Foreign Fire Tax Insurance Board

FOREIGN FIRE INSURANCE TAX BOARD Minutes of Meeting 1150 N. Arlington Heights Road Arlington Heights, IL 60004 May 15, 2024 Board Members in Attendance: Lance Harris James Stempien Marty Moran Scott Miller Kevin Flynn Absent: Robert Losik Ross Chapman Guests: Catherine Miarnowski Jim Stempien called the 2nd quarter 2024 meeting to order at 9:11 am. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the March 13th, 2024 meeting were reviewed. Kevin Flynn made a motion to approve the minutes; it was seconded by Chief Harris; no objections; motion carried. TREASURER’S REPORT: The current fund balance as of 05/08/2024 is $458,483.79. Total amount paid out this year so far is $81,810.52. Jim Stempien made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report to the record; it was seconded by Kevin Flynn; no objections; motion carried. OLD BUSINESS: Education Reimbursement Requests – Marty Moran on behalf of Jacob Witkowski is requesting reimbursement for attending Confined Space Tech class. FF Witkowski has already used his preapproved $1500 tuition reimbursement for other training and is asking for the additional $500. Jim Stempien made a motion to approve the additional $500 for a total of $2000 to cover Jacob Witkowski’s tuition costs. Seconded by Chief Harris. Roll was called: Ayes: S. Miller, K. Flynn, M. Moran, L. Harris, J. Stempien Nays: None Ayes: 5; Nays 0 Motion carried. House Fund Requests – There is a new process of purchasing house items, however one member has purchased an item on his own and is looking for reimbursement. FF Stuart Kuhn is looking for reimbursement of $26.92 for purchasing a mat that is placed under a smoker to prevent grease leaking onto the concrete. FFITB 2nd Qtr. Mtg 05.15.2024 Jim Stempien made a motion to approve the reimbursement of $26.92 for FF Stuart Kuhn for the purchase of a mat. Seconded by Kevin Flynn. Roll was called: Ayes: S. Miller, K. Flynn, M. Moran, L. Harris, J. Stempien Nays: None Ayes: 5; Nays 0 Motion carried. Item Replacement – Jim Stempien on behalf of FF Reggie Castillo is requesting a replacement of FF Castillo’s black Turnout rolling bag as it has been damaged, including broken zipper, broken wheel and hole on the bottom. The bag is a continuous purchase item. Jim Stempien made a motion to approve a replacement Turnout bag for FF Reggie Castillo. Seconded by Kevin Flynn. Roll was called: Ayes: S. Miller, K. Flynn, M. Moran, L. Harris, J. Stempien Nays: None Ayes: 5; Nays 0 Motion carried. FFIT Guidelines – The draft of the FFIT Guidelines was presented at the last meeting. The draft has been reviewed by the members, questions have been answered and corrections have been applied. These guidelines are meant to be a record of procedures for the FFITB just in case any questions arise. These guidelines can also be adjusted over time in case any procedures change. The current changes include adding Harper College as a preapproved educational institution; out of state training requiring pre-approval from the Village prior to attending; and house fund pre-approved amount increasing to $100 with any item over $100 needed to requested at a FFITB meeting. Chief Harris made a motion to accept the FFIT Guidelines to the record. Seconded by Marty Moran. No objections, motion carried. NEW BUSINESS: EMS Division – Jim Stempien on behalf of Division Chief East presented a request for supplementing the EMS Division budget in order to purchase new intubation video scope for training, as our current vendor of video scopes, King Vision went out of business. A company called ProVu Video provides a laryngoscope that has been approved by the hospital system for the Arlington Heights Fire Department to use. There will be training provided. The cost of initial start up is around $20,000 which is over the EMS Division budget, therefore Division Chief East is asking for a 1/3 of the cost to be supplemented by FFITB. Jim Stempien made a motion to approve amount not to exceed $8,500 for the rollout of the ProVu Video Laryngoscope. Seconded by Marty Moran. Roll was called: Ayes: S. Miller, K. Flynn, M. Moran, L. Harris, J. Stempien Nays: None FFITB 2nd Qtr. Mtg 05.15.2024 Ayes: 5; Nays 0 Motion carried. Drag Straps – Jim Stempien on behalf of Lt. Chris Rymut presented a request to demo a new item- Vikctim Drag Straps. It’s a strap that wraps into the turnout gear and makes carrying or dragging a victim easier by giving leverage to keep your hands and arms together without letting go. The cost per drag strap is $165 and he is looking to purchase 5 for a total of $825. Marty Moran made a motion to approve amount not to exceed $500 for the purchase of 2 or 3 Vikctim Drags Straps to demo. Seconded by Kevin Flynn. Roll was called: Ayes: S. Miller, K. Flynn, M. Moran, L. Harris, J. Stempien Nays: None Ayes: 5; Nays 0 Motion carried. Fitness Equipment – Scott Miller on behalf of Scott Limbers presented a request to purchase a stair-steppers for each station. He believes it would be a beneficial piece of fitness equipment as firefighters walk up flights of stairs quite often. Scott Limbers’ wife works at a company called Life Fitness which sells these stair-steppers and would provide a significant discount. One of the requirements for the stair-stepper is to have a 9 ft ceiling at minimum. The lead time is about 3 months and the company is offering purchasing 1 stair- stepper to demo for Station 1. The main concern for purchasing these for all stations is the ceiling height as 2 of the smaller stations might not have enough space. Motion was tabled until the next meeting pending more information. Mental Health Services – Scott Miller attended a continuous education class a few months back regarding mental health for first responders. The instructor is a mental health counselor and provides services to the Elk Grove Village Fire Department by visiting the Department twice a year to talk about mental health and provide support if needed. A portion of the cost for these services is covered by insurance. Her hourly rate is $130/hour. She also offers individual sessions for those who are interested. Chief has indicated that there is money in the budget specifically for mental health and he is in favor of these kind of services and highly encourages the significant others to be included in these services as well. He suggests having the an optional introductory 3-day session on shift for the members with an opportunity to have the significant others attend as well. Jim Stempien made a motion to approve funds not to exceed $4000 for Scott Miller and Marty Moran to arrange a mental health professional to come and provide mental health training for the Fire Department for 3 days. Seconded by Scott Miller. Roll was called: Ayes: S. Miller, K. Flynn, M. Moran, L. Harris, J. Stempien Nays: None Ayes: 5; Nays 0 Motion carried. Clothing – Scott Miller on behalf of Andrew Hansen and Division Chief Strojny presented a request to purchase sun hats and shirts for the training division to protect them from the sun while being out all day. They are requesting 50 shirts and 50 sun hats for instructors FFITB 2nd Qtr. Mtg 05.15.2024 and those who are being trained. The cost of sun hats is $26 per item and shirts are $49 per item. The cost includes embroidery. Jim Stempien wanted to remind that all clothing items need to first be approved by Deputy Chief Hanselman given that he is in charge of operations. Scott Miller also received a quote from Today’s uniforms, which is our preferred vendor, and the cost would be $20 per shirt with embroidery and $26 per hat. The board members discussed purchasing the hats and shirts for all members of the Fire Department, rather than just the training division. Scott Miller made a motion to approve an amount not to exceed $6,000 for a purchase of sun hats and sun shirts for all members safety pending approval from Deputy Chief Hanselman. Seconded by Kevin Flynn. Roll was called: Ayes: S. Miller, K. Flynn, M. Moran, L. Harris, J. Stempien Nays: None Ayes: 5; Nays 0 Motion carried. OTHER BUSINESS: Chief Harris wanted to mention to the members that the Fire Department is currently in negotiations at Northwest Central for new portable radios for the entire Department. Motorola is the top choice and the cost is $10,000 per radio. The Department will be purchasing 78 radios. The current straps that hold the radios might not be able to fit the new ones. The current budget will cover the radio purchase; however, new straps might not be included in the purchase. The Department might need for the Foreign Fire to supplement the purchase of new straps for each radio. Motion made by Chief Harris to adjourn 2nd quarter meeting; seconded by Jim Stempien. The meeting was adjourned at 10:32 am. FFITB 2nd Qtr. Mtg 05.15.2024