So for once the newsletter is timely. Well the first thing that happened was the folks from infinity having to leave for an emergency call. Victims of the labor shortage And now we have fitter certification Just remember you were warned this was in the legislature at least a year ago right here in your AFSA/PacNW newsletter.

Herb Schairbaum Blue Water Fire
Chris Johnson Blue Water Fire
Kevin Kane Viking SupplyNet
Mark Hoyt Noveon
Eric Surface Anvil Star
Chuck Paradis Sprinx
Joe Faulkner Sprinx
Lynn Rydman Washington Fire
Steve Hobart Simplex/Grinnell
Matt Mullaney Flexhead Ind.
Mike Fitz MDE
Jeremy Medsker Infinity Fire
Kirk Richards Infinity Fire
Lacey Norris Infinity Fire
Roger White Knight Fire
Herb Canon Knight Fire
Shawn Shepherd South Kitsap Fire
Greg Rogers South Kitsap Fire
Chuck Bamford Bamford Inc.
Lloyd Ivy AFSA
Bill McKay Advanced Fire
Ron Greenman Bates Technical College

So for once the newsletter is timely. Well the first thing that happened was the folks from infinity having to leave for an emergency call. Victims of the labor shortage And now we have fitter certification Just remember you were warned this was in the legislature at least a year ago right here in your AFSA/PacNW newsletter.

The second thing was the turnout. We pretty much overwhelmed the 13 Coins staff and on a couple of occasions had the manger ministering to our needs.

Now on to the meeting. Bill started out talking about the fitter certification bill. Since our meeting was the day before the TAG meeting there wasn’t much to add from August. I did go to that meeting as the AFSA contractor rep since Bill was unavailable. Chuck Paradis and Roger White were also there representing merit shop labor. I think they’d agree that all present, including NFSA contractors and union labor are interested in making this work for everyone without exclusivity. The union guys have their peculiar spin on the whole thing but I think (hope) it has more to do with their inability to find an alternate rhetoric than with any ulterior tactic to legislate merit shops out of business.

Bill next made the obvious statement that business was up again.

Thee was discussion about insurance and how to keep costs under control, Bill’s battle with L&I over prevailing wages, the promised but seemingly forgotten wage survey and the usual problems with jurisdictional ordinances costing you money when you’re not aware of these differences from the standards. Watch out.

Then there have been some changes to NICET. Someone somewhere was caught cheating on a test by bringing in prohibited materials and so what you can take to the test center has been severely restricted. Check with NICET.

Lloyd was next to speak and he was happy to report that AFSA has for the first time exceeded 1000 members. As of September there were 804 contractor members and 204 associates. He also reported that the next convention would be held in October in Washington DC.

Following Lloyd’s report was a lengthy discussion on EQ bracing and the difficulties of meeting the NFPA 13 2002 requirements.

After dinner Matt Mullaney spoke about Flexhead drops. Mark Hoyt noted that Flexhead was the only product of its type compatible with Blazemaster.

Greg Rogers, fire marshal for South Kitsap and the current president of the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals< next reported That WSAFM has plans to provide training for fire inspectors and plan reviewers. They are also trying to promote consistency among jurisdictions. They’re going to be spending a lot of energy in the coming year promoting residential sprinklers. Two avenues they plan to take are educating legislators and pushing for reductions in stand-by fees. There was also a little talk about LEEDS issues.

Bill finished up by admonishing everyone to be careful of permit fees.

The next meeting will be in February. If you get this newsletter you’ll be getting an email notification or keep an eye on our website: http://www.afsanw.org. See you there.