Common Ground of Nebraska

Common Ground of Nebraska (CGN) Meeting Minutes

October 30, 2012 10am – 2pm Transcanada Office 13701 FNB Parkway Suite 300 Omaha, NE 68154

Hosted and Lunch Provided by Rob Lattimer, Transcanada

Attendees: 21

Clark Conklin, State Fire Marshal Craig Maline, USIC Dan Maschka, Northern Natural Gas Dan Miller, Mid American Energy Dave Stroebele, MUD Doug Douglas, Source Gas Eric Melcher, City of Aurora Gary Brakhahn, ATC Communications Jerry Jacobsen, Kinder Morgan Jill Geyer, Digger's Hotline of Nebraska John Buckley, OPPD Lance Loschen, City of Lincoln Wastewater Systems Lanna Machmuller, SourceGas Nathan Dyson, Digger's Hotline of Nebraska Nathan Stewart, Black Hills Energy Randy Evans, Norris Public Power Rob Latimer, Transcanada Keystone Scott Reissig, Roloff Construction Stephen Lucas, State Fire Marshal Susan Lynch, One Call Concepts Val Snyder, Kinder Morgan

Dan Maschka called meeting to order at 10:00 am

Industry Highlight: Susan Lynch, from One Call Concepts, provided the industry highlight. As of November 1, 2012 One Call Concepts is the new vendor for the Diggers Hotline of Nebraska Call Center. Susan provided a general overview of each stakeholder’s responsibility in the One Call process. She also provided training on the new system (ITIC) for entering locate tickets online. Highlights of the new system include: Mapping- two mapping systems are available for checking location in addition to OCC maps; new headers added to clarify type of ticket; tickets can be refreshed from a smart phone; Omaha metro phone number is no longer in use. Topics:  Comments/Corrections from previous minutes. Phil Bentz has been unavailable possibly due to personal family issues thus the minutes from the 9/5/12 meeting are incomplete. Additions /correction will be made upon his return. Partial minutes were provided by Jill Geyer.  Membership: Jill Geyer discussed the decision to wait until the new website is up and running within the next month to introduce the site to new and current members as well as to update current member information and confirm interest in continuing as a member. Current members will be directed via email to an interactive online form in order to do so. For prospective members, an email would be sent introducing them to CGN, giving reasons why they should consider members, asking if they are interested in membership and if so, how they might contribute i.e. meeting facility, monetary donation, committee work, event partnership, etc. Discussion from the group included the idea to incorporate a follow up call to discuss member and contributions further.  Task Groups: o Website development/logo – Nathan Dyson, Lanna Machmuller – . New Logo: Nate Dyson passed around copies of 4 variations of the new logo to consider. Discussion as a group as to how it should look. A swoosh was included in reference to the national CGA group’s logo; the shape of the state of Nebraska was removed in the final revision request; some color revisions were requested as well. Nate will take the requests back to the graphic designer and come up with a final logo. . Website: Squarespace is the host provider that Nate proposed for the new website. They provide for the use of analytics as well as documents, photos, forms, streamed social media and member email. Nate provided a demonstration of the site for the group. CGN could have unlimited administrative rights for $16/mo or 1 administrator for $8/mo. Jerry Jorgensen from Kinder Morgan offered to sponsor Squarespace as a provider for unlimited administrative rights; Susan Lynch and Jill Geyer volunteered to co-administer the site. . Domain Registration: Dave Stroebele with MUD offered to sponsor the domain for the first 10 years for $10/year. Nate will register the domain name with the URL “ne-cga.com”. The group decided previously that this was the name closest to Common Ground Nebraska that was available.  Old Business:

o Scholarship Proposal: will be discussed at the next meeting

o Nebraska One Call New Vendor Update

. John Buckley has overseen the transition to the new vendor which has gone well. Cutover is planned for 11/1/12. o By-Laws: Changes are being considered. Members are asked to review the by- laws and suggest any necessary changes.

o Officers: The following officers have agreed to serve. Phil Bentz may be questionable as noted previously.

. Dan Maschka, Chairman . Lance Loschen, Co-Chairman . Lanna Machmuller, Treasurer . Jill Geyer, Membership Director . Phil Bentz, Secretary . Jerry Jacobsen, Program/Meeting Director  New Business o CGA project to produce a PSA for the pipeline industry – Dan . Attachment outlining the different PSA’s that are available was passed around and discussed. Dan requested that members tell him if they support the use of these PSAs for those that know about 811 but still don’t call before they dig. Discussion was that there is a need for this awareness; recent specific case cited. o Treasury Review – Lanna Machmuller . Lanna gave an overview of the current state of funds and noted that the group has relied heavily on donations from Northern Natural Gas in the past and on grants for most projects.  Open Discussion: Strategy Planning Session and Goals o Grant Review and Assignments . 2013 Grant must be applied for by 12/12/12 thus two grants will occur at once since the 2012 grant was awarded later than usual – 8/2012 – and must be completed by September 2013. . Eric Melcher – member of NE Rural Water Association noted that this group has workshops and conferences throughout the year with which the CGN could partner if allowed in the grant. This should be researched to find out what proof is needed in order for this to work i.e. how activities should be documented in order to get reimbursed under the grant and how the grant must be requested in order to partner with the NRWA and other groups. . Project 1: White Flag and Flyer Distribution  Chairperson: Jill Geyer  Volunteers: Jerry Jacobsen, Craig Maline  Suggestion that it be done around Arbor Day . Project 2: Underground Safety Summit  Suggestion that it move locations each year in order to reach different groups; held previously in Kearney; LaVista was suggested for 2013 o John Buckley will offer himself and 2 others as volunteers if it’s held in the Omaha area  Chairperson: Nathan Stewart  Volunteers: Scott Reissig, Rob Lattimer, Dan Miller  Safety Vests – Val and Jill have several left over from previous event  Lanna has info on tshirts  Suggestion that it be held in off season to improve attendance  Suggestion that there is a need for session on accurate tickets and a roundtable forum  Suggestion: avoid NRWA conference and pipeline seminar  Suggestion: allow for completion of continuing education hours; agenda and brochure needed to qualify; groups needing hours are rural water, well-drillers, trenching and shoring . Project 3: Underground Locator Workshops  Chairperson: Susan Lynch  Volunteers: Craig Maline, Val Snyder  Craig Maline offered to supply White paint for this and excavator workshops . Project 4: Public Education  Educational Mailing o Chairperson: Rob Lattimer o Volunteers: Lanna Machmuller, Dan Maschka, Dan Miller, Michelle – Dan’s office  Billboard Advertising o Chairperson: Lanna Machmuller o Volunteers: Jerry Jacobsen, Dave Stroebele  Radio Advertising: o Chairperson: Dan Maschka o Volunteers: Lance Loschen, Jill Geyer, Nathan Stewart  Regional Excavator Breakfasts o Chairperson: Jill Geyer o Volunteers: Susan Lynch, Val Snyder

 Next Meeting will be held after the Excavator Breakfast planned for 12/4 in North Platte at the Quality Inn Sandhills Convention Center, 10 -2.