Consent Agenda
Minnesota Section of American Water
Works Association
Governing Board Meeting
January 29, 2010
MINUTES APPROVAL:
September
28, 2009 – Governing Board meeting
September
29, 2009 – Governing Board meeting
October
2, 2009 – Governing Board meeting
Corrections/Additions:
FINANCIAL REPORT (Stew Thornley)
As of November 2009, section income was $224,256 and expenses were $270,368 for a net loss of $46,113. Investments are up since the beginning of the year by $61,199 for a net income of $15,086. The November financial report did not reflect more than $51,000 in training revenue that was transferred from the Minnesota Department of Health to Minnesota AWWA in December.
ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR’S REPORT (Dave Schultz)
“Success
is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice
and, most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do”- Pele’
It all started when a group of water
professionals got together in St Louis to talk about water issues they were
facing around the country. Each brought some expertise to the table and
combined they realized that they were stronger together than alone. The first thing
they did was form a committee (no wonder we are so good at that). That committee was to draft by-laws for the
Association that we serve today called AWWA (American Water Works Association).
Because of their foresight way back in 1881 we today have an Association made
up of 43 Sections and over 56,000 members.
Next time you’re at the Minnesota Section Meeting in Duluth check out
the Association’s time line display. It
is truly remarkable what this association has persevered, overcome, and
accomplished since that first meeting.
AWWA
Executive Director Search Update
The AWWA Transition Committee Has received
approximately 90 applications for the AWWA Executive Director position and is
in the screening, evaluation and interviewing process. Although the committee desires to present a
candidate to the Board at the January Winter Board meeting, the primary
objective is to find the ideal candidate and not meet a schedule. The committee will continue to accept and
evaluate applications until further notice. I would encourage qualified
candidates to apply at awwa.org.
Minnesota
to host Regional Meeting of Section Officers (RMSO)
Spring of 2010 Minnesota Section will be
hosting region III RMSO. Region III
consist the following sections: Ontario,
Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The RMSO is an annual meeting that is rotated
through the sections. This is a great
venue for section officers to exchange ideas. Every section is unique in how
they deal with issues in there area. It
is valuable to be able to share ideas and solutions to many of the problems
water supplying entities face. We plan
to roll out the red carpet for our visitors and entertain them with Minnesota
nice hospitality.
Recently, I was talking with Myron Volker
(Water Superintendent for the City of Owatonna) we were discussing the economy
and how it has affected close friends. Times
are tough; we all know family and friends who have been affected by the down
turn of this economy. I explained to
Myron “I am very lucky to have a job in the water industry” Myron told me it’s not luck you have the job
and position you have, it’s hard work, perseverance, learning to do better,
education, and sacrifice. Yes, we have
all made sacrifices to get where we are today.
We work in a noble industry, where honesty and integrity make a
difference. Consumers count on us 7 days
a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to deliver safe, clean, great tasting
water. How can you put a value to
that? I am sure, just as the water
industry workers who meet in St Louis in 1881 felt, I am glad to be working in
the water industry where SUCCESS is no accident. A great quote from a great
soccer player Pele’. Thank you, Myron,
for opening my eyes, to be thankful for what we have. SUCCEES does have a new
meaning.
I am grateful for the opportunity to
represent your section as Director.
Thank you for this privilege. If I can be of service, Please let me
know.
Board
Members Elections
At this year Annual Conference in Duluth the
MN Section will be electing a Section Director, a Chair Elect and appointment
(by the Chair) of Secretary Treasure.
The nominating committee consists of Lyle Stai – Trustee at Large, Bill
Spain – Past Chair, Dave Schultz – Director.
We are seeking members who may wish to run for Section Director or Chair
Elect. Please feel free to contact us if
you have questions or are interested in running for a position.
Eligibility to serve on the Governing Board
is explained in the Minnesota Section Bylaws.
Stated as follows:
BYLAWS OF
THE MINNESOTA SECTION OF
THE AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION
(As approved by the AWWA Board of Directors
May 21, 2004)
ARTICLE VII
SECTION GOVERNANCE
7.3 Eligibility
to Serve on the Governing Board
7.3.1 Any
member of the Section, except a multi-section member of the Section, shall be
eligible to hold elective office on the Section Board
7.3.2 In
addition to the membership eligibility requirements defined in this section,
nominees for the position of chair-elect must have served at least two (2)
years as a member of the Board or a Council chair.
7.3.3 In
addition to the membership eligibility requirements defined in this section,
nominees for the position of Director must have served as an officer of the
Section.
7.4
Nominations for members of the Board
7.4.1 The
Section shall conduct a nomination and election process for Chair-elect and District
Trustee-at large in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Section.
7.4.2 A
nominating committee shall be appointed by the Chair with the approval of the
Board in
accordance with the policies and procedures
of the Section.
7.4.3 The
Director shall be nominated and elected in a manner consistent with the Bylaws
of the Association, and bylaws and policies and procedures of the Section.
7.4.4 District
Trustees shall be nominated in accordance with policies and procedures of the
Section and the District.
7.5 Election/Succession/Appointment
of Members of the Governing Board
7.5.1 Upon
the expiration of the term of the Section Chair, the Chair shall accede to the
office of Past-Chair, and the Chair-Elect shall accede to the office of Chair.
7.5.2 The
Chair-Elect, Director, and District Trustee-at-Large shall be elected by a
majority vote of eligible Section members in attendance at the annual Section
business meeting.
7.5.3 The
District Trustees shall be elected by a majority vote of the eligible District
members in
attendance at the District business meeting
and in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Section and District.
7.5.4 The
Secretary-Treasurer shall be appointed by the Chair with the approval of the
board.
7.6 Terms
of Office for Governing Board
7.6.1 The
Chair, Chair-Elect, and Past-Chair shall serve terms of one (1) year. These
terms shall commence at the first Section Board meeting following the annual
Section business meeting at which they were elected or accede to the office.
7.6.2 The
Director shall be elected for a term of three (3) years or as otherwise
required by the Bylaws of the Association. The newly elected Director shall
take office at the expiration of the incumbent Director’s term of office as prescribed
by the bylaws of the Association.
7.6.3 District
Trustees shall serve terms of three (3) years. The term shall begin at the
first Section Board meeting following the annual Section business meeting
following election.
7.6.4 The
Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a term of one (1) year, and may be appointed
for consecutive terms.
DISTRICT REPORTS
Central District (Lisa Vollbrecht)
The 3-day Ruttger’s Conference was held June
10-12, 2009. The session was well
attended; registration was done slightly from 2008 but still within
average. A minimal profit was made at
the training session. There was a mix of
speakers including utility, vendor, engineering and regulatory representatives. Highlights included a motivational opening
speaker, 20 Questions, Meter Madness and Regulatory Updates. Mr. Roger Hagman won the Central District
Meter Madness competition and was able to attend and compete at the 2009 Annual
Conference in Duluth.
The 1-day St. John’s training session held
October 21, 2009 at St. John’s University; the agenda is available upon
request. The bulk of the conference was
regulatory updates including wellhead protection, water turn offs/ons and MDH
updates. There was a record number of
attendees! Over $250 dollars was raised
for Water For People and the training session made minimal profit.
Good News!
There was concern regarding lower conference registrations. In working with Jeanette, the participation
rates for most district trainings are similar to previous years.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The MN AWWA Central District Three Day
Training session held at Ruttger’s Lodge in Deerwood, MN is scheduled for June
9-11, 2010.
The MN AWWA Central District One Day Training
session held at St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN is scheduled for
October 20, 2010.
Anyone interested in speaking/presenting or
assisting with the above session, please contact a Lisa Vollbrecht at (320)
255-7225 or a Central District Planning Committee member.
Metro District (Mike Bramwell)
Northeast District (Mark
Proulx)
2010
Northeast District Water Operators School at Superior Shores Resort and
Conference Center Two Harbors MN.
The
school will begin on Wednesday, May 19th and go until Friday , May 21 2010
Registration will start at 8:00 a.m. with speakers and classes all day. At noon
there will be a fish boil for lunch. On
Thursday there will be a product show with mini-sessions. A tour of the
historic Duluth Water Plant will be offered. And on Friday the water for people
drawing will be healed. Classes on energy conservation for pumps and
groundwater rules and MDH updates will bring the school to an end.
Northwest
District (Brian Bergantine)
No
report.
Southeast
District (Dennis DuChene)
The
Southeast Minnesota Waterworks District held their Fall School on October 23,
2009 at Cabela’s in Owatonna. Fifty- four operators attended the one day
seminar. Morning topics included “Staying Motivated” by Scott Anderson along
with Understanding Pump Curves and Defensive Winter Driving Habits. The
afternoon session started off with Problems faced by Meter Shut-offs from a
Multi Utility Operation and Legal Issues of Water Shut-offs. The afternoon
concluded with two issues concerning the H1N1 Influenza, Health Aspects of the
H1N1 Influenza and H1N1 Influenza Continuity of Operations. The Southeast
Minnesota Waterworks District has scheduled their Spring School for March 10-12
at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center in Rochester. Some items on the
tentative agenda are Pipe Lining, SCADA Instrument Control System, Groundwater
Modeling and Wellhead Protection, Radium in Southeastern Minnesota, Filter
Conversions and Groundwater Rule Communication and Education. The 2010 Fall
School will again be held at Cabelas in Owatonna on October 15.
Southwest
District (Mark Sweers)
The Southwest District held its fall one day
school in North Mankato on October 7, 2009. There were 44 operators present
plus speakers. The agenda included; MDH Source Water Protection Grants, New
WTPs in the Area, MNWARN Update, DWRF Update, and water distribution activities
including a presentation on installing valves under pressure.
At the district business meeting Jeff Larson,
Marshall, was approved by the membership to finish out the term of the Chair,
David Marks, who retired. Brad Lueders, City of Canby is now Vice- chair. Also,
it was approved to increase the registration fee to $30.00 from $25.00 for the
one day schools.
As part of the distribution activities Chris
Voeltz held the “Meter Madness” competition which drew numerous participants.
The three top times were awarded a cash prize. The best time from the fall and
spring, 2010 school will receive free registration and expenses to the Section
Conference in Duluth.
The Water for People raffle raised $240.00.
The next planning and business meeting for
the district will be held in February 2010 and spring school is scheduled for
April 15, 2010 in Redwood Falls.
Trustee-At-Large (Lyle Stai)
At the last MN AWWA Section Conference held
at Duluth, I was elected to a three-year term as Trustee at Large. I have been
told that the primary role of this position is fielding questions pertaining to
each upcoming annual section conference. Besides this role, I also want to
attend as many of the district schools (including planning meetings) as is
feasible for me. I am doing this because I feel education of our water
operators is of primary importance and is a central role of the AWWA. At the
last board meeting, approximately $800 was approved to help partially offset
the motel costs I will be incurring while attending these functions. I am very
appreciative of this.
I attended the annual 3-day NW District
School held at Bemidji during the first week of December of 2009. It was held
at the Hampton Inn, which overlooks Lake Bemidji. This facility was an
excellent place at which to hold this school. The course content was very
informative and there were a number of excellent presentations. I will be able
relay some interesting topics at the upcoming district education committee
meetings I attend.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE REPORTS
Administration
Council (Jon Eaton)
The Council has completed and the Board has
approved the Section by-law update. AWWA should be approving the update at the
Winter Board meeting.
This upcoming year, the Council will begin
reviewing the Sections’ policies & procedures.
Awards committee report for January 2010
The Awards committee would like to welcome
Nancy Ziegler of WSB & Associates to the committee. On November 24, 2009 the committee met to
discuss the committee’s goals for 2010 which are as follows:
·
Recruit
one or two more committee members to assist with completing the committee’s
goals for 2010 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.
·
Implement
an annual award to recognize a service provider.
·
Implement
a schedule for advertising nominations, reviewing nominees, ordering awards and
presenting awards.
·
Determine
and implement methods to advertise for award nominations.
If you are interested in joining the
committee, new committee members would attend 3 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.
MN Section Awards for 2010 will include, at a
minimum, Fuller, Thompson, Operator’s Meritorious Service Award, Volunteer of
the Year, Life Members (and if appropriate Gold Water Drop Members), and
Membership Achievement.
FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Monday, January 4, 2010
Bloomington Water Treatment Plant
Committee Members Present: Dave Harris; Christine Meyer; and Doug
Rovang. Also, Section
Secretary-Treasurer Stew Thornley, and Administrative & Policy Council
Chair Jon Eaton.
Not Present:
Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Uma Uempati
Meeting began at 11:15 a.m.
Section Financial Status
November-ending Financials:
Secretary-Treasurer Thornley noted that the
Section Financial Status Report, as of November 30, 2009 had been distributed
to Section Board members and Finance Committee members.
The Finance Committee reviewed the
Report. The Report showed year-to-date
income of $224,256 and year-to-date expenses of $270,368 for a net loss of
$46,113. This does not reflect the
actual Section financial condition, as I will explain below (see italicized
portion).
Immediately after the November Finance Report
was issued, John Eaton noticed that the Report showed Section Annual Conference
revenue to only be $42,019, and informed Secretary-Treasurer Thornley that the
Conference revenue should be approximately $80,000. The Secretary-Treasurer checked with MDH and
learned that approximately $40,000 in Conference attendee registration fees
collected by MDH had not been transferred to the Section checking account. The funds were subsequently deposited in
early December. (Finance Committee
members and Section Board members were copied on all related e-mail communications
between John Eaton and the Secretary-Treasurer Thornley.) This addition brings the Section Conference
revenue up to approximately $82,000 as John had projected. Had that deposit been timely made, the
November-ending Section balance would have shown a loss of only approximately $6,000.
Secretary-Treasurer Thornley also explained
to Finance Committee members that the November Financial Report did not include
more than $10,000 in training revenue collected by MDH that was also
transferred to the Section checking account in early December.
Committee members also noted that the
Financial Report showed Section Investments through the end of November were up
$61,199 since the beginning of 2009 as the Financial Report also shows,
totaling $217,092. Secretary-Treasurer
Thornley suggested that he and members of the Committee meet with the Section
Wells Fargo investment advisor. (After
the 1/4/2010 Finance Committee meeting, Secretary-Treasurer Thornley informed
Committee members that a meeting with Travis Johnson of Wells Fargo has been
scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday, January 15, 2010. Secretary-Treasurer Thornley
and some Committee members will attend.)
Checking Account Overdrafts:
Secretary-Treasurer Thornley also brought to
the Committee’s attention that three Section checking account overdrafts
occurred during November for the reasons described earlier in this Report. As a result, Secretary Thornley made an
emergency transfer of $30,000 from the Section
general investment account into the checking
account to cover the shortage. The three
overdrafts resulted in $150 in overdraft fees. As noted above in these
minutes, the MDH transfer of $51,567 to the Section checking account in
December leaves the checking account with sufficient funds that the Committee
agreed that the $30,000 should be transferred back into the investment
account. (After the 1/4/2010 Finance
Committee meeting, Secretary-Treasurer Thornley informed Finance Committee
members that the Section checking account contained approximately $53,000 on
that date and that he would be transferring the $30,000 back into the Section
investment account at Wells Fargo).
December-ending Financials:
Secretary-Treasurer Thornley stated that the
Section Financial Report through December 31, 2009 will be available for
Section Board review at its January meeting/retreat. He noted that a quick review of December
revenues and expenses projects Section 2009 year-ending Net Ordinary Income
(see Profit and Loss Statement) of approximately $500.
Previous Board Meeting Information for
Finance Committee
2010 Budget
In August and September 2009, the Finance
Committee developed a draft budget for 2010 that was modified by the Section
Executive Committee. Secretary-Treasurer Thornley informed Finance
Committee members that the Section Board, at its meeting during the annual conference,
further modified and approved a 2010 budget with projected revenues of $333,480
matching projected expenses of $333,480 for a net gain/loss of $0.
Old Business
Committee Changes for 2010
Doug Rovang has joined the committee as the
Chair. His term on the committee expires at the section conference in
2012. Christine Meyer’s term expires in 2010 (she will be succeeded by
Tony Belden). Dave Harris’s term expires in 2011. Jon Eaton, chair
of the section’s Administrative & Policy Council, are ex-officio members as
are assistant secretary-treasurer Uma Vempati and secretary-treasurer Stew
Thornley.
New Business
Preventing Overdrafts
Because of the delay in the transfer of
training and conference revenues from MDH to Minnesota AWWA, there were
overdrafts on our checking account in November (as explained further
above). Secretary-Treasurer Thornley informed the Committee that he and
Section bookkeeper Milena Rindal had discussed what happened and ways of making
sure that overdrafts do not happen in the future. The Finance Committee
discussed the matter and emphasized that it must be ensured that no checks can
be written unless the checking account balance shown in QuickBooks is enough to
cover the check. Special attention to the account balance will need
to be paid prior to the annual conference when, according to
Secretary-Treasurer Thornley, a number of debit card charges are made.
Committee members asked Secretary-Treasurer
Thornley to investigate the possibility of having MDH deposit revenues for
training schools and the annual conference directly into the Minnesota AWWA
account rather than having it deposited in the MDH account and then transferred
to Minnesota AWWA. (After the 1/4/2010
Finance Committee meeting, Secretary-Treasurer Thornley updated Committee
members that he had checked with Jeanette Booth at MDH about training school
and Section Annual Conference registration funds being deposited directly into
the Section checking account. His
1/5/2010 e-mail stated the following:
“I
talked to Jeanette this morning. I don’t think it’s feasible to start
depositing the checks that come in for the district schools and conference
directly into the AWWA account. Now, the registrations and payments come
to Jeanette with a special PO box that is set up for MDH for this stuff.
She has to deposit this into an account within our department, and it is then
transferred, usually every month, to Minnesota AWWA. For a direct
deposit, this would have to be sent to the treasurer, who would deposit the
checks and pass on the registration forms to Jeanette for processing. It
gets more complicated than that, but that’s the essence of it. I would
strongly recommend not changing this process. There was a screw up that
happened. It happened at a bad time, and it was compounded by your
treasurer not being on top of it. We screwed up and we (Milena and me as
well as Jeanette) have talked about what happened and what we have to do to not
have it happen again. Making major changes to how these revenues are processed
might make it harder for this kind of screw up to happen, but there will be
some major drawbacks in doing it.”
The meeting adjourned at 1 p.m.
The next Committee meeting will be in May at
the Bloomington Water Treatment Plant – date to be determined later.
“Calls for Papers" for the IT Track at
the MN AWWA annual conference.
Working on updating the MN AWWA
website. Requesting each Committee Chairperson to review their area and
provide updates.
The last committee meeting was held on
Thursday October 1st at the annual conference held in Duluth. The meeting was called
to order by chair Gary Warner.
Membership totals as
of September 30, 2009 were 1037.
Committee members present: Gary Warner, Herb
Watry, Todd Johnson, Mike McNabb, John LaPointe and Dave Hume.
We welcomed Gary Ganser of Two Harbors to the
committee and special guest Nancy Sullivan from National.
We discussed the budget, membership
strategies and the new member meet and greet. We are going to try to join with
the YP. We need to send the new members a welcome letter and a cap and pin. (
we need to get some caps made )
We had a number of new members from the 3M
company join AWWA. John Lapointe volunteered to meet with this group and give
them an AWWA orientation.
The Membership Summit
2010 to be held in Las Vegas February 4-6. Herb Watry will attend.
Gary pasted the chair over to Herb Watry.
Next meeting
scheduled for January 15, 2010 at Litchfield Public Work Management Center.
Nominating (Bill Spain, Dave Schultz, Lyle Stai)
Director (Dave Schultz) and Chair-elect (Bill
Spain)
At this year Annual Conference in Duluth the
MN Section will be electing a Section Director, a Chair Elect and appointment
(by the Chair) of Secretary Treasure.
The nominating committee consists of Lyle Stai – Trustee-at-Large, Bill
Spain – Past Chair, Dave Schultz – Director.
We are seeking members who may wish to run for Section Director or
Chair-Elect. Please feel free to contact
us if you have questions or are interested in running for a position.
Trustee-At-Large (Lyle Stai)
The current term ends in Oct 2012.
Conference
Council (Corey Lubovich)
No report.
Minnesota
Associates Council
(Tony Belden)
Minutes of the December 3, 2009 Meeting of
the
Minnesota Associates Council
Minnesota Section, AWWA
The December 3, 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, Scott Bredehoft, Brad Forester, Dave
Harris, Brian Zinnel, Chris Larson, and Kelly Lange-Haider . Non Voting Members – Chris Voeltz, representing
Water for People, Ben Mason, MAC National Representative
Non-Agenda Item
There was a short discussion of market
conditions and the effect of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (A.R.R.A.) and
stimulus funding. There appears to be an
increase in activity throughout most market segments, mostly smaller
projects. The general feeling is that
things will probably remain slow into 2010.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes from the
August 6, 2009 MAC meeting were not available but had been previously sent out
to members. Dave Harris made the motion
to accept the minutes. Chris Larson
seconded the motion. The motion passed.
MAC Roster Update
Tony passed out the
current MAC roster and reviewed the current membership and term length. There was a discussion of how to go about
bringing new people into the organization.
The feeling was that there are many other areas within the Section where
help is needed and welcome. While we
want to continue to encourage people to get involved, there are many
opportunities on the various committees that make up the Minnesota
Section. Ben pointed out that there are
openings @ the National level of MAC and encouraged Minnesota Section Members
who are interested to apply for these positions in the future.
The new Young
Professionals Committee representative is Kevin Renslow from Tnemec. Kevin replaces Lisa Vollbrecht.
Committee Reports
Exhibits Committee: Chair Scott Bredehoft
gave the report.
There was a general review of the fall
conference in Duluth. Scott reviewed the
statistics for exhibitors. There were 13 non-returning exhibitors and 18 new
exhibitors. There were 71 booths sold,
up from 69 in 2008. There were 70
exhibitors this year, up from 66 in 2008.
The exhibit space was tighter this year due to the spaces provided to
the meter madness, pipe tapping and taste test competitions. Ben asked if we knew who the non-returning
vendors were and if we knew why they did not come back this year. Scott indicated he had that information and
would be contacting them this summer when he sends out the call for exhibitors.
Tony felt as though we needed to improve the
mini-sessions. The feeling is that
things will be better next year because we will have more space. We need to isolate the area better, probably
with curtains, to give it more of a classroom feel. The mini-sessions need to be promoted more or
better next year. Tony suggested
additional signage as well. Scott
suggested that we ask for presentations at the same time we send out the call
for exhibitors and give everyone who is interested an opportunity to
present. Kelly asked about C.E.U.s for
those attending the sessions. Dave felt
it would be difficult to get C.E.U. approval for 20 minute sessions. Tony agreed to check into the possibility of
earning C.E.U.s. There was discussion
about the need for presentations to be generic and educational as opposed to a
sales pitch for a specific product or vendor.
There was agreement that, if C.E.U.s are earned through the mini-session
presentations, we will stress to the presenters the fact that these need to be
educational. There was a discussion of
how to make sure people actually attend the sessions in order to earn
credits. Brian suggested that there
should be a formal selection process to determine which presenters and
presentations are selected. Dave
volunteered to work with Brian to establish a selection committee.
There was a discussion about the prize give
away and the difficulty in people hearing their names being called. This too should be better in the larger space
next year.
Revenue this year was $32,171, down from
$32,571 last year. Compared to other
conferences like the National AWWA this was not a bad decline.
Ben brought up the possibility of having a
job fair/career day at the conference to introduce new operators and people
from outside the industry to our industry.
There was a lengthy discussion regarding “work force sustainability” and
the importance of getting young people involved in the industry. Several ideas were discussed as to how we can
best accomplish this goal.
Brian proposed the idea of having a first
time attendee/orientation type session at the annual conference. It was pointed out that most of the larger,
national conferences have something like this.
It was agreed that this would be a valuable addition to the
conference. Tony will bring it up at the
next Section meeting.
Social Committee report
Paul Thom was not present. He reported via email that the MAC social was
a success that was enjoyed by all who attended.
Competitions Committee report
Chris Glassing was not present. He sent a report to Tony. The water taste test went over well. The local television station aired footage of
the competition.
The meter madness competition went well. The 2009 state champion was Harvey Maas from
the City of Duluth. Harvey will attend
ACE in Chicago to represent Minnesota in the national meter madness
competition.
The pipe tapping competition was only
displayed at this year’s conference. We
received verbal commitments from several communities to assemble pipe tapping
teams. The first Minnesota section
tapping competition will be held at the 2010 conference.
Nine (9) Cities entered the water taste test
competition. The City of Moorhead was
the winner. There was some discussion
about who we could possibly get to judge the taste test next year. The mayor of Duluth, Jim Oberstar, Jim
Malosky and the current UMD football and hockey coaches were suggested as
possible candidates for next year’s contest.
Golf, Fishing Skeet Shooting
Jay Whitaker was not able to attend but filed
a report with Tony.
The fishing tournament went well. We had 7 boats with a total of 41 people and
34 fish caught. There were 6 boat
sponsors. Net income was $2,010. There was discussion of how rough the seas
were and the adverse affects it had on some of the participants.
Ben reported on the skeet shooting. There were 8 participants. Ben proposed that next year we come up with a
formula to determine the contribution to Water For People. He suggested it be based on the number of
missed shots!
There were 76 golfers this year which was
down from last year. The golf tournament
raised a net $600 for W.F.P. plus an additional $1,100 raised through the
putting contest and mulligans.
ACE Breakfast
Tony proposed that we switch from a breakfast
to a lunch at the ACE in Chicago. The
consensus was that lunch would be a good idea and might actually improve
attendance. Tony will propose the idea
at the January meeting.
Ben announced that there is a University in
downtown Chicago that will be making dorm rooms available to ACE attendees as a
cost saving alternative.
MAC Budget
Tony reported that the MAC budget will be
updated at the next meeting. The budget
is set for 2010. The budget has
increased due to the addition of the various competitions, but it has been
approved by the board.
Endowment Committee report
Nothing to report
Minnesota Section Update
Tony reported that financially the Section is
doing better. Profit/Loss statement
dated 11/23/09 shows net income of $48,059 for current year. Same time frame for last year showed a loss
of $87,897.
Next Section meeting is in January, 2010.
There was discussion and general agreement
that standardizing on Duluth as the location for the annual conference has
proven to be a good decision.
National MAC Report
Ben reported that the National MAC met
November 11 & 12 in Denver. Ben
highlighted some of the cost cutting measures the AWWA has taken.
MAC board passed a resolution establishing
the John Lechner Award of Excellence. Mr.
Lechner was the first chairman of the group that eventually became the
MAC. Award will be made at the Water
Industry luncheon at the ACE. The first
award will be given at the 2011 meeting.
The National MAC spring meeting will be April
27 & 28 in Las Vegas.
Tony inquired about the search for a new
president for the AWWA. Ben indicated
that the process is still ongoing and that AWWA is handling the search in-house
rather than using a search firm.
Young Professionals: Report given Brian and
Brad
The poker tournament at the annual conference
was a big success.
Water for People Concert: Report by Chris
Voeltz and Tony
Concert will be April 16, 2010. Johnny Holm Band at the Medina Entertainment
Center.
The goal was to receive $10,000 in
sponsorship commitments before the concert.
We have achieved that goal.
Tony pointed out that the R.M.S.O. meeting
will be in town when the concert takes place.
Tony has proposed having the MN Section, hosts of the R.M.S.O., purchase
a platinum sponsorship and bringing the R.M.S.O. group out to Medina on a coach
bus for dinner and the concert. Ben
suggested we contact Water for People and National AWWA and let them know what
we are doing and secure their support.
There was discussion about the possibility of
arranging shuttle service and room rates at some nicer motels offsite.
Tony re-iterated the importance of
approaching some of the main vendors for our businesses and letting them know
this is something we feel strongly about, and ask them to contribute as well.
There will be fundraising at all the district
schools.
Rod Volker secured (2) VIP We Fest tickets
that will be raffled off at the concert.
Miscellaneous Items
Brian asked if there is a way that we can
make the water taste test competition more of a “show”, with a stage for the
final tasting. With the increased space
we will have next year this should be something we can do.
Tony pointed out the need for us to use our
new, increased space wisely.
Brian questioned whether there are any safety
issues we need to consider for the pipe tapping contest. Tony indicated that there are, but that the
procedures have already been established and the competitions committee is
working on it.
Chris stated that, if the conference offered
study sessions and water license testing, the attendance would definitely
increase. There was some discussion
about how this is currently done at the Rural Water conference and the Metro
Operators conference. There was
agreement that this is something that should be looked into. Tony will bring it up at the January Section
meeting.
Brad asked if it was possible to increase the
space at Grandma’s for the social meeting.
Things are quite tight in the current space.
There was some discussion of alternate fund
raising methods. Dave proposed a 50/50
raffle where half the money raised goes to Water For People and the other half
goes to the winner of the raffle. Dave
indicated that this has been done very successfully at other conferences and
raised substantial amounts of money. There
were some questions and discussion of the State open gambling rules and how
they may apply. Ben cautioned that we do
not want ticket sales to detract from the vendor displays and spending time
with customers. Dave agreed to handle
setting this up for the 2010 conference.
Next Meeting
The next MAC meeting is scheduled for 9:00
AM, Thursday, April 1st, 2010, at the Engineering America offices, in Oakdale,
MN.
Adjourn
Dave Harris made a motion to adjourn the
meeting. Scott seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned.
Meter Madness Competition Subcommittee (Greg
Johnson)
Competition winners from each of the 6
district competitions were awarded District Champion trophies and
encouraged to compete at the State Competition during the Annual
Conference. 2009 District Champions are
as follows;
Northwest – Chad Troitte (East Grand Forks)
Northeast – Harvey Maas (City of Duluth)
Central – Roger Hagman (City of Bemidji)
Metro – Tim Budig (City of Lino Lakes)
Southeast – Bryan Linder (City of Wells)
Southwest – Peter Domeier (Rochester)
The 2009 State Competition was held at the
Annual Conference. There were 13
participants representing communities throughout the state. Harvey Maas of the City of Duluth was the
2009 State Champion. The State Champion
was awarded a cash prize and trophy, as well as, hotel, travel, and meal
expenses to represent the Minnesota Section at AWWA’s 2010 Annual Conference
and Exposition in Chicago.
Meter Madness Competitions will held at each
of the 6 District Operators Schools again in 2010. The District Champions will be awarded a $25
cash prize and trophy, as well as hotel, travel, and meal expense up to $500 to
attend and compete at the State Competition at the Annual Conference in
Duluth. The State Competition is open to
all conference attendees which is independent to the District
Competitions.
Pipe Tapping Contest Subcommittee (Chris
Larson)
For 2009, the Pipe Tapping Competition
Committee did the following things:
Promoted 2010 Pipe Tapping Competition at all
of the MN AWWA District Operator Schools.
Procured some of the equipment necessary to
conduct the 2010 pipe tapping competition.
Prepared a booth with a mock pipe tapping
setup and promoted the 2010 Pipe Tapping Competition at the MN AWWA Annual
Conference.
For 2010, the Pipe Tapping Competition plans
to do the following things:
·
Continue
recruiting potential pipe tapping teams.
·
Promote
the pipe tapping competition at the MN AWWA District Operator Schools.
·
Procure
equipment necessary to conduct the pipe tapping competition.
·
Conduct
the Pipe Tapping Competition at the 2010 MN AWWA Annual Conference.
Water Taste Test Subcommittee (Brian
Bergantine)
The inaugural Minnesota Section Water Taste
Test was held at the Annual Conference in Duluth. There were 9 municipalities that entered the
competition. The 2009 Minnesota Section
Water Taste Test Champion was the City of Moorhead. The City of Moorhead was awarded the
traveling trophy, plaque, and T-shirts for their water operators. The news media coverage created much
excitement in the exhibit hall. Judges
being considered for the 2010 contest include; City of Duluth Mayor,
Congressman Jim Oberstar, Jim Malosky and the current UMD football and/or
hockey coaches.
Public
Affairs Council (Myron Volker)
Public Information
(Terry Neuman)
No report.
Publications (Karla
Peterson)
The Publications Committee has appreciated
the time and effort put forth by Rod Volker in publishing the Breeze over the
past few years. In upcoming years,
Kelman and Associates, www.kelman.ca, has entered
into a contract to publish issues of the Breeze. Kelman and Associates will be responsible for
the overall management, production (including the printing and fulfillment
process), and distribution of the publication.
The primary purpose of the Breeze is to
document and disseminate, in writing, the actions of the Board and all its
subunits (districts, councils, committees, and working groups). The secondary
function is to disseminate news and information (articles, columns, events,
announcements, and special interests) to the membership. The financial goal is to produce and
distribute a high quality publication at no cost to the Section.
Publications Committee Meetings/Conference
Calls will be held each quarter, with advertising submittals emailed to Darrell@kelman.ca, and editorial
submittals emailed to karla.peterson@state.mn.us
by the following dates:
Spring 2010
(Summary of January Board Meeting; Fall
Conference Exhibitor Prospectus)
Committee and Publisher Conference Call - Friday, February 12, 2010
Advertising/editorial deadline - Friday,
February 26, 2010
Summer 2010
(Annual Member Directory & Buyers’ Guide)
Committee
and Publisher Conference Call -
Friday, April 16, 2010
Advertising/editorial deadline - Friday,
April 30, 2010
Fall 2010
(2010 MNAWWA Annual Conference Issue - Sep.
22-24 Duluth, MN)
(Summary of May Board Meeting; Distribution
of upcoming September Annual Business Meeting information;
Fall Conference Registration)
Committee
and Publisher Conference Call -
Friday, June 18, 2010
Advertising/editorial deadline - Friday,
July 2, 2010
Conference Programs and Posters
(To be delivered to Conference Council Chair
10 working days prior to Conference – Wednesday September 8)
Committee and Publisher Conference Call - Friday July 23, 2010
Material deadline - Friday, August 6, 2010
Winter 2010
(Summary of September Board Meeting and
Annual Business Meeting; Water Utility Management Institute Registration)
Committee
and Publisher Conference Call -
Friday, October 15, 2010
Advertising/editorial deadline - Friday,
October 29, 2010
Please note that in 2011 and beyond, the
Member Directory will have the following schedule:
Member Directory
Committee
and Publisher Conference Call -
Friday, December 17, 2010
Advertising/editorial deadline - Friday,
December 31, 2010
The next Publications Committee
Meeting/Conference Call will be held January 19, 2010; and for those interested
in joining the Publications Committee, please contact Karla Peterson, at karla.peterson@state.mn.us.
Water for People (Chris Voeltz)
Fundraiser Schedule 2010
SE Section
Rochester March 10-12 Myron Volker
SW Section Redwood Falls April 15 Chris
Voeltz
Metro Section Bloomington
April 6-8 Dave Holland, Nuzhat
Concert Medina April
16 Bernie Bullert
NE Section Two Harbors May 19-21 Corey
Lubovich
Spring Golf Shakopee May 20 or 27 Chris
V., Dave H.
Central St.
Johns campus June 10 Mike
Mies
AWWA Golf Duluth Sept. 21 MAC-
Brad Forester
AWWA fishing Duluth Sept. 21 MAC-
Jay Whitaker
AWWA Sporting Clays Duluth Sept.
21 Randy Poore
AWWA Ribbons Duluth Sept. 22-Sept. 24 entire committee
SW Section Windom/Mt. Lake Oct. 6 Chris
Voeltz
Central St. Johns Campus TBA Lisa
Vollbrecht
NW Section Bemidji TBA Chad Troitte
Items of Interest
The Water for People committee raised
$9,211.67 in 2009. The money was matched by the Rosenthal Challenge making the
total contribution of $18,423.34 from the Minnesota section to Water for
People.
Water for People concert- The 2nd annual
concert is scheduled for April 16th at the Medina Entertainment center
featuring the Johnny Holm band and Elvis. The committee will be selling WE fest
concert package raffle tickets as a fundraiser to help with the cost of the
concert. The WE fest concert package
includes 2 VIP Box seats and 3 nights lodging in a Detroit Lakes hotel. The
planning committee will meet on a monthly basis up to the concert date. We have
received $15,825 of committed sponsorships from the following donors as of
January 7th.
Engineering America, Inc. Platinum $1500
KLM Platinum $1500
Bolton & Menk, Inc. Platinum $1500
Automatic Systems Platinum $1500
Vessco Platinum
$1500
AWWA MN Section (2) Platinum $3000
S E H Gold
$ 750
TKDA Gold $ 750
H D Supply Gold $ 750
Northern Water Works Silver $ 375
Hawkins Silver $ 375
M. E. Simpson Silver $ 375
WW Goetsch Silver $ 375
Brenda Spain (Mary Kay) Silver $ 375
U C Labs Silver $ 375
WE fest raffle ticket sales $
825
Water for People is currently involved with
projects in 10 different countries- Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, India,
Malawi, Peru, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Dominican Republic.
The committee is planning a meeting in
February to review the 2010 schedule and discuss any new ideas for fundraising.
Scholarship (Doug Klamerus)
No report.
Young Professionals (Kevin Renslow)
The Fall 2009 meeting was held October 1st,
2009 at the State AWWA Conference in Duluth, MN. Meeting minutes and action items were posted
to the MN AWWA website.
YPC April Events include the Water For People
Concert and an Earth Day Clean-up at Loring Park.
Subcommittee Updates:
Membership: The Membership Subcommittee will
be looking to promote another YP recruitment event at the U of M in early
spring to promote AWWA scholarship opportunities and Fresh Ideas Poster
Competition.
The Membership Subcommittee has been
participating in the AWWA YP Membership Challenge. Currently the subcommittee has signed up 5
new members. Additionally, the
subcommittee has been working with SCTC to help drive membership.
Social: During the NW District Operators
School in Bemidji the YP Committee hosted a social gathering.
See Upcoming Events.
Outreach: The WoW! Poster Competition begins in May (in
conjunction with Drinking Water Week).
Please share with Girl Scout Troops; they can receive a patch for
participating.
Fresh Ideas: A social event will be scheduled
shortly to advertise the Fresh Ideas program.
Upcoming Events:
Spring Meeting – Tnemec/Coating Resources, Inc- Hopkins, MN
Partners/Sponsors: YP Committee
Contact: Kevin Renslow, Tnemec Date: March,
2010
Summit Brewery Tour & Social –
Partners/Sponsors: YPC
Contact: Bo Johnston, Black & Veatch Date: ?
WoW! Poster Competition Kick-Off
Partners/Sponsors: YPC
Contact: John Chlebeck, SEH Date:
May 2010
Training
Council (Chris Glassing)
The following training schools will be held
in 2010.
March 10-12, 2010—Southeast Water
Operators School, Ramada Hotel and Conference Center, Rochester. Contact Dennis DuChene,
507-384-0559, for more information. (The operator breakfast and product show
will be held on March 10).
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 15, 2010—Southwest Water
Operators School, Redwood Falls. Contact Mark Sweers, 507-389-5561, for more
information.
May 19-21, 2010—Northeast Water
Operators School, Superior Shores, Two Harbors. Contact Mark Proulx, 2952-240-2023, 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.
October 15, 2010—Southeast Water
Operators School, Cabela’s, Owatonna. Contact Dennis DuChene, 507-384-0559,
for more information.
October 20, 2010—Central Water
Operators School, St. John’s University, Collegeville. Contact Lisa Vollbrecht,
320-255-7225, for more information.
November 30-December
2, 2010—Northwest
Water Operators School, Holiday Inn, Detroit Lakes. Contact Jeanette
Boothe, 651-201-4697, or Stew Thornley,
651-201-4655, for more information.
Minnesota AWWA Annual Conference
Contact Corey
Lubovich, 218-262-7725, for more information. September 22-24, 2010—Duluth
Entertainment Convention Center.
The 2010 Drinking Water Institute will be
August 9-11 in Eden Prairie. Contact Jeanette
Boothe, 651-201-4697, or Stew Thornley,
651-201-4655, for more information.
The 2010 Midwest Regional Water Utility
Management Institute will be held March 8-10, 2010 at the Continuing Education
and Conference Center, on the St. Paul campus of the University of
Minnesota. The program will include:
Leadership -
Getting Work Done Through Others
Introduction
to Supervision
A Practical
Guide to Management
The Public
Sector Employee Challenge
Individual
Engagement
The 2010 Surface Water Treatment Workshop
April 27-29, 2010—Surface Water
Treatment Workshop, Ramada Plaza & Suites, Fargo, North Dakota.
Contact Jeanette
Boothe, 651-201-4697 for more information.
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.
Due to necessary budget cuts, the Committee
has discontinued development of a formal safety training program to be offered
at District Schools and Annual Conference.
The Committee will begin developing a stand alone, one-day safety
training seminar to be offered in 2010.
The goal of this seminar will be to provide necessary safety training
certification program for water and wastewater operators. The safety training seminar will be cost
neutral with an opportunity to provide future profits to the Section..
The Committee has been working with the
Section webmaster to update information and resources provided on the Section
Safety Committee webpage. Check out the
Committee website for some safety links or submit a safety question and a panel
of experts will answer it, generally within 24 hours.
Safety is a core value of the Minnesota
Section. The Committee is in need of new
members to with fresh ideas and to plan safety training. If you have any safety ideas for training or
other safety issues contact Phil Zollinger by phone at 651-775-6165 or email at
phil.zollinger@ci.stpaul.mn.us
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.
The Small Systems Committee received one
application and awarded one scholarship to attend the 2009 Annual Conference in
Duluth, MN. The Committee is attempting to step up our promotion of this
scholarship by having applications available at District Operator Schools and
other District meetings. The Committee
will also post the application on the Section website.
The Committee would like to begin working
with the Conference Planning Committee to provide input regarding educational
sessions for small systems at the Annual Conference.
The Committee is considering development of
an annual Outstanding Small Systems award.
Details regarding this award program have not yet been determined.
The Committee is in need of additional
members to provide fresh ideas and planning.
If you are interested in getting involved in the committee, please
contact Rick Wanner at 952-469-1100 or rwanner@acipco.com.
Water
Utility Council (Pat
Shea)
AWWA-MN Section Water Utility Council
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Location: Saint Paul Regional Water Services,
1900 North Rice Street, Maplewood, MN
A. Roll Call (10:00 am)
In-person attendance: Bob Cockriel, Randy Ellingboe, Scott
Fronek, Ruth Hubbard, Kurt Johnson, Adam Kramer, Doug Lubben, Dennis Martenson,
Bob Peplin, Laurel Reeves, Dave Schultz, Pat Shea, Sarah Smith (for Chris
Elvrum), Bert Tracy, and Dave Wagner.
Via phone attendance: Nicole Blasing, Carol Blommel Johnson,
Cliff McClain, Pete Moulton, and Doug Rovang.
Not present (or
represented): Mike Bramwell, Todd Bredesen, Dave
Brown, Bernie Bullert, Mary Fralish, Craig Johnson, Grant Meyer, Dick Nagy,
Karla Peterson, Shahin Rezania, Bill Schluenz, Bill Spain, Dr. Michael Semmens,
Stew Thornley, Uma Vempati, and Patrick Wrase.
B. Housekeeping
Nicole Blasing and Laurel Reeves indicated that the
letters “pca” and “dnr” are being dropped from the domain name for MN state
agencies from emails. Email addresses
for both MPCA and MDNR will now end in @state.mn.us.
C. 2010 Water Utility Council Membership Roster
Pat Shea requested members to
note corrections on the 2010 roster that was recently distributed. Any corrections can be submitted to Scott Fronek.
D. AWWA Washington, D.C. Fly-In
The
AWWA Washington, D.C. Fly-In will occur on March 24 and 25. Pat
Shea noted that he was planning to attend and that his expenses would be
paid by AWWA National. Discussion ensued
regarding the desirability of having at least two representatives from the
Minnesota Section. Pete Moulton said he would support additional funding for this
although the expenses to send a member(s) was deleted from the Section budget
in October. Past attendees (e.g. Cliff
McClain, Kurt Johnson, Dave Wagner, Pat Shea) all indicated this was a
worthwhile event and at least two should attend from Minnesota. After some discussion about who might be
sent, it was decided that it would be desirable to send the Section Director
and one additional person. Bob Cockriel was interested if his
management would approve and if not, Dave
Wagner would be willing to attend.
WUC motioned to ask the AWWA Board for funds to send a second
individual.
E. Approval of Meeting Minutes
The
minutes distributed prior to the meeting were approved. Dennis Martenson suggested
that the minutes should included attachments if possible to facilitate the
transfer of information/knowledge to those members participating by phone
and/or unable to attend.
F. Congress, EPA Update
Bob Peplin provided a handout
(attached) that included (1) Regulatory Update, (2) Summary of HR3258, (3) AWWA
letter to Representatives Waxman and Barton on chemical security for water utilities,
(4) AWWA Washington, DC Fly-In Brochure, and (5) What’s New in AWWA Government
Affairs 2008/2009.
Bob Peplin indicated that
Chemical Security of water plants is likely to be an issue in 2010, with a
desire by some to have more influence at the local state level about which
security measures are to be implemented.
However, this legislation is still being discussed at the congressional
level. WUC members expressed concern
about contaminants of emerging concern, and how they may be regulated in the future. It is likely this issue will draw our
attention in increasing measure in future years.
G. Legislative Report from LMC Representative
Since
Craig Johnson was not able to attend
the meeting, there was no report.
H. State Related Water Issues
a.
Environmental Quality Board. Carol
Blommel Johnson did not have any new information to present.
b.
Other. Dennis Martenson indicated that next
week, on December 16, 2009, a joint meeting between the MN sections of ASCE and
APWA would address the future of public infrastructure in MN, and whether the
future was “good” or “grim”. A copy of
the notice is attached.
a.
Minnesota Rural Water.
Ruth Hubbard indicated
approximately half of the $3B of the national stimulus funding for rural water
utilities is under contract.
She
indicated there is a grass roots interest in producing a short documentary to
complement the Liquid Assets documentary that was produced several years
ago. The documentary would focus on
local issues specific state of MN. A
website has been set up (http://blueprintminnesota.com/)
to raise awareness regarding Minnesota’s critical water infrastructure. The goal is to raise $40,000 which is
required to develop and produce this documentary.
On
January 27, 2010, there will be a joint webinar on Emergency Conservation for
utilities, sponsored by national Rural Water and AWWA .
The
University of Minnesota's Water Resources Center has received $750,000 from the
state legislature to develop a 25-year framework for the sustainable management
of Minnesota's water resources. This
grant originated from the MN Clean Water, Land and Legacy Act.
The
national Rural Water fly-in to Washington DC will occur from February
8-11. Senators Franken and Klobachar
both have breakfasts that people can attend if interested.
b.
Minnesota Department of Health. Randy
Ellingboe indicated a recent MN Senate finance subcommittee hearing
occurred, and the subject of a Minneapolis and St. Paul interconnection between
their water utilities was discussed.
Both cities indicated this project had a low priority, unless others
would finance the project.
The
US Senate recently had hearing to discuss violations of the SDWA and subsequent
follow-up by EPA. There was concern
regarding water quality with respect to young children and small rural water
systems. The issue revolved around how
well utilities were complying with the SDWA.
The EPA was under fire to provide a response on how they were planning
to improve compliance with SDWA. EPA
indicated enforcement was costly, and expressed the merit of technical
assistance in lieu of enforcement. He
will provide a web link to the hearing.
He
indicated that for ARRA fund utilization nationwide, approximately 10% had been
used through the first 8 months of the program.
The state of MN was ranked #1 for clean water fund usage for all 50
states, and was ranked #3 for water usage.
EPA
has increased their 2010 budget by 30% over the current year. Funding for drinking water increased
slightly.
State
grants are available for implementation of MDH’s wellhead protection
program. Grants need to be issued by
June 30, 2010. MDH will be asking for
input from utilities and others on how these grants will be distributed.
He
also indicated there is an interesting NY Times article regarding drinking
water quality that would be of interest to WUC members.
c.
Metropolitan Council.
Sarah Smith extended
appreciation to utilities regarding input to the master water supply planning
process. They have been working to
update the master plan, and uploaded it to their website last week. A future meeting, primarily to approve the
plan, will be held in January or February with the Advisory Committee. Cliff
McClain agreed to review the updated plan and provide feedback to Met
Council. He indicated that previous
concerns in rural areas were that irrigators were not being held to the same
requirements as municipalities. Sarah Smith indicated that the revised
report does hold all water users to the same requirements.
d.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Laurel
Reeves indicated a proposed plan for Moorhead water study was not approved
by LCCMR.
She
indicated a monitoring plan for wells in the 11 county metropolitan area is now
posted on the DNR’s website.
Ruth Hubbard asked about
clarification regarding future water conservation. Laurel
Reeves indicated if water users will ask for future water appropriations,
conservation rates will be required by January 2010 and by January 2013 by
out-state water utilities. DNR will
review and approve these appropriation requests.
e.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Nicole
Blasing indicated new permit fees are being proposed, and are currently
being reviewed by the Governor.
Application fees for all water and wastewater permits will be raised
from $350 to $1,240, but are subject to the type of permit (expansion, upgrade,
new facility, etc). Annual fees will
remain the same. Fees will be
retroactive back to July 2009. She
indicated this information is available on the MPCA’s website. MPCA issued guidance in August 2009 for
stormwater or wastewater discharges from water treatment plants, such as RO
plants, which discharge elevated levels of chloride. Monitoring requirements are likely to be
increased for these discharges.
f.
Association Director.
Dave Schultz indicated that
AWWA is still in search of an executive director. AWWA will be electing a new president this
year from three potential candidates.
AWWA MN will be working with a new advertising company from Canada to
produce future publications. This new
approach will be implemented with no cost to the MN Section.
g.
WARN Update. Bob Cockriel and Pete Moulton provided an update on WARN. WARN now has 98 members and has a goal of 100
members by the end of 2009.
h.
Minnesota Plumbing Code Revisions. Since Bernie
Bullert was not able to attend the meeting, there was no report.
i.
Gopher One-Call. Adam Kramer indicated calls to the
Gopher One-Call are significantly lower than previous years, which reflect a
downturn in the construction industry. Bob Cockriel expressed concern
regarding MnOps desire to expand the Gopher One-Call system. Adam
Kramer was aware of this desire, but did not have anything specific report
on the Gopher One-Call plans.
j.
University of Minnesota.
Since Michael Semmens was not
able to attend the meeting, there was no report.
I. Next Meeting
The
next meeting will be on March 18, 2010, at 10:00 am, and will be held at MDH’s
Snelling Office Park.
J. Adjourn
The
meeting was adjourned at 12 noon.