Present: Meeker, Hunjadi, TeStroete, Schilder, Blount, Madigan, McCarrier, Weir, Playman
Notified Absent: Merrill
Absent Without 48-Hour Notice: Teale
Guests: Mindy Allen
Called to order by President Meeker at 12:30 PM following lunch
A moment of silence was held for the passing of Dean Stueland, MD
Motion by TeStroete, second by Schilder to approve the October meeting minutes as printed. All in favor, motion carried.
Officers Reports
President Items: Meeker reported on the actions that took place following the last board meeting regarding support for the DHFS proposed rule change regarding one paramedic. The position statement was presented to the board bearing the signatures of ten supporting organizations. Additional discussion took place.
Meeker reported on a lunch meeting he and Hunjadi had with Dr. Barney, the state medical director. The meeting was informal and designed to share information and discuss the future of EMS in Wisconsin as well as funding for the state EMS office.
Secretary/Treasure Items: TeStroete reported on the financial review of the conference accounting. Transactions were randomly selected and checked through the process to ascertain continuity. No problems were found and a memo has been placed with the financial information reporting same.
Executive Managers Action Items: Hunjadi reported on the year-end totals of membership and finances. Association gross income exceeded $300,000 in 1999 including over $20,000 in investment income. Membership ended at just under 3,100. Hunjadi showed the new association brochures.
Divisions Reports
Conference: Financial and registration information was presented to the board members. Meeker reviewed the conference agenda highlighting board member's responsibilities throughout the conference. The 1999 conference had about 75 less participants than 1998. It appears that 2000 may set a new record for attendance, and will set a record for gross income. Meeker answered questions from board members.
Publication: Hunjadi reported on the column author
change for 20 Questions. He also reported the continued, and
now somewhat elevated, need for someone to handle magazine advertising
sales. While new advertisers have presented themselves without
our prompting, there are others that have pulled their advertising
out of the magazine. The March-April cover story will be on the
new medication Albuterol for the EMT-Basic.
OLD BUSINESS
2001 Association Cruise: Hunjadi reported on the decision of the Executive Board to sign with Costa Cruise line. The line offered more incentives than Carnival and the district representative appears much more willing to work with us and more interested in our business. Initial reaction to the cruise has been larger than anticipated. Discussion on giving away only one cruise for two versus two and using the second to pay for expenses and extras that the association will incur. Motion by Schilder, second by McCarrier to convert the second free cruise to cash to cover association expenses. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.
2000 Premium Item: Hunjadi showed the new pharmacology and information guide members will receive when they renew or join. 3,500 were printed.
New Sale Merchandise: Samples of new merchandise were displayed for the board members. A new collar sweat shirt, shorts, and example of an additional new sweatshirt were displayed. Board members were all in favor of the new sweat and fleece shorts but not the nylon shorts. A smaller quantity of the new style sweatshirts (no sample available) was also suggested. Consensus to move forward with ordering the new items in time for sale at the conference.
EMS Rule Changes/Paramedic Rules: Discussion was held regarding several new rule changes that have been suggested by DHFS. The association had limited time to comment on the rules. Hunjadi/Meeker reviewed them and made their comments to Jon Morgan. Hearings have still not been scheduled. No further action taken.
First Responder Legislation: Hunjadi reported that the legislation had passed the House and moved to the Senate where a hearing was held. The bill could go to the floor in late January or early February. It is anticipated it will pass and become law in the next three months. Several board members reported that it appears that the EMS office is already working with the anticipation that the bill will pass and are again including First Responders in their activities, including their new computer program. An amendment to include First Responders in the exemption for Unemployment wages will not be included by the author. The concept is supported. However, at this late date it could jeopardize passage of the bill.
Templates Project: Meeker reported that Mike Wellner is very close to completion of the first drafts and expects to have them available at the conference. The next step will be legal and board review with a spring release being targeted.
2000 Awards: Ballot totals from the four judges were presented to the board. Motion by TeStroete second by Mark Madigan to confirm [removed pending award presentations] as the 2000 EMS Service of the Year. All in favor, motion carries. Motion by TeStroete second by Schilder to confirm [removed pending award presentations] as the 2000 EMT of the Year. Seven in favor, one abstain. Motion carried. Motion by TeStroete second by Playman to confirm [removed pending award presentations] as EMS Educator of the Year. All in favor, motion carried. Additional discussion arose over the lack of participation and in some instances high quality candidates for some of the awards. It was decided to place the issue on the April agenda to again review if the association should continue the awards process.
NAEMT Affiliation: The paperwork has been completed to become the Wisconsin affiliate for NAEMT. Meeker has the forms and will be competing his portion with signatures and forwarding them to NAEMT.
Membership Survey: With changes occurring so rapidly and no hearings on the rules yet scheduled, the survey directed by the board at the October meeting has not yet been completed. Hunjadi announced that it will be done in the next few months as the time table of the rules and other suggested changes come out.
Executive Managers Contract: Meeker reported on the progress of the committee formed to negotiate with Hunjadi for the renewal of the Executive Manager's contract. Motion by Schilder second by Blount to move into closed session to discuss personnel issues with provision for the guest/new board member to be allowed to remain. All in favor. Moved into closed session. Hunjadi was excused from the meeting.
Motion by Madigan second by TeStroete to move back into open session. All in favor. Moved to open session. Hunjadi returned to the meeting.
Motion by Playman second by Schilder to offer HG Studios a three year contract for Executive Management at the rate of $47,000, for 2000, $49,000 for 2001, and $51,000 for 2002 without any provisions of a bonus. To update the job description to include the tasks listed and presented by Don Hunjadi and incorporate them into the contact and job description. Seven in favor, one abstain. Motion Carried.
NEW BUSINESS
2000 Operational Budget: Board members were provided with the proposed operation budget for 2000. The budget includes general association revenue and expenses, but does not include the annual conference or capitol expenditures. Budget is for gross income (including the conference) of $337,000. Hunjadi walked the board members through the budget line by line highlighting changes from the previous year. Motion by Schilder, second by TeStroete to approve the budget as presented. All in favor, motion carried.
Strategic Plan: Motion by Madigan, second by Blount to approve the new mission statement for the association. All in favor, motion carried. Additional discussion about the validity of continuing the strategic planning process as we are completing it took place. Several board members felt that we could obtain the same end result with less frustration by completing the process on our own. Others felt we should continue with annual updates to the plan using a facilitator. Concern voiced that each facilitator has their own ideas and methods resulting in the board sometimes going back to ground zero rather than picking up where we left off. Motion by Hunjadi second by Schilder to lay the issue on the table. All in favor motion carried.
911 Legislation: Brief discussion on pending legislation that the association has been asked to endorsee by one group and asked to oppose by another. In short, our lobbyist advises that the legislation is largely a battle between local and long distance phone companies over access fees. $40 million could be used for 911 purposes however several people report over $38,000 would go to Milwaukee County. It was felt by most board members that the association did not have enough information to make a decision at this time. Motion by Playman, second by Madigan to table the issue of 911 All in favor, motion carried.
Marketing/Customer Service/Public Relations Employee: One of the items raised at the strategic planning session was to have the association hire a fourth employee to handle marketing, sales, customer service, public relations, and assist with projects. Hunjadi provided a working draft of items the person would be responsible for. Meeker has been talking with a few possible candidates but at this time has no one firmly interested in the position. Motion by Schilder that a new position be created using the draft items and that we actively recruit to fill the position. Should recruitment be successful prior to the April meeting, the Executive Board has power to complete the process. Second by Playman. All in favor, motion carried.
Equipment Purchases: Hunjadi presented items from our equipment plan from three years ago. A color laser printer was discussed at that time but felt to be cost prohibitive for the use we could get. Most color printers three years ago were over $6,000. Prices have been drastically reduced. Hunjadi suggested the association move forward with purchase of the new Hewlett Packard color laser printer. Motion by Madigan second Playman to purchase a Hewlett Packard 4500 Color laser printer at the cost not to exceed $2,500. All in favor, Motion Carried.
Hunjadi also suggests some upgrades to one of our current 266 Pentium II computers. Concern by Madigan that we not exceed the value of older machines by adding items that will be more cost effectively replaced. Items Hunjadi envisions are hard drives, memory, etc. Motion by Madigan second by Blount to approve a budget of $2,500 in 2000 for purchase of a new computer and upgrades as prudently needed for current machines. All in favor, motion carried.
Annual Meeting Agenda: Short discussion was held regarding the agenda for the annual meeting. Consensus was to provide a review of 1999 as well as update participants on current activities. No advisory information was identified. No further action taken.
Zurbuchen Resignation: A letter of resignation was received from Mark Zurbuchen from the board. Motion by TeStroete second by Madigan to accept Mark Zurburchen's resignation from the board. All in favor, motion carried.
Motion by Playman second by Weir to adjourn. All in favor, meeting adjourned at 4:52 PM.
Action Items: