MINNESOTA
AWWA GOVERNING BOARD MEETING
Monday, September 28, 2009
Midi’s Restaurant, Duluth,
Minnesota
1. CALL TO ORDER (Spain)
Called to order at 6:23 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL (Thornley)
Position Name Present?
Executive Board of
Directors
Chair-elect............................................... Pete Moulton, St. Peter....................................... Yes
Chair........................................................ Bill Spain, St. Cloud Technical College............... Yes
Past Chair................................................ Karla Peterson, Minn. Dept. Health (MDH)......... Yes
Director.................................................... Dave Schultz, MDH............................................. Yes
Secretary/Treasurer................................ Stew Thornley, MDH........................................... Yes
Assistant Secretary................................. Dave Brown, AE2S............................................. Yes
District
Trustees
Central..................................................... Lisa Vollbrecht
(co-trus.), St. Cloud (exp. 2010).. No
Central..................................................... Lyle Stai
(co-trustee), Retired (expires 2010)..... Yes
Metro........................................................ Paul Coone, New Hope
(expires 2011)............... No
Northeast................................................. Steve Lipinski,
Duluth (expires 2011)................... No
Northwest................................................ Brian Bergantine, AE2S
(expires 2009).............. Yes
Southeast................................................. Dean Huschle, Northfield (expires 2009)............ Yes
Southwest................................................ Mark Sweers, MDH
(expires 2010).................... Yes
At-Large................................................... Pat Shea, St. Cloud
(expires 2009)...................... No
Councils and
Committees
Administrative &
Policy (APC)................ Jon Eaton,
Bloomington (expires 2011)............ Arrgh!
Conference (Conf)................................... Corey Lubovich,
Hibbing (expires 2010)............. Yes
Minnesota Associates
(MAC)................. Tony Belden,
Engineering America (exp. 2010). Yes
Public Affairs (PAC)................................ Myron Volker,
Owatonna (expires 2009)............ Yes
Training &
Education (TEC).................... Chris Glassing,
ACIPCO (expires 2010)............. Yes
Water Utility (WUC)................................. Bernie Bullert, TKDA
(expires 2009)................... Yes
Guests:
AWWA Representative............................ Dean
Fritzke........................................................ Yes
3. CONSENT REPORT
(Spain)
MINUTES APPROVAL:
May
1, 2009 – Governing Board meeting
Corrections/Additions:
FINANCIAL REPORT (Stew Thornley)
As
of August 31, 2009, section income was $138,746 and expenses were $127,801 for
a net ordinary income of $10,946. Investments are up since the beginning of the
year by $48,503 for a net income of $59,449.
ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR’S REPORT (Dave Schultz)
There
is nothing that cannot happen today
Mark
Twain summed up one of my views on life when he observed, “Apparently there is
nothing that cannot happen today.” With
so much to do and so little time to do it in, it is easy to lose sight of all
the possibilities. There certainly has been no shortage of challenges,
opportunities and possibilities for the Minnesota Section over this past
year.
“I
continue to be impressed by the passion, expertise and commitment of the
Section’s volunteers….”
Time
does fly by when you are having fun. It
feels like it was last month that we were at Duluth at the MN Section Annual
Conference and here we are again planning for another great Conference in
Duluth.
Nationally,
AWWA remains strong even in today’s economy.
AWWA is remarkable at staying on track, being focused on its mission,
recognizing that we can never cut corners where public health is
concerned. This should be a time to pool
resources and help each other do our jobs better with fewer resources. That is
exactly what AWWA does: we compile the knowledge from the very best minds in
the industry, and then we turn it around and share for the benefit of everyone.
The
Washington DC office has been working hard on many legislative issues that could
impact the water industry. Two that are
worth noting are:
•
Water
infrastructure Bank concept holds water - The American Water Works Association
urged members of Congress to create a federal water infrastructure bank to help
America invest in its aging water systems.
The AWWA Water Utility Council stressed that the United States is best
served by water systems that sustain themselves through consumer rates and
local financing. However, the federal
government can help by providing access to low-interest loans.
“The
federal water infrastructure bank would be authorized to borrow money through
the federal treasury system at very low rates, just as commercial banks
do. In turn, the water infrastructure
bank would:
•
Make low
interest loans for larger water projects (those that are too big to access the
State Revolving Fund).
•
Help those
states that want to leverage their SRF capitalization grants, making even more
capital available for low interest SRF loans.
A
federal water infrastructure bank would require no new taxes, striking the
right balance between federal assistance and the local responsibility.
•
The second
issue, as the House committee on Energy and Commerce address the issue of
chemical security at our nation’s drinking water utilities H.R. 3258. AWWA notes there are provisions titled
“Methods to Reduce the Consequences of a Chemical Release from an intestinal
Act.” These provisions would place the
final decision on which material – primarily disinfectants – or processes a
drinking water utility may use. AWWA
strongly believe the best approach to this issue of reducing the consequences
of an intentional release is to require local officials to make the informed
decision concerning disinfectant chemicals and processes after a full analysis. Current language has the Environmental
Protection Agency EPA making the decision.
I
continue to be impressed by the passion, expertise and commitment of the
Sections volunteers in furthering our mission to help our members provide high
quality water and service to our communities. It is an awesome task that is
essential, and it would not be possible without your efforts. Thank you very much for every-thing that you
make happen today.
DISTRICT REPORTS
Northwest
District (Brian Bergantine)
No
report.
Northeast District (Steve Lipinski)
The
Northeast District annual AWWA water operators school
was held May 13-15, 2009 at the Grand Ely Lodge in Ely MN. The three day school had 52 operators in
attendance and 15 of them took certification exams. Corey Lubovich presented a video for Water
for People to kick off the school.
Lih-in Rezenia from MDH gave a very informative update on rules and gave
a little in sight on upcoming issues.
Mark
Sloan presented the MNWARN program and discussed the benefits to becoming a member, there has been a number of communities in the State
that have joined this program. As a
member of MNWARN you are networked to operators and equipment from around the
state to help when your facility experiences an
disaster or large emergency. The MNWARN
system was activated during the flooding in Rushmore last year and it assisted
them in getting the water and wastewater facilities back on line.
Sara
Levar, Executive Director of the Dorothy Molter Museum, made a presentation
that was titled; Visit
the “Root Beer Lady” of Knife Lake, which was a history of Dorothy Molters’
life in the Boundary Waters. Today you
can still purchase the root beer that Dorothy created, as a special treat Sara
provided Molter root beer for attendees to enjoy during her lunch
presentation. If you make a trip to Ely
from Memorial Day thru Labor Day you will not be disappointed if you visit the
Dorothy Molter Museum.
To
round out the first day there were presentations in the afternoon that included
Mark Sloan discussing security issues, Mike McNabb presentation on meters and
Terry Haar talking about Chemical Safety.
On
Thursday the Vendor Display was very informative in the morning and during the
Meter Madness competition Harvey Maas from Duluth took first place and will be
given a free admission to the MN AWWA Annual Conference in Duluth, September 30
thru October 2, 2009 at the DECC.
To
round out the afternoon sessions everyone took a trip to the SWAMP for hands
training sessions. This was my first trip
to the SWAMP and I am looking forward to using this facility for future
training sessions.
Friday
morning sessions included presentations from Eric Schlack on the Benefits and
Implementation of Automated Meter Reading in Duluth and Eric Shaffer, Chief Engineer for the
Duluth Public Utilities, presented Directional Drilling of Water Lines. They were followed up with a presentation on
Gopher State One Call I-Ticket and the video Liquid Assets.
The
2010 N.E. water school will be held at Superior Shores in Two Harbors MN on May
19 thru 21, 2010. There will be a block
of rooms available until April 19, 2010 with a very good room rate. The conference rate will be honored on Tuesday
night May 18 for those that may need to travel the day before the conference
begins. To get the conference rate when
reserving the rooms you will need to inform them you are with the N.E. water
school 2010.
The
N.E. planning meeting will be held in the first quarter of 2010 to finalize an
agenda for the school. If there is anyone
interested in speaking or presenting at this school please contact Stephen
Lipinski at 218-730-4068 or any of the N.E. District Planning Committee
members.
Central District
(Lisa Vollbrecht)
No
report.
Metro
District (Paul Coone)
Southwest
District (Mark Sweers)
The
Southwest District Planning Committee met on August 5, 2009 to plan the
district’s fall school which will be held in North Mankato on October 7, 2009.
Also, the dates and locations were finalized for the 2010 and 2011 schools.
The
agenda for the fall school includes presentations on the DWRF, MNWARN, new
water treatment plants in the area, Source Water Protection Grants, It’s All About Me, new distribution products, and Twenty Questions
you need to Know the Answers To.
Southeast District (Dean Huschle)
The
MN AWWA’s Southeast District Operators School was held this spring at the
Ramada Hotel and Conference Center in Rochester. The 3-day school ran from Wednesday, March 11th to Friday, March
13th. There were 106 full registrations
and 22 people taking exams. Jon Eaton
and Brian LeMon spoke at the operator’s breakfast on their travels helping
people with water needs. Jon spoke about
his trip to Honduras and Brian spoke about the Amazon rain forest. At another session, David Brown spoke about
his work over in Palestine. Operators
also competed in the District’s first Meter Madness competition. The vendors
display continues to be a popular item and our guest speaker, Mr. Al Batt, returned
to give a very informative and entertaining talk. The Water for People raffle
raised $767, compared to $600 last year.
At the business meeting, Dennis Duchene from Faribault was elected as
the incoming District Trustee and Wylie Rindels from Rochester was elected as
District Chair-elect.
Trustee-At-Large (Pat Shea)
No
report.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE REPORTS
Administration Council (Jon Eaton)
The
Council has completed the update to the Section by-laws, distributed them for
board review, given them to AWWA for approval, and created and implemented a
schedule of notice for the Section membership. In conjunction, the Section
mission, vision, and strategic planning documents were reviewed (see minutes
from the Strategic Planning session). Also modified this year was the annual
budget process. The Council requests the Board review and approve the updates
at the fall Board meeting.
This
upcoming year, the Council will begin reviewing the Section’s policies &
procedures.
The
Awards committee is still looking for three more committee members to assist
with completing the committee’s goals for the rest of 2009 and for upcoming
years.
Document
and enact a procedure for nominating members for awards other than the Fuller
and Thompson Awards. These two awards
already have a procedure in place.
Annually
review other potential awards and potential recipients.
Consider
implementing an annual award to recognize a service provider.
Determine
a schedule for advertising nominations, reviewing nominees, ordering awards and
presenting awards.
Determine
and implement methods to advertise for award nominations.
New
committee members would attend 3 (perhaps 4) meetings per year (either in
person or by conference call) and perform various tasks between meetings to
meet the committees goals. Please
contact the committee chair, Dave Brown, if you are interested. Contact Dave at 763-463-5036 or david.brown@ae2s.com.
The
entire Finance Committee met August 17, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. at the Bloomington
Water Treatment Plant.
The
Section Financial Status, as of August 1, 2009 was distributed and discussed.
The Section income was $138,020 and expenses were $116,052 for a net gain of
$21,968 since the beginning of 2009. Investments (general fund and endowment
combined) are up $38,688 since the beginning of 2009.
The
audit has been completed and submitted to the Board. KDV suggested the Section
change from cash to accrual accounting methods, which provides a more accurate
picture of our financial status. Jon
Eaton made the motion, Dave Harris second, and the committee unanimously
approved the motion.
The
committee developed a draft budget for 2010 that calls for a gain of $245. The draft was distributed to Board members
for review and discussion.
The
committee is looking at the current 5-year financial plan and assessing its
performance.
Barb
Woolsey’s term will expire at the 2009 Section Conference, and this was her
last meeting. Doug Rovang will join the
committee and become chair with a term that expires in 2012. Christine Meyer’s term will expire in 2010,
and Tony Belden is slated to join the committee at that time. David Harris’s term will expire in 2012.
The
IT Committee has scheduled a variety of interesting presenters for the IT Track
at the Annual Conference. Presentations will include topics such as Asset
Management, Geographic Information Systems, Computerized Maintenance Management
Systems, and Modeling.
The
Committee updated the website to include online registration. This has been a
timesaver for those involved with the registration process. The Committee
continues to work with other committees with the updating procedures. The
webpage content is the responsibility of each committee and it is the goal of
the IT Committee to ensure the entire website is monitored and updated on a
regular basis.
MEMBERSHIP
STATISTICS:
Ø Membership count from last report (3/31/09): 1058
Ø Membership count as of 9/10/09; 1006
o Individual Membership 881
o Service Membership 20
o Utility Membership 105
Ø Ranking among other Sections 22
Ø
Membership
numbers are down from our January report of 1060 and our April report of
1058. The majority of the membership
change has been in individual membership and could likely be Student
membership. It is difficult to tell the
grade of membership that has contributed the most under the Individual
membership category. Service Memberships
are up by 8 and Utility memberships are down by 1. The MN. Section is still ranked 22 on a
nation wide basis. It’s important to
note that National AWWA membership is down by approximately 7%.
Ø COMMITTEE PROJECTS AND INFORMATION:
Ø Membership Committee met in St. Cloud
at the Rural Water Conference. Topics
discussed included:
Ø Membership coverage at each of the MDH
district schools. Membership tries to
have a committee member at each of the schools who displays membership
information and attempts to recruit new members. We assigned membership
committee members to each of the district schools.
Ø Finding new ways to work with the Y.P.
group to further recruitment.
Ø The Membership Committee received the
2008 Club Seven Award at the AWWA conference in June in San Diego. The award will be passed onto the new Chair
at the Section Meeting in Duluth.
Ø Membership is preparing for the
Section Meeting in Duluth. We will have
our membership booth in the exhibit hall.
We will be holding a meeting to discuss upcoming events Gary Warner will
also be turning over the Chair position to Herb Watry.
Ø Membership is planning a New Member
Meet and Greet at the Section Meeting.
Purpose of the New Member Meet and Greet is to bring new members
together so they can meet other new members and to encourage involvement and
participation on the many committees’s with in the section. We are hopeful this approach will increase
member retainage and new members encourage current non members to be members if
they see benefit in the organization.
Ø Admin. Support. The Membership committee will not be hiring
an admin support due to the budget constraints.
Membership will be utilizing the section volunteer coordinator. Gary Warner is preparing a draft list of
requirements of the Membership Committee.
Membership
Committee will be determining who from the committee should attend the AWWA
Membership Summit.
Chair-elect (Karla Peterson)
The Chair-Elect nominees for the 2009
election are Adam Kramer and Bert Tracy.
Trustee-At-Large (Pat Shea)
The current term ends in Oct 2009. Lyle
Stai is the only nominee for the position.
Director (Dave Schultz)
The Director’s term does not end until
June 2011. Elections will be held at the 2010 Fall Conference.
Conference
Council (Corey Lubovich)
No
Report.
Minnesota
Associates Council (Tony Belden)
Minutes
of the August 6, 2009 Meeting of the Minnesota Associates Council, Minnesota
Section, AWWA
The
August 6, 2009 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.
Attendance
MAC
members present at the meeting: Voting Members - Tony Belden, Steve Mereness,
Paul Thom, Rod Ganther, Scott Bredehoft, Greg Johnson, Brad Forester, Dave
Harris, Brian Zinnel, Chris Larson, and Bob McNutt. Non Voting Members – Chris Voeltz,
representing Water for People, Jay Whitaker, the annual conference fishing
tournament organizer, Ben Mason, MAC National Representative, Chris Glassing,
Conference Competitions Work Group Chair, Brian LeMon, AWWA Breeze advertising,
Bernie Bullert
Non-Agenda
Item
Ben
Mason brought up the recent City of Minneapolis filter plant bid and the
confidentiality agreement that needed to be signed in order to obtain contract
documents. Ben presented a letter he
sent to the National MAC asking whether it was worthy of discussion at the
national level. There was discussion of
how the City came up with this policy and what the future ramifications might
be.
There
was a general discussion of market conditions and the effect of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (A.R.R.A.) and stimulus funding. Most in attendance agreed that the stimulus
package has helped to move some projects forward while other projects have been
put on hold pending availability of funds.
Approval
of Minutes
Tony Belden, presented the minutes
from the April 7, 2009 MAC meeting. Greg
Johnson made the motion to accept the minutes.
Chris Voeltz seconded the motion.
The motion passed.
Committee
Reports
Exhibits
Committee: Chair Scott Bredehoft gave the report.
Scott
reported that there were 27 vendors registered for the conference in
Duluth. Scott indicated that this is a
good number for this point in time.
The
Young Professionals Texas Hold-em sponsorship was added to the call for exhibitors forms this year.
Tony
discussed the request to have beer in the exhibit hall as a way of drawing
people to and keeping people in the exhibits.
Tony
reported that the conference budget for gifts has been changed to $1,500. The gifts must be purchased by the conference
exhibit committee. It was proposed that
we give (4) $250 gifts and (1) $500 gift.
Greg Johnson volunteered to purchase the gifts for Cory L. It was decided to give away (2) $250 prizes
at 1:00, (2) $250 prizes at 2:00, and the $500 prize at 3:00. Gift certificates to Best Buy or Costco were
agreed upon
Jay
brought up having mini-sessions during the exhibits. It was decided to do 6 mini-sessions. Tony stressed that they must be in the
exhibit hall to keep people there. MAC
members in attendance volunteered to do sessions. There was a discussion of space requirements
and how to set-up the sessions. It was
decided that if Cory cannot find a way to keep the sessions in the exhibit hall
we will skip them this year. Chris brought up the possibility of moving the
exhibits to Pioneer Hall for 2010
Chris
Glassing discussed booth space needs for Competitions. He feels we need 2 spaces for Pipe Tapping, 1
for Meter Madness and 1 for Water Taste Test.
Jay
discussed the fishing contest and boat sponsorship issues.
Brad
Forester discussed the arrangements for the golf outing. He noted that there was an error in the
registration form which had been addressed.
They are looking for donations for raffles prizes to give away. Tony suggested sports tickets.
Competitions
Committee report
Chris
G. reported on the Meter Madness competition.
The 6 regional Meter Madness winners will compete at the conference to
be the State winner. Winner will receive
expense paid registration to 2010 ACE.
The
Water Taste Test is new this year. Chris
discussed how the contest will work.
Winner will receive trophies and t-shirts. Brian Bergantine will work to get local
coverage of the event. Ben suggested
getting a local celebrity to be a judge for the contest, possibly the UMD
football coach.
Chris
discussed the plans to have a demonstration of the Pipe Tapping competition
this year with our goal being to stage our own competition in 2010 with the
winners going to the 2001 ACE.
Social
Committee report
Paul
reported that we are set up with Grandmas.
We have a $4,000 budget, $3,000 for alcohol, $750 for food, $250 for
tips. Tony suggested “passing the hat”
to raise additional funds for scholarships, etc. like last year. The open house will run from 4 to 6pm.
ACE
Breakfast report
Tony
reported that by going offsite this year we saved quite a bit of money. Total expense this year was $597. The speaker fee was $500. Tony discussed strategies for getting
speakers for future breakfasts. Having
the breakfast offsite worked well and we will try to continue doing this in the
future.
MAC
Budget
Tony
reported the 2009 budget was $5,500. The
2010 budget is $10,140. Tony gave a
breakdown of the budget amounts. Dave
pointed out that the budget committee eliminated $1,500 from the budget for
travel to other shows.
Endowment
Committee report
Rod
reported that with current budgets and finances the way they are, we are trying
to think of other ways to increase donations.
Minnesota
Section Update
Tony
reported that assets are down about 35% due to the current market
conditions. Section is trying to
eliminate waste where they can. Tony
reported the updated strategic plan should be accepted at the September
meeting.
Bernie
suggested the scholarship money should be invested more conservatively in the
future to avoid future losses.
Ben
asked if there is an investment strategy in place. Bernie explained that the committee has some
guidelines in place and that they work with Wells Fargo.
Dave
explained the process the committee is going through to analyze each line item
of the budget and adjust or eliminate accordingly.
Brian
LeMon discussed the Breeze publication and advertising. He stated that the Breeze used to be
profitable and now it is running a deficit due to loss of advertising. There are several reasons for the loss of
advertisers. Current deficit is
$16,000. Likely outcome is the
elimination of the Lite Breeze. Brian
urged all members to seek more advertisers.
Tony suggested sending out a request to members. Brian said that an earlier mailing revealed
problems with the current mailing list.
These lists are in the process of being updated. There was discussion about getting Stew
Thornley involved to take advantage of his knowledge of the industry.
National
MAC Report
Ben
reported that the MAC seated 5 new members, including Bernie Bullert. The AWWA has formed a search committee to
find a replacement for Gary Zimmerman.
They hope to have a replacement by January.
Dues
in 2010 will not go up.
Working on creating a Service Provider
Award of Excellence.
Ben
reported that attendance at ACE was down about 8%. There were over 11,000 attendees.
Ben
and Bernie reported that the National AWWA is not filling positions, mandatory
furloughs and reducing travel in an attempt to save money.
ACE
2010 is June 20-24 in Chicago
Young
Professionals: Report given by Tony for Lisa Vollbrecht
Tony
reported there is a lot of activity in this group.
On
May 27 Young Professionals toured the Cold Spring brewery
Discussed the World of Water poster
competition. There are several changes that can be made to
make the competition better in the future.
Discussed the Y.P. foosball completion
at the conference.
Water
for People Concert: Report by Chris Voeltz
Chris
discussed the fundraisers done at the 6 district schools. Each raised between
$200 and $600.
Spring
golf tournament went well. Moved to Willinger’s this year. The tournament raised about $1,000.
Tom
Mathison for Crystal was going to go on the Country tour to Malawi but it
filled up and he was not able to go. Will keep it in the budget for next year. There was discussion about the Country tour
program.
There
will be fundraising at the annual conference with golfing, fishing and
shooting. Chris is working with Brad to
secure hole sponsorships.
The
concert did not work out quite as good as was hoped for. We had hoped to raise $10,000 but ended up at
$6,000. There was substantial discussion
of what we will do differently for the 2010 concert. Still intend to go with 3 sponsorship
levels. Goal is to get financial portion
covered by end of December so we know we will not lose money. Tony stated that we will not do the concert
in 2010 unless we can get the finances set up by January. This event requires a lot of time and effort,
and there is no point in doing it if we do not have the support. Tony suggested that we reach out to
businesses we do business with, bankers and insurance for example, to support
us through ticket sales and sponsorships.
We cannot depend on the walk-up crowd.
We need to know that we are going to at least break even without any
walk-up sales. Johnny Holm feels he
could help us more next year. Tony
stated that the costs to put the event on were closer to $12,000 when
advertising is included. Bernie
discussed what the Indiana section has done to make their concert
successful. Tony indicated that getting
the word out earlier through public service announcements on local radio
stations like KQRS and KSTP. Tony stated
that we don’t need the money right away, but we need a commitment. Tony reported that we lost a total of
$3,187. There was discussion as to
whether or not there is enough support to continue. The feeling is that there is support, we just need to expand outside our industry and
bring in other sponsors. Bernie reported
that the Indiana section lost money the first year they did a concert like
this. The Indiana section ended up
changing venues and bands. Chris said
that Karla Peterson and others are going to get involved in the future and this
will bring some additional valuable contacts and support.
Next
Meeting
The
next MAC meeting is scheduled for 9:00 AM, Thursday, December 3rd, 2009, at the
Engineering America offices, in Oakdale, MN.
Adjourn
Rod
Ganther made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Dave Harris seconded the motion.
The meeting was adjourned.
Public
Affairs Council (Myron Volker)
No
report.
No
report.
No
report.
No
report.
No
report.
Training
Council (Chris Glassing)
The
following district schools were held in 2009.
March
11-13, 2009—Southeast Water Operators School, Ramada Hotel and Conference Center , Rochester.
April 1, 2009—Southwest Water Operators School, Redwood Area
Community Center, Redwood Falls. April 7-9, 2009—Metro Water Operators School, Ramada Mall of
America (formerly the Thunderbird), Bloomington.
May 13-15, 2009—Northeast Water Operators School, Grand Ely Lodge,
Ely. June
10-12, 2009—Central Water Operators School, Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge, Deerwood.
Upcoming schools
October 7, 2009—Southwest Water Operators School, St. Peter or
Mankato. Contact Mark Sweers, 507-389-5561, for more information.
October 21, 2009—Central Water Operators School, St. John’s
University, Collegeville. Contact Lisa Vollbrecht, 320-255-7225, for
more information.
December 1-3, 2009—Northwest Water Operators School, Hampton Inn
& Suites, Bemidji. Contact Jeanette Boothe, 651-201-4697, or Stew
Thornley, 651-201-4655, for more information.
April 6-8, 2010—Metro Water Operators School, Earle Brown Heritage
Center, Brooklyn Center. Contact Jeanette Boothe, 651-201-4697, or Stew
Thornley, 651-201-4655, for more information.
April
14, 2010—Southwest Water Operators School, Redwood Falls. Contact Mark Sweers,
507-389-5561, for more information.
June 9-11, 2010—Central Water Operators School, Ruttger’s Bay Lake
Lodge, Deerwood. Contact Lisa Vollbrecht, 320-255-7225, for more
information.
October 6, 2010—Southwest Water Operators School, Mountain
Lake/Windom. Contact Mark Sweers, 507-389-5561, for more information.
The
2009 Drinking Water Institute was held August 10-12 in Oakdale with 23 teachers
attending. The 2010 Drinking Water
Institute will be August 9-11 in Eden Prairie.
The
2010 Midwest Regional Water Utility Management Institute will be held March
8-10, 2010 at the University of Minnesota.
Doug
Lubben of CH2MHill and Roger Scharf of CH2MHill will co-chair the
committee.
The
Surface Water Treatment Workshop was held April 27-29, 2010 at the Ramada Plaza
Suites in Fargo, ND.
The
Research Committee has organized many exciting presentations for the “Research
Track” during the Thursday sessions at the Annual Conference in Duluth.
The
Research Committee annual meeting will be Thursday morning, October 1, 2009 in
the St. Louis Room. New members are
welcome!!!
Zollinger
participated in AWWA national webcast – Emergency Planning and Preparedness on
August 5, 2009. Committee is reviewing
current members to determine commitment and interest. Goals and objectives of the Committee were
reviewed at the strategic and business planning session held on April 14,
2009. The Committee will focus on
providing direction to safety websites for water and operator training
opportunities. The Committee will maintain
relations with Minnesota Safety Council to provide notice of education and
training opportunities to Section membership.
The Committee will develop a Section Utility Safety Award program and
submit at least 1 nomination for the National Safety Award. The Committee has been working with the
Section webmaster to update information and resources provided on the Section
Safety Committee webpage. Due to
necessary but cuts, the Committee will postpone development of formal safety
training to be offered at District Schools and Annual Conference.
Rick
Wanner will continue to provide direction and leadership as the Small Systems
Committee Chair. The Committee has
developed a scholarship application form for the Annual Conference Scholarships
to be awarded to an individual from each of the Section Districts. The scholarship will provide up to $500 to
each recipient to cover hotel, meals, and travel expenses to the Annual
Conference. The Section will also waive
registration fees to the to the scholarship recipient. This scholarship program was developed to
encourage participation in the Annual Conference from small system
members. Each scholarship recipient will
be required to provide specific feedback on their experience that will assist
in the promotion of the scholarship program and small system participation in
the Annual Conference. The scholarship
recipient may provide a follow-up letter to the Committee, participate in a Committee
meeting, and/or provide a short talk/presentation at a District School(s) or
Section meeting. In addition, the
feedback will be used to improve the programming and attendance at the Annual
Conference as well as justification to the individuals’ utility for funding the
participation in future conferences. The
Small Systems Committee would work with the Scholarship Committee and the
respective District Trustee to promote and award scholarships.
Water
Utility Council (Bernie Bullert)
AWWA-MN
Water Utility Council
Meeting
Minutes - DRAFT
Thursday,
June 11, 2009
Location: Saint Paul Regional Water Services, 1900
North Rice Street, Maplewood, Minnesota 55113
A. Roll Call (10:05 am)
In-person
attendance: Chris Elvrum, Scott
Fronek, Carol Blommel Johnson, Craig Johnson, Kurt Johnson, Adam Kramer, Brian
Noma (for Randy Ellingboe), Dennis Martenson, Bob Peplin, Laurel Reeves, Dr.
Michael Semmens, Paul Thom (for Todd Bredesen) and Dave Wagner.
Via
phone attendance: Cliff McLain and
Pete Moulton.
Not
present (or represented): Nicole
Blasing, Dave Brown, Bob Cockriel, Paul Coone, Steve Gleason, Dr. Ray Hozalski,
Ruth Hubbard, Bill Janssen, Doug Lubben, Grant Meyer, Dick Nagy, Karla
Peterson, Doug Rovang, Bill Schluenz, Dave Schultz, Pat Shea, Bill Spain,
Shahin Rezania, and Stew Thornleyr.
B.
Housekeeping - none
C. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
(Thursday, march 12, 2009)
The changes below are since the previous
DRAFT was distributed (as included in
the packet that
Bernie distributed - email of 5-28-09 -
prior to today’s meeting):
Page
3 of 6,E.10, after “irrigation” add “and other uses.”
and revise the next
sentence to read “However, this is not germane
to Minnesota due to the has a different alignment of State agencies …”.
Page
4 of 6, F.2.g., change “Cliff McLain” to “Pete
Mouton”.
Page
4 of 6, F.2.k., change “DNR” after “Bruce Olsen” to “MDH” and later in this
same section, near the end, before the “1),” “2)” etc., change “DNR” to “MDH”
in two locations..
D. Congress, EPA Update – Bob Peplin distributed
a multiple page handout that included:
1. AWWA page from web entitled “House crafting
chemical security legislation”.
2.
AWWA page from web entitled “Legislation would boost SRF funding”.
3. AWWA page from web entitled “USEPA
updates DWSRF allotment plan”.
4. Journal AWWA article from Pages 26-34
of the June 2009 issue entitled “Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding Proposed”
by Fred Pontius.
5. AWWA 2-page letter to Ms. Erin McMahan
at USEPA with AWWA comments
on the
“Ground Water Rule CT Calculator” and “Profiling and Benchmarking
Calculator” (Review Draft, April 2009)
and a 7-page attachment entitled
“Comments on Ground Water Rule CT
Calculator”
6. AWWA 1-page letter to Mr. Sean Conley
at USEPA with AWWA “Comments
Following the Stakeholder meeting for
the Proposed Revised Total Coliform Rule”
And a 7-page attachment entitled
“Response to Issues Raised by EPA at the April 3,
2009 Total Coliform Rule Stakeholder
Meeting” (the comments were prepared
jointly by the
Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) and the
American Water Works
Association (AWWA).
Bob
highlighted several items as follows:
In
Handout (HO) #1- currently utilities are exempt from the existing law on
chemical facility security program but Congress plans to end that exemption
when it expires at the end of September 2009.
AMWA and AWWA are trying to make the law have states be primary for
water only. Wastewater would remain
under Homeland Security. Cliff Mc Clain
pointed out that it is the goal of the USEPA to eliminate the use of gaseous
chlorine. Adam Kramer pointed out that
it is desirable to have the ability of the states to step in if necessary.
HO
#2 – the US Senate would boost DWSRF and CWSRF funding to $15 and $20 billion
respectively under the Water Infrastructure Financing Act (S1005).
HO
#3 – change in the allotment of DWSRF to the 50 states
and Puerto Rico
HO
#4 - this
article addresses Greenhose Gas Emissions (GHGs) and a recent US Supreme Court
decision of October 20, 1999.
HO
#5 – this letter and its attachment address two concerns of the AWWA relative
to the Ground Water Rule CT Calculator.
HO
#6 - this
letter and its attachment address comments from both AMWA and AWWA relative to
the Proposed Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR). It comments particularly on the first meeting
held of stakeholders and encourages the USEPA to continue routine dialogue with
stakeholders during the development of the revised TCR.
E. Legislative Report from LMNC Representative
Craig
Johnson provided a 4-page handout (copy attached) that summarized activity of
the 2009 Minnesota Legislative session that was completed in May. He highlighted the
following items:
1. Chapter 16 – this covers federal water
infrastructure stimulus funding; ~ $82.5x106 allotted to Minnesota for
WW/Stormwater and $25x106 for Drinking Water and $10x106 of the latter moved
from DW to CW due to project readiness and need. Also changes state law to permit 50% of funds
to be used for grants and 20% for “green infrastructure”. The latter includes water conservation and
energy efficiency improvements.
2.
Chapter 138 – this covers federal energy stimulus funding; Craig Johnson
pointed out that the $132x106 is ~12c the normal allotment to the State of
MN. Project for cities with populations
>35,000 will be handled directly by the Dept. of Energy (Federal) and for
those cities <35,000 by the State of Minnesota through competitive slections.
3.
Chapter 79 – omnibus health budget bill; this removes the exemption from annual
state fees for publically owned monitoring wells.
4.
Chapter 37 – omnibus environment and energy budget bill; in the future the full
cost of Water and Wastewater related costs at the state level will need to be
recovered through fees. Craig Johnson
noted that in the increase in summer water use fee surcharge (3rd bullet down
on page 2 of 4, the fees go to the General Fund. Laurel Reeves noted that in the 4th bullet
down on page 2 of 4, the “1” should be “100”. She also reported that the cost
of some large EAWs was up to $300,000 for the State of Minnesota. A list of
funding included for MPCA is found in rider language in Article 1, Section 3
and is included in the 6 bullets in the lower part of the page 2 of 4.
5.
Chapter 172 – Legacy fund appropriation (this is the sales tax increase that
was passed in November 2008 election).
The bullets on page 3 of 4 indicate the funds expected to be collected
and where they will be expended. Craig
Johnson noted that the
House wanted to change some of the areas to be funded but the
Senate prevailed and agreed with the groups working on this legislation as to
where the money raised should be expended.
Craig Johnson highlighted the 7th bullet on page 3 of 4 since this may
have a future impact on the materials, etc. that cities can use for seal
coating; however, it is thought that the bulk of the contamination may be
related to the use of the sealants that homeowners use to seal their driveways. He noted that the 3rd bullet down on page 4
of 4 was not included in the Clean Water Coalition (CWC) recommendations. He noted that the 4th bullet down has created
a lot of concern and this was also expressed by several members of the WUC. In the 7th bullet down, the “LiDar mapping”
refers to the Laser Flyover Mapping that has in the past been down as part of
flooding analyses. This should provide
good mapping resources for the future.
The 8th bullet down on page 4 of 4 will not result in any changes to the
1979 executive order but does make the intent more clear. The 9th bullet down is a very important point
since the result of this effort will be used by the legislature for future
legislation related to Minnesota’s water resources.
6.
Chapter 176 – omnibus environment policy bill; Craig Johnson pointed out that
the three new members must be from elected Minnesotans.
Craig
Johnson reported on the Unallotment Process that the Governor was now
undertaking. The two areas with the
greatest potential for cuts will be Local Government Aid and the Homestead Tax
Credit. However, the cuts that will be
made in healthcare will make the cuts in the two previous programs look
small. He also mentioned the controversy
caused by the “Buy American Clause” included in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (RRA). This has a
larger impact on the water industry than it does on the transportation
sector. He understands that comments on
this clause are open for comments through July 15. He pointed out that one of the reasons the
expenditure of the stimulus funding may seem slow is what is happening with the
energy funds. So far only 10% of these
funds have been sent to states since they are not able to receive any
additional funds until details of their programs are developed, etc.
League
of Minnesota Cities 2009 Conference and Marketplace will be at the River Center
in St. Paul at the end of June (24 – 26).
For more information, visit their web site at www.lmnc.org.
Ended 6-12.
F. State Related Water Issues
a. Carol Blommel Johnson reported that the EQB has
restructured. Chris Elvrum reported that
the effort to move EQB to the MPCA was fended off.
a. Ruth Hubbard was unable to attend so there was no
report from the Minnesota Rural Water Association.
b.
Brian Noma reported that the MDH is very busy prioritizing applications for
stimulus funding. They have received
approximately 3x their normal number of projects. A DRAFT list of projects is expected to be
available next week. PFA should be deciding
which projects will be funded in July.
The stimulus funds will need to be obligated by 2-17-09 with $11x106 of
Minnesota’s DWF allotment going to the MPCA since more projects ready to go for
WW/Stormwater projects. This will result
in $25x106 being available as a result of stimulus funds compared to the normal
annual allotment of $14x106 for DWF infrastructure projects. Trying to sort out the “Buy America
provisions of the stimulus requirements.
It was noted that to avoid the Buy America provision the cost of the
total project needed to be 20% greater to eliminate the requirement. c.
Chris Elvrum reported that the Regional Water Supply Plan for the Metropolitan
Area was provisionally approved at the end of March 2009. They will now be taking a 6 month period and
then come back on water appropriations as a result of working with the DNR on
this issue. They are now updating
technical matters including the Groundwater Model.
d.
Laurel Reeves reported that many some fees have been increased such as those
for Heating/Cooling projects. One change
made is that these allows some fees to now go to the a Natural Resource Fund at
DNR. The number of counties to be
included in the Ground-water monitoring in the metropolitan area has been
expanded from 7 to 11. As Chris noted,
recent legislation requires DNR to, by Oct. 1, 2009, prepare a plan for the
development of an adequate groundwater level monitoring network of wells in the
11-county metropolitan area. Further,
the DNR shall submit a report by January 15, 2010 evaluating and recommending
options for the long-term protection of the state’s surface and groundwater
resources and the funding of programs to provide this protection.
e.
Neither Nicole Blasing nor Emily Schnick was able to attend and therefore there
was no report from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agnecy.
f.
Dave Schultz was not able to attend but his report was emailed to Bernie
Bullert and the secretary forgot to present it during the meeting. A copy is attached and basically covers the
happenings at AWWA natonal such as the resignation of Executive Director Gary
Zimmerman and the belt tightening that AWWA is doing to conserve resources
during these difficult financial times.
A new feature related to the economic difficulty of traveling for
members is the first ever online participation being made possible to allow
members to participate in the Water Quality Technology Conference this year.
g.
Bob Cockriel was unable to attend but Pete Moulton was able to provide an
update on WARN. WARN now has 81 members
and has a goal of 100 members by the end of 2009. They have been meeting every month or every
other month. Standard Operating
Procedures are being prepared by paring down from the national ones and they
are also working on the management structure, bylaws, etc. Some 10 new members were obtained during the
Red River flooding earlier this year.
h.
Bernie Bullert was unable to attend due to a funeral for a relative today so
there was no report on the Minnesota Plumbing Code revisions.
i. Adam Kramer reported that Gopher One-Call
is moving toward GPS coordinates for locates.
By mid-June it is expected that they will be switched over to the
Interactive Voice Recognition system (IVR).
There is also a push to increase homeowners call for tickets
(locates). In April there was a spike in
both homeowner and contractor initiated locates but his dropped in May so the
end of the downturn may not be here yet.
j.
Dr. Michael Semmens reported that the U
of MN was continuing work on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs). Most of this EDCs work is related to fate and
transport. In addition they are working
on Antibiotic Resistance related to Feedlots and WWTPs. On the U of MN web site there is a list of
organizations where the U of MN is seeking funds related to the stimulus and
other funding. These include NIH, NIST,
HHS, Education, Energy, etc. Funding is
also being sought from the Water Research Foundation relative to EDCs.
G. Nest Meeting – to be in Duluth during the
AWWA-MN Annual Meeting but the location and time is not known. Cliff McClain suggested that the chair check
with Stew Thornley since he may be the person working on scheduling. The Conference dates this year are 9/29 –
10/2.
H.
Adjourn (11:38 AM)
Stai
moved and Moulton seconded to approve the consent items except for the financial
reports. Motion approved unanimously.
4. CONSENT DISCUSSION ITEMS (Spain)
Financial Report
Thornley reviewed the current financial statement. Belden asked about the investment
procedures. Eaton said we are in
aggressive funds. When our endowment
goal is met, we will shift the investments into more conservative funds. There are also triggers to move the
investment into different funds if the investments reach certain points. Eaton will e-mail board members a copy of the
signed Investment Policy Statement.
Consent Agenda Items
Eaton pointed out that all board members should submit reports for
the consent agenda, even if it’s to report that there is nothing to report. Glassing suggested that the section chair
help to encourage board members to submit reports. It was pointed out that the section’s
volunteer coordinator, when hired, could help with this.
Stai
moved and Schultz seconded to approve the consent discussion items. Motion approved unanimously.
5. UNFINISHED
BUSINESS
A.
Participation
in Public Television Program on Water Issues (Eaton)
Eaton reported that our section offered the
expertise of our members to Twin City Public Television for a follow-up program
to the Liquid Assets
documentary. We will not offer financial
support. Fritze asked about the
involvement of the Water Environment Foundation (WEF). Central States Water Environment Association,
which is our section’s connection to WEF, is involved in the program.
6. NEW
BUSINESS
A.
Approval of the Five–Year Revision to the Business and Strategic Plan (Peterson)
Peterson reported a meeting held last
April regarding the revision of the business and strategic plan and recommended
approval of the plans.
Moulton
moved and Stai seconded to approve the business and strategic plans. Motion approved unanimously.
B.
By-law Revisions (Eaton)
Eaton reported that the proposed by-law
revisions has been distributed to the section board and American Water Works
Association and made revisions based on their comments. The revisions have been posted on the section
web site. The revisions are now being
reviewed by AWWA. A final vote on the
approval of the by-laws will not take place until the 2010 section meeting, and
all members will be apprised of developments.
Glassing thanked Eaton for all the work he has put into the revisions.
Bergantine
moved and Stai seconded to approve the revisions as sent out by Eaton in July. Motion approved unanimously.
C.
Formation of Committee to Examine Travel Policies and Expenses (Spain)
Spain explained that certain policies
regarding travel were brought up during recent budget discussions and suggested
that a committee be developed to address these issues. Stai, Peterson, Eaton, and Spain indicated
interest in reviewing the policies and making recommendations on if changes are
needed.
D.
Publications/Breeze (Volker)
The section is examining how the Breeze publication will be administered
in the future. Volker indicated that we
have lost some advertisers in recent years.
Peterson has been in contact with three different firms that could
publish the Breeze for us and solicit
advertisements. These firms would keep
the profit above the publishing costs.
The arrangement could allow us to have the Breeze published at little or no cost. In return, the section would forego any
potential profits, which would be taxed and could complicate our non-profit
status. Editorial content will still be
the responsibility of the section. The
section discussed a request for proposal to evaluate potential vendors to
publish the Breeze. Peterson, Thornley, Lubovich, Eaton, Bergantine,
Belden, and Brown will serve on a subcommittee to develop a request for
proposal and present a list of three vendors at the January board meeting. The subcommittee will try to present the
information electronically in advance of the board meeting to board members to
give them time to consider the options before the board meeting.
During a dinner break,
Association representative Dean Fritzke addressed the group and gave an update
on events at the association level, including the search for a new executive
director, updates to the association’s information technology system, and the
association’s financial situation, which is secure and includes more than 50
percent in reserves.
E.
Board Meeting Agenda Items and Executive Committee (Peterson)
Peterson recommended that agenda items
contain a brief explanation so as not to catch board members by surprise. Peterson also recommended that the executive
committee meet between meetings.
F.
Website (Eaton)
Committees need to provide updates to the
section webmaster to make sure that the page is not outdated.
G.
Past Chairs Lunch (Spain)
Past section chairs are finding conflicts
with their schedules that make them unable to attend a lunch on Wednesday of
the conference. Spain suggested an
alternative get-together for the past chairs.
Bullert pointed out that some past chairs are retired and would prefer
to attend a get-together on Thursday, so if they attend for only one day that
they could mix with the other past chairs on the same day as the evening
banquet. Peterson will solicit
suggestions from the other past chairs at the lunch on Wednesday.
H.
Policy for Inviting and Paying for AWWA Reps at Annual Conference (Spain)
Spain noted that we inadvertently invited
two association representatives to our conference. Eaton pointed out that we do not pay the
expenses of a visiting section services representative (other than providing a
complimentary registration), only the designated association representative
designated by the section board.
Peterson moved and Stai seconded to create a policy to
cover the travel expenses and registration of the chair to the annual AWWA
conference beyond what the chair’s employer will pay. Motion approved unanimously with one
abstention (Moulton abstaining).
I.
Support of Underground Utility Inspection School (Spain)
The Minnesota Chapter of American Public
Works Association (APWA) has requested $4,000 from the section to support
start-up costs for an updated version of its Underground Utility Inspection
School, which was last held in 2004.
Spain will ask Bert Tracy of APWA if he can address the board on Friday
morning to answer questions the board has.
J. Water for
People Concert/Contract with Johnny Holm (Belden/Spain)
The contract specifies that an initial
payment to the Johnny Holm band will be needed by January 15, 2010 if the
concert, scheduled for April 16, 2010, is to take place. The Water for People committee will solicit
sponsors for the concert and will decide by January 1, 2010 if sufficient money
to break even has been committed by sponsors.
If it has not, the concert will not take place.
K. Board Member
Expenses for Meetings (Spain)
The section pays the expenses of board
members to attend board meetings if the member’s employer will not cover the
travel and lodging costs. This has
become more of an issue in recent years as more employers are not covering
these expenses. During the annual
conference, board meetings are held Monday night, Tuesday morning, and Friday
meeting, necessitating lodging expenses over several days. The possibility of either keeping the
meetings closer together or having a conference call in lieu of a Friday
meeting was discussed.
Schultz
moved and Eaton seconded to eliminate the Friday board meeting. Thornley moved and Belden seconded to
postpone the motion indefinitely. The
motion to postpone indefinitely passed 9-8.
L. Water for
People Memorandum of Understanding (Volker)
The section’s memorandum of understanding
with Water for People must be renewed every two years. The new memorandum, which calls for the
memorandum to be automatically renewed in future years, must be signed by the
section chair.
Peterson
moved and Bergantine seconded to authorize the chair to sign the new memorandum. Motion approved unanimously.
M. 2010 Regional
Meeting of Section Officers (Spain)
The 2010 Regional Meeting of Section
Officers (RMSO) will be held in Minneapolis on Friday, April 16 and Saturday,
April 17. The plan for Friday night
entertainment will be to take attendees to the Johnny Holm Water for People
concert. The discussion of how many
section members who will need expense reimbursement to allow to attend will be
discussed at the January board meeting.
N. Trustee
Replacement (Spain)
Spain announced that two trustees, Paul
Coone of the Metro District and Steve Lipinski of the Northeast District have
resigned with two years remaining on their term. The Northeast District has identified a
successor to Lipinski, Mark Proulx of the City of Duluth, who will serve the
remainder of the term. The Metro
District will be asked to select a member to fill out the remaining two years
of Coone’s term.
O. Top of the Glass Taste Test
and Meter Madness
Bergantine announced that a “Top of the
Glass” Taste Test will take place during the conference on Wednesday
afternoon. Glassing announced that the
second annual Meter Madness will take place on Wednesday afternoon. Winners of the district Meter Madness
competitions will be part of the competition on Wednesday to compete with
anyone else who is interested in participating.
7. NEXT BOARD MEETINGS
8:00 a.m Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at the DECC (Room 202) in Duluth
7:00 a.m. Friday, October 2, 2009 at
the DECC (Board Room) in Duluth
8. ADJOURNMENT
Stai moved and Moulton seconded to
adjourn. Motion passed unanimously at 10:26
p.m.
Minutes
submitted by Stew Thornley, Secretary/Treasurer.