Suncoast Branch Minutes of the January 25, 2012 Meeting Attendees:
Ferdie Barnard Stantec Bret Bennett RS&H Alex Boudreau Sarasota County Steve Bothast Sarasota County John Brown North Port Isaac Brownman Sarasota County Sal DePaolis Sarasota County John Eash Atkins Charles Fouquet Sarasota Harry Glaze Retired David Hammer AGT Chris Hauber Sarasota County Karen Johnson SPWA Sharon Lappin Ayres Larry Mau CardnoTBE Bob Obering Retired Chris Pecor CDM Smith Dorian Popescu DMK Tom Pugh Greeley & Francis Schwartz LMK Pipe Renewal Hanson Randy Shane Pavement Chris Sharek Atkins Management Clay Tappan CDM Smith Richard Uptegraff Atkins Jarivette Velez Atkins Bill Vest North Port Mike Vestrand Atkin Tom Wilcox HDR Roy Lessig Sarasota County Doug Epley Sarasota County Bob Stanley DMK Brent Morris Ayres Carolyn Steves RS&H Bill Steves RS&H
The Suncoast Branch Meeting of APWA was called to order by Chairman Chris Sharek at 7:35 a.m.
Guests: Brent Morris, Ayres Associates Bob Stanley, DMK Bret Bennett, RS&H
District Representative:
Tom Wilcox reported the following:
The quarterly Florida Chapter Executive Board meeting was held in Tampa January 20 and 21, 2012, and one of the drives is trying to build membership in APWA. He advised that membership applications can be obtained by going to APWA.net or the Florida Chapter’s website. Wilcox mentioned that Cheech DeCelles also spoke about increasing membership.
Wilcox advised that Herb Raybourn of the International Affairs Committee of APWA requested the support of the Florida Chapter. There are opportunities to travel internationally in the Global Solutions in Public Works Program. Information can be obtained at APWA.net under Global Development. There are tours planned to Mexico and Finland.
Wilcox advised that Rohland Bryant, Education and Training Committee, proposed bringing training to the branches and on line.
Rick Keeney, Chapter Treasurer, gave a presentation from the Nominating Committee of the Florida Chapter 2012 – 2013 incoming officers:
President: Chris Evers President Elect: Dale Haas Vice-President: Russell Ketchem Secretary: Althea Parrish Treasurer: Rick Keeney House of Delegates: Doug Layton House of Delegates Immediate Past- Alternate: Mark Juliano President: Kim Kirby
National Public Works Week – May 20 – 26, 2012
In preparation for the 2012 APWA Annual Meeting & Trade Show, April 2 – 6, 2012 in Tampa, there is a contest to see which District Representative can collect the most proclamations in their respective district. To date, the 2012 National Public Works Week theme has not been announced. When the theme is received, letters will be emailed with a sample proclamation attached to all of the cities, towns, and villages around the state of Florida asking them to submit their proclamations to be displayed at the Annual Meeting & Trade Show. District Representatives will be copied when the email is sent so they may begin making contact with the managers of their local public entities.
The Florida Chapter has $12K for Scholarships this year because of the many donations received from the branches. The Chapter currently has $238K in the Scholarship Trust.
A presentation was made by a representative of Raymond James.
Nominations for the PACE Awards are due now.
Longevity Pins were presented to the following APWA Members:
Doug Dobbs, City of Bradenton 5 Years Judy DeFabbio, City of Venice 5 Years Tom Woodward, City of Bradenton Beach 5 Years Bill Vest, City of North Port 10 Years Ben Newman, City of North Port 20 Years Harry Glaze, Retired 25 Years
Announcements:
Carolyn Steves reported that she is Co-Chair of the Sponsorship Committee for the Trade Show and brought sponsorship packages to the meeting for those firms interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at the Trade Show. Karen Johnson advised that she also had sponsorship packages. Steves also announced that the March 28, 2012 APWA meeting will be a Joint Meeting of the West Coast Branch and Suncoast Branch and will be held at the Rosedale Country Club at 7:30 a.m. Speaker for this meeting will be Ed Hunzeker, Manatee County Administrator.
Sarasota Public Works Academy (SPWA):
Karen Johnson reported that the Academy’s Calendar and Newsletter will be going out soon. She advised of new dates for upcoming classes as follows:
Trenching and Shoring Class - March 27, 2012 Intermediate MOT - April 30 and May 1, 2012 Project Management Class has been moved to May 3 and 4, 2012 Advanced MOT and Refresher AMOT – End of May or early June, 2012 Collection and Distribution classes as advertised previously.
Scholarships:
Dorian Popescu advised that two Scholarship Applications for Class C Wastewater Collection classes were received. These scholarship awards cover their registration fees in the amount of $629.93 each for the following applicants:
Jesse Ray Hellard Michelle Bogusz
Golf Tournament:
Dorian Popescu reported that the following firms have not paid their commitment to sponsorship of the 2011 APWA Suncoast Branch Scholarship Golf Tournament:
Zep Construction, Inc. $1,000 Stantec 450 Stanley Consultants 100 Greenhorne & O'Mara 100 McLeod Land Services 125 Superior Asphalt 125 TOTAL $1,900
Treasurer’s Report:
Bill Steves reported the following:
Checking Account $5,033.66 Scholarship Account 3,870.20 Petty Cash 40.00 Total $8,943.86 Speakers:
Valerie Ciudad-Real, President, and Christie Artura-Klammer, Communications Specialist, The Valerin Group (VGI), spoke on the importance of implementing public participation programs for community awareness for both the public and private sectors. VGI provides a qualified, professional resource for clients looking for superior public relations support and effective communication skills. VGI offers its expertise in public relations, business development, media relations, community awareness, public involvement, public information, government affairs, technical writing and web site development.
Prize:
50/50 $18.00 won by Randy Shane who contributed it to Suncoast Branch Scholarship Fund.
Meeting adjourned at 8:35 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn G. Steves Secretary APWA Suncoast Branch