisconsin. To date, only five request forms have been returned to the office. Hunjadi is directed to pursue additional persons to be a part of the reference list.
NEW BUSINESS
Helmet Law Position: Discussion on the current bill in the legislature to require, by law, that anyone under the age of 17 be required to wear a bike helmet or pay a fine. Other provisions are included in the law. Motion by Hunjadi, second by Schilder that the Wisconsin EMS Association take no position on the proposed helmet legislation. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.
2000 Premium Item: The drug and information guide presented to members as the 1997 premium item was extremely popular. Hunjadi suggests we repeat an up-dated version of this book as the 2000 premium item. Motion by Madigan, second by Merrill to make the 2000 premium item a drug book. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.
New Sales
Merchandise: Short discussion on new items for sale
by the association. Fleece vests and shorts were the only suggestions
provided. No action taken.
NAEMT Affiliation: The Wisconsin EMS Association has been
contacted by NAEMT about again becoming an affiliate and having
a seat on their board of governors. Discussion on what that
would mean and do for members of WEMSA. Most identified that
it would show us as the Wisconsin affiliate and would provide
some amount of quality as such. Cost is only $30/year. Board
members pointed out that for the most part, WEMSA provides more
benefits and in a higher quality manner than does NAEMT. Motion
by McCarrier to affiliate with the NAEMT as the Wisconsin affiliate.
Second by TeStroete. Motion carried with two opposed and one
abstain.
Association Secretary Evaluation/Contract: The secretary that replaced Cilvia has been working with the association for nine months. The previous rate was at $9/hour. Debi Blazei has been working for $8/hour. Hunjadi reports high quality, consistent work, and recommends an increase in her contract to $10/hour. Discussion on striving to maintain quality workers and the fact that many entry-level jobs now pay 8 plus dollars an hour. Motion by TeStroete, second by Weir to raise the salary of the Association secretary to $10 per hour. All in favor. One Abstain. Motion carried.
Executive Manager Contract: The three year contract for the executive
manager will expire on April 1, 2000. Committee to negotiate
a new contract for the executive manager is recommended. Committee
appointed by consensus is to consist of TeStroete, Madigan, Merrill
and Meeker. They will meet initially on October 22, 1999 at 5:00
PM prior to the strategic planning session.
2000 Meeting Schedule: Motion by Madigan second by McCarrier
to set the 2000 meeting schedule as January 9 in Milwaukee, April
9 in Appleton, July 9 in Milwaukee, October 8 in Appleton from
noon until 5 PM. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.
Conference Accounting Review: A review of the general account records was completed earlier this year. Meeker would like to convene a committee to examine the conference accounting. TeStroete, Madigan, Merrill, and Meeker to serve.
List Server Involvement: Discussion regarding complaint and concern by Playman over involvement of the Executive Manager on the list server and what latitudes he has in response as well as signing with the title WEMSA executive manager. Discussion followed. Motion by Schilder than Don Hunjadi as the Executive Manger is prudent and has the approval of the Wisconsin EMS Association Board of Directors to make statements, question statements and in general police the list server to ensure correct and current information is presented in a professional manner. Second Madigan. All in favor. One Abstain Motion carries.
Board Member Evaluation: Board member Mark Zurbuchen has shown a lack of participation and response in 1999. He was unable to fulfill his duties at the conference and cancelled 24-hours prior. He has failed to appear at the past two board meetings and has not responded to any mailings from the Association. Motion by TeStroete, second by Weir that Mark Zurbuchen begin a review for possible removal from the board of directors due to a lack of participation. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.
Motion by Madigan second by Blount to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 4:48 PM.
Action Items: