1. CALL TO ORDER
1.1. Directors attending in person: Curtis Hathcock, Jerry Hudlow, Steve Long, Larry Smith, Laura Tucker (5 of 10) 1.2. Special Board Members attending in person: Chief Qualls 1.3. Attending via Video: Todd Weber, Justin Stanbery 1.4. Absent: Jeff Easley, Monte Gagliardi, Kelly Lewis, Gisela Mejia 1.5. Quorum Status. There is enough directors attending via Zoom and in person to conduct limited administrative business for approving past minutes, monthly financial reports, and open discussion of topics.
2. Chairman Comments.
2.1. Opening summary. In the absence of Chairperson Easley, Secretary Curtis Hathcock led the meeting. Comments included announcement of limitations on official business activity and acknowledgement of attendance of Directors elect, Meredith Hutchins and Holly Smyth.
3. Disposition of Previous Meeting Minutes.
3.1. Review Board of Directors Meeting Minutes for October 14, 2025. Short review of draft minutes identified need for corrections. Paragraph 8.3.2 was deleted and the last sentence in paragraph 9.1 was deleted. 3.1.1. Motion to approve Minutes of meeting. Motion made by Steve Long to approve the Board of Directors Meeting October 14, 2025, as amended at this meeting. Motion seconded by Larry Smith. Motion approved with a vote of 5 approvals and 1 abstention.
4. Open to Public Comments.
5. Reports of Officers
5.1. Fire Chief Operations Report.
5.1.1. Reviewed monthly response numbers.
5.1.2. Benton County Compliance Report.
5.1.2.1. Chief provided some discussion on how the report from the county tracks
response numbers related to Pafford (EMS). The report is new and will be available for review. Chief Qualls will try to send it out to directors when it becomes available to him. He will gladly explain the numbers in more detail if requested. 5.1.3. Acquisition of new Firefighting/Recue Apparatus. The delivery of the apparatus has fallen behind schedule. No absolute date is available currently.
5.1.4. Beaver Shores POA contacted Chief Qualls to determine if there was interest by the
BLFD in using an area behind the fire station on Cypress that could be donated to the department. He informed the POA that the department has no interest in becoming responsible for the land. 5.1.5. Backup Generator Project. No update. 5.2. President’s Report. No Update.
5.3. Treasurer’s Report.
5.3.1. Review Monthly Financial Documents. Laura provided summary of activities. Current assets in bank accounts total $535,231.08. The department remains well within the current budget for CY 2025. 5.3.2. Motion to approve financial documents. Motion made by Larry Smith to approve monthly Balance sheets, P &L, and Budget review documents for September. Motion seconded by Curtis Hathcock. Motion approved by voice vote.
5.4. Secretary’s Report.
5.4.1. Dues Validation report. Secretary Hathcock introduced the report that will be sent into the county no later than December 15, 2025. He emphasized the need for directors and director-elects to review their contact information on the report. The increase in total expected revenue from dues will increase from $524,200 to $536,200.
6. Reports of Committees –
7. New Business.
7.1. Election of the Board of Director Officer positions. Secretary Curtis Hathcock opened the discussion on officer positions for CY2026. He was asking all director-elects be present so a vote could be taken publicly to identify who will be holding each officer position in the department starting January 1, 2026. There was some concern that director-elects could not vote since they have not been “sworn in” for duty. Further research will be done.
8. Old Business.
8.1. New Building for equipment Storage. This project has been tabled for now.
8.2. Calendar year 2026 Budget.
8.2.1. Due to not having 7 directors present for a vote, Laura Tucker gave a brief overview of
some of the changes from the current budget. The budget for CY2026 will be very similar to the budget for CY2025. More discussion on how we move forward in managing the department’s budget will continue. 8.2.2. Voting Rights for business. No discussion was carried out on this matter.
9. Other Business.
9.1. Next Board Meeting scheduled for December 9, 2025, at BLFD Fire Station 1, 16035 Cypress
LN, Rogers AR 72756.
10. Adjournment.
SUBMITTED BY: Curtis Hathcock, Board Secretary
