NW District (Hall)
The Fergus Falls school was held Dec 3-5, 2002. Fifty-six registrants generated a net profit of $92. The next school will be December 2-4, 2003 in Crookston. A planning meeting has been set for Wednesday June 4th, 2003.NE District (Krause) (written report provided)
The NE district held the planning meeting last week for their April 9-11,2003 school at the Holiday Inn in International Falls.

Central District (Spain)
The fall St Johns one-day school was a success. One hundred four registrants (a new record) were in attendance. A planning meeting will be held on the first Friday in March for the June 11-13 school at Rutgers.

Metro District (Tracy) (written report provided)
The Metro Section held their annual business meeting at Braemar Golf Course Clubhouse on Wednesday January 29, 2003. Elections will be held for Metro District Vice- Chair. Mike Bramwell, Utility Superintendent City of Champlin, was elected to the position. The Metro District School is scheduled for April 1-3, 2003 at the Thunderbird in Bloomington. Thornley stated a security/vulnerability session will be added to this year's program.

SW District (Hybbert) (written report provided)
Southwest District will be hosting a one-day school at the Fairmont VFW on April 24. A planning meeting was held on January 22 to set up the agenda. The next school will be in Marshall, Mn in October of this year.

SE District (Volker)
The last school was held on October 31 in Austin. Attendance was low because of local Rural Water training. The next school will be March 26-28 in Rochester at the Best Western Apache. A top-ops competition is scheduled during the vendor show on Thursday.

Administration Council (Abouaish)
Due to an urgent meeting Abouaish could not attend the Board meeting. He reviewed the financial report, with Karl Streed, after the finance committee met in Bloomington. Abouaish stated John Thom will cover Chair-elect and Trustee-at-large nominations. Abouaish will have Gerads distributed copies of the U of M Management Institute brochure.

A. Finance (Mahon) - See above financial report

B. Fuller Award (Mandy) - no report

C. Thompson Award (Bullert) - no report

D. Meritorious Service (Nagy) - no report

E. Nominating Director (Bullert) - no report required

F. Nominating Chair-Elect and Trustee-At-Large (Thom) - no report

Gerads mentioned other possible awards (like the Water For People, Small Systems, and Source Water Protection awards) that Minnesota section members may be eligible for. Gerads will contact and discuss these and other awards with Abouaish.

Conference Council (Schneider) (written report provided)
The Conference Council and associated Committees are working diligently to arrange a successful 2003 AWWA Minnesota Section Conference in Moorhead Minnesota. The Committees are chaired as follows:

Conference Program Committee—John Crooks
Conference Local Arrangements—Troy Hall
Spouses Program—Troy Hall
ACE Reception—Troy Hall
House Committee—Jim Sadler

The 2003 Conference Program Committee has been formed and has begun preliminary work on the development of this year's conference. We are confident with the right blend of topics, speakers, and a well-planned trade show that attendance levels will be great. Also by gearing the program toward the smaller systems in the northern half of the state the program can attract operators and water professionals who normally do not attend the Conference. This is an opportunity to appeal to the entire state of Minnesota and possibly separate the "the metro area and the rest of the state" feeling that exists. As past Chair of the Education Committee with the Illinois AWWA we worked to address this perception with the Chicago area and the rest of the State of Illinois. The basic format of the last years Conference will be the building block of this year's program.

A dedicated Committee of 8 water professionals is meeting next month to formalize final structure of each session of the Program. The Computer Program will continue to be a major portion of the Thursday sessions. Other sessions will include operations, distribution issues, as well as case studies and new technologies. Once again the Conference Program Committee is looking forward to a very successful 2003 Annual Conference in Moorhead in October.

Schneider has been going back and forth with the Courtyard by Marriott regarding the conference contract. The facility is set to open on Monday February 2, 2003. Schneider requested Board approval of the draft contract.

A motion to accept the contract language was made by Rovang, second by Hall, and approved unanimously.

The hotel does not have enough room for all the conference attendees. There are three overflow hotels are all within a mile of the Courtyard by Marriott.

Schneider described the facility, how it would be setup for various parts of the conference, and specifically how it would be set up for the exhibitor show. Premium spaces, for sponsors and the like, will be in the front of the ballroom next to buffet area. Schneider will provide a draft exhibitor prospectus for the MAC meeting on April 25th. MAC will review the document and offer comments and/or suggestions shortly after the meeting. Board members were offered a short tour of the facilities following the Board meeting.

The pre-conference board meeting will be on Monday 9/30 at 7pm.

Schneider proposed a registration fee of $160 for a full registration (up $10 from last year). Schneider also proposed an increase in the late registration to $180. The fees include the proposed assessment to the Drinking Water Institute that was discussed at the Friday October 2002 Board meeting. If the assessment is not approved by the general membership in October, the funds would go into the general fund. Gerads suggested a thorough review of the registration fees with the goal being a healthier profit than was budgeted.

Hall reported that a number of NW District member spouses and Moorhead employee are working together to assemble a guest program for the conference. Hall is also looking for entertainment. Hall reported that Moorhead is willing to assist with the conference registration.

Manufacturers / Associates Council (Mason) (written report provided)
The MAC met on December 20, 2002.Ben Mason wrote that the National AWWA has recently separated from EU and that ENI has acquired all of AWWA's interest in EU. Until it is fully understood what this separation means to the Minnesota Section and it's members, the MAC will take no position on EU or ENI. The MAC encourages Minnesota Section commercial members to continue to support our local Section.

A. Social (Belden)
Norton reported on section plans for the 2003 AWWA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA. The MAC Social Committee and Conference ACE Committee will have a cocktail/social hour from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Monday June 16th at the Anaheim White House. The cost should be $10.00 per ticket. A ticket will include admission, hors d'oeuvres, and 1 drink ticket (extra drinks can be purchased at a cash bar). The ticket price may not cover the cost of the activity, and if it does not, the Board should be prepared to pay the cost of the difference from the general fund.

Norton stated Belden will coordinate with Hall to find a suitable golf course for the Fall Conference fundraiser. Belden is also working on a theme evening for the conference Wednesday evening. The evening will have a Mexican theme including a mariachi band.

Norton report that MAC is discussing other possible ways to raise money for the Endowment Fund and for other MAC activities. The council is thinking of a challenge fundraiser. More research and ideas will be explored.

B. Exhibits (Lapointe)
The exhibitors and the Exhibits Committee want to keep emphasizing the following to the Section Board:

Good exhibit site selection is critical to a successful product show.

Keep lunch and other activities in the exhibit hall.

Do not decrease booth size or table size.

Keep the booth with back curtain and side curtain format.

Be sure exhibit hours are clearly stated and that they are understood by Conference attendees and exhibitors.

Be sure that the Section Board is aware of the positive cash flow and the income that exhibitor's bring to the Section.

Be sure that the Section Board is aware that MAC members paid for the yellow MAC T-shirts and the MAC signs and that these items were not paid for from the Section general funds.The Exhibit Committee requested all exhibitors and sponsors be mentioned/thanked in the post-conference Breeze. The Board thought that was a good idea.

C. Endowment (Jacobsen)
Norton expressed the MAC committees concern that the endowment fund can not support the current scholarships and grants. Eaton stated the Board understands the endowment fund cannot support the current expenses. The board is paying endowment expenses out of the general fund until a proper funding level is reached, whenever that may be.

Public Affairs Council (Lange-Haider) (written report provided)

A. Gimmicks and Gadgets (Action Now)
Nothing to report.

B. Membership
The membership committee met on Wednesday January 15 in Litchfield.

• John Lapointe is assisting Dale Trantor with chair duties as he works through some personal issues.
  
• Reviewed a list of dropped members and made assignments to contact them and recruit them back into the section.
• Reviewed utility memberships. Will be contacting them for survey to determine what is going good and what may not be. Also will be contacting larger utilities for new utility members.
• Next meeting is March 5th at RWA meeting in St Cloud. Plan to develop a message on why to become a member of MN section AWWA.
• Plans being made for booth attendance and membership promotion at each school/conference. Will be requesting presentation time at each event to promote membership.
• New contest for membership to start soon with competition ending in July 2004 and winners announced at the 2004 annual section conference.
• Will be working with National AWWA to access their membership database using AWWA provided software.
• Membership is still strong. The total number of Minnesota section members stands at 986. We have easily surpassed membership with our rival state of Wisconsin. The membership committee needs to use the National AWWA membership lists to identify new and dropped members. The information should be given to the district trustees as soon as possible so contact can be made.

C.Public Information
The Public Information committee met on December 4th.The booth for the 2003 state fair has been confirmed. Meg Desmond has volunteered to become the State Fair event coordinator, provided that a new chair can be found for the PI committee. Helga Kessler indicated that she might be interested in becoming the PI committee chair. The committee requested approval from the board to develop an email database to more quickly distribute timely information to members. It was recognized that information disseminated may require board or executive committee approval and that the tool should not be used as an annoyance to membership by overuse. Todd Bredesen volunteered to lead this effort. This topic also was discussed as part of the Technology task force, has some overlap with the membership committee, and should be coordinated with these groups. Gerads wants to hold this issue until the technology task force report is released.It was requested by Karla Peterson that the section sponsor and donate $300 for an environmental science award for the 2003 MEESE Twin Cities Regional Science Fair. Glen Gerads granted preliminary approval in early December. The PI committee has been asked to assist Water for People with a 5K race/fundraiser planned for the summer.

D. Publications
The directory issue is being printed. Forty-five advertisers were in this issue. The mailing should be complete by 2/14/03. The next light breeze will be out in March.

E. Scholarship
No report from Chair Jerry Smith, Department of Health.

F. Water for People
No report by Scott Anderson.

Small Systems Council (Christianson)
The council is working on a list of vendors, references, and contacts that could be used by small systems for specific problems.The council is still struggling with what specific duties it should be performing and who should be mentors. Christianson proposed that the District Trustee or a designee be the small system contact for the mentoring program. A mailing in the district with the trustee's name would be performed annually. The three-year term of the trustee would bring some continuity to the service and probably a better response.It was suggested again that retired AWWA members be mentors, giving them a free membership if they perform a minimum amount of service. District trustees should also ask if any members want to be mentors at their district business meetings.The vice-chair will meet with the trustees to develop a job description or list of duties including how the mentorship program fits into their duties. The group will report back at the next board meeting in May.

Training Council (Thornley)

A. Education (George)
Mike George is the new chair.The committee will be adding a ½ day vulnerability assessment workshop to the upcoming schools. The workshops will be directed to cities under a population of 10,000 (but applicable to larger systems) and discuss the EPA law, have case studies, discuss security upgrades, and emergency response. MDH and the APWA will offer workshops directed at cities with populations from 10,000 to 50,000.Another Drinking Water Institute will be held this year in Rochester, June 25-27. St Cloud is the next institute location.The DNR did not respond to John Thom's letter in regards to a possible funding source for the institutes. The Minnesota Lottery money is given out through the LCMR grants. Thornley determined these grants are very difficult to obtain.

B. Management (Abouaish)
The next school is March 17-20 at the University of Minnesota, Earl Brown Center on the St Paul Campus. The institute has been working with other groups (wastewater association, APWA, etc) to keep attendance high. Tracy suggested that other groups (Storm water, Streets, Parks, Engineers, etc) be solicited to attend the class. Gerads suggested that members announce the class at other events.Tracy suggested an advance management class. Gerads stated that the management committee has been working on that idea for a few years but is concerned that an advanced class will detract from the current class. Gerads will discuss it further with Abouaish.

C. Safety (Anderl)
Chair Bill Anderl is working on a safety survey and handbook.

D. Research (Peterson)
The surface water workshop will be given again this fall in southwestern Minnesota.

Water Utility Council (Cockriel)
Rovang presented the report for Cockriel.Cockriel continues to work on correcting the council membership issues. As noted, there are several unfilled positions. To solve this problem Cockriel suggests:

• The Board reappoint all current members who are willing to continue to serve on the WUC for a period of at least one year.
• The Board appoint qualified section members to fill the vacant positions.
• The Section solicit qualified volunteers to replace positions that will become vacant
• The Board begin to replace current membership with new volunteers as the bylaws state, starting with the most tenured
• The Chair and Chair-elect begin considering who will follow the current WUC chairThere was some question if the Board approves the Chairs recommendation of Council members. The bylaws state "…members of the Council shall be appointed by the Section Chair, with concurrence of the Governing Board."Rovang motioned to accept the recommendation for the Board to reappoint all current members who are willing to continue to serve on the WUC for a period of at least one year. The motion was second by Volker, and approved unanimously. The Chair with the help of other Board members will address the remaining four items.The MDH State Agency Representative, Gary Englund, will be retiring in June of 2003. Gary has indicated that Doug Mandy will replace him on the WUC as acting State Agency Representative.

  A. Energy (Wagner)
  No report

  B. Legislative Affairs
  Craig Johnson, League of Minnesota Cities, is our new representative. Bullert asked if there was committee chair because new issues are coming up in the State Legislature.A motion to accept the all council/committee reports was made by Rovang, second by Spain, and approved unanimously.

A. 2002 Niagara-On-The-Lake Regional Officers Meeting (Gerads)
Attended by Bullert, Gerads, Abouaish, Thom, Tracy. Gerads noted the meeting was very informative.The Board discussed general guidelines of who and how many members could attend the meeting. It was agreed that council chairs, trustees, and executive board members are the only officers eligible to attend the meeting and receive section reimbursement. Others are welcome to attend if they or their employers pay. The order of eligibility will be new Board members that have not gone, old Board members that have not gone, then old Board members that have gone. The number of eligible positions will depend on the expected costs and the budgeted amount.

B. 2003 Duluth, Mn Regional Officers Meeting (Anderson, Krause, Schneider)
The Board encourages Minnesota section officers attend the meeting. The meeting is scheduled for October 24th and 25th, 2003. The section will sponsor a dinner and entertainment on Friday evening. Krause and Anderson are pursuing a dinner train ride for the event.

C. Technology Task Force (Gerads)
The task force has met and should have a report for the May meeting.

D. Joint WEF/MnAWWA Management Conference (Gerads)
Gerads has been working with Cammie Johnson, WEF, to plan a co-sponsored management conference. The one-day conference would focus on management issues and follow the WEF environment conference. Pat Oats, WEF, will work with Scott Anderson to coordinate the details/agenda. The conference will be in the November time frame.

A. Trustee-At-Large (Thom)
Thom should present/provide nominees for the chair-elect and trustee-at-large positions at the next Board meeting.

B. Free ACE Conference Registration for Secretary/Treasurer (Eaton)
Eaton requested Board approval for the secretary/treasurer to use the free conference registration provided by AWWA national.A motion to accept the request was made by Hall, second by Volker, and approved unanimously.

C. Young Professionals Chapter (Hall)
Karla Peterson expressed an interest to Hall about starting a Young Professionals Chapter (professionals under the age of 36 years). Hall presented the idea to the Board, which though it was a good idea. Hall will follow up and make a formal presentation at the May Board meeting.

D. Strategic Plan Update (Gerads)
Gerads inquired about updating our strategic plan. National is willing to assist. The last update was approved in 1999 and the previous in 1993. Bullert will check with the national representative about scheduling a meeting. The Board agreed to start preliminary work this summer (sometime in June, July, or August). Eaton will email the current governing documents to all Board members.

E. 2004 Fall Conference (Volker)
Volker is looking at Owatonna as the host of the 2004 Fall Conference. The Board discussed conference registration fees, facility size requirements, and historical attendance. Schneider will look at historic conference costs to better formulate registration fees.