texas fire marshals' association
TEXAS FIRE MARSHALS’ ASSOCIATION Organized May 7, 1977
Chapter 9 PO BOX 450123 GARLAND, TX 75045 T/ 972-272-4670 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: WWW.TXFMA.ORG
October 22, 2014 37th TFMA Conference 16th SFMO Conference Crowne Plaza Hotel Austin, Texas Meeting called to order at 1645 hours by President Don Jansen. Invocation was given by retired Fire Marshal Michael Laws. Special Guest: Past Presidents Gerald Brown, Kurt Harris, Jody Henry. Roll call was conducted by Secretary/Treasurer Dan Mayes. Board members present were: President Don Jansen, 1st Vice-Present Jim Terry, 2nd Vice-President Laurie Christensen. Directors Present were Danny Warner, Brad Westberry, Ron Pray, John Paul Erskine, Rusty Kattner, Michael Laws, Jim Miles, David Brannon, and Deroy Bennett. Director Danny Warren was not present. A quorum of the Executive Board was present and Secretary/Treasurer Dan Mayes advised an official meeting could be conducted. President Jansen called for the Reading of the Minutes from our March, 2014 meeting. Copies of the minutes were presented at registration. A motion was made to dispense with the reading and seconded. Motion approved. President Jansen called the following Committee Reports: *1.
Awards-Deroy Bennett Presentation of awards presented at the Banquet were as follows: President’s Award: John Paul Erskine-FM-Burnet FD Roscoe Gibson Award- Roland Garcia-FM-Pearland FD Life Member #23- Mike Montgomery-FM-Harris Co. FMO
1
Excellence Award- Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office Pasadena Fire Marshal’s Office Pearland Fire Marshal’s Office
Texas Fire Marshal’s Association Membership Committee
2014 Annual Report The Membership Committee The TFMA membership Committee is a standing committee. The mission is to actively recruit new members, who can unite for mutual benefit public officials and private persons to promote fire prevention in Texas. In addition encourage member outreach participation in association committees and activities that benefit the purpose of the Texas Fire Marshals' Association. Permanent members of the Committee are selected by the President from the general membership of the Fire Marshal’s Association. Tim Dedear is the chair. Other committee members are: Jody Henry, Laurie L. Christensen, Deroy Bennett, Mark Flathouse.
Update Current membership is 388, which is the same as the report at the October Conference. We did make a fill form application to assist with new member request. This year we ask all board members to take applications to any training events they attend and pass them out to attendees if allowed by the instructor.
2
Committee Report.msg
FW ICCs 2015 Chapter Education Benefit.msg
LPG Committee Report.msg
*2.
Code and Technical-Tim Dedear-FM-Farmers Branch Nothing to report as of this date
*3.
Conference-Membership & Outreach-Laurie Christensen-Assist ChiefHCFMO Meeting was held today and items should be firmed up by the end of April. NFPA, National Fire Academy and UL will be here. Speakers scheduled include Bryan Birdwell, Dr. R. Garner, Richard Gutierrez, Phil Ackland, Brad Westberry, Walter James, Jody Gonzalez, Ron Pray and Randy Renois, Jim Terry, Don Jansen, Ron Farr, Nicholas Mirus, Paul Valentine and Tim Rutland. Association Membership stands at 308 active members and 210 to be billed.
*4.
Constitution and ByLaws- Michael Laws No request for any changes has been received.
*5.
County Fire Marshals-Ron Pray No report at this time.
*6.
Excellence Award-Mike Montgomery Committee recommended extending effective period of award from one (1) year to Three (3) years. This will be taken up in New Business
*7.
E-TFMA-Michael Laws Working as intended.
*8.
Finance (1st-Vice President) - Secretary-Treasurer Dan Mayes Reported as of February 28, 2014 the Association had $54,208.52 in the bank with all bills paid.
*9.
Logo Items-Jim Miles
3
LOGO ITEMS/STORE COMMITTEE Chair-Jimmie Miles Committee Members Jim Terry John Erskine The TFMA store has a large number of conference T-shirts left over from last year’s conference and we are suggesting we sell them for half price in order to make room for new items. We have a good inventory of assorted TFMA polo style shirts along with wind breakers and fire marshal t-shirts. Also in our inventory are the TFMA wall mirrors, leather business card holders, challenge coins, and lapel pins. I am currently trying to compile a list of new items such a TFMA portfolios, hats, key chains and maybe coffee mugs. Once I have samples or photos of these items along with a price list, I will e-mail it to the Board for their approval and suggestions. This will be the first time we have used the iPad to take credit cards for purchases. I believe this will make credit cards transactions much easier and increase the sales of TFMA items. Respectfully Submitted, Jimmie Miles Fire Marshal Shenandoah, Texas
4
*10.
Nominations- (All Past Presidents)-Gerald Brown The nomination Committee recommended that 1st Vice-President James “Jim” Terry be elevated to President and 2nd Vice-President Laurie Christensen be elevated to 1st Vice-President. The following officers and directors were elected Director John Paul Erskine whose term expires in 2016 was elected 3rd Vice-President. Christina Neely-Lopez was elected to fill the unfilled term of John Paul Erskine. Her term will expire in 2016. The following Directors whose terms will expire in 2017 were: Deroy Bennett (2nd Term), Tim Dedear (1st term) and Omar Garza (1st term). *11.
Residential Fire Sprinkler Systems- Rusty Kattner
5
RESIDENTIAL SPRINKLER INITIATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT OCTOBER 2014 Texas Fire Sprinkler Coalition Since our last annual meeting things have really improved and the prospect that residential fire sprinkler ordinances are possible after the 2015 legislative year looks good. Since our last meeting a coalition of steak holders was organized co-chaired by Paul Ward, Southlake Building Official and Roland Garcia, Pearland Fire Marshal. The coalition is dedicated to promoting the installation of fire sprinklers in future generations of homes. The Coalition is a resource for information on home fire sprinklers and works to identify and overcome barriers to the acceptance of sprinklers as a critical component of home fire safety. Residential Fire Sprinkler Ordinances One of the first actions of the coalition was to work with the steak holders to draft legislation for the 2015 legislative year to reverse the effects of the 2009 legislation where cities are prohibited from adopting residential sprinkler ordinances after January 1, 2009. With the help of plumbers, fire marshals, fire chiefs and fire sprinkler contractor’s legislation was drafted that removed language from the plumbing law that prohibited cities from adopting residential fire sprinkler ordinances. The legislation will be carried by Representative Fletcher from Houston. Our perspective on the law is the legislature should leave decisions of ordinance adoption to the city governments. The state is no position to dictate to municipal governments what is in their best interest. Each city has varying fire protection needs and only the municipal government can identify those needs. Therefore the current law is a hindrance to municipal government to effectively protect their community. The key to this legislation is discipline. We must remember not to be trapped into discussing the value of residential fire sprinklers. This legislation is only about “home rule”. We must be focused on reversing a law that prevents a municipality from effectively protecting their citizens. Multipurpose Residential Fire Sprinkler Systems In my last report I reported that in the 2011 legislative year, a law was passed requiring those who inspect multipurpose residential fire sprinkler system to be a licensed plumbing inspector and must possess the multipurpose residential fire sprinkler indorsement. The law in effect prohibited fire inspectors from inspecting these systems. In April of this year we meet with the plumber’s legislative group and explained our objection of the law as it is currently written. They saw the value of our objection and agreed to help change the law to allow fire inspectors to inspect the sprinkler portion of multipurpose residential fire sprinkler systems. The legislation was drafted by Stanley Briers, the plumber’s lobbyist, and has been signed off by all concerned parties. The legislation will also by Representative Fletcher.
*12.
University Fire Marshals-Walter James Brad Westberry reported nothing was happening at this time.
*13.
Public Information Officer-John Paul Erskine Nothing to report.
*14.
Website-Dan Mayes 6
Working on new website. *15.
LP-Gas-Garrett Nelson Gentlemen, Wanted to give you a quick rundown of the meeting on Friday. The State FM had invited what he called "representatives from most of the fire agencies around the state". This included reps from the State Chiefs, State FM's, State FF/FM's, N Texas COG, Harris County FM...about 9 reps from fire groups and then the RRC exec director Milton Rister and RRC LPG director Jim Osterhaus and attorneys from RRC. Also in attendance was Charles Perry's Chief of Staff from his capitol office. (Perry was the one that carried the bill last year for our attempt to repeal HB 2663). The meeting was positive overall. The RRC director stated that he had not yet talked to the industry folks. He wanted to first talk to fire folks and see what needed to happen to get on the same page to work together. He reiterated that they did not have anything to do with the legislation originally and could not enforce it with such a small staff, as we know. The talk focused on what the law actually does and does not say, what is the relationship of the IFC to NFPA 58 and how could it (IFC) be brought in so that we could use it with authority...and, how to approach the RRC to get permission to be "more restrictive". Most agreed that the proposed rule that I sent you last week was too cumbersome and would be a deterent for most of the small FM shops in our state to even attempt an appeal. Also, Rep Perry had stated to me earlier that he thought that agreeing to that proposed rule would be giving up too much and would not put us in a good position should we need to propose new legislation next term. He also said that "time is on our side in this situation". All agree that the bill was poorly written in the first place and would need to be tweaked or amended at the very least. I think we finally got them to understand that it made more sense for them to adopt the IFC into their rules than for each of us to appeal to the RRC to use bits and pieces of the document, as was originally suggested. That is being looked into by the exec dir and legal staff. With regard to the appeals process, they asked that we submit how we think an appeal should be made. Please send me as soon as you can, your idea for an appeal process. I would suggest staying simple...and leaving any notifications to them. Their burden, not ours. Again, overall I think the meeting was well intended and had a good tone.
7
If you have any questions, please email or give me a call. Garett Nelson Fire Marshal Lubbock Fire Rescue 806.775.2645 806.775.3508 Fax *16.
Inspector Certification-Steve Dossett Nothing since October 2013, but will meet April 2014.
*17.
Fireworks-Mike Montgomery No meeting since spring of last year. Fire Works Association has not responded to a new meeting date.
*18.
Open Burning-Ron Pray The Outdoor Burning Committee met via telephone conference, which was hosted by the Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) via State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy. We met with representatives of the TCEQ in regards to open burning. The meeting resulted in two outcomes; first, TCEQ leaders were willing to work with our committee and the SFMO in developing a document to add to the TECQ Outdoor Burning documentation and for the use of our own membership in their burning education needs. We also discussed some issues in the state in regards to outdoor burning regulation. The meeting allowed us to discuss some issues and look forward to a good working relationship with TCEQ. The committee met again in October at our Conference and ironed out the general direction for the outdoor burning document. We underwent several revisions (5 to be exact) and with the hard work and discussions between TCEQ and Texas A&M Forest Service personnel and John Paul Erskine editing, the committee making modifications, we finally approved a document that was sent to TCEQ for their inclusion in the Outdoor Burning literature, as a collaborative effort involving TxFMA, TCEQ, SFMO and TAMU Forest Service.
*19-Professional Development-Laurie Christensen Kelly Kistner, SFMO and Laurie attended 1037 Committee Meeting in San Diego, Ca. about three (3) weeks ago. Reported on a National level a lot of focus was on NFPA 1031, 1033 and 1035. Main focus appears to be on 1035 on the National level. OLD BUSINESS-
None
NEW BUSINESS8
1- Excellence Award Committee’s recommendation was discussed and approved. Committee recommendation to extend effective period of award from one (1) year to Three (3) years. 2-International Code Council has accepted our application as a State Chapter and will vote on the Association next week. We will become a State Chapter if approved and will eligible for training. 3-Discussed awards/certificates for outgoing Directors. The Board will work with the Awards Committee to come up with something for the outgoing Directors. No other new business was brought before the Association. Motion to adjourn was made at 1729 hours. Adjourned Dan Mayes Secretary/Treasurer There were a total of 28 members and guest present at the Mid-Year Meeting.
Brad Westberry Ronald Pray Danny Warner Gerald Brown Dale Maberry Jimmie Miles Rusty Kattner Steve Dossett Vance Cooper Jody Henry Buddy Rice Bobbie Baker Kevin Baker Rafael Charcon Jeff Brownson
David Brannon James Singleton Chad Shaw Mike Montgomery Dean Hensley Rachel Moreno James Bolton John Paul Erskine Dan Mayes Don Jansen Laurie Christensen Tammy Burch
9
10
Chapter 9 PO BOX 450123 GARLAND, TX 75045 T/ 972-272-4670 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: WWW.TXFMA.ORG
October 22, 2014 37th TFMA Conference 16th SFMO Conference Crowne Plaza Hotel Austin, Texas Meeting called to order at 1645 hours by President Don Jansen. Invocation was given by retired Fire Marshal Michael Laws. Special Guest: Past Presidents Gerald Brown, Kurt Harris, Jody Henry. Roll call was conducted by Secretary/Treasurer Dan Mayes. Board members present were: President Don Jansen, 1st Vice-Present Jim Terry, 2nd Vice-President Laurie Christensen. Directors Present were Danny Warner, Brad Westberry, Ron Pray, John Paul Erskine, Rusty Kattner, Michael Laws, Jim Miles, David Brannon, and Deroy Bennett. Director Danny Warren was not present. A quorum of the Executive Board was present and Secretary/Treasurer Dan Mayes advised an official meeting could be conducted. President Jansen called for the Reading of the Minutes from our March, 2014 meeting. Copies of the minutes were presented at registration. A motion was made to dispense with the reading and seconded. Motion approved. President Jansen called the following Committee Reports: *1.
Awards-Deroy Bennett Presentation of awards presented at the Banquet were as follows: President’s Award: John Paul Erskine-FM-Burnet FD Roscoe Gibson Award- Roland Garcia-FM-Pearland FD Life Member #23- Mike Montgomery-FM-Harris Co. FMO
1
Excellence Award- Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office Pasadena Fire Marshal’s Office Pearland Fire Marshal’s Office
Texas Fire Marshal’s Association Membership Committee
2014 Annual Report The Membership Committee The TFMA membership Committee is a standing committee. The mission is to actively recruit new members, who can unite for mutual benefit public officials and private persons to promote fire prevention in Texas. In addition encourage member outreach participation in association committees and activities that benefit the purpose of the Texas Fire Marshals' Association. Permanent members of the Committee are selected by the President from the general membership of the Fire Marshal’s Association. Tim Dedear is the chair. Other committee members are: Jody Henry, Laurie L. Christensen, Deroy Bennett, Mark Flathouse.
Update Current membership is 388, which is the same as the report at the October Conference. We did make a fill form application to assist with new member request. This year we ask all board members to take applications to any training events they attend and pass them out to attendees if allowed by the instructor.
2
Committee Report.msg
FW ICCs 2015 Chapter Education Benefit.msg
LPG Committee Report.msg
*2.
Code and Technical-Tim Dedear-FM-Farmers Branch Nothing to report as of this date
*3.
Conference-Membership & Outreach-Laurie Christensen-Assist ChiefHCFMO Meeting was held today and items should be firmed up by the end of April. NFPA, National Fire Academy and UL will be here. Speakers scheduled include Bryan Birdwell, Dr. R. Garner, Richard Gutierrez, Phil Ackland, Brad Westberry, Walter James, Jody Gonzalez, Ron Pray and Randy Renois, Jim Terry, Don Jansen, Ron Farr, Nicholas Mirus, Paul Valentine and Tim Rutland. Association Membership stands at 308 active members and 210 to be billed.
*4.
Constitution and ByLaws- Michael Laws No request for any changes has been received.
*5.
County Fire Marshals-Ron Pray No report at this time.
*6.
Excellence Award-Mike Montgomery Committee recommended extending effective period of award from one (1) year to Three (3) years. This will be taken up in New Business
*7.
E-TFMA-Michael Laws Working as intended.
*8.
Finance (1st-Vice President) - Secretary-Treasurer Dan Mayes Reported as of February 28, 2014 the Association had $54,208.52 in the bank with all bills paid.
*9.
Logo Items-Jim Miles
3
LOGO ITEMS/STORE COMMITTEE Chair-Jimmie Miles Committee Members Jim Terry John Erskine The TFMA store has a large number of conference T-shirts left over from last year’s conference and we are suggesting we sell them for half price in order to make room for new items. We have a good inventory of assorted TFMA polo style shirts along with wind breakers and fire marshal t-shirts. Also in our inventory are the TFMA wall mirrors, leather business card holders, challenge coins, and lapel pins. I am currently trying to compile a list of new items such a TFMA portfolios, hats, key chains and maybe coffee mugs. Once I have samples or photos of these items along with a price list, I will e-mail it to the Board for their approval and suggestions. This will be the first time we have used the iPad to take credit cards for purchases. I believe this will make credit cards transactions much easier and increase the sales of TFMA items. Respectfully Submitted, Jimmie Miles Fire Marshal Shenandoah, Texas
4
*10.
Nominations- (All Past Presidents)-Gerald Brown The nomination Committee recommended that 1st Vice-President James “Jim” Terry be elevated to President and 2nd Vice-President Laurie Christensen be elevated to 1st Vice-President. The following officers and directors were elected Director John Paul Erskine whose term expires in 2016 was elected 3rd Vice-President. Christina Neely-Lopez was elected to fill the unfilled term of John Paul Erskine. Her term will expire in 2016. The following Directors whose terms will expire in 2017 were: Deroy Bennett (2nd Term), Tim Dedear (1st term) and Omar Garza (1st term). *11.
Residential Fire Sprinkler Systems- Rusty Kattner
5
RESIDENTIAL SPRINKLER INITIATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT OCTOBER 2014 Texas Fire Sprinkler Coalition Since our last annual meeting things have really improved and the prospect that residential fire sprinkler ordinances are possible after the 2015 legislative year looks good. Since our last meeting a coalition of steak holders was organized co-chaired by Paul Ward, Southlake Building Official and Roland Garcia, Pearland Fire Marshal. The coalition is dedicated to promoting the installation of fire sprinklers in future generations of homes. The Coalition is a resource for information on home fire sprinklers and works to identify and overcome barriers to the acceptance of sprinklers as a critical component of home fire safety. Residential Fire Sprinkler Ordinances One of the first actions of the coalition was to work with the steak holders to draft legislation for the 2015 legislative year to reverse the effects of the 2009 legislation where cities are prohibited from adopting residential sprinkler ordinances after January 1, 2009. With the help of plumbers, fire marshals, fire chiefs and fire sprinkler contractor’s legislation was drafted that removed language from the plumbing law that prohibited cities from adopting residential fire sprinkler ordinances. The legislation will be carried by Representative Fletcher from Houston. Our perspective on the law is the legislature should leave decisions of ordinance adoption to the city governments. The state is no position to dictate to municipal governments what is in their best interest. Each city has varying fire protection needs and only the municipal government can identify those needs. Therefore the current law is a hindrance to municipal government to effectively protect their community. The key to this legislation is discipline. We must remember not to be trapped into discussing the value of residential fire sprinklers. This legislation is only about “home rule”. We must be focused on reversing a law that prevents a municipality from effectively protecting their citizens. Multipurpose Residential Fire Sprinkler Systems In my last report I reported that in the 2011 legislative year, a law was passed requiring those who inspect multipurpose residential fire sprinkler system to be a licensed plumbing inspector and must possess the multipurpose residential fire sprinkler indorsement. The law in effect prohibited fire inspectors from inspecting these systems. In April of this year we meet with the plumber’s legislative group and explained our objection of the law as it is currently written. They saw the value of our objection and agreed to help change the law to allow fire inspectors to inspect the sprinkler portion of multipurpose residential fire sprinkler systems. The legislation was drafted by Stanley Briers, the plumber’s lobbyist, and has been signed off by all concerned parties. The legislation will also by Representative Fletcher.
*12.
University Fire Marshals-Walter James Brad Westberry reported nothing was happening at this time.
*13.
Public Information Officer-John Paul Erskine Nothing to report.
*14.
Website-Dan Mayes 6
Working on new website. *15.
LP-Gas-Garrett Nelson Gentlemen, Wanted to give you a quick rundown of the meeting on Friday. The State FM had invited what he called "representatives from most of the fire agencies around the state". This included reps from the State Chiefs, State FM's, State FF/FM's, N Texas COG, Harris County FM...about 9 reps from fire groups and then the RRC exec director Milton Rister and RRC LPG director Jim Osterhaus and attorneys from RRC. Also in attendance was Charles Perry's Chief of Staff from his capitol office. (Perry was the one that carried the bill last year for our attempt to repeal HB 2663). The meeting was positive overall. The RRC director stated that he had not yet talked to the industry folks. He wanted to first talk to fire folks and see what needed to happen to get on the same page to work together. He reiterated that they did not have anything to do with the legislation originally and could not enforce it with such a small staff, as we know. The talk focused on what the law actually does and does not say, what is the relationship of the IFC to NFPA 58 and how could it (IFC) be brought in so that we could use it with authority...and, how to approach the RRC to get permission to be "more restrictive". Most agreed that the proposed rule that I sent you last week was too cumbersome and would be a deterent for most of the small FM shops in our state to even attempt an appeal. Also, Rep Perry had stated to me earlier that he thought that agreeing to that proposed rule would be giving up too much and would not put us in a good position should we need to propose new legislation next term. He also said that "time is on our side in this situation". All agree that the bill was poorly written in the first place and would need to be tweaked or amended at the very least. I think we finally got them to understand that it made more sense for them to adopt the IFC into their rules than for each of us to appeal to the RRC to use bits and pieces of the document, as was originally suggested. That is being looked into by the exec dir and legal staff. With regard to the appeals process, they asked that we submit how we think an appeal should be made. Please send me as soon as you can, your idea for an appeal process. I would suggest staying simple...and leaving any notifications to them. Their burden, not ours. Again, overall I think the meeting was well intended and had a good tone.
7
If you have any questions, please email or give me a call. Garett Nelson Fire Marshal Lubbock Fire Rescue 806.775.2645 806.775.3508 Fax *16.
Inspector Certification-Steve Dossett Nothing since October 2013, but will meet April 2014.
*17.
Fireworks-Mike Montgomery No meeting since spring of last year. Fire Works Association has not responded to a new meeting date.
*18.
Open Burning-Ron Pray The Outdoor Burning Committee met via telephone conference, which was hosted by the Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) via State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy. We met with representatives of the TCEQ in regards to open burning. The meeting resulted in two outcomes; first, TCEQ leaders were willing to work with our committee and the SFMO in developing a document to add to the TECQ Outdoor Burning documentation and for the use of our own membership in their burning education needs. We also discussed some issues in the state in regards to outdoor burning regulation. The meeting allowed us to discuss some issues and look forward to a good working relationship with TCEQ. The committee met again in October at our Conference and ironed out the general direction for the outdoor burning document. We underwent several revisions (5 to be exact) and with the hard work and discussions between TCEQ and Texas A&M Forest Service personnel and John Paul Erskine editing, the committee making modifications, we finally approved a document that was sent to TCEQ for their inclusion in the Outdoor Burning literature, as a collaborative effort involving TxFMA, TCEQ, SFMO and TAMU Forest Service.
*19-Professional Development-Laurie Christensen Kelly Kistner, SFMO and Laurie attended 1037 Committee Meeting in San Diego, Ca. about three (3) weeks ago. Reported on a National level a lot of focus was on NFPA 1031, 1033 and 1035. Main focus appears to be on 1035 on the National level. OLD BUSINESS-
None
NEW BUSINESS8
1- Excellence Award Committee’s recommendation was discussed and approved. Committee recommendation to extend effective period of award from one (1) year to Three (3) years. 2-International Code Council has accepted our application as a State Chapter and will vote on the Association next week. We will become a State Chapter if approved and will eligible for training. 3-Discussed awards/certificates for outgoing Directors. The Board will work with the Awards Committee to come up with something for the outgoing Directors. No other new business was brought before the Association. Motion to adjourn was made at 1729 hours. Adjourned Dan Mayes Secretary/Treasurer There were a total of 28 members and guest present at the Mid-Year Meeting.
Brad Westberry Ronald Pray Danny Warner Gerald Brown Dale Maberry Jimmie Miles Rusty Kattner Steve Dossett Vance Cooper Jody Henry Buddy Rice Bobbie Baker Kevin Baker Rafael Charcon Jeff Brownson
David Brannon James Singleton Chad Shaw Mike Montgomery Dean Hensley Rachel Moreno James Bolton John Paul Erskine Dan Mayes Don Jansen Laurie Christensen Tammy Burch
9
10
