Attendance see attachment #1
Called to order at 10:00 hours by
President Peter McCabe. A quorum was established.
Jim Hill assumed Secretarial duties
in the absence of Keith Conover M.D.
Minutes of the September
report were mailed to all member teams and were also distributed at today's
meeting.
Irv L. GPSAR had a
correction to September's minutes: He noted that the LRA for the Coatsville VA
Medical Center search was not Chester County Parks, but was in fact Coatsville
Hospital.
Minutes
unanimously accepted as amended.
See attachment #2. Following
September's meeting, a mailing was made to teams which have not paid their 1993
dues. Responses were positive concerning reinstatement from all teams except
West Branch SAR. As of December's meeting, only dues from S.A.V.E.S. and
S.M.E.R.G have been received. It was noted that all others will be reinstated
upon receipt of their 1993 dues.
President Peter
McCabe indicated that he is not aware that Clinton County 4x4 SAR Unit is a
member of PSARC.
The former
Coventry SAR is now a part of Phoenixville Fire Department and is available for
calls through that entity.
OLD BUSINESS
a) We are moving
very well towards the incorporation of PSARC. As soon as the bylaws are
approved, we will be able to proceed with the next step.
b) There is a need
to improvement in the billing process to PSARC member teams. Peter McCabe
proposed that beginning in January 1994, a bill for annual dues will be included
with the January SAR NET. This should eliminate the confusion as to when dues
are to be paid since we normally do not pay a bill until we are invoiced.
c) The directors
will soon be scheduling a weekend outing in order to conduct PSARC business.
d) As of the December
11, 1993 meeting, only ten ballots have been received concerning the proposed
bylaws changes. It was noted that since the appropriate dating for both the
officer and bylaws ballots were missed,it would be inappropriate to open the ballots
at this time. Irv L. proposed that a teller committee be appointed to open the
ballots when the proper time has elapsed. (January 30, 1994) Peter McCabe will
appoint the committee.
Central: No report
Western: No report
Northern: No report
Eastern: Written report was
presented by Irv L..
As a reminder;
Since regions are once again meeting four times per year, regional meetings are
only to be for the purpose of training, information dissemination etc ... No
formal business should be conducted at these meetings.
It was reported that there were
problems with the statcom service. Apparently the problem is with the resource
sheets. It is the responsibility of the member teams to update statcom on an
ANNUAL basis. If a new data sheet is not received by statcom, the previous
year's information is discarded. So ... IT IS CRITICAL TO UPDATE STATCOM
ANNUALLY.
Jim Howley felt there can be no
training until the test bank is completed. It was noted that secretary Conover is
presently working on the development of a test bank for all approved SAR
positions. Once this is completed, Jim felt this would provide direction to his
training. It was also noted that curriculum development. should precede
testing, and that curriculum currently exists through the PSFA. Changes are
pending in order to accommodate PSARC standards.
Steve Houck outlined his goals for
1994. They are:
a) The procurement of another
frequency.
b) A communication resource list to
determine the number of frequencies needed.
As previously noted, voting on the
proposed bylaw changes will occur in January 1994. It was also noted that NE
SAR Bruce Barton did not receive a ballot for the proposed bylaw changes.
No Old Business to Report
Due to an oversight by the
nominating committee, a candidate for the office of president was received but
omitted form the ballot. Due to this oversight, Irv L.sighted past precedent on
a similar issue with the resolve being to reissue a corrected ballot. This
ballot, should be returned by and counted on January 30, 1994. All collected
ballots containing the incomplete slate of proposed officers, should be
discarded in their unopened state. This was placed in the form of a motion by
Irv L. with a proper seconding by Bruce Barton. Motion carried with 8 members
voting yes and 2 voting no. Due to unnamed circumstances, Director Ken Boyles
has removed his name from the ballot for the position of Director. The new
ballot is as follows:
President: Peter McCabe, Ron
Wisbith, Bruce Barton
Vice President: Martha Ann
Ackroyd-Geary, Ron Wisbith
Secretary: Keith Conover, Irv
Lichtenstein, Dan Geary
Treasurer Greg Sassaman
Director Jim Howley, Jim Hill
It was also noted by at least
Mifflin County SAR,that they did not receive a ballot for the 1994 officers
vote, however they were in receipt of the bylaws ballot.
It was mentioned that it is our
understanding that PEMA now has a memorandum of understanding with Civil Air
Patrol. They are again a line item in the PEMA budget.
Previously covered. A
presidentially appointed teller committee will open the new ballots on January
30, 1994.
When the bylaws are approved in
January of 1994, the paperwork will be submitted. From there it will be a
relatively short time until completion.
There was some discussion as to
whether our current standards violate the disabilities act, It appears it is
the opinion of some, that our current standards require things that disabled
persons may not be able to accomplish. Much discussion ensued relative to the
wording of Call Out Qualified. Peter McCabe reiterated his extensive expertise
in this area, and made it clear that in no way will someone that is disabled be
excluded from participating in SAR activities. It was determined that if the
wording needs changed, then it should be done through proper channels.
There is a need to develop an
ethical review committee relative to the performance of the members within
PSARC. Motion by Bruce Barton seconded by Irv. L. that the bylaws committee
develop procedures for handling both grievances and ethical violations within
PSARC. Motion passed.
Although it is currently
established, there is a need to expand it to include CAP and others. With no
opposition, Peter will appoint someone.
As previously reported there is
official action against Bruce Barton and NE SAR for the alleged inappropriate
action relative to the acquisition of a radio licence by Bruce. Bruce was
present at the December meeting and countered the allegations aimed at his
action. Much discussion ensued with no resolve. A motion was made by Ron
Wisbith that in order to determine exactly what occurred, council was to
appoint a review board with its members being acceptable to all parties, to
gather the facts and report their findings to council. The motion was seconded
by Irv L. and was passed with a 10 to one margin.
It was recommended that the
previously proposed second revision (See Attached) of the Dog Standards be
approved. A motion by Bruce Barton seconded by Tom Pampalone to accept the
recommendation. The motion passed.
East Penn Mountaineers SAR, from
Delaware Water Gap PA. was proposed for membership. This motion to accept. was
made by Ron Wisbith and seconded by Bruce Barton. It unanimously passed.
The long awaited patches have
finally arrived and are for sale for $2.50 plus shipping and handling. Those
desiring to purchase one of the first 200, may contact Vicki Coup of Strike K-9
at PO Box 61 West Milton PA. 1.7886. Due however to the difficulty in seeing
the lettering, it was recommended that a change in colors be made. Ron Wisbith
volunteered to provide several alternatives in patch color design. From there
we can determine the color of the next production run. This will be available
at the March 1994 Meeting.
Adjourned at 2:55 PM.