SABINE – NECHES CHIEFS’ ASSOCIATION
BY-LAWS
Revise 12-7-2011
ARTICLE I
DUES STRUCTURE
The dues structure for the SNCA shall be as follows:
| Voting Members | Non-Voting Members |
|
| Government Entities: (FD/PD/Emer Mgt/ESD/WD) |
$250.00/year | $300.00/year |
| Industrial Facilities: | $250.00/year | $300.00/year |
| Public Utilities: | $250.00/year | $300.00/year |
| Pipeline/Storage Facilities: | $250.00/year | $300.00/year |
| Public For & Not for Profit Entities: | $250.00/year | $300.00/year |
| Volunteer Fire Departments* | $50.00/year | $0/year |
| Vendors/Sales Companies: | N/A | $500.00/year |
| Provisional Member: | N/A | $300.00/year |
| *Those Fire Departments that are not established Emergency Service Districts and who do not receive any public tax support | ||
For dues renewal paid after December 31st but on or before June 30th there shall be a Fifty ($50.00) dollar-processing fee added.
ARTICLE II
COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES
Section 1. – Nominating
Responsible to provide the annual slate of officers for vacant positions according the Constitution of the SNCA.
Section 2. – Membership
Responsible for actively recruiting new members and insuring continued participation of current members.
Section 3. – Constitution and By-Laws
Responsible to maintain the official copy of the current Constitution and By-Laws of the SNCA.Responsible to prepare any amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws as proposed by the Board of Directors or membership.
Section 4. – Finance/Budget
Responsible to assist the SNCA Board of Directors and Financial Secretary in developing the organizations annual budget.
Section 5. – Training and Education
Responsible to monitor the training available to the Emergency Response Community, and report recommendations for improvement to the Board of Directors.Responsible to participate in and conduct surveys from the membership or outside entities, and makes a recommendation to the Board of Directors on the findings.Responsible to audit by survey or other means the level and applicability of training offered to the Emergency Response Community and forward recommendations to the President for action by the Board of Directors.The Chairperson of the Training and Education Committee shall serve as the representative of the SNCA on any outside training or education committees such as the Annual School Training Committee.
Section 6. – Awards/Public Relations
Responsible to solicit information and make recommendations to the Board of Directors for annual awards to be presented by the Association according to the Constitution.Also responsible for issuing press releases or other public notices approved by the Board of Directors.
Section 7. – Communications
Responsible to gather information, prepares, and disseminates the Communications Capability Inventory of the SNCA.Responsible to participate at the direction of the President or Board of Directors in any other outside communications committees as necessary.The Chairperson of the Communications Committee serves as the contact for all communications related issues involving the SNCA.
Section 8. – Inventory
Responsible to gather, prepares, and disseminates the Inventory List of response equipment available during times of an emergency to SNCA members.The Chairperson of the Inventory Committee shall maintain the response inventory information of the SNCA and insure that the communications center/s and Response Tasking Group have the latest up-to-date inventory information.
Section 9. – Bosses Night
Responsible to handle all arrangements and details of the Annual Bosses Night.The Bosses Night Committee Chairperson may appoint sub-committees for registration, food and beverage, program, audiovisual support, and any other sub-committee as needed.
Section 10. – Program
Responsible to solicit, arranges for, and supports a program at each Monthly meeting.The program shall be a topic that is directly related to the purpose and objectives of the SNCA, and shall not be a sales pitch or presentation by a vendor directly related to the sale or marketing of a product.The Chairperson of the Program Committee shall interact closely with the Chairperson of the Training and Education, Communications, and Exercise and Drill Committees in determining issues and matters of interest to the SNCA.
Section 11. – Drill and Exercise
Responsible to monitor and present information on all drills and exercises that relates to the purpose of the SNCA.Responsible to either plan or otherwise make arrangements to conduct or participate in no less than (1) full-scale drill or exercise annually that involves a full response of all of the response capable members of the SNCA.The Chairperson of the Drill and Exercise Committee shall receive all correspondence relating to drills and exercises sent to the SNCA, and shall review it and determine the level of participation by the SNCA.Members are encouraged to submit all drill and exercise information to the SNCA for potential participation.
Section 12. – Homeland Security
Responsible for serving on the Area Maritime Security Committee sponsored by the United States Coast Guard. Chairman will report allowable sensitive security information to the membership and assist Law Enforcement, Firefighters, and EMS personnel and the Board of Directors with regional action items when necessary.
Section 13. – Oil Spill
Responsible for serving on the Industrial and United States Coast Guard Regional Oil Spill committee. Chairman will assist in developing regional policy and training exercises. Chairman will report to membership any new developing technology and/or incidents to the membership.
Section 14. – Incident Management Team
Responsible for coordinating and recruiting SNCA members to the State recognized Incident Management Team. Chairman will report to the membership any developments regarding team members training or deployment locally, state wide, or nationally.
Section 15. – Strategic Planning
Responsible for facilitating discussion with membership regarding current strategic direction and future strategic direction of the SNCA. Chairman will assist the President in the Bi-Annual planning of the Strategic Planning Meetings scheduled each year.
Section 16. – Golf Tournament
Responsible for the facilitating and coordinating the annual fund raiser at a local golf course for the purposes of assisting public needs or education. The event will be held annually during a time when other fund raisers are not competing when possible. The donations will be awarded to the needs of the community as determined by the membership.
Section 17. – Web Site
Responsible for facilitating content and information to go onto the SNCA Web Site. Chairman will see that a proper vendor is providing adequate service to the SNCA membership. Chairman will see that current training and activities are posted on the web site in a reasonable amount of time. Chairman will work with other SNCA members that contribute to the effectiveness of the web site.
ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
Each member of the Association shall be provided on initial membership a Certificate of Membership suitable for framing.A current copy of the Constitution and By-Laws of the SNCA. A copy of the SNCA Manual, including the SNCA Operational Procedures, all Attachments, an appropriate number of SNCA patches and vehicle decals, an SNCA organizational wall chart, and copies of the minutes of meetings of the SNCA
ARTICLE IV
MEMBER PROHIBITIONS
a)No member of the SNCA shall use, purport, or falsely represent his/her membership with the SNCA for personal gain, political reasons, or otherwise engage in activities contrary to the purposes and objectives set forth in the Constitution of the SNCA.
b)Members shall insure that all patches, decals, or identifying markings of the SNCA be removed from any and all items of response clothing and equipment prior to disposal or surplus.
c)No member shall display a patch, decal, or other identifying markings of the SNCA in a manner other than in the normal conduct of business associated with SNCA membership.
d)No Member of the SNCA shall make any public statement to the media or otherwise acting in the capacity of or representing the SNCA without approval of the Executive Officers.
e)Any violation of any member prohibition may be grounds for termination of SNCA membership at the discretion of the Board of Directors.
f)No person or member of the SNCA shall use, authorize use of, or falsely represent the SNCA logo without full authorization of the SNCA Board of Directors for any personal gain, corporate gain, or social media use.
ARTICLE V
ASSOCIATION RECORDS
1)The SNCA shall maintain records necessary for the conduct of business of the SNCA.
2)The Constitution and By-Laws of the Association, list of Past Presidents, roster of Lifetime and Honorary Members, and list of Award recipients shall be maintained on a permanent basis.
3)Minutes of Monthly meetings and Board Meetings, financial records, and other correspondence of the Association shall be maintained for (7) years.Upon expiration of the (7) year period, the out-of-date records shall be shredded and/or disposed of.
4)The President may recommend to the Board of Directors that certain records or historical accounts of the SNCA be forwarded to the Fire Museum of Southeast Texas to be put on display with other SNCA memorabilia already on display.Upon approval by the Board of Directors, said information shall be turned over to the curator.
5)The Secretary shall maintain the current records of the SNCA necessary for conducting day-to-day business.Every effort shall be made to store such records in an electronic medium to reduce the burden of storage.
6)The Secretary/Treasurer shall receive payments from a vendor (Example: PayPal) for payments to the SNCA for the purposes described in the Constitution. The Secretary/Treasurer must maintain all pertinent information regarding said vendor account. The Secretary/Treasurer must transfer these payments in a timely manner into the Bank Account listed under the name of the Sabine-Neches Chiefs’ Association for deposit of record. These funds will be directed as determined by the Board of Directors.
These By-Laws revoke and supercede any By-Laws previously adopted.
Approved by the Board of Directors on February 21st, 2001.
Revised: May, 10 2006 Article I addition of penalty for late payment of dues.
Revised 08/06/08 2008 Article I amount of dues, Article II, Section 4 rename Audit to Finance/Budget and new definition, Section VI redefine Awards to Awards/Public Relations and add to definition.
Revised: 12-7-2011 Article II, Committee Responsibility, Section 12, added Homeland Security, Section 13, added Oil Spill, Section 14, added Incident Management Team, Section 15, added Strategic Planning, Section 16, added Golf Tournament, Section 17, added Web Site; Article IV, Membership Prohibitions, f) added SNCA logo representation; Article V, Association Records, 6) added receiving payments from electronic means (Example:PayPal)
