GOVERNING BOARD MEETING
Cragun's Resort
Brainerd, Minnesota
May 17, 2002

 

1. Acting Chair John Thom called the meeting to order at 8:37 a.m.

2. Present: John Thom, Ben Mason, Myron Volker, Allen Lamm, Scott Anderson, Don Christianson, David Schultz, Jon Eaton, Bert Tracy, Glen Gerads, Bud Krause, Doug Rovang, Stew Thornley, Bernie Bullert, Kelly Lange-Haider. Staff present was Scott Franzmeier.

Absent: Yasser Abouaish, John Lapointe, Bob Cockriel, Larry Grafenstein, Troy Hall, Bill Spain.

3. Minutes Approval: Motion by Krause to approve the minutes of the January 4 Board meeting with changes. Second by Lamm. Passed unanimously.

4. Financial Report: Franzmeier and Eaton reported on the following:
- Provided financial statements for the association through April, 2002.
- Investment Update. Eaton reported the Finance Committee had met with Wells Fargo and made two minor changes. Eaton also provided the Board with a brief history of the investments for the Association.
- Audit is scheduled for May 22-23 by Kern, DeWenter, Viere, Ltd.

After some discussion on several finance related questions, a motion by Schultz to approve the finance report. Tracy seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

5. Association Director Reports: Allen Lamm provided a full written report with the following items:
- Last meeting for Lamm as Director of the MN Section and expressed his appreciation.
- The National ACE Conference budget is close to being on target.
- National AWWA continues to monitor the AWWA budget.
- Encouraged the Board to consider ways to continue bringing new people into leadership positions.
- Provided a brief report on the status of Efficient Utilities. The Board discussed this issue at length.

Bernie Bullert reported on the following:
- Preparing to begin term.
- No formal report.

Motion by Gerads to approve the Association Director Reports. Second by Eaton. Passed unanimously.

6. District Reports

A. Northwest District. Franzmeier reported on behalf of Hall that a planning meeting was held Thursday, May 16 in Fergus Falls. The three day school is scheduled for December 3-5, 2002.

B. Northeast District. Krause reported NE school was May 8-10, with 40 people. Evaluations were very positive. Next school is scheduled for April 9-11, 2003 in International Falls. New Chair is Cory Lubovich.

C. Central District. Schultz reported the Central District School will be held at Ruttgers June 12-14.

D. Metro District. Tracy reported the Metro School was held in April and said the evaluations were very positive. The next school is scheduled for April 1-3, 2003 in Bloomington.

E. Southwest District. Lamm reported there had been a one day school in North Mankato.

F. Southeast District. Volker provided a written report. The three day school was held March 27-29 in Rochester and had 110 attendees. The school was very successful and continues to grow. Volker asked the Board to consider asking DNR for funds from the permit fees to be used for the Drinking Water Institute.

Lamm motioned to have the Chair draft a letter to the DNR inquiring whether funds from permit fees to be used for Drinking Water Institute. Seconded by Volker. After some discussion about which Section committee would be responsible, the motion carried unanimously.

Motion by Tracy to approve the District Reports. Second by Anderson. Passed unanimously.

Gerads commented that Districts need to continue to work hard at making a profit on their operator schools. Mason commented that the MAC had addressed the issue regarding charging vendors a fee at District Schools and was concerned that the issue be handling properly. Thornley provided a brief report on how the Districts felt about charging a few fee or even a different fee between members and non-members.

Motion by Tracy to approve the District Reports. Seconded by Anderson. Passed unanimously.

7. Council/Committee Reports

A. Administrative Council - No written report provided.

a. Finance. No additional report.

b. Fuller Award. Award selection on schedule.

c. Thompson Award. Award selection on schedule.

d. Meritorious Service. Award selection in process. Attempting to determine if an award will be presented in 2003.

e. Nominating (Director). No report.

f. Nominating (Chair-Elect). Schultz reported that Myron Volker indicated interest in running for Chair-elect. Schultz was working on soliciting other candidates.

B. Public Affairs Council - Written report provided.

a. Public Information. Met May 15 to discuss the State Fair, the Breeze, and upcoming conference activities. Other details were provided in the written report.

b. Publications. Full written report provided. Detailed information provided in the report

c. Water for People. Anderson provided a brief report on the Water for People activities for the last several months. Also discussed how to involve Water for People in the 2003 conference.

d. Membership. Chair position for the Membership Committee is open, but Jay Whitaker continues to serve as Chair for the time being. Other details provided in the written report.

e. Scholarship. Jerry Smith is interested in continuing as Chair of the committee. Other details were provided in the written report.

f. Gimmicks and Gadgets (Action Now). Plans are to have a display at the 2003 conference. Pete Moulton will put an article in the next Light Breeze asking for participants.

The Board discussed at length how to get more young professionals involved in the Association activities and how to change the perception that the Association is not all inclusive and only for supervisors. Anyone can join!

C. Small Systems Council

a. Christianson reported that the he had held an informal meeting in February to begin planning how to move forward with the Ambassador and Mentor Programs. One of the issues may be how to get the correct information to the correct people, especially in Greater Minnesota. The Board also discussed if the program was accomplishing enough to continue the program. After considerable discussion, Chirstianson agreed to meet with the District Trustees to determine a recommendation on the Mentor Program for the Board in October.

A suggestion was made to make the district trustees part of the ambassador (introduction to AWWA) and mentorship committee (help others). The localized trustee should connect better with a small system than a remote member (and possibly from a large system). The small systems council will meet with the district trustees and make a recommendation about the mentorship programs

A suggestion was made to combine the ambassador program with membership but keep a separate financial line item (membership-ambassador) and the mentorship program would be a committee under the council. This will be addressed at the next budget meeting.

D. Training Council - Full written report provided.

a. Education. Programs are moving forward on schedule. Drinking Water Institute is scheduled for June24-26, 2002 in New Ulm. The Drinking Water Institute will receive the AWWA Education Award at the ACE in June in New Orleans. Additional details provided in the written report.

b. Management Institute. Had at least 30 participants and was again very successful. Additional details provided in the written report.

c. Safety. Bill Anderl is working to increase the Safety Committee activities. Additional details provided in the written report.

d. Research. Research Committee is working on a two-day Surface Water Treatment Workshop, jointly sponsored by the ND and MN Sections. The meeting will be held May 21-22 in Fargo, North Dakota.

The Board discussed at length the issue of whether or not the Section should be involved in national training programs regarding safety. Also, how the Section should continue providing training opportunities in the State on security issues.

E. Manufacturer's Council - Written report provided by Mason.

Mason provided the Board specific recommended guidelines, policies & procedures for the MAC. Mason reviewed the specific information with the Board and formally requested approval of the MAC governing documents as presented. Lamm motioned to accept the governing documents as presented by the Minnesota MAC, approve dissolution of the commercial committee, and those revisions to the endowment committee duties would be reviewed and acted on at the October meeting. Seconded by Eaton. Motion was held momentarily to discuss the dissolution of the Commercial Committee and where the proper location of the Endowment Committee for purposes of ensuring proper endowment fund management. After some discussion, the Board reached consensus that the investment portion of the endowment fund should remain with the Finance Committee and the logistical, solicitation and distribution activities should be handle by the MAC. Following discussion, the motion was renewed and discussed at length. Motion carried unanimously.

Mason also briefly reported on the activities of the Social and Exhibit Committees related to the 2002 conference. Mason also discussed the status of the Spring Golf Outing and felt there were other opportunities for raising funds at the conference golf tournament.

Efficient Utilities continues to be a major concern for the MAC. Mason provided the Board with an official position statement from MAC on the issue of Efficient Utilities and asked that the Board consider formal action on the statement. Lamm motioned that the Board accept the position statement as presented. Seconded by Schultz. Motion carried unanimously. Lamm motioned that the Chair of the Section, with a cover letter from the Section explaining the position statement is from the MAC, forward the statement to the Executive Director of AWWA in Denver. Seconded by Tracy. After some discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

F. Water Utility Council - No written report provided.

a. Energy. No report.

b. Legislative Affairs. Next meeting of the WUC is scheduled for June 6 in Bloomington. No legislative activity directly affecting AWWA in negative way. Legislative session will be over Monday, May 20.

G. Conference Council

a. Conference Program. The Board was provided a program schedule as of the most recent planning meeting. Franzmeier and Schultz presented a budget for the conference. The Board discussed the status of the Top Ops Program and how to proceed. David Schultz agreed to take the lead on the development of the program. The Board also discussed the proposed budget. The Board discussed whether or not to have the Tuesday evening dinner in the contract. After some discussion, the Board requested that the Tuesday evening dinner be taken out of the contract. The Board also discussed the issue of registration fees based on the fact that there is a resort fee. After some discussion, Schultz recommended the registration fees be $185.00 for those staying on-site and $250.00 off-site and keep all other fees as recommended in the proposed budget (except for one day fee - increase to $85.00). Schultz provided three options for entertainment in conjunction with the banquet and explained that the local arrangements committee would select entertainment.

b. Conference Spouse. Schultz announced that Brenda Spain (Bill Spain's wife) was planning the spouses program. Schultz requested that the Board consider a small budget allowance for planning purposes. After some discussion, the Board reached consensus to approve up to $3,000.00 for the spouses program.

c. Conference House. No report.

d. Conference Local Arrangements. Schultz asked if the Board wanted to purchase mugs again in 2003. The Board decided not to have mugs in 2002.

e. ACE Event. Franzmeier reported on behalf of Hall that many hotels in New Orleans had been contacted regarding a MN Section luncheon. Because costs appeared to be prohibitive, the event was officially cancelled for this year. Hall indicated he would attempt to find an "informal" location for a membership meeting in the next couple of weeks.

The Board discussed whether or not the official meeting should in fact be cancelled.

Motion by Eaton to accept the Council reports. Second by Volker . Passed unanimously.

8. Unfinished Business

A. 2003 Conference Location. Franzmeier reported on behalf of Hall that the Moorhead Conference Center construction remains on schedule and that, as of now, the space should work for the program if the ballroom can be broken down properly. Hall also indicated he would be working to finalize food & beverage costs in the next several weeks.

B. Youth Chapter. Two youth chapters are up and running.

C. Association Services Update. The paid administrative staff agreement will be terminated in mid July. A new RFP was distributed to board members for review. It was recommended that the annual budget be included in the RFP to indicate the size of the organization, and hours be associated with tasks. The RFP will amended with the stated recommendations, distributed, and due on June 28, 2002

The legislative agreement ends in mid July along with the administrative contact. The WUC should investigate its legislative services needs.

9. New Business
John Thom presented two ideas: consider a utility assessment to generate income and consider a vice-chair position (vice chair to chair elect to chair to past chair). These ideas should be considered for the fall conference.

Ben Mason presented a section conference comparison with South Carolina. The purpose was to present different ideas and alternatives.

10. The Fall Board meeting was set for Tuesday, October 1, 2002, at 8:30 a.m. at the Cragun's in Brainerd.

11. Meeting adjourned at 2:57 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Scott E. Franzmeier
Administrator

 

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