Local-416-2021-New-Logo.png

Minutes from January 20th/21st, 2015 – L416 General Meeting

[upme_private]

  • Call to Order 1909hrs
  • Motion to suspend the rules: Motion by Helrigel, 2nd by many.
    • Motion made to allow Brother Mike Whited PFFUI Vice President of Muncie Local 1348, who is not a member of Local 416, to attend our meeting and to swear in new officers.

New Officers Swear-In

  • Oath administered by Brother Mike Whited, PFFUI Vice President. Those giving their oath were:
    • IFD District President Henry Harris
    • Pike District Trustee Jim Boros
    • Wayne District Trustee Johnny Balding
    • Speedway District Trustee Jim Bose
    • Beech Grove District Trustee Paul Cloyd
    • At-Large Trustee Lance Langsford
      [su_spacer]
  • Roll Call of Officers: All present.
  • Minutes from previous meeting: Motion to dispense by Battiato, 2nd by Kautsky. Motion carried.

Officer Reports

President:

  • Minutes from the Local 416 Planning session and for this General Meeting will be available on the Local 416 website. (www.L416.com)
  • A list of special events for 2015 is also available and the website calendar will be updated to include them as well. (Events are attached at the end of these minutes.) Local 416 has a history of being a family organization and the events are designed to promote that philosophy.
  • There are several standing committees of Local 416 and everyone is encouraged to find an area of interest or that they would be willing to assist and sign up. (List of committees and members is included at the end of these minutes.)
  • The 2015 Local 416 Budget was reviewed by the Executive Board who recommended adoption. That budget will be presented and voted later in the meeting.
  • Dr. Bob Smith has been retained by Local 416 to assist members who may benefit from his skills. Emergency services are challenging physically and mentally and from time to time there may be members that could use a person to speak with to help them through a challenge or particular issue. Dr. Bob is uniquely qualified to understand many of the circumstances emergency service personnel can find themselves in due to his history as a firefighter. He is willing and eager to help and any discussion with him is held in the highest confidence. Several members have been referred to him recently and many more will undoubtedly be referred in the future. Please seek help if you are experiencing difficulties or recommend others you see in challenging times seek help as well.
  • The Executive Board has been attending many functions both political as well as operational in an effort to assure our organization is informed as well as recognized by the administrations and political groups that we work with.
  • 2015 will be a very active political year, City/County Council races as well as several mayoral races will take place in November. The appropriate District PACs will establish their own endorsements and support. The PAC committee will be instrumental in this.
    • We have several Local 416 members that were either re-elected or elected to office and we would like to recognize them:
      • State Representative Randy Frye District 67 was re-elected. (IFD retired)
      • State Representative Dan Forestal District 100 was re-elected. (IFD)
      • Vern Brown was elected Trustee for Warren Township. (IFD)
      • Keith Smith was elected Trustee for Franklin Township. (IFD retired)
  • The Building Committee continues to move forward, a report will follow later in the meeting.
  • We will have a legislative report shortly to go over pending and anticipated State legislation. Pensions will be under attack again although it appears that due to good planning fire and police do not appear to be included in those bills currently.

Vice President

  • Nothing to report.

Treasurer

  • Report will be done with budget.

Secretary

  • Regrettably 2014 saw five editions of the Helmet instead of six. That problem has been addressed and should not come up again.
  • The Facebook page is seeing an increase in following and being utilized better to disseminate information. Some information though is not necessarily appropriate for that platform because of its public nature and the fact that many followers are not members of Local 416.
  • Work is being done to improve the current website so that it can become a viable medium for getting information out to the membership. If the current web host cannot fill the need we will pursue other options so that our website is not only easier to use but more useful and appealing.
  • The project to expand the Union Hall, improve the “point”, add parking across St. Clair and move the Fire Fighters Credit Union to our property has now been fully approved by the Indianapolis Historical Preservation Commission clearing our final approval hurdle. With that being done the Building Committee has begun looking at the design, scope and funding of the project. The project came in above what the current funds would allow for prudently so the committee will be looking at what options are available to make this vision a reality. As part of the approval for the parking on the north side of St. Clair IHPC asked for some screening along the east edge of the property. There was no interest on our part in installing a 48” high wall as was suggested, not only because of esthetic reasons but most importantly cost and safety concerns. The idea was presented to use the portion closest to College, the east face of the parcel, for a public art installation that could serve the purpose of being a visual screen to the parking but could also make our property a destination for visitors to Indy as well as locals. This piece, currently being called Prometheus Walks, will run the full length of the property and will be funded by separate fundraising, no Building Fund or dues money will be used to see this portion of the project completed. Construction for the parking lot on St. Clair is anticipated to begin just after St. Patrick’s Day. All other aspects of the project are being considered and there is not firm deadline. The parking portion is moving forward to replace the parking lost to the Fire Fighters Credit Union building and to avoid any changes by the IHPC. The parking on that space was a very hard fought battle and we want to make it clearly a parking lot so that any future discussion about that topic will be moot.
  • As the Building Committee work progresses it is anticipated that there will be 1-2 Special Meetings called to explain the Committee’s recommendation(s) and to have votes by the membership to assure the vision of the membership is followed.

PFFUI Legislative Report (Given by PFFUI Vice President Mike Whited)

  • There have been several bills brought forward in the Legislature that may have effect on Fire Fighters.
    • There is a bill being heard this session that would establish a State Fire Academy. This idea has been in the works for many years and until this year saw significant resistance from the volunteer fire organizations. There was a lot of work put in to gain their support and the concept may be moving closer to a reality, although there isn’t a funding source currently identified.
    • Marion County Fire Consolidation is back on the agenda this year. The bill is anticipated to have no significant challenge in the House and will face its battles in the Senate again.
    • There are two bills affecting government pensions, SB492 and HB1481. The PFFUI worked very diligently over the summer to explain to any legislator that would listen the value and need for the police and fire pension. Those efforts were well received and paid a dividend proven by the fact that police and fire are left out of these two bills and in fact several legislators sought out President Hanify to assure him that police and fire would not be added. The main differences between the two bills as currently worded are:
      • SB492: Moves all current state employees and teachers to a Defined Contribution retirement plan, (401k style).
      • HB1481: Moves only newly hired employees to a Defined Contribution plan, leaves current employees in their Defined Benefit plans, (pension).The PFFUI has been working closely with several partners including AFSCME and the teachers unions to see these bills defeated. The concern of course is that as more and more groups lose their pensions it will become harder and harder to keep our pension. In the words of President Hanify ‘the last group with a pension won’t have a pension for very long.’
      • The PFFUI will have a comprehensive list of the bills they are tracking on their website soon. (www.PFFUI.com)

District Reports

Airport

  • The Airport Authority Board still will not recognize Local 416 as the bargaining agent for the Airport Firefighters.
  • Continuing to look at options for this District.
  • The legal opinion obtained was that they could be considered municipal employees, by virtue of being hired by a subset of the City government, but that they also may not be.
  • Local 416 is waiting to hear from some of the other Unions that would like to be recognized to come up with a plan of action.

Beech Grove

  • There will be a mayoral election this year in Beech Grove.
  • St. Francis has taken on more of the ambulance staffing and this has resulted in more firefighters on fire apparatus.
  • There was a pension discrepancy between the negotiated contract and what the City Controller was paying into PERF. This was brought to their attention and has been corrected. The Controller stated it was a mistake but there are some doubts and it is being looked into. The Beech Grove Council voted unanimously to fix the problem and appropriated the additional funds needed to remedy the situation.

Lawrence

  • New contract in force.
  • Now have Kelly Days.
  • Have begun hiring civilian EMS personnel to staff for the Kelly Days.
  • As a result of the Kelly Days and added fire staffing there was a Department wide rebid.
  • Mayoral election this year and working diligently to be certain there is a candidate that can unseat the current mayor.

Communications

  • Getting ready for some movement in dispatch.
  • New Assistant Communications Manager, Sheryl Stephenson, has assumed Jeff Taylor’s old position.
  • Trying to gain control of the hiring process from the City and have it moved to IFD. Currently all applicants to the City are included in the eligible pool for Dispatch and this has caused some “washout” and retention challenges with new hires.
  • Staffing is still short but attempts are being made to address the shortage.

Decatur

  • Trustee Rink was re-elected without significant challenge.
  • It is being said that this will be his last term.
  • New contract was approved and is in force.
  • There has been a staffing concern with ambulances being backfilled with reserve EMT’s but this causes a problem because the township ambulance staffing is utilized on the fire ground and having non-firefighters on them causes operational concerns.

IEMS

  • Had one hiring in 2014 versus seven in 2013. This is thought to be a good sign that retention is improving.
  • Staffing changes appear to be imminent. It is anticipated that it will result in:
    • The changing of all trucks to 12 hour shifts.
    • The addition of “Tac” trucks to fill gaps.
    • The thought from management is that this will streamline the supervision of the members, save money and increase safety by reducing the consecutive hours worked.
  • IEMS had a 20% turnover in 2013 and that percentage was down in 2014.
  • 2/3 of eligible IEMS employees are now members of the Union. This is a significant increase over years past.
  • The current inter-local agreement, (contract) will be up in 2016 and the District is preparing to negotiate a new agreement.

IFD

  • Met with the Chief regarding his plans for 2015 and they include:
    • Beginning an apparatus replacement schedule that will result in all frontline apparatus being less than ten years old and will spread out the apparatus for future replacement so that future budgets will not be devastated keeping replacements up to date.
    • Beginning a station replacement schedule to address the age and maintenance of current stations. This is not a plan to change stations around or open/close stations but merely to address the current facilities needs currently and moving forward.
    • Hiring process moving forward and is anticipated to result in 30 new firefighters on the street before the end of 2014.
    • Promotion process is currently delayed to allow for Merit Law changes to be implemented by the City-County Council and they have been delayed as IMPD finalizes their changes.
    • All members should again have their own personal air regulator. If you do not contact Chief Abernathy.
    • A new Compliance Officer and Air Management Officer will be put in place and interviews for those positions are anticipated soon.
    • There will be a pinning ceremony in February to acknowledge members with 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service. These will be held annually around the same time moving forward.
  • The clinics for HSA participants ran into a snag and children under the age of 5 are not allowed to use them. This was brought to the Local’s attention and is being forcefully addressed. The matter is expected to be rectified.
  • There is a draft “General Order” regarding promotions. This was written under the Greeson administration and although there are some good ideas this order has not been implemented and will not be in effect for the upcoming promotion process.
  • There will be a “Talk with the Chief” on Wednesday January 21st, (1900hrs), and Thursday January 22nd, (0830hrs), to hear the Chiefs vision and plans firsthand, offer comments or suggestions and ask any questions anyone may have.

Speedway

  • Contract has been signed and is in force. Thank you to Ted Waldroup for his assistance in the negotiations.
  • New contract established a PEHP fund for members.
  • Process to replace the Chief is expected to begin soon.
  • Town Council will have elections in 2015 and work has begun to vet candidates.

Pike

  • New contract in force. Saw a 2% increase to base.
  • Trustee Patton was re-elected.
  • Chief has ramped up policy changes, most notably a significant shift in sick time procedures.
  • Told repeatedly at stations that ‘there is no money’ but then hear it said when discussion of consolidation are heard that ‘there is plenty of money’.

At-Large Trustees

  • No reports.

Firefighter of the Month

  • Jordan McLinn is a young man who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and wanted to be a fire. Jordan was interviewed on Christmas Eve and received notice he was hired on Christmas Day. He reported to Station 13 on January 8th and worked with B shift responding to a “fire” at survive alive where he put out the fire and got a save. He subsequently took his talents to the Statehouse with PFFUI President Tom Hanify and lobbied legislators on important firefighter issues: The need for State Training Academy, protecting the fire pension system and getting a Dalmatian for every firehouse. Jordan is a very inspirational person and the treatment he received from Station 13 B shift was wonderful. The crews there really helped to make sure that Jordan had an incredible experience.
  • With that the January Firefighter of the Month is a joint award to Jordan McLinn and all of Station 13 B shift.

Old Business

  • No Business carried forward from the October meeting.

Financial Report

  • (Moved to new business for budget adoption.)

Moment of Silence for our fallen Brothers and Sisters

New Business

  • Treasurer Hansman went through the following documents. There were no questions. The Executive Board reviewed both the 2015 Budget as well as the fourth quarter 2014 financials and recommended adoption.
Election Committee Members
Lance A LangsfordChairman
Chris PoteetVice Chair
Carlos Soto


[su_divider top=”no” style=”dashed” size=”1″ margin=”20″]

POSITIONNAMEMOBILESTATIONWORKEMAIL
PresidentHank Harris317-332-8549Union Hall317-262-5161Hank.Harris@L416.com
Vice PresidentShannon Whiteley317-445-946220 A317-353-1215Shannon.Whiteley@L416.com
SecretaryShawn Cross317-828-49347 C317-632-1840Shawn.Cross@L416.com
TreasurerRon Kautsky317-965-17197 C317-636-7176Ron.Kautsky@L416.com
Office ManagerCindy Beaver317-201-2091Union Hall317-262-5161Cindy.Beaver@L416.com
MaintenanceBrad Peglow317-796-5223RETIRED317-262-5161Brad.Peglow@L416.com
Airport PresidentBrian Booth317-427-374502 C317-487-5106bbooth@indianapolisairport.com
Airport TrusteeBrandon Towns317-413-08121B317-487-5366brandonltowns@gmail.com
Beech Grove PresidentBrent Henady317-430-165057 B317-808-5601brent.henady@L416.com
Beech Grove TrusteeNick Bell317-701-513956 C317-808-5602nicholas.bell@beechgrove.com
City Lawrence PresidentNick Rhemel317-828-6830CityofLawrenceFDDistrictPres@L416.com
City Lawrence TrusteeAndy Roell317-679-733639 Aaroell@cityoflawrence.org
Communication PresidentShane Pittman317-525-2520COMM317-327-3788CommunicationsDistrictPres@L416.com
Communication TrusteeKim Sims317-931-9048COMM317-327-3788kimberly.sims@indy.gov
Decatur PresidentPaul Ford317-506-8007474 C317-484-3197decaturtwpfddistrictpres@l416.com
Decatur TrusteeBrian Faires317-874-637574 B317-856-3197bfaires@decaturfire.ort
IEMS PresidentJeremiah Meriwether812-568-661817 A317-466-0429jeremiah.L416@gmail.com
IEMS TrusteeMichelle Haywood317-430-992812 Ahaywood.L416@gmail.com
Indianapolis PresidentMike Scott317-431-87773 C317-631-8068mike.scott@L416.com
Indianapolis TrusteePaul Cloyd317-938-4016SubPaul.Cloyd@indy.gov
Pike Twp. PresidentRon Hendrix317-796-381263 A317-872-6878rthendrix@pikefire.com
Pike Twp. TrusteeRon Wilke317-440-319263 C317-872-6878rewilke@pikefire.com
Speedway PresidentParker Adams765-437-576088 A317-246-4350parker.adams@L416.com
Speedway TrusteeMark Lakes317-408-0697marklakes@gmail.com
Wayne Twp. PresidentChris Poteet317-281-060084 C317-246-6284chris_poteet@att.net
Wayne Twp. TrusteeBrian McKee317-491-249982 AMcKeeBM@Mac.com
At Large TrusteeJon Helrigal317-445-446961 A317-347-5871jrh346@gmail.com
At Large TrusteeLance Langsford317-679-7249RETIREDlance.langsford@L416.com
At Large TrusteeBernie Mickler317-919-490311 B317-634-6803bernie.mickler@indy.gov
At Large TrusteeJoel Rickard317-777-0580364 A317-347-5872joel.rickard@L416.com
Retiree RepresentativeJoe Olofson317-518-9642RETIREDRETIREDjolofson488@sbcglobal.net
4th District TrusteeHank Harris317-332-8549Union Hall317-262-5161Hank.Harris@L416.com
4th District Vice-Pres.Mark Roberts317-698-209434 B317-788-0546markroberts114@gmail.com
PFFUI PresidentTom Hanify317-450-1381Office317-630-1840Hanify@indy.rr.com
WebmasterBen Tupper317-771-410504 Bteamtupper@gmail.com

[su_divider top=”no” style=”dashed” size=”1″ margin=”20″]

EMS SeniorityFire SeniorityLegacy Badges
RankCurrent SeniorityNameBadgeCurrent SeniorityNameName
1202Derrickson, Juana J.31Poteet, Gary1Ron Evans Sr.
2207Cody, Elizabeth A.42Rice, Courtney2Larry Alcorn
3210Minton, Roshanna D.63Crouch, Robert5Open
4211Shrum, Ronald R.74Taylor, Todd8Batza, Rick
5212Neal, Kim95Cranfill, Ron10Moore, Pam
6215Rupenthal, Patrick A.116Adams, Randy16Jones, Paul
7219Totleben, Melissa S.127Stewart, Matt17Open
8224Rippy III, Walter M.138Evans II, Ron18Open
9225Tackitt, Kelly A.149Gammon, David22Open
10227Smith, Jill1510Gerth, Aaron23Open
11230Barry, Jamie J.1911Staggs, Mark37Open
12232Beikes, Kathy L.2012Balding, Johnny41Open
13233Henson, Anthony T.2113Duncan, Rick42Open
14235Ballard, Ryan M.2414McWhirter, Jerry44Open
15238Barton, Aaron M.2515Lang, Louis43Hochstetler, Don
16240Bisel, Mike2616Sickles II, Ken46Wyant, Terrie
17243Hess, Jason2717Moore, David49Farrell, William
18244Blain, Keenan2818Caceres, Pedro50Sweeney, B
19246Eslick, Corey2919Hart, Cory53Helton, J
20249Volheim, Jennifer3020Feckete, Ken58Open
21250Grogg, Andrea3121Kelso, Dale61Open
22253Carnagua, Joseph3222Gilyan, Mike62Open
23255Ruggles, Tony3323Dillon Jr., Rob64Heizer, Bill
24256Day, Brandon3424Simpson, Greg66Richardson, Mark
25258Froelich, Christopher3525Pruitt, Mike70Knapp, S
26259Hieston, James3626Magbanua, Richard71Rooker, M
27260Johnson, Steve3827Potter, Richard72Open
28261Sparks, Nathan3928Ritchie, Ted77Diehl, Michael
4029Konzen, Eugene81Sizemore, Danny
4530Robertson, George82Warren, David
4731Scutchfield, Mark86Love, Damon
4832Banister, Eric88Persinger, Lyny
5133Moore, Ted94Martindale Lucas
5234Gulley, Randy102Buckrop,Jr, Thomas
5435Rooker, Charles107Kadinger, Kesey
5536Morgan, Felicity111Open
5637Hamilton, Dennis113Open
5738Boots, George123Bishop, Tim
5939Garino, John127Ardeel, Anthony
6040Combs, Brian150Hunt, Kevin
6341Jackson, David
6542Robinson, John
6743McCollum, Chad
6844Able, Kris
6945Powell, Patricia
7346Clark, Jeff
7447Feckete, Julie
7548Peoples, Craig
7649Totleben, Joe
7850Albertson, Kevin
7951Scott Sr., Rick
8052Gallagher, Tim
8353Prose, Tom
8454Minton, Brian
8555Walters, Curtis
8756Plummer, Joe
8957McKain, Rob
9058Mitchell, John
9159Strange, Steve
9260Popp, Kevin
9361Caughlan, George
9562Smith, Dennis
9663Turner, Jeremy
9764Eagle, Ryan
9865Boone, Matthew
9966Rowley, Ryan
10067Poling, Richard
10168Foster, James
10369Williams, Scott
10470Maurer, Jeremy
10571Kean, Jason
10672Dewees, Dustin
10873Moulton, Bradford
10974Ardizzone, Michael
11075Millirons, John
11276Smith, Goeff
11477Frolick, Joseph
11578Perry, John
11679Baker, Scott
11780Hough, Shon
11881McKee, Brian
11982George, Christopher
12083Graves, Justin
16684Reeves, Michael
12485Sandala, Michael
12686Lewis, Michael
12887Hammes, Chad
12988Morris, Jamie
13089Zmijewski, Michael
13190Sparks, Justin
13291Wymer, Troy
13392Barrett, Dutch
13493Warren, James
12194Gehrich, Ronnie
13595Bastien, Nolan
13696Owens, Michael
13797Eberlein, Todd
13898Roy, Andrew
13999Walker, Gordon
140100Poteet, Christopher
141101Feeney, Thomas
142102Ervin, Matthew
143103Gordon, Linise
144104Madsen, Jon
145105Johnston, Robert
146106Mitchell, Mark
147107Boring, Jay
148108Spall, Daniel
149109West, Chris
151110Sharp, Stuart
152111Scott, Richard B
397112Ball, Jeff
153113Abernathy, Jonathan
64114Cougan, Joseph
155115Tennant, Zach
154116Bland, Jonathan
156117Butts, Derek
157118Harrington, John
158119Drabick, Josh
159120Phillips, Michael
160121Hendry, Eli
161122Swingle, Michael
162123Dowty, Pat
124Langebartels, Bryce
125Cougan, Jacob
126Eckert, Dennis
127Wheatley, Jeremiah
128Scheffel, Justin
  • Motion to adopt 2015 budget: Langsford, 2nd by Kautsky. Motion passed unanimously.
  • Motion to accept previous quarter financial statement: Arkin, 2nd Battiato. Motion passed unanimously.
  • The April General Meeting will fall on the week of FDIC. In an effort not to over schedule everyone the motion was made by Hanify, 2nd by Arkin to move the April meeting that should have fallen on April 21st and 22nd to the following week, April 28th and 29thMotion passed unanimously.
  • Motion to destroy the 2013 election ballots per the Constitution and By-Laws by Langsford, 2nd by Hodges. Motion passed unanimously.

Good and Welfare:

  • Fr. Wilmoth, (former IFD chaplain), has some health issues currently and was admitted St. Francis. Fr. Wilmoth was in ICU for five days and is now in a private room recovering. He currently is not accepting visitors. It is unclear what the issue was that caused the hospitalization.
  • The 2015 Courage and Valor 5k run/walk will take place on the Thursday of FDIC week, (April 23rd), at White River State Park. Local 416 has sponsored this event in the past and has done so again this year. All Local 416 members receive free entry as part of that sponsorship.
  • Anyone planning on attending the 2015 World Police and Fire Games in Fairfax County Virginia should contact Treasurer Jason Hansman. Local 416 will be helping with the registration costs. The amount will be dependent on the number of members that are registering.

Motion to adjourn: Smith, 2nd by many. Motion passed unanimously.

[/upme_private]

Share:

More Posts

Sleep help is now available!

Having problems with sleep? Are you suffering from insomnia? This is not uncommon in the fire service. We are actively working to help our brothers and sisters get the sleep

Run Totals are in for 2022!

Total Dispatched Runs From MESA  192,165 Companies with the most dispatched runs last year :  Engine 02   4387          Ladder 38   2853