Small Cities/Rural Communities Meeting Summary

SMALL CITIES/RURAL COMMUNITIES MEETING SUMMARY

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Room 208B, Anaheim Convention Center

Anaheim, CA

Present: Andy Haney, Outgoing Chair Scott Brandmeier, Incoming Chair

Bo Mills, Board Liaison Stan Brown, Member

Don Bruey, Member Bob Lowry, Member

Ann Daniels, Staff Liaison

Guests: Herb Blomquist, Edmond, OK Larry Hummel, Lawrence, MI

Chris Davies, Lewiston, ID Kris Dimmick, Watertown, NY

Robin Bobzien, Aberdeen, SD

Absent: Geoff Benway, Member George Haines, Member

1. The Small Cities/Rural Communities Committee meeting was called to order by Andy Haney, Outgoing Chair, at 8:30 a.m. in the Anaheim Convention Center on August 26, 2012, the opening day of the APWA Congress and Exposition. The Roster of members for the 2012-2013 year was reviewed for any needed additions or corrections.

2. New Committee member, Bob Lowry, and new Board Liaison, Bob Mills, were introduced to those present, as well as guests who had come to sit in.

3. Elizabeth Treadway, APWA President, joined the group and thanked them for their service and dedication to promoting public works.

4. By General Consent, the meeting summary for the July 12, 2012 conference call was approved as printed.

5. Each of the three guaranteed education sessions to be presented throughout the week during Congress was reviewed as follows:

 Stan Brown reported he and the two speakers joining him were ready to present the topic “Building Community Support for Public Works”.  Don Bruey agreed to make the presentation developed by George Haines, “A Message to My Boss” since George was unable to participate.

 Andy Haney and all committee members will be presenting “Hot Topics for Small Cities/Rural Communities” using the discussion items presented at the Town Hall Meeting.

6. Andy Haney, Outgoing Chair for the past two years and a member of the committee for many years before it became an actual committee, turned the remainder of the agenda over to Scott Brandmeier, Incoming Chair. Scott thanked Andy for his efforts for the many years of his involvement and congratulated him on his appointment to the Government Affairs Committee. A small token of appreciation was presented to Andy on behalf of the committee members.

7. Scott Brandmeier led the group in a final review of the Business Plan for 2012-2013.

Bob Lowry asked that an additional item be added as 1.13 which encourages small cities/rural communities to conduct the APWA Self Assessment program to improve their operations and management and to support the agency to move forward to becoming Accredited.

By General Consent, the Business Plan for 2012-2013, was adopted and will be available on the SC/RC web pages.

Additional discussion and review of items in the Business Plan was held as follows:

* Topics and speakers/panelists will be required to be developed and submitted for the three guaranteed education sessions to be presented in August, 2013 in Chicago

* Authors/Topics for the monthly SC/RC article in the APWA Reporter will be solicited from those who participate in the Town Hall Meeting to be held on Tuesday morning.

 Topics/Presenters for the quarterly Town Hall On-Line Calls were discussed as follows:

Don Bruey will present the first session on the topic “Hiring the Right People”

In October.

Scott Brandmeier and others will present a session on the proposed EPA

Stormwater regulations when they are announced. Two remaining topics and dates will be solicited from the Town Hall meeting.

 Discussion was held concerning the development of the Tool Kit for Advocacy.

Stan Brown agreed to serve as the Chair for a working group which will develop template letters, make suggestions, and offer input to a Tool Kit for members from Small Cities/Rural Communities which will assist them in making contacts with their own state legislators, as well as the local staff persons for their federal legislators with the goal in mind of making the needs of small cities/rural communities and the large number of such agencies, a issue of major importance to the elected officials. Others at the Town Hall meeting will be invited to participate in this group.

 The Model Outreach program was also discussed. This program is designed to encourage local public works directors from small cities/rural communities to make personal contact, informally, with their peers in nearby cities. Suggestions are to invite them to come for coffee and donuts or a Dutch treat lunch and discuss the issues and needs common to each of them. The emphasis will be to develop a connection with these individuals who may not be members of APWA and to share the benefits of membership without pushing membership by inviting them to participate in a Click, Listen & Learn, sharing information about training opportunities, etc.

Much interest was shown in working towards this goal with many suggestions made for promoting outreach to elected officials by informal lunch invitations, annual breakfast meeting to share needs,

Shawn Hartness and Matt Taylor, Union Township, OH will be helping to develop the template that could be used by members in their own area, along with others from the Town Hall Meeting who have an interest in participating.

8. Committee members reviewed the final draft of the Project of the Year Award for Small Cities/Rural Communities which has been approved by the APWA Board of Directors. The purpose of this program is to recognize agencies from small cities/rural communities/rural counties which had completed a project that has made a lasting impact on their community, regardless of the financial investment in the project.

By General Consent, an article will be written for the APWA Reporter to share information about the award and to encourage participation in the 2013 application process.

9. The Agenda and plans for the Town Hall Meeting to be held on Tuesday morning from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. were discussed. The format includes a continental breakfast. This year the room will be set in a large hollow square to enable every to see and hear better. Individuals will be asked to share their items of concern or hot topics, to volunteer to write an article for the Reporter, to participate in an education session for next year, to join the working group for the Tool Kit for Advocacy and the Model Outreach program.

Invitations were sent to 320 members registered for Congress and almost one hundred accepted the invitation.

10. By General Consent, the regular conference call for the committee will continue to be held on the first Thursday of each month at 10:00 a.m. Central time beginning on October 4, 2012.

11. With no further items to be discussed, Scott adjourned the meeting at 8:55 a.m.