GOVERNING BOARD WORKING SESSION

4:00 to 10:00 p.m., January 31, 2008

Riverwood Inn and Conference Center, Otsego, Minnesota

Introduction of Board members

Board member introduced themselves to each other.

Executive Board of Directors

Chair-elect...................................... Bill Spain, SCTC................................................ present

Chair.............................................. Karla Peterson, MDH......................................... present

Past Chair...................................... Scott Anderson, St. Louis Park........................... present

Association Director ....................... Glen Gerads, Bloomington............................... not present

Association Director Elect............... Dave Schultz, MDH............................................ present

Secretary/Treasurer......................... Dave Brown, Bluestone Engr............................... present

Assistant Secretary......................... Stew Thornley, MDH.......................................... present

District Trustees

Northwest....................................... Brian Bergentine, AE2S................................... not present

Northeast....................................... vacant

Central........................................... Lyle Stai, Willmar.............................................. present

Metro............................................. Carol Blommel Johnson, Apple Valley............... not present

Southwest...................................... Pete Moulton, St. Peter...................................... present

Southeast...................................... Dean Huschle, Northfield.................................... present

At-Large......................................... Pat Shea, St Cloud............................................ present

Councils and Committees

Administrative & Policy (APC).......... Bob Cockriel, Bloomington............................... not present

Conference (Conf)........................... David Schultz, MDH........................................... present

Minnesota Associates (MAC)........... Tony Belden, Engineering America...................... present

Public Affairs (PAC)........................ Myron Volker, Owatonna.................................... present

Training & Education (TEC)............. Bill Spain, SCTC................................................ present

Water Utility (WUC)......................... Bernie Bullert, TKDA.......................................... present

Guests: none

Members not attending training evening

a. Brian Bergantine

b. Carol Blommel Johnson

c. Bob Cockriel

d. Glen Gerads

General Training (Brown)

1. Section/Board Structure – Responsibilities of Board Members

Following introductions, Brown gave an overview of the section and board, outlining the structure and responsibilities of board members and the schedule of meetings for the year.

Board members are to provide agenda items, file a report for the consent agenda, and read the consent agenda before the meeting. Council chairs collect reports from their committee chairs for the consent agenda.

2. Robert’s Rules of Order

Board meetings are run according to Robert’s Rules of Order. One person presides, one person records the minutes, and business cannot be transacted unless enough members are present for a quorum.

A consent agenda organizes non-controversial reports, which can be pulled for further discussion during the meeting. A consent agenda saves time by having the information presented in advance.

The meeting minutes are posted to the section’s web site and in the Breeze and Light Breeze, the section publications.

Thornley discussed how to make and amend a motion and led an exercise in which members processed a motion.

eoplelP3. Governing Documents

These are the legal documents that pertain to the operation of the organization. Brown distributed a CD-ROM containing the Minnesota AWWA governing documents.

4. Finance Primer

Income Sources: The conference is a major source of income for the section. Other sources include advertising, Water for People contributions, Young Professionals Committee fundraisers, grant money (such as money from the Minnesota Department of Health for the Drinking Water Institute), workshops (such as the Surface Water Workshop), district schools, and AWWA allotments. The AWWA allotment includes a regular allotment, assessments on section members, and an education fund assessment from registrations from district schools.

Expenses: Councils/committees, conference expenses, publishing of the Breeze, contributions for Water for People, technical and educational expenses. The districts have expenses for their schools, and the section has expenses, such as administrative support, board meetings and training, and expenses for the section office.

Expense Reports: This provides legal documentation of the expenses and is used to allocate the expenses to the appropriate committee or budgeted account. The expense report must include receipts for expenses over a certain amount and include the meeting/function/place. The latter is needed to determine the proper account to allocate the expense to. The report should explain unusual expenses and where to send the reimbursement check as well as a signature. A question was raised about what expenses are reimbursable, such as mileage to a section meeting. This is reimbursable if submitted if the member’s employer does not cover the expense.

The monthly financial report will contain a balance sheet and a profit-and-loss statement. The balance sheet shows assets, including our checking and investment accounts, and other assets, such as undeposited funds. The total assets must equal liabilities and equity. The profit-and-loss statement covers a certain period. Ours usually covers the previous and current calendar years. Next to the previous and current years is a column with the budgeted among along with a column showing the percent of the budget (vis a vis the current year).

The second sheet of the monthly financial report is the budget report. It contains the budget submitted by each council and committee. The bottom of the page shows the actual income and expenses, the budgeted income and expenses, and the percent of actual vs. budget. It also shows the target reserve, which is to be 50 percent of budgeted expenses, and the target operating fund, which is to be 10 percent of budgeted expenses. Below this is the current investment value. If the general reserve is above the target reserve, the excess will be put into the endowment fund, which has a goal of $180,000 to fund scholarships.

The reserve fund, which is held in mutual funds, allows us to have a cushion to deal with unforeseen events. The operating fund, which is kept in a checking account, allows for liquidity to cover ongoing expenses.

The financial report contains a page showing our five-year investment history and the status of various funds. We are approaching our goal of the value of the endowment fund, and the board will at some point have to discuss how to deal with excesses in target reserves.

5. Council Review

Water Utility Council: Bullert talked about the re-establishment of the Legislative Water Commission, a mix of state senators and representatives, which was disbanded several years ago. The Water Utility Council favors its re-establishment, will monitor this legislative session, and will then seek sponsors for legislation to re-establish. Bullert believes it may take a couple of years. Bullert also discussed changing the mix of members between utilities and vendors, possibly getting more of a balance by adding more utilities and having fewer vendors. These issues will be addressed by the board in its meeting the following day.

Training Council: Information on the 2008 Drinking Water Institute and the Urban Water Cycle drinking-water module was distributed. The Management Institute is in March, and registration information was just sent out. Minnesota AWWA gives three scholarships to the Institute, and the Suburban Utility Superintendents Association also grants scholarships. Glassing met with the Small Systems Committee, and said that the co-chairs are not sure of the direction desired by the board for their group. There was discussion among the board regarding the future of the Small Systems Committee. It was noted that there is such a committee at the association level and this could serve as a guide to our committee. A suggestion was made that the committee spearhead competition for pipe tapping and meters as a means of stimulating activity among small systems.

Conference: Lubovich met with Dave Schultz, the previous council chair, and has been in contact with the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC) regarding future conferences in Duluth. In the process, it was revealed that we don’t have space reserved at the DECC for 2009 for the dates we want (September 23-25), contrary to what we had thought. The DECC said we had not signed a confirmation for 2009, that we had been locked in only through 2008. If we reserve the DECC for 2009, we will have to hold the conference on a different week (September 30-October 2). We will also have to make decisions now regarding conferences for several years in advance if we want to stay in the DECC. Lubovich said he has received requests from other facilities around the state to consider them for our conference. Belden pointed out that members of the Minnesota Associates Council are strongly in favor of staying in Duluth. Schultz noted that he had never insisted upon a written contract for 2009 although he said there was an understanding that we would have first right of refusal on the dates. He thinks it would be a good idea to keep options open for going to other sites as a means of keeping the DECC competitive with its offers to us. Lubovich says if we decide to stay in Duluth, we have a rolling four-year contract with a right of first refusal written into the contract. For 2010, September 21-24 is available for the Harbor Side for classes and the South Pioneer Hall for the vendor show. The arena would be open for activities, as well, although the ice would not yet be in. For 2011, September 27-30 is available for the City Side for classes and the South Pioneer Hall for the vendors. There appeared to be consensus to stay in Duluth although it will require a formal vote by the board the following day to affirm the decision.

Minnesota Associates (MAC): Belden says they will seek input from the board on the definition of the MAC and its objectives as well as guidance from the board on how to distribute the funds it raises at the conference. There was also a discussion on raffle prizes and employers’ policies regarding whether employees could accept gifts or prizes.

Public Affairs: Volker reported that students from Owatonna High School will be at the Southeast District School in Rochester to report on how they raised $15,000 with a fundraiser for Water for People. Other outlets for the students’ story were discussed, including a press release. The Public Information Committee is considering changing the name of its Minnesota Monthly e-mail to eBreeze. The Young Professionals held its winter meeting December 19. The Breeze is out under its new publications chair, Rod Volker.

6. District Review

Central – Stai said they have their planning meeting scheduled for the Central District School, which will be at Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge again in 2008 (and is scheduled to be there through 2010). Stai discussed possible sites in the Central District for the spring board meeting.

Southwest – Moulton said they had a good turnout for their school last fall in Truman. A highlight was a speaker from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency about backwash discharge regulations. A planning meeting is coming up for the spring school in Redwood Falls.

Southeast – More than 40 people attended their fall school in Northfield, and a planning session has been held for the spring school in Rochester. The school will include a round-table discussion on last year’s floods in southeast Minnesota.