GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

April 2, 2006

Camp Flamingo

Meeting Called to Order at 9:00 by Kevin Brewer

Present: Bart Mix, Ken Miller, Ken Ziglar, Kevin Brewer, Ted Andrus, Rob Speiden, Greg Fuller, Missy Tally, Robert Fries, Tom Dotson, Steve Frye, Mark Gleason, Tim Greer, Terry Greer, Will Dotson, Jan Olson, Jeff Good Guest: Kevin Martin

Approval of Minutes: Noted that Greg Fuller was omitted from the list of those present at the January meeting. The minutes were accepted with this correction (Gleason/Mix)

Director’s Report (Brewer):

  1. Roy Hutchinson, Will Dotson, and Mark Gleason will provide the SARTI presentation at the April 18th Regional Law Enforcement Conference. This will be the first of many Regional LE conferences scheduled around the state. It is hoped that the SARTI program will be presented at each.
  2. The SARTI Registered Agent will change from Ted Andrus to Kevin Brewer.
  3. VDEM is in the process of compiling data for a regional response plan. SARTI is heavily represented in several of the state regions.

Assistant Director’s Report (Dotson): A draft of the SARTI flyer was presented to the General Membership, an initial series of which will be presented at the April 18th LE conference. SARTI will receive a bill for the initial series via Ken Ziglar. After this time, Robert Fries and Ken Ziglar will share the brochure file and secure additional copies.

Treasurer Report (Speiden): As of February 28, 2006, the SARTI checking account had a balance of $48.02, and the savings account $3143.63.

VASARCO Report (Mix): The last meeting was held on January 21, 2006.

  1. The NIMS course required for certified state SAR resources is available on line as well as through live classes. It is recommended, however, that interested parties take the on line version. The requirements are:
  2. Field Team Member: Courses 100 and 700
  3. Field Team Leader: Courses 100, 200, and 700
  4. Incident Command: Courses beginning at 800.
  5. The new Field Team Signcutter standards are almost complete, and will be presented at the April VASARCO meeting. After that time, they will be posted for comment on the VDEM website.

Training Officer Report (Ziglar): It was noted that the group can retain learning points from the Saturday afternoon task, and place more focus on signcutting the PLS. This was a weak point in the exercise.

Status Changes:

Ken Miller from Probation to SARTI FTS Status

Robert Fries from Probation to SARTI FTS status (Speiden/Dotson)

Kevin Martin as Probationary Member

Ted Andrus to At Large Honorary Life Member

Will Dotson from SARTI FTS to Operational FTS (Fuller)

Steve Frye from SARTI FTS to Operational FTS (Olson/Fuller)

Mark Gleason from SARTI FTS to Operational FTS (Brewer/Fuller)

Training Weekend Feedback:

  1. No debrief was done on Saturday’s afternoon task.
  2. Use of live victims lead to one team getting “bogged down”, with no one available to get them back on track. Also one set of tracks exiting the PLS was missed, leading to two teams following one subject.
  3. The initial survey of the PLS was not well executed, leading to crowding. Suggest PLS exercises in the future.
  4. The Training Committee is responsible for the learning curves of newer members. In this exercise, a committee member should have stopped teams in the field when it was clear that the initial PLS strategy was ineffective.
  5. Note that the Training Officer will not be at the Fall Training, and will appoint someone to act in his place.

Old/New Business:

SARTI Library: Jan Olson has been appointed the group librarian. Many books and pamphlets are ready to be checked out. This will be done at a regular quarterly training, and materials need to be returned at the following quarterly training.

Communications/Dispatch Issues: It was noted that communications and dispatch functions must be covered when responding to a call out. SARTI did not respond to a call for members in November, and there may have been some confusion about call out procedures. Not all SARTI members have SARTI pagers, and it is recommended that the member taking dispatch also make phone calls. Robert Fries noted that Delmarva SAR uses a voice mail system that may be of interest to SARTI. He will forward this information to Kevin Brewer for review.

The Joel Hardin class referenced in the January minutes has been cancelled. Members may go to his website for other class information.

Standard Operating Procedures: On a motion from B. Mix and K. Ziglar, the general membership approved adopting the SOP’s distributed at the January meeting. Any recommendations for future changes should be forwarded to Kevin Brewer via email.

SARTI MOU: The groups Memorandum of Understanding with VDEM will expire in July 06. While VDEM has indicated that new/revised MOU’s will be sent out, it was recommended during the meeting that SARTI re-file using the old MOU prior to July. This will cover any time gaps should the new MOU’s not arrive by July.

Training Schedule: Based upon group discussion, a motion was made (Speiden/Fries) that SARTI hold quarterly trainings during the second weekend of the second month of each quarter. Under this schedule, trainings would be held in February, July, August, and November. The second Saturday of these months would be considered the second weekend. It was noted that the schedule would have flexibility for issues such as location. However, this will allow SARTI members to plan their calendars one year in advance. This change would begin in November 06, and not change the July 21-23 training already scheduled in Orange County. The motion was approved by the full membership with two opposed.

Search Summary: SARTI had four call outs during the quarter. These were in Frederick, Franklin, and Henry County Virginia, and Allegheny County, Maryland. Thanks to all who participated.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:33 AM.

Respectfully Submitted by Mark Gleason

Preserving the art of tracking through training, education and community service