MINNESOTA AWWA
GOVERNING BOARD MEETING
8:00
a.m. to 12:00 noon, February 1, 2008
Riverwood Conference Center, Otsego,
Minnesota
1. CALL TO ORDER (Peterson)
Called to order at 8:10am.
2. ROLL CALL (Brown)
Position Name Attendance
Confirmed
Executive Board of Directors
Chair-elect.................................................. Bill Spain, SCTC Yes
Chair.......................................................... Karla
Peterson, MDH Yes
Past Chair.................................................. Scott
Anderson, St. Louis Park Yes
Association Director.................................... Glen Gerads, Bloomington Yes
Association Director Elect........................... Dave Schultz, MDH Yes
Secretary/Treasurer..................................... Dave Brown, Bluestone Engr Yes
Assistant Secretary..................................... Stew Thornley, MDH Yes
District Trustees
Northwest................................................... Brian Bergentine, AE2S No
Northeast................................................... vacant
Central....................................................... Lyle Stai, Willmar Yes
Metro......................................................... Carol Blommel Johnson, Apple Valley No
Southwest.................................................. Pete Moulton, St. Peter Yes
Southeast.................................................. Dean
Huschle, Northfield Yes
At-Large..................................................... Pat Shea, St Cloud Yes
Councils and Committees
Administrative & Policy (APC)...................... Bob Cockriel, Bloomington No
Conference (Conf)....................................... Corey Lubovich, Hibbing Yes
Minnesota Associates (MAC)....................... Tony Belden, Engineering America Yes
Public Affairs (PAC).................................... Myron Volker, Owatonna Yes
Training & Education (TEC)......................... Chris Glassing, ACIPCO Yes
Water Utility (WUC)..................................... Bernie Bullert, TKDA Yes
3. CONSENT REPORT
MINUTES APPROVAL:
September
17, 2007 – Governing Board meeting
September
18, 2007 – Governing Board meeting
September
21, 2007 – Governing Board meeting
Corrections:
FINANCIAL REPORT (Dave Brown)
The Section Monthly
Financial Status, as of December 31, 2007, income was $253,685 and expenses
were $253,056 for a net income of $629. Investments are up since the beginning
of the year by $22,394.
ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR’S REPORT (Glen Gerads/Dave Schultz)
The
AWWA Winter Board of Directors Meeting was held January 27, 2008, in Coronado,
California. Additionally, a Board Special Session was held on January 26,
2008, at the same location. This is my last winter board meeting as your
Director and as such In-coming Director Dave Schultz accompanied me as his
initial soirée into Association at the board level.
The following items are
submitted as a matter of general interest:
Election of New
Officers and the Selection of a New Executive Director and Treasurer
The following individuals
will assume office during the 2008 Annual Conference and Exposition in Atlanta,
Georgia in June:
President-elect, Craig Woolard (Director and Vice-president, from
the Alaska Section)
Vice-presidents, Dee Bennett (South Carolina Section), Dean Fritzke
(Pacific Northwest Section), Juan Carlos Perez Bofill (Puerto Rico Section),
Jeffrey Zdrojewski (New York Section).
Director-at-large, Daniel Duchniak (Wisconsin Section)
Director-at-large/service
provider, Joel Neulight
(Pennsylvania Section)
In addition to electing new
officers, this year the Board of Directors selected Gary J. Zimmerman as
the Association’s new Executive Director replacing Jack W. Hoffbuhr who is
retiring after leading AWWA for 12 years. The Board also selected Lee
Roberts as the Association’s next Treasurer replacing John Anderson.
Roberts begins his four-year term in June.
Other Items of Interest
The AWWA executive board has
been reading and reacting to a book entitled the 7 Measures of Success- What
Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don’t. This book is published
by ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership and based on the matched-pair
research methodology adapted from the work of Jim Collins, author of Good to
Great and Built to Last. AWWA’s Executive Committee identified three
primary actions to undertake as a result of the research, namely AWWA will:
·
Develop and
communicate the membership growth strategy;
·
Set performance
protocols for current and future programs, services, and products; and
·
Develop alliance
strategies
On a somewhat related note,
the ad hoc committee on Organizing for the Future is continuing their work as
well. The committee is actually broken down into six subcommittees:
·
Services and
Core Competencies;
·
Succession
Planning;
·
Information
Technology;
·
Consolidation;
·
Section
Relationships; and
·
Volunteerism and
Volunteer Involvement
Each of these subcommittees
is diligently at work, and I suspect over the next year the efforts of these
sub committees will manifest themselves in new initiatives. One outfall
already from the Section Relationships subcommittee is the need to update the
indemnification clause in the by-laws. A corollary to the indemnification
clause rewrite is the need to have written affiliation agreements between the
Association and the Sections. The affiliation agreement framework is
being developed. The plan is to have information on affiliation
agreements to the various Sections within the next few weeks.
The Accreditation Committee
continues to work on the G Series Standards, also know as the Utility
Management Standards. Both the G Series Standards and guidance manuals
are being prepared. Thirteen other AWWA Standards were approved at the
meeting.
The Strategic Planning
Committee is no longer a standing committee of the Board of Directors.
The responsibility of the Strategic Planning Committee has been given to the
Executive Committee with the Chair being the Executive Director and the Vice
Chair being the Treasurer. Though this item passed it was not unanimous.
Treasurer John Anderson
presented AWWA’s Business Plan. The business plan focuses on providing a
roadmap for the next three years. Tied closely to the business plan is
the annual budget. The 2008 Budget was approved with a projected income
of $32,645,900 and projected expenses of $31,709,300 resulting in a net income
of $936,600 and capital expenditures of $905,000. The 2009 dues rates
were also approved and the four-year dues plan was conceptually
approved.
The AWWA Board of Directors
next meeting is in June at the ACE. That will be my final meeting as I
hand the reigns over to Mr. Schultz. Boy how time flies, until then…
Glen M. Gerads
Minnesota Section Director
DISTRICT REPORTS
Northwest
District (Brian Bergantine)
Northwest
District MN AWWA Operator School, November 27-29, 2007, Crookston
According
to Jeanette Boothe, Environmental Health Division of the MDH, there were 48
attendees at the NW District School in Crookston. Eight individuals paid the late sign-up fee
of $125 and 40 individuals pre-paid the $100 fee, for a total fee of $5,000. An additional $127 was collected from the
vendors that displayed for lunches:
Topics
covered at the operator school included:
(1) managing your distribution system; (2) role of the general
contractor on projects; (3) chemical safety; (4) proper testing techniques and
testing of equipment; (5) safety; (6) water tanks including glass-fused to
steel; epoxy coated steel, and concrete tanks; (7) coatings for water towers,
tanks, and standpipes; (8) distribution system modeling; (9) arsenic treatment
at the Sabin WTP; (10) the role of Minnesota Rural Water Association; and (11)
meters. Additionally, topics included
Water for People, Drinking Water Module, and My Kids (Jarrod Christen).
The
business meeting was called to order at 8:34 am by Chair Gary Hultberg on
November 28, 2007. The Secretary’s
report was read from the November 29, 2006 meeting in Detroit Lakes by Brian
Bergantine. Report was approved as read.
Brian
Bergantine, District Trustee reported the following: (1) John Thom, who has provided operator
training and was present, was selected the 2007 Leonard N. Thompson Award; (2)
A new award was handed out this year, Volunteer of the Year. If anyone had a particular candidate in mind,
they were to contact Brian Bergantine; (3) Two Operator Status AWWA memberships
were drawn for this year during the noon lunch.
Anyone who was an operator that was not a member or that would like to
continue their 2008 membership was encouraged to apply. Larry Rudh, Fergus Falls, and Matt Moltzan,
Detroit Lakes were drawn to receive the memberships; (4) The operators in
attendance were questioned as to how many would be interested in going to, or
thought their utilities would let them go to, Duluth for the MN AWWA annual
conference if their expenses were paid.
Several operators felt that they would be able to go if their expenses
were paid for by the Section; (5) It was announced that AWWA will decrease the
number of regions next year and that North Dakota and South Dakota will be now
included in with Region III.
Chad
Troitte, Water for People committee member, reported that donations are going
well and tickets are on sale for $10.
Vendors have donated prizes for the raffle drawing. The NW Section donated three (3) $25 Wal-Mart
Gift Cards as prizes. In all the NW
Section raised $290 for Water for People.
Monte
Ruch, Fisher, was nominated and approved for the position of Vice Chair. Larry Rudh, Fergus Falls, would move up to
Chair.
Fergus
Falls was selected as the site for the NW District three-day school, and it
will likely be held during the first week in December 2008. A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the
business meeting at 8:50 am.
The
guest speaker at the business meeting was Ernie the Angler, who spoke about his
experiences of getting into fishing, the creation of his character, and his
outlook on life. A product show was held
at the motel and was followed up by a hands-on training session at the
Crookston WTP as well as a tour of the facility.
Northeast
District (vacant)
No
report.
Central
District (Lyle Stai)
The annual one-day Central
District School was held on October 17, 2007, at St. John’s University. There
were 86 people in attendance. Some of the topics covered included: distribution
system maintenance, GIS, new plant startups (Lake Lillian and Cosmos), PFC
contamination in the metro area, and well maintenance. The noon buffet meal,
which was served in the Great Hall, was just as delicious as it has been in the
past years. A drawing was held for two complimentary AWWA memberships. Rene
Sol, a utilities lab technician working for the city of St. Cloud, received an
Operations membership. Nicholas Voigt, who is in the water and wastewater
program at St. Cloud Technical College, received a Student membership. Numerous
door prizes were given out at the close of the session.
The
next annual three-day Central District School will be held June 11-13, 2008, at
Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge, located near Deerwood MN. This has been a very
popular setting for the people who have attended this school in the past years.
The Planning Committee will be meeting in the near future to set the agenda for
this school.
Metro
District (Carol Blommel Johnson)
Southwest
District (Pete Moulton)
The Southwest District met
in Truman on October 4th where 40 operators
were in attendance.
Presentations were completed by the following:
* Water for People - Chris Voeltz, Saint Peter
* Southeast Minnesota Flood Update - Mark Sweers, MDH
* Maintenance of Chemical Feed Pumps - Mike Clements,
Hawkins Chemical
* Gopher State One-Call Updates - John Eisle, Minneapolis
* Hydrant and Valve Maintenance - Rick Warner, American Flow
* Backwash Discharge Regulations - Beckie Olson, MPCA
* Water Appropriations and Ethanol Facility Demands – Leo Getsfried,
MnDNR
* Water Updates and Well Management - MDH staff
* Business Meeting and AWWA Update was conducted by Section Trustee
Pete Moulton
* MnWARN Update - Pete Moulton AWWA, Saint Peter
* Chris Voeltz the Minnesota Water for People co-chair was acknowledged
as the “Volunteer of the Year”
for the Minnesota
Section of the AWWA.
In February, the SW
District planning committee will be meeting in
Mankato to make plans for
the one-day school in Redwood Falls on
Wednesday April 2nd,
additional information is available by contacting Mark Sweers,
mark.sweers@health.state.mn.us, 507-389-5561.
Southeast District (Dean Huschle)
The
SE District 2007 fall one-day school was held in the Northfield Community
Resource Center on Friday, October 26th. Topics included: a panel discussion on the
flooding in SE Minnesota, pump house evaluations, wind generators, commercial
drivers licenses and the St. Cloud Technical College water program. 41 people were registered for the school.
A
planning session was held on December 13th in Red Wing to plan the
3-day spring 2008 operator’s school. The
following were present for the meeting:
Paul Halvorson, Myron Volker, Stew Thornley, Corey Aadalen, Wylie
Rindels, Shawn Mulhern, Jeanette Boothe, Steve McCuskey, Mike Glende and Dean
Huschle. The SE District 2008 spring
three-day school will be held at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center in
Rochester from Wednesday, March 12 to Friday, March 14th.
Rick
King from Winona has taken over as the SE District Chair and Mike Glende from
Faribault was elected as SE District Chair-elect at the spring 2007 school in
Rochester.
If
you have any comments or suggestions for upcoming events in the SE District, I
can be reached at dean.huschle@ci.northfield.mn.us.
Dean
Huschle
SE District Trustee
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE REPORTS
Administration
Council (Cockriel)
The
Finance Committee met on January 4, 2008 at the Bloomington Water Treatment
Plant. Barb Woolsey (chair), Doug Rovang, Karl Streed, Jon Eaton, Stew Thornley
and David Brown were present.
The
section financial status and investments as of November 30, 2007 were reviewed.
The Section continues to be slightly ahead of the financial plan. Committee reviewed reasons why some financial
numbers are noticeably different between 2007 and 2006.
Dave
noted that the 2008 budget recommended by the finance committee was slightly
revised by the board at the September 18, 2007 board meeting. Budget revised by
the board added $13,400 in expenses.
This was the net change of $16,000 added to the Publications Committee
expenses to cover the contract costs with Image Communications and the $2,600
deduct for the Water For People Committee which was the result of the
transposition of the income and expenses numbers for that committee in the
previous 2008 budget.
Dave
reported that the 2006 audit is complete.
Dave will email 2006 audit and management letter to committee for their
review.
Finance
committee members serve three year terms and Karl Streed’s term was up as of
this meeting. The committee chair, Barb
Woolsey, will locate a new committee member prior to our next meeting. Barb discussed her plan to retire as the
Section’s bookkeeper within 6 months.
Barb will stay on as chair through the end of 2008.
Jon
showed the committee an investment policy that he is working on. Once this policy is complete he will send it
to the committee for our review and once the policy is final he will send it to
USBank and Wells Fargo to get proposals for managing the Section’s investment
funds. Jon plans to have received quotes and be able to make a recommendation
to the finance committee prior to our next meeting in May 2008. The committee
will then review these proposals and make a recommendation on which firm to use
to manage our investment funds at the board’s May 2008 meeting.
Committee
again reviewed the five year financial plan ideas previously presented. Committee still plans to prepare a formal
written five year financial plan and present the plan to the board when it is
complete. The committee discussed
elements to be considered in the five year plan. There was considerable
discussion about the secretary/treasurer duties and how to distribute the
workload to have less of an impact on the secretary/treasurer. Since there is $9,360 budgeted for
administrative support the committee discussed hiring a contractor using these
funds to provide administrative support and bookkeeping services. Since Barb is retiring as bookkeeper hiring
someone to do bookkeeping and administrative support would be a logical choice.
Doug Rovang will prepare a proposal defining our needs for bookkeeping and
financial administrative support. The
finance committee is recommending that the administrative support work be based
on a contract and not hire an employee at this time.
No
report.
Conference Council
(Corey Lubovich)
No
Report.
Manufacturers Council (Tony Belden)
Minutes
of the December 6th, 2007 Meeting of the Minnesota Associates Council Minnesota
Section, AWWA
The December 6, 2007 MAC meeting was held
in the conference room of Engineering America, in Oakdale, MN. The meeting was called to order by Council
Chair Tony Belden at 9:00 AM.
1. Attendance
A. MAC members present at the meeting: Tony
Belden, Dave Scheerer, Todd Bredesen, Rod Ganther, Scott Bredehoft, and Greg
Johnson.
2. Approval of Minutes
A. David Scheerer, MAC Secretary, presented the
minutes from the August 30, 2007 MAC meeting.
Bredesen made the motion to accept the minutes. Bredehoft seconded the motion. The motion passed.
3. 2008 MAC Roster
A. MAC Chair is reviewing the current
roster. The Chair is required to add one
additional voting member to the MAC, for a total of 10 voting members.
B. MAC members suggested to the Chair that
Associated members that are active in the MN Section should be given
preferential consideration as future MAC members
4. Purpose of MAC
A.
In an effort to better define the purpose of the MAC, MAC members proposed
linking the “Purpose of MAC” statement with the “MAC Annual Items/Tasks” list.
B.
The revised Purpose of MAC statement:
The
Minnesota Associates Council shall be responsible for the following Section
activities and responsibilities:
1.
The MAC shall advise the Board on issues of interest to the Section’s associate
member.
2.
The MAC shall motivate associate membership to participate in Section
activities and governance.
3.
The MAC shall seek opportunities to partner with other entities having related
interest.
4.
The MAC shall be responsible for the following Section Annual Conference
activities:
a.
Vendor exhibit session
b.
Conference social activities and events such golf and fishing tournaments,
evening social activities, and other events as directed by the MAC Chair or
Section Board
5.
The MAC shall keep all Section members informed on national MAC (Manufactures
& Associate Council) activities and issues of importance to the MN Section.
6.
The MAC shall be responsible for soliciting funds for the David B. Morris
Scholarship fund.
7.
The MAC shall be a strong supportive Council for MN Section young
professionals.
5. Committee Reports
A. Social Committee: Chair Todd Bredesen gave
the report.
1. Todd reported that the planned MAC social
event at the 2007 Annual Conference in Duluth was a success.
a. The event raised $300 in donations for WFT
and the Endowment Fund
b. The MAC social cost were within the budget of
$4,000
c. The MAC discussed how future money that we
collect for WFP and EF should be split.
No
action was taken, however, Tony Belden will ask for Section Board guidance on
this issue at the next Board Meeting.
B. Exhibits Committee: Chair Scott Bredehoft
gave the report.
1. The exhibits session at the 2007 Annual
Conference went well. There was very
little negative feedback from exhibitors or attendees.
2. Lunch in the exhibit hall is important to
keep attendees in the exhibit hall.
Other ideas for keeping attendees in the exhibit hall were discussed.
3. Scott Bredehoft will present a plan to the
MAC Chair for improving exhibit hall traffic.
a. MAC members suggested that the plan include a
drawing for one or more major prizes to be given away in the exhibit hall.
b. The prize winners must be present in the
exhibit hall to win.
c. Drawing would be coordinated so that it will
not interfere with technical sessions.
d. If necessary, the MAC Chair will ask the
Board for additional funding to support the effort to get more people into the
exhibit hall and to keep them in the exhibit hall once they are there.
4. Scott will seek feedback from conference
attendees on their perception of the value that the exhibit sessions add to the
Annual Conference.
C. ACE Meal/Social: Tony Belden gave the report.
1. Tony volunteered to again coordinate the MN
Section breakfast at the ACE which will be in Atlanta, GA in 2008.
a. Tony will
try to get a guest speaker for the ‘08 breakfast.
D. Endowment Committee: Chair Rod Ganther
gave the report.
1. Rod reported that Endowment Fund revenue
goals were met in 2007.
2. Rod reported that he will be meeting with
Vern Jacobsen and Bernie Bullert to develop EF ideas.
6. National MAC Meeting Report
A. Ben Mason
was absent, Tony Belden submitted Ben’s written report to the MAC
B. Best value contracting: Tony submitted a written report on “best
value” construction contracts that was prepared by the law firm of Leonard,
Street, and Deinard. Highlights of the
report include:
1. State and local governments in the State of
Minnesota will soon have the option of awarding contracts based on “best value.” They will no longer be limited to awarding a
contract based solely on low bid.
2. The Minnesota Associates Council supports
this concept.
C. Construction Project Bonding: The MAC
discussed some of the unnecessary and expensive bonding requirements that are
starting to appear in construction project payment and performance bond
specifications.
D. As part of our purpose to educate the MN
Section on important associate member issues, the MAC suggests that the
following two topics be added to the 2008 Annual Conference program.
a. “Best Value Bidding”
b. “Construction Project Bonding – which ones
protect the owner and which ones waste the owner’s money.”
7. Young Professionals
1. No Report
8. Next Meeting
A. The next MAC meeting is scheduled for 9:00
AM, Thursday, April 3rd, 2008, at the Engineering America offices, in Oakdale,
MN.
9. New Business
A. Tony Belden reported that the 2008 MN Section
annual conference will be on the same dates as the Wisconsin Section
conference.
B. MAC members asked that Tony Belden express to
the Board why it is important to keep the MN Section annual conference in
Duluth.
10. Adjourn
A. Dave Scheerer made a motion to adjourn the
meeting. Scott Bredehoft seconded the
motion. The meeting was adjourned.
Public Affairs Council (Myron Volker)
Public Information (Terry
Neuman)
No
report.
Publications (Rod Volker)
No
report.
Water for People
(Bernie Bullert)
Water for People
January 2008 Report
Earned Income for 2007:
|
District |
|
|
Central |
$520.00 |
|
Metro |
$711.00 |
|
SE |
$685.00 |
|
SW |
$600.41 |
|
NE |
$227.00 |
|
NW |
$215.00 |
|
|
|
|
Spring Golf Tournament |
$702.00 |
|
Personal Contributions |
$300.00 |
|
|
|
|
Annual Conference |
|
|
Fishing |
$1,450.33 |
|
Ribbons |
$700.00 |
|
MAC Social |
$310.85 |
|
Golf |
$3,670.75 |
|
Donations (SUSA, Vendors) |
$1,400.00 |
|
|
|
|
Section Donation |
$1,500.00 |
|
Total |
$12,917.34 |
In
addition to those funds, $390 was sent in February 2007 for remaining 2006
earnings and $250 was donated to Water For People on behalf of our speaker at
the conference, Jack Hoffbuhr.
Our total contribution for 2007 will be $13,557.34.
2008 Water for People Plan
We
will continue our current fund raising efforts.
Additional
fund raising is planned as follows:
1. MWOA plans more efforts at schools and possibly at
their golf tournament. Butch Hybbert will be leading this.
2. Efforts will be made at MPWA and CEAM. Tom Mathison to take the lead.
3. A shooting contest will be added at the Fall
Conference in Duluth. Randy Poore of Bloomington will lead this.
We
would like to add more committee members.
If you would like to help, please let Bernie know at (651)
292-4621. Someone volunteered at Duluth,
however; the information was misplaced.
We could use help with the Section website and feature Water for People
on the site.
Water
for People recognizes all donor organizations that donate at or above certain
levels. Since we raised $13,557.34 in
2007, the MN Section will be recognized in WFP publications as an organization
that donated between $10,000 and $25,000. The WFP committee invites MN Section
members to consider donating all their personal donations to WFP through the MN
Section instead of mailing directly to WFP.
You can make your checks payable to “Water for People” and send them to
the MN Section address. That way the MN
Section gets “credit” for these donations in our total contribution.
We
will be adding conference calling at future committee meetings.
It
was reported to me by Colleen Stiles, our National Executive Director, that
Owatonna High School raised approximately $15,000 in one week with a fund
raiser for Water for People. They did
this independently without anyone from Minnesota knowing about it. Myron will contact them about any plans for
2008. Our national office will use their
efforts to promote the idea with other schools.
I am trying to find a corporate match for their efforts.
Chris
Voeltz is co-chairing this committee with me in 2008 and will be taking over
more duties as the year goes by which is greatly appreciated.
Scholarship (Jon Eaton)
No
report.
Young Professionals (Todd Butz)
The
Young Professionals Committee (YPC) held the second annual Texas Hold ‘Em Poker
tournament at the Annual Conference in Duluth, with all proceeds ($960) going
to the David B. Morris Endowment fund.
Also at the Annual Conference in October, the YPC held the Second Annual
Fresh Ideas poster competition. Jabin
Joseph and Alireza Ahmadi Motlagh of the University of Minnesota will be
representing the MN AWWA Section at ACE this coming June.
The
YPC held our winter meeting on December 19.
Work group chairs have been appointed for 2008: Membership - Bo Johnston, Social – Lisa Vollbrecht
and Michelle Stockness, Fresh Ideas - Brad Forester, Public Affairs - John
Chlebeck, Poker Tournament - Doug Klamerus.
We
plan to continue the educational opportunities available to the group by
organizing facility tours of local water treatment plants, and facilities
manufacturing products for the water treatment industry.
Training Council
(Chris Glassing)
The 2008 Water Works!
Drinking Water Institute for Educators Drinking Water Institute will be at the Lakeville Water
Treatment Plant from Monday, August 4 to Wednesday, August 6.
* * * * *
The module on drinking water
being developed by Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental
Education (CGEE) is nearing completion.
A group of teachers, graduates of the Drinking Water Institute for
Educators, has developed a teacher’s guide for the module that will be embedded
in the CD-ROM and be available in PDF format.
The module and teacher’s guide
will also be available on the web sites of the Minnesota Department of Health
drinking water program and the Minnesota American Water Works Association.
* * * * *
The following AWWA schools are
scheduled for this spring:
·
Southeast District, March 12-14, Ramada Hotel
and Conference Center, Rochester
·
Southwest District, April 2, Redwood Area
Community Center, Redwood Falls
·
Metro District, April 14-16, Earle Brown
Heritage Center, Brooklyn Center
·
Northeast District, May 14-16, Grand Ely Lodge,
Ely
·
Central District, June 11-13, Ruttger’s Bay Lake
Lodge, Deerwood
The
Management Institute is scheduled for March 10-12, 2008 at the College of
Continuing Education, University of Minnesota, St. Paul Campus. All
utilities are encouraged to send someone. Repeat customers are
welcome. Specific details are available at www.cce.umn.edu/management_institute.
The
small systems committee met in September at the Annual Conference in Duluth,
MN. The committee discussed the
possibility of offering a scholarship to send a small system from each
Minnesota Section District the annual conference. The committee is seeking new members to
provide ideas on how to improve participation in AWWA from small systems across
Minnesota.
Water Utility Council (Bernie Bullert)
Location: Bloomington Water Treatment Plant
Attendance: Bernie Bullert, Glen Gerads, Karla Peterson, Robert
Cockriel, Shahin Rezania, Don Volk, Cliff McLain, Dick Nagy, Pat Shea, Ed
Sorensen, Allen Lamm, Chad Hill, Bob Peplin, Adam Kramer, Kurt Johnson, Doug
Mandy, Carol Blommel Johnson, Laurel Reeves, Craig Johnson, Chris Elvrum
Housekeeping:
Agenda
additions included a one-call report, an update on St. Cloud Vo-Tech, the D.C.
Fly-in, and Vice-Chair.
Minutes:
Approved
with a couple of spelling corrections.
Roster:
Bernie
asked members for their start date on WUC.
Congress EPA Update:
Bob
Peplin had a handout, security and plant discharges were mentioned.
Legislative
Report from LMNC Representative:
Craig
reported on a legislative committee meeting in Apple Valley. The meeting was on
environmental issues, source water protection, endocrine disrupters, and other
issues. A number of legislators were present. Some legislators mentioned the
need for a water availability study. Chris E. reported regional water supply
plan in process. He also reported Met Council has recommended Minneapolis - St.
Paul interconnect to the Governor.
There
was also a committee hearing the day before Apple Valley and there was
discussion on removal of endocrine disruptors at waste water treatment plants.
Craig
also reported the legislators are very interested in a Legislative Water
Commission. The Chamber of Commerce may support it. The Department of
Agriculture is not as sure.
Craig
reported the PCA is considering increasing water permitting fees for ethanol
and mining permits.
The
legislative session will begin February 12, and could go until mid May. There
are some bills to watch left over from 07’.
The
WUC legislative committee should meet after the session to work on Legislative
Water Commission. Members are Bob Cockriel, Bob Peplin, Pat Shea, and Ed
Sorenson with Doug Rovang as an alternate, and, of course, Craig Johnson. I
will appoint Pat Shea as chair of the Committee as he was elected Vice-Chair of
the WUC.
Environmental Quality Board: Ed reported their recent report states water
resources are moving toward sustainability. The data on county water
availability was not used properly in the report.
Chlorine Gas Regulation: Karla’s e-mail was handed out. The health and
Agricultural Departments will meet on their differences regarding respirator
language. (Fire & OSHA rules).
2008 Policy Forum:
Ed
Sorenson is going.
MRWA
Ruth
was absent.
Dept
of Health, Doug Mandy.
Doug
reported the Health Department is sponsoring the St. Paul - Minneapolis
interconnect. There was a tour scheduled December 14 at St. Paul. A contract
consultant is doing security table tops using grant money.
The
Health Department is working on PFC-HRL’s and trying to balance THM-HRL’s and
disinfection needs.
Chris
indicated they are half way through the 2nd phase water study. The groundwater
model is about complete. Stakeholder workshops are coming. Advisory Committee
to meet monthly starting in February.
The
Met Council is considering keeping the Advisory Committee through 2010 to help
implement the report.
There
is a website for water conservation.
MN
DNR, Laurel Reeves
Laurel
reported the DNR has hired new staff and moved some to new positions. The 10
year plans are coming in but comments are slow to get out. Almost all 2006
plans are in and about 1/2 the 2007 plans. There are review charges of $65/hr
for changes in permits over 100MG.
The
Drought Response Plan Committee is set but hasn’t met yet.
Association
Director:
Glen
reported Jack Hoffbuhr is retiring as Executive Director. The election for the
next President is in January.
WARN Update:
This
is moving along well. The utilities are engaged. It is hoped it will all be up
and running in mid 2008. The League of Cities is helping. By-laws and
procedures are being worked on. Shahin mentioned Minneapolis helped Coon Rapids
with their large main break. The WARN database will be at Mn. Rural Water.
Al
Lamm has been to his first meeting.
Minn. One-Call:
Calls
are down because of less construction per Adam.
St. Cloud Vo-Tech:
Bob
reported on legislation at the last state legislative session that reduced the
credits needed to graduate. This is disturbing as the water and wastewater
operators program in keeping up with the technical advances, already was
stretched to keep up with the credits in the program. To reduce those credits
will be hard and will affect the training of future water and wastewater
operators for the industry. Craig will take this up with the League of Cities
and may send out an alert to cities.
Vice Chair:
Pat
Shea expressed an interest. It was moved by Bob Cockriel and seconded by Adam
K. that Pat Shea be Vice-Chair. Unanimous vote.
Washington D.C. Fly-In:
Bernie
will be attending as Chair, paid by AWWA. It was negotiated the new Vice-Chair
attend, paid by the Section. Pat Shea will check with his employer, St. Cloud.
Adam K. volunteered if needed.
Next
Meeting:
Agreed
to be at St. Cloud, downtown City Hall, so conferencing can be set up. It will
be on March 13, 2008 from 9:30-11:30.
Note:
I
will discuss WUC membership with the Section Board including appointment dates
and attendance and we will discuss at the next WUC meeting.
Respectfully
submitted,
Bernie
Bullert, Chair
Motion
by Stai, seconded by Moulton, to approve the consent items except the Director
and Finance reports, approved unanimously.
4. CONSENT DISCUSSION ITEMS
Finance Committee
Brown reported that the 2006 audit was complete. Barb Woolsey will be stepping aside as the
bookkeeper. The Finance Committee is
working on a proposal to hire someone to do this work. Karl Streed’s term on the committee will be
expiring, and Cheryl Meyer will take his place.
Belden asked about some noticeable changes in council expenses between
2006 and 2007. Some of the expenses were
related to the Surface Water Treatment Workshop, which had corresponding
income, as well as the payments for the drinking-water module being developed
by the Hamline University Center for Global Environmental Education.
Director’s Report
Gerads stated that Gary Zimmerman was hired as the association’s
new executive director, succeeding Jack Hoffbuhr, who is retiring this year. Upcoming issues include written affiliation
agreements with sections, which are now being crafted. The strategic planning committee is no longer
a standing committee of the board of directors.
Motion
to approve the consent discussion items was made by Moulton, second by Huschle,
and approved unanimously.
5. UNFINISHED
BUSINESS
There was no unfinished business.
6. NEW
BUSINESS
A. Minnesota AWWA participation in the Minnesota
150 multimedia tool – John Shepard, Hamline University Center for Global
Environmental Education (Thornley/Shepard)
John
Shepard of the Hamline University Center for Global Environmental Education
(CGEE) gave an update on the progress of the Urban Water Cycle drinking-water
module, which is now on the Minnesota Department of Health web site (not yet
final version). It includes a teachers’
guide for activities for students. The
final elements will be added within the next two months. This is incorporated into the Center’s Waters to the Sea program.
Shepard
outlined another initiative of CGEE, Minnesota
150: Learning from Our Land and Waters, an outreach education program in
conjunction with the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission and invited
Minnesota AWWA to become a sponsor. This
would advance the cause of water education and extend the reach of the Urban
Water Cycle, which would be one of the elements of Minnesota 150, to a greater audience.
Minnesota 150 already has grants from
the McKnight Foundation and Marbrook Foundation totaling $85,000 and requests
for grants of $50,000 from the Mardag Foundation and $25,000 from the Minnesota
Department of Health. Shepard requested
a grant of $25,000 from Minnesota AWWA.
The
materials and web-based resources will be available beyond 2008 and could be
used by teachers for another 10 years
Motion to create an ad-hoc committee,
consisting of the Executive Committee along with Training and Education Council
Chair Glassing, will meet to consider the proposal made by Brown, seconded by
Gerads. Motion passed unanimously.
.
B. National Incident Management System (NIMS)
Training (Thornley)
A
protocol is followed for incidents that rise to the level of state or federal
involvement. The U. S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is encouraging state agencies to provide NIMS training. It was determined that this should be
stand-alone training within the districts and not incorporated into the
existing district schools. The NIMS can be
incorporated in the Minnesota Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN)
and Minnesota AWWA desires to be involved in the training and wants to have an
overview on NIMS at the annual conference.
Lubovich will talk to Jay Whitaker, the program chair for the Conference
Committee, about scheduling this session.
The individual districts are also encouraged to have an overview session
at its schools. Thornley will report at
the May board meeting on what the Minnesota Department of Health is doing to
provide this training.
C. Minnesota WARN Update (Moulton)
A
mutual-aid agreement is being developed that will contain guidelines for
responding to emergencies. One city has
signed on to the agreement. Three more
cities are needed to bring this to the state level. Approximately 20 states now have approved
WARN programs. Participation to aid
communities in need is voluntary for cities that sign up. WARN provides for immediate response to
disasters.
Motion
to appoint Lyle Stai as the Minnesota AWWA representative to the WARN committee
made by Schultz, seconded by Moulton.
Motion approved unanimously.
D. Upcoming
Board Training (Peterson)
The
section has budgeted $5,000 for travel to the RMSO and $4,000 to the Summer
Leadership Workshop.
a. Regional Meeting of Section Officers (RMSO)
– May 16-17, 2008
The
RMSO has been moved from the fall to the spring and will be held in Dearborn,
Michigan. Schultz, Volker, Belden, Huschle, Thornley, Gerads, possibly Spain will
attend (Belden will be in the Dearborn area for other business and will not
require travel expenses, other than hotel, from the section). Those not present at the board meeting will
also be invited.
b. Summer
Leadership Workshop – July 24-25, 2008
The
workshop will be at the Brown Palace in Denver.
Spain, Moulton, Glassing, Thornley will attend. Those not present at the board meeting will
also be invited.
c. January Board Meeting location
Motion by Stai, seconded by Moulton, to stay
at Riverwood Conference Center and sign a contract for the next two years. Motion passed unanimously.
E. Advertising
Support for WET Program at St. Cloud Technical College (Spain)
The
Water Environment Technologies program at St. Cloud Technical College is
seeking financial support for marketing in the metro area to bolster attendance
for its classes in Eden Prairie. Past
advertising has been effective.
Motion to contribute $1,500, from the Public
Information Committee, to the WET program made by Moulton, seconded by Shea. Motion approved unanimously (Spain abstaining).
F. MNAWWA
Website updating procedures (Brown)
Brown
noted challenges in getting the web site updated in the past few months. Some things, such as an expense report, that
were on the previous web site are not on the current site. There is also a desire for a members-only
site that can contain items such as letterhead.
Brown would like a policy that stipulates a timeline for website updates. The board directed Gerads to sit in on the
next Information Technology Committee, along with Peterson, Brown, and
Thornley, to discuss the issue.
G. AWWA
Bookstore discount to Utility Members (Brown)
The
section receives a significant discount (40 percent) on publications from the
AWWA bookstore, a larger discount than individual members receive (15 percent). The section will allow large orders for
books, such as those ordered by water programs at schools, to be purchased by
the section and billed back to the individual members or committees.
H. Dates
and locations for 2008-2011 Annual Conference (Lubovich)
The
consensus is to stay in Duluth with a rolling four-year contract. Lubovich will negotiate a contract through
2011, with a right of first refusal in writing, and at the final board meeting
at each conference, the incoming board will decide whether to direct the chair
of the Conference Committee to negotiate an additional year to the end of the
contract.
The
2008 convention will be September 24-26 in the City Side portion. Lubovich will see if the Pioneer South room
is available, to be used for the vendors’ show instead of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Room.
The
2009 convention will be September 30 to October 2 in City Side and South
Pioneer Hall.
The
2010 convention will be September 21 to 24 in Harbor Side and South Pioneer
Hall.
The
2011 convention will be September 27 to 30 in City Side and South Pioneer Hall.
Belden
noted that the Minnesota Associates Council is considering providing a bus to
and from Duluth. Trustees will ask
members in their districts if they would be interested in taking the bus.
Motion to keep the conference in Duluth
through 2011, with a contract that contains a right of first refusal, made by
Spain, seconded by Schultz. Motion
passed unanimously.
I. Keynote
speaker for Minnesota AWWA Conference.
It
was noted that it would cost $7,500 to have Will Steger as the keynote speaker
at the Minnesota AWWA conference.
J. Administrative
costs associated with Minnesota WARN.
It
was proposed that we provide Minnesota WARN with $500 to cover administrative
costs. There is adequate funds in the
Safety committee budget to cover these expenses.
Motion to authorize reimbursement of
administrative costs for Minnesota WARN, not to exceed $500, through the Safety
Committee, made by Volker, seconded by Moulton, unanimously approved.
K. Purchase
of 7 Measures of Success book
Motion to purchase for members of the
Governing Board the book 7 Measures of Success, to be followed by a facilitated discussion after board members read
the board, made by Gerads, seconded by Volker.
Motion passed 16-1 (Anderson voting in the negative).
L. Minnesota
AWWA Attire
Gerads
will get prices on Minnesota AWWA shirts, and the board will consider purchasing
a shirt for each member as was done in 2005. Funds would come from the
merchandise budget.
Other business:
Brown
announced he may be involved in an overseas engineering project that will take
him out of the country for four months beginning in mid-February. He recommended changing the section address
to the Assistant Secretary’s (Stew Thornley) work address. Thornley as Assistant Secretary will cover
most of the Secretary/Treasurer responsibilities while Brown is not
available. But Brown will be accessible
by using his current email address.
Brown will keep the Board aware of any new information regarding this
issue.
The
group, at Gerad’s recommendation, agreed to request Nilaksh Kothari as the
association representative for our fall conference.
7. NEXT
BOARD MEETING
Motion to have
the next board meeting on Friday, May 2, 2008 at Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge near
Deerwood made by Spain, seconded by Lubovich.
Motion passed 16-1 (Moulton voting in the negative).
8. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn by Stai, second by Moulton,
unanimously approved at 12:31 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Stew
Thornley, Assistant Secretary and David Brown, Secretary/Treasurer