Meeting Minutes
April 2, 2003
11:30am-1:00pm
Thunderbird Hotel - Bloomington, MN
Members Present:
Yasser Abouaish
Jon Eaton
Ray Hozalski
Doug Lubben
Steve Nelson
Karla Peterson
Lih-in Rezania
Annika Van Gelder
Brian Bergantine (North Dakota AWWA Section)
Introductions
Committee members introduced themselves.
Old Business
2003-2004 Plan and Budget
It is anticipated that budgets for future workshops will at least break even, and if there is a surplus, it will go back to the section. The conference staff of AWWA may be interested in participating in future regional workshops, as it is trying to reduce the cost of travel associated with national conferences for individual members.
New Business
North Dakota Section Update
Brian Bergantine, ND Section Research Committee Co-Chair, reviewed some of the activities being sponsored by their research committee, including a pay rate study and the participation by upperclass students in their student chapter.
Database of Utility Information
The committee expressed interest in a database of utilities, including system descriptions, contacts, and willingness to participate in research. Lih-in Rezania and Karla Peterson volunteered to look into possible access into the MDH public water supply database for system descriptions and contacts. Additional work (possibly with a survey sent to utilities) would be needed to identify willingness to participate and interest in particular research topics.
2004 Surface Water Treatment Workshop
The planning committee for the workshop will meet at the Moorhead Water Treatment Plant in May 2003. Additional details will be sent to those interested in attending.
2004 Radionuclides Workshop
The planning committee for the workshop intends to meet in LaCrosse, WI, in May 2003. Additional information will be sent to those who would like to attend the planning meeting.
2005 Membrane Workshop
There are several Minnesota utilities that have begun using or are considering the use of membrane filtration. A proposed workshop would incorporate operator training on membrane filtration and current issues associated with membrane filtration.
Utilitzation of Website
Ray Hozalski and Karla Peterson volunteered to help develop a research committee page, which would be included as part of the Minnesota Section web site. Jon Eaton will add a basic page which will include links to other sites, ideas for future research, and current and completed research. If the committee is interested in a more complex page, we may want to ask for assistance from the webmaster at AWWA.
Annual Section Conference
Doug Lubben and Ray Hozalski volunteered to organize a concurrent session (possibly Thursday morning) during the annual conference which would be focused on a variety of research topics. Possible speakers include: Edwards on arsenic, Chang on membrane filtration, Hozalski on cryptosporidium, with a fourth speaker and topic to be decided later. The committee is willing to cover travel costs and an honorarium for the keynote speaker. The committee would also like to maintain a concurrent session on research each year. The research committee will contact John Crooks on the Conference Committee to help promote the poster session at the annual conference. Since the annual conference is located near both UND and NDSU, the committee would like to promote the poster session at the U of MN, UND, and NDSU.
AWWARF Committees
The Research Committee would like have more national representation on AWWARF PAC and RAC committees when it comes to the allocation of funds for research needs (particularly within the Midwest). In some cases, this would involve letters of endorsement from other sections.
Next Meeting and Agenda
The summer committee meeting will be held Thursday, June 12, from 1pm to 2:30pm at Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge near Deerwood. Agenda items include discussion of the upcoming workshops, utilization of the website, participation in the annual conference and poster presentations, research needs, and participation on AWWARF committees.