Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
August 1, 2013
President Graham called the meeting to order at 10:09 a.m.
Board Members in attendance: Chad Graham, Andrew Reed, Keith Douglas, Rick Valentine, Doug McQuary, Tommy Crowder, Danny Houseright, Wallace Elliot, John Fitzsimmons, Joyce Noles and Lis Henley
Board Members not in attendance: Brandon Ward, John Combes and Ricky Slack
Other present: Mark Pierce (Air-Evac), Julie Guthrie (St. Thomas), and Joseph Rike (Memphis Fire/EMS – appointed at this meeting as West TN Grand Division Representative)
Previous meeting minutes: Minutes of the June meeting were deferred to September due to and error on the Secretary’s part.
Motion by Andrew Reed – 2nd by Lis Henley to suspend the rules to move the appointment of the West TN Grand Division Representative up on the agenda. Motion passed unanimously.
Joyce Noles reported that Chief Joseph Rike from Memphis Fire/EMS was the only nomination.
Motion by John Fitzsimmons – 2nd by Rick Valentine to approve Joseph Rike as West TN Grand Division Representative. Motion passed unanimously.
Reimbursement Conference – Doug McQuary reported that he was working on a plan to allow participants to attend the opening night of the Nashville Predators opening night game on Oct. 8 – in place of the hospitality night. The offer would be for up to 50 attendees @ $125 each. He suggested that TASA allow him to secure vendor sponsorships to cover the cost. There was discussion about how quickly these vendor commitments could be obtained.
Motion by John Fitzsimmoons – 2nd by Joyce Noles for Doug McQuary to continue negotiating with vendors with an August 16 deadline. If commitments are not complete TASA will disregard the game and revert back to the normal hospitality night. Motion passed unanimously.
Dues – It was reported that all services had been mailed dues notices for 2013-14.
Financial – Motion by Andrew Reed – 2nd by John Fitzsimmons to approve the Treasurer’s report. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion by Doug McQuary – 2nd by john Fitzsimmons to move all funds from Regions bank to the new account at SunTrust and close all accounts at Regions. Motion passed unanimously.
NAEMT – John Fitzsimmons reported that over 7600 students participated at the HOSA Convention in Nashville and thanked all who helped with the judging and working the booth.
President Graham announced that the Region II board seat for the NAEMT is open (previously held by Dennis Rowe of Rural Metro). Dennis is now the NAEMT Treasurer.
Motion by Lis Henley – 2nd by Danny Houseright to cover John Fitzsimmons travel expenses to the NAEMT Conference in Las Vegas – September 8 – 12, 2013. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion byJohn Fitzsimmons – 2nd by Lis Henley for TASA to officially support the National EMS Field Bill. Motion passed unanimously.
Mid-Winter Conference – Lis Henley gave an update on work regarding the Conference. Joseph Rike will handle the vendors.
Motion by Andrew Reed – 2nd by Lis Henley to authorize up to $2500 for gifts at the Reimbursement Conference and give Medical Directors a TASA picture. Motion passed unanimously.
Andrew Reed reported that a meeting was held with the TASA lobbyist to discuss scaling back for one year in order to free up funds needed to address TASA infrastructure (i.e. sound system, video projectors, booth/banners, etc.).
Motion by Rick Valentine – 2nd by Joyce Noles to defer discussion regarding lobbyist for 2014. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion by Danny Houseright – 2nd by John Fitzsimmons to pay the final bill for the lobbyist for 2013. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion by Andrew Reed – 2nd by Danny Houseright to purchase new shirts with official TASA logo (white, long sleeve). Motion passed unanimously.
Motion by Rick Valentine – 2nd by Tommy Crowder for Lis Henley to represent TASA on the COPEC committee. Motion passed unanimously.
Dicsussion about renewing the contract with Park Vista (current contract is through 2015). Deferred till next month.
Motion by John Fitzsimmons – 2nd by Danny Houseright to pay the fees to Doug McQuary for the management of the trailered TASA equipment. Motion passed unanimously.
Wallace Elliot discussed the possibility of having the TASA Board meetings broadcast over a web-based system so that others throughout the State could view that may not be able to attend. He will research and report back next month.
Joseph Rike announced Lynn Thompson had accepted the Director position at Maury County.
Next Board meeting will be at First Call Ambulance in Nashville (Airlane Dr.)
The meeting was adjourned at 11:53 am