OFFICIAL MINUTES FOR:

RBCERTAA   BOARD MEETING

August 1st, 2006 - 6:30 p.m.

Billy’s Deli 

5160 W. 190th St., Torrance, CA.

 

Attendees at this meeting:

 

RBCERTAA Board Members

Present

 

Guests in Attendance:

Alisa Zells - President

X

 

Margot Hoffman

Lisa Burke - Vice Pres.

X

 

Ricci Bichlmeier

Monty Ruth - Treasurer

X

 

Mike Grady

Bob Heil - Secretary

X

 

 

Jeff Adam

X

 

 

Jennifer Adam

X

 

 

Tania Amaral

 

 

 

Lili Gonzalez

X

 

 

Marcelle McCullough

X

 

 

Noble Smith

X

 

 

Jared VanSloten

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fire Department Liaison:

 

 

 

Capt. Rick Martinez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1                                            CALL TO ORDER (Scheduled for 6:30 p.m.)

Meeting called to order by President, Alisa Zells at 6:30 p.m. (10 board members present).

 

2                                            INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS (Alisa)

Alisa introduced the guests (listed above) and welcomed them to our meeting.

 

3                                            APPROVAL OF MINUTES --- July 18, 2006 meeting (Bob H. /Margot)

Jennifer Adam made a motion to approve the minutes dated July 18, 2006. Lisa seconded the motion.  The minutes were approved.

 

4                                            AGENDA ORDER AND ADDITIONS

 

5                                            NEW BUSINESS

 

5.1                                     Thank you to Billy’s Diner for continued use of premises (reminder of meeting room privileges)

Alisa thanked Billy's Deli for continuing to provide a meeting room for the RBCERTAA BOD meetings and reminded attendees that the room was continuing to be provided with the expectation that we would be ordering food Billy's.

 

5.2                                     Swearing in of 2006/2007 Board Members, Marcelle, Jeff and Jared (Rick)

Captain Rick Martinez swore in the following board members for the year of 2006/2007: Jeff Adam, Marcelle McCullough, Jared VanSloten, Lili Gonzales. Group and Individual photos were taken.

 

5.3                                     Fire Dept.  Corner (Rick/Matt)

 

5.3.1                               BICEPP Training & Competition

Rick reported that this is going well. The team is looking good. We have a short time to get ready, but Rick is confident in the outcome. (Alisa has sent out an email asking for additional members.)

 

5.3.1                               Class #33 Enrollment (Rick/Alisa/Lisa)

Currently have 10 enrolled, all at the old fee. Marcelle reported that she had heard some negative feedback about the new higher fee ($40 ea.) Alisa asked for any additional feedback on the subject to be given to her. There is still an open question regarding what fee will be charged to students who signed up using the old fee schedule.

 

5.3.2                               Upcoming Training

We had a good training session both last Saturday and Sunday. We need to start planning training for next year soon. Rick expects to offer about 6 training sessions next year.

 

5.3.3                               Misc.

Rick reminded us of the need to communicate with the Fire Department through him, rather than going directly to the department.

 

6                                            OLD BUSINESS:

 

6.1                                     Treasurer’s report (Monty)

Monty submitted two financial reports which were generated by Michael for the months of July and August. Lisa Burke raised a question about an item on the August report dated 7/24. Alisa raised a question about a returned check fee dated 4/20. Approval of the reports was deferred pending resolution of these questions.

 

Mike Grady observed that we should be considering some sort of a fund raiser to augment our treasury. Margot reminded us that Whole Foods had been a good source of funds in the past and suggested that we consider doing this again. Alisa encouraged this as a good idea and will place this on a future agenda.

 

6.1.1                               Reimbursements and miscellaneous bills to pay

Lisa submitted two checks from unused picnic funds ($22) and an invoice for Moulage ($100). Jennifer requested approval for an $18.94 expenditure for RBCERTAA business cards. Monty will issue this check. Margot submitted a receipt for $12.79 for water for the training class. Jennifer submitted cash donations of ($123.00) from Le Boutique.

 

6.2                                     COMMITTEE AND ASSIGNED TASK REPORTS

 

6.2.1                               Archive Policy (Bob)

Marcelle requested a copy of the policy. Action was deferred until next month so that she could review the policy.

 

6.2.2                               Email Tree Updates (Alisa)

Lili could not remain to discuss this. Alisa reported that she is making progress in updating the list. There was discussion regarding our email policy and whether we are respecting any requests to not send email to certain individuals at their request. Rick reported that the Fire Department regards the email list as confidential and it is not shared with the general public. Jared raised a question regarding the Evite which has been sent to members to help at the academy classes. He pointed out that the Evite email does not show the day of the class. Marcelle explained that the date was shown within the linked invitation.

 

6.2.3                               Class #32 Graduation Summary (Lisa)

Lisa reported that this went very well, with 4 no-shows and 15 graduates. California Pizza Kitchen donated food for this event.

 

6.2.4                               Calendar & Events Notice (Alisa)

Alisa reviewed the calendar which was distributed to all present. (A copy is to be emailed to all members.). Rick mentioned that he did not know who selected Knob Hill for the last Saturday training facility, but it went well. He pointed out that it is very difficult to schedule training events far in advance since this requires firefighters to volunteer far in advance and also to select the facility in advance.

 

Rick mentioned that people who take the NIMS training on-line should provide a copy of their certificates to Diane at Fire Station #1.

 

6.2.4.1                        Volunteers to take over this responsibility

Alisa requested a volunteer to take over the Calendar and Events Notice task. There were no immediate volunteers. Alisa will raise this issue again next month.

 

6.2.5                               Safety Fair (Lisa)

Lisa will not be able to handle this task and is seeking a replacement. Monty indicated that he chair this activity. Garth McWhorter will be attending a planning session this coming Thursday and will gather information for CERT. The Safety Fair is scheduled for October 1st.

 

6.2.6                               Food Committee (Marcelle)

 

6.2.6.1                        Class #33 Starts Thurs. Sept. 7th

CPK ASAP has committed to support this program, so we should food for the initial session of class #33 covered. Marcelle would like to have at least one RBCERTAA member volunteer to attend each of the class meetings. This will be included in the email calendar which is being prepared to be sent out. There was a question regarding food for the training classes and it was suggested that providing water might be a good idea. As an alternative, it was suggested that alumni be reminded to bring their own water to training events.

 

6.2.6.2                        Food, set-up and clean-up volunteers

Monty made a motion that the food committee bring 1 case of water, coffee and refreshments as appropriate to future training events. This was seconded by Marcelle and passed by the BOD.

 

6.2.7                               Newsletter (Monty)

Articles are needed for the newsletter. The deadline for submission is August 15th, 2006.

 

6.2.8                               Website Updates (Alisa)

Alisa spoke with Val. She will be posting the photos taken tonight of the BOD members.

 

6.2.9                               First Aid Supply/Equipment Donations (Marcelle)

No feedback received from about 30 letters sent out. We only had limited supplies for the last graduation, so we need to pursue this.

 

6.2.10                          Le Boutique (Jennifer/Jeff)

No further report, since Jennifer and Jeff had to leave early.

 

6.2.10.1                    Apparel Sales

 

6.2.10.2                    Apparel inventory

 

6.2.11                          Container Inventory (Monty)

Monty would like to do an inventory within the next few weeks.

 

6.2.12                          Container Repair (Monty/Jeff)

 

7                                            ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

7.1                                     Next Board meeting scheduled for September 5, 2006.

This is Alisa's birthday.

 

7.2                                     Class #33 begins Thurs Sept. 7, 2006.

 

7.3                                     Next Training is August 26 – Triage

 

7.4                                     Items from the Floor

Lisa mentioned that the next city-wide drill is being planned and will probably include a simulated haz-mat drill.

 

Lisa asked if we wanted to place an order for the 'write-in-the-rain' books for Le Boutique. Monty made a motion that we purchase 10 of the large (field standard) and 10 of the small (pocket size) for an estimated cost of $150 plus shipping and handling TBD. The motion was passed.

 

It was suggested by Marcelle that each class should include an instructor feed-back.

 

Marcelle reminded alumni to avoid making noise during the classes and also deferred to the students when it comes to answering questions.

 

Marcelle asked how NIMS would be incorporated in future training and drills. Rick has discussed this with the Chief, but does not yet have an answer. This training has to be fit into the schedule.

 

8                                            OPEN FORUM (subject to Roberts Rules time constraints)

Noble mentioned that some of the instructor's don't follow the manual which is given to the students.

 

Monty mentioned that he like the Christmas party which was held last year and thinks we should have another.

 

Monty mentioned that he has joined the South Bay Amateur Radio club. He suggests that we reach out to these members to try to interest them in CERT.

 

Bob Heil reminded members to pay their dinners.

 

9                                            ADJOURNMENT (Scheduled for approximately 8:30 p.m.)

Lisa made a motion to adjourn and Marcelle seconded this.

The BOD meeting was adjourned at 8:09 PM.

 

 

 

 

 

Respectively submitted,

 

 

 

___________________________

Robert H. Heil

RBCERTAA Secretary