BOARD REPORT
To be used by VWEA & VA AWWA February 18, 2015 | Martin Malone, President
WaterJAM 2015 (Joint Committee)
Co-Chairs – Stephanie Spalding, Mike Demko Co-Vice Chairs – Phill Yi, Stewart Lassiter Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • 2015 theme – “Catch the Wave” • Technical Program - 356 abstracts total, 85 people volunteered to review, 24 people reviewed at least 50 abstracts each! • New in 2015: Slating alternate speakers to better manage last-minute speaker cancellations. • New in 2015: creating sustainability checklist to make JAM a green conference Budget/Financial Activities • BEOs to be finalized mid-March Plan of Action for next reporting period • Keynote Session: 1) Hans-Peter Plag (ODU) on Climate Change/SLR, and 2) Organizer of East Coast Surfing Championship
Manufacturers & Reps Committee (Joint Committee)
Chair – Steve Johnson Vice-Chair – Matt Harrison Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • Matt is also VC of JAM Exhibits committee Budget/Financial Activities - None Plan of Action for next reporting period
Information Technology (Joint Committee)
Chair – Jules Robichaud Vice Chair – April Farmer Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • Continuing to assisting Kathy R. with Your Membership (AMS) implementation. • Committee meetings held each month with topic presentation/discussion. Budget/Financial Activities • None. Plan of Action for next reporting period • Continue supporting Kathy R. with “Your Membership” implementation • Solicit more presentations from ITC members for monthly meetings.
Communications Committee
Chair – Felicia Glapion Vice Chair – vacant Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • 2015 calendar was mailed in Fall Conduit; Winter Conduit should be arriving any day. • Now using [email protected] e-mail for all article submissions. Budget/Financial Activities • None Plan of Action for next reporting period • 2015 Dates:
Issue Articles Due Publication Winter 2015 19-Dec 2-Feb Spring 2015 20-Mar 27-Apr Summer 2015 22-May 26-Jun Fall 2015 25-Sep 2-Nov Winter 2016 18-Dec 1-Feb
Page 2 Awards Committee
Chair – Marty Malone
January - March
Action Items • Included reminder included in Winter Conduit for upcoming award nominations. Budget/Financial Activities - none Plan of Action for next reporting period • Review/approve nominations
Page 3 BOARD REPORT
To be used by VWEA & VA AWWA February 9, 2015 | Martin Malone, President
Utility Management Committee (Joint Committee)
Chair – Ryan Nagel Vice-Chair – Vacant Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • Committee calls – none to date • Will be scheduled in March 2015 Budget/Financial Activities Plan of Action for next reporting period • Annual Fly-In • Committee meeting April 15
Education Committee (Joint Committee)
Chair – Phil Yi Vice-Chair – Marty Kazmierczak Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • Committee calls (3/1). • Planning for the Education conference April 29, 2015 Budget/Financial Activities • Negotiated and signed the contract with Exhibits, Inc. for booths and set-up. Plan of Action for next reporting period • CEU Submissions Pending from Committee by 2/13 for 2/18 Deadline • Exhibitor Coordination has Begun by Charlie Weimer • Online Registration to be Launched on 2/23 • We have drafted a letter for the exhibitors and will be sending this out on 2/23 with the launch of online registration. • 4/29 Career Fair—Notices Provided to Universities on 2/10 (11-15 firms will participate) • 4/30 Conference—Program Completed as of 2/11 except for One-Slot being filled (we are hoping HRSD will fill that slot) • VWEA Website Now Active with Conference Details and Career Fair Details
Northern Virginia Regional Activities Committee
Chair – James Peaco Vice-Chair – Vacant Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • NVRAC/YP Committee – Skiing/Snow Boarding on February 12, 2015 • No major legislation. Several bills that would open the door on moving away from cost-of-service method for rate setting in VA. Written opposition on the only one of those bills with statewide implications. That particular bill dies in committee. Letter of support for Paylor reappointment. Budget/Financial Activities • NVRAC/YP Committee event scheduled - $45 per ticket Plan of Action for next reporting period • Preparing for Lunch and Learns and Facility Tours: • Resource Recovery – WERF – Amit P.? • Health Hazards in Wastewater – Coordinate with Wayne Sirna? • HL Mooney WRF (PWCSA) in May – Bob Forgione is following up with Steve Bennett of PWCSA • Arlington WWTP – Nina Andgren to check • Leesburg WTP
Central Virginia Regional Activities Committee
Chair – Ben Custalow Vice-Chair – David Evers Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • Planning and preparing for Spring event • Lunch & Learn on February 19, 2015 • R&D Facility Tour & Afterhours on March 26, 2015 • No major legislation. Several bills that would open the door on moving away from cost-of-service method for rate setting in VA. Written opposition on the only one of those bills with statewide implications. That particular bill dies in committee. Letter of support for Paylor reappointment. Budget/Financial Activities Plan of Action for next reporting period • Planning and preparing for Spring event
Page 2 o Steam Cleanup on May 2, 2015 o Annual Golf Tournament on June 3, 2015 • Advertise upcoming events
Southern Virginia Regional Activities Committee
Chair – Mac McCutchan Vice-Chair – Sarita Moore Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • No update Budget/Financial Activities Plan of Action for next reporting period
Eastern Virginia Regional Activities Committee
Chair – Mark Swilley Vice-Chair – John Dano Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - March
Action Items • Committee meeting (1/30). • Preparing for a Lunch & Learn on March 24, 2015 • Chesapeake Elizabeth Treatment Plant Closure: A case for consolidation • Preparing for an After-hours event on March 11, 2015 Budget/Financial Activities Plan of Action for next reporting period • Committee meeting
Page 3
Report to VWEA Board of Directors February 2015
TO: VWEA Board of Directors
FROM: S. Scott Shirley
DATE: February 17, 2015
SUBJECT: Report for Board Meeting
Reports on liaison committees:
Included herein is the referenced liaison report for consideration by the Board of Directors.
Safety and Security Committee Merger (Formerly Accident Prevention and Safety Committee)
Jim Cherry is current Chair for the committee. Joseph Scott with Virginia Beach is the Vice Chair. The Committee released its’ quarterly meeting schedule for the upcoming year. The Committee is conducting three regional seminars in the upcoming year. The first activity will be held March 24, 2015 in Spotsylvania.
Sustainable Utilities Committee and Bioenergy Subcommittee Denise Nelson is the current chair. Denise has accepted a position as the Vice President for Public Education For the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. Blasé Keegle is the current Vice Chair and Mike Hannah is the chair for the Bioenergy subcommittee. The Committee has established a goal of hosting 5 additional webinars this year for a total of 6 events (including the Water JAM tour). The first webinar is on Sustainability Rating Systems and will be held in March. The second topic is ESCO projects with a target date of May/June. The final topics include Sustainability in Staffing, EPA and WEF Sustainability Guides.
Operations Committee
Barbara Jackson with the City of Richmond is the current chair. Jewel Minor is the Vice Chair for Operations Challenge. Elizabeth Jensen with the City of Lynchburg and Scott Morris with Chesterfield are sharing Educational Vice Chair duties to enhance the future leadership continuity of the committee.
Planning has started for the annual Operations conference to be hosted at Wintergreen again this year. Geneva Hudgins is ensuring coordination with AWWA and they are progressing with their work on the water portion of the event. Dr. Greg Boardman (VT) and Dr. Marcia Degen (VDH) are taking the lead on the educational session planning and organization. The overarching topic this year will be Troubleshooting Wastewater Systems.
Collections Committee
TJ Johnson with Delta Metering Systems is the incoming Chair. Jeffrey Griffith with Hydromax is serving as Vice Chair. The committee held an intitial planning call in November. The primary activity at this time involves planning activities for the Collection track at the Operations Conference.
To be used by VWEA & VA AWWA February 18, 2015 | Lauren Zuravnsky, SYP Rep| Dwayne Schwartz, Trustee
Student Activities Committee (Joint Committee)
Chair – Kevin Smith Vice-Chair – Christene Mitchell Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - February
Action Items • Committee meetings held 1/13 and 2/10. • VWEA Student Design Competition – (lead by Kraig Schenkelberg) 2 schools registered so far, 4 of 5 judge positions filled, advertizing career fair to school contacts • Student Chapter Support – (lead by Dana Fredericks) reached out to GMU, VT, ODU; working on JMU contact through committee members, tentative date scheduled to present to UVA (April 21st) • Model Water Tower Challenge – (lead by Adrianna Dimperio) planning to commence in spring 2015 for fall event, discussing timing of event for next year • WaterJAM Student Presentation Awards – (lead by Christene Mitchell) planning to commence in summer 2015 prior to WaterJAM • State Science Fair – (Sherry Williams) VA-AWWA relocated resources to this committee, looking for additional Science Fair Judges, need VWEA contact Budget/Financial Activities • Committee meeting lunch reimbursements - $79.44 (as of Feb 6) Plan of Action for next reporting period • Next committee meeting March 10 • Developing communications lead for committee
March - June
July - September
October - December
BOARD REPORT
To be used by VWEA & VA AWWA February 18, 2015 | Lauren Zuravnsky, SYP Rep| Dwayne Schwartz, Trustee
Young Professionals Committee (Joint Committee)
Chair – Ryan Radspinner Vice-Chairs – Scott Morrow (East), Michele Siminari (North), Jun Meng (Central), Jason Kerns (JAM Liaison) Board Input Items (if applicable):
January - February
Action Items East – • Planning meeting held November 2014, drafted events, leads, and tentative schedule as follows: Month Event Description March Norfolk Admirals Game April Anheuser Busch Brewery Tour and Peninsula Happy Hour May Norfolk Tides Game (Joint Engineering Society) June-Sept Rec League Volleyball Team and Sponsorship June or July Brock Environmental Center Tour and Happy Hour August TBD Construction Visit and Happy Hour September WaterJAM Service Project / Activities October ODU Student Event / Football Game November YP Committee Planning Lunch December Holiday Happy Hour
• Happy Hour held at Keagan’s in Town Center Virginia Beach on December 4, 2014
Page 1 North – • Goal: Increase event and committee participation • Planning meeting held 2/16, drafted events, leads, and tentative schedule as follows: Month Event Description February Science Fair Mentoring/Judging March Science Fair Mentoring/Judging April Stream Clean Up Nationals Game May (may approach Chesapeake YP sections about co-hosting) June Soup Kitchen volunteering July Brewery Tour and happy hour August Happy Hour September WaterJAM October After hours event November Dinner or Lunch and Learn
Central – • Goal: Host 4 well attended events in 2015 • Annual planning meeting held 1/8, drafted schedule and event leads Month Event Description March Bowling Night April Education Event (Speaker from WEF) / Afterhours May Stream Cleanup (Joint Event w/ CVRAC) June Golf Lesson July Flying Squirrels Baseball Game (Joint Event w/ CVRAC) August Project Tour September Facility Tour & Happy Hour (Joint Event w/ CVRAC)
WaterJAM YP Activities – • Holding regular planning meetings (1/16 and 2/12) • Currently Planning: Poster Contest, Workshop, Service Event, Reception, Exhibit Hall Challenge (cornhole), assistance with other Exhibit Hall activities Budget/Financial Activities • Reimbursements (as of Feb 6) - $0 (East/WaterJAM); $0 (North); Committee Meeting $155 (Central) Plan of Action for next reporting period • Upcoming committee meetings: 3/13 (WaterJAM YP)
March - June
July - September
October - December
Page 2
Report to VWEA Board of Directors
TO: VWEA Board of Directors
FROM: Kathy Rabalais
DATE: February 17, 2015
Re: Report for February 24, 2015 Meeting
Tasks Completed - Finalized financial data in Quickbooks for 2014 - Submitted all financial documents and requested information to Cundiff & Associates for audit - Addressed questions related to 2014 audit (Audit is now finalized) - Prepared and mailed 1099s to anyone with an award or compensation over $600 - Provided financial data to Cundiff for the preparation of VWEA’s 2014 taxes - Inputted 2015 budget into Quickbooks - Completed 2015 SCC Filing for VWEA - Setup registration site for Stormwater and Education Conferences - Participated in WEFMAX planning call with both WEF and VWEA’s planning group o Working with VWEA volunteers finalizing details for the event including BEO’s o Monitoring registrations and room block with WEF - Developed and sent out monthly e-newsletter for January and February - Sent out emails to membership on committee events - Developed and organized 2 Leadership Training Webinars (2nd to be held on Feb. 26) - Meet with the Scholarship Committee and finalized 2015 Scholarships and updated website - Coordinated committee conference calls via Connex - Began development of new VWEA website with Your Membership o Completed 8 training modules o Set-up custom pages o Provided details for design o Participated in webinars with our project coordinator - Participated in committee conference calls - Continually updated VWEA and WaterJAM Facebook pages - Participated in WEF Membership Committee Conference Calls - Participated in WEF MA Staff Training/Planning Calls - Participated in WaterJAM Conference Calls
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- Maintained VWEA Twitter page. - Continually updated content on VWEA website - Monitored sponsor donations and followed up with past and potential sponsors - Processed check requests and invoices - Made deposits for VWEA and monitored banking accounts - Provided monthly budget vs. actuals for Committees - Inputted interest and banking fees into Quickbooks - Managed VWEA Member Roster through WEF - Mailed new member welcome packets - Prepared Board Meeting materials - Addressed members questions and inquiries promptly
Upcoming Items: - IW&P Conference – March 2 & 3 - Stormwater Conference – March 19
2 | Page
Staff Report on WEF Updates Staff Liaisons to MAs – VWEA Liaison is Linda Kelly As you may have read in the WEFLeader or other communications, WEF has created a new department called Association Engagement. The department is headed up by Tim Williams and Linda Kelly, with support from Dianne Crilley, Kelsey Hurst and Briana Berkley. Our new team has been very busy since the fall and among our activities, we have developed new goals for enhancing partnerships with our MAs and supporting your needs. Another goal is to provide each MA with a WEF contact person. This person will be your go-to liaison for any needs or ideas you might have. The list of WEF Staff Liaison to MAs is attached and you may also access this information posted on home page of the MA Resource Center. You will be receiving a personal email from your Liaison by the end of this week.
Association Engagement Team’s New Hire We are very pleased to announce Briana Berkley joined our Association Engagement Team on Feb 9th. Briana has three years of experience working with association members and volunteer leadership at the American Physical Therapy Association in an administrative capacity and also comes with accounting and financial reporting background.
WEF Student Paper Competition From time to time, WEF programs and projects are evaluated in order to determine which are meeting the fundamental goals of the organization. WEF Staff and the WEF Students & Young Professionals Committee stakeholders recently met to discuss and evaluate the WEF Student Paper Competition against the S&YP goals and other successful YP programs to determine its destiny. The Student Paper Competition has been difficult to grow and implement over the past 20 years. We have gone through three different approaches which failed to generate more submissions and higher quality papers. Both the WEF S&YPC and WEF Staff have come to a decision and are in agreement to sunset the WEF Student Paper Competition and put volunteer engagement and staff time into the WEF Student Design Competition so it continues to grow and prosper. WEF certainly appreciates the past support by MAs to this program. Although WEF will no longer host a student paper competition, the Member Associations can continue to do so at the MA level.
WEF Display Banners About 5 years ago WEF budgeted to provide each MA with a banner to use at their annual conference, seminars, meetings etc… Linda lead a discussion with those on the call to hear what works and what is difficult. Some comments captured from the call and some were shared after the call. Please continue to forward your thoughts/ideas to Dianne. Some comments brought up are provided below…
1. Some said they use their banner all the time, however they are old, a bit worn, torn and needs replacement 2. Some said their banner is out of date as their MA logo has been updated 3. Some said the photos on the banner did not reflect the image of their organization…photos should be more real showcasing the industry. 4. Banner needs some text message to explain more about the industry/organization. Craft a message that is unified. 5. Tabletop displays could offer more on strategic initiatives. Michigan created their own and will post to the MA Staff WEFCOM community. 6. Offering an 8.5 X 11 graphic for MAs to print would be welcomed. Booth Materials/Staffing a Booth – WEF will have a rep at WaterJAM! 1. Staffing the booth can be difficult for the MA 2. There has been less WEF materials sent to MA meetings than in past few years. Missing are Bill stuffers, UPP material, suggest WEF provide a one page calendar handout of WEF events, and suggest providing the MA who participated in the UPP a list of members of WEF sorted by their utility affiliation – could be helpful in knowing who the key UPP members are from the MA local area would be useful. 3. There is an effort to recycle any WEF materials left to be used at future MA events. 4. The thought is a WEF Staff person would be more valuable and experienced to talk about WEF programs at the booth than someone from the MA. 5. One MA said they would be happy for WEF to provide them a video to be added to their video scroll located in strategic areas where people would have time between events to sit and view a short WEF video. WEFCOM Communications for MAs Over the past year and half, we have heard during WEFMAX that MAs would find value in having a community where they could share information with each other. The good news - WEF is working on creating a MA Board community and a MA Committee community in WEFCOM for MAs. The MA Board community will be a private community so that MA Board members can communicate with their peers. WEF Staff Dianne Crilley will be on this community, but only as an administrator should people have user difficulty. We hope to go live with this March 1. You will be sent a message to share with your Board and Committee Chairs on the purpose and how to access their community. We look to MA Staff to help seed these communities with information and questions to help stimulate use.