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GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
March 13, 2003, McLaughlin Water
Engineers Offices - Denver
Meeting Attendees
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David Bennetts – UDFCD |
Peter Kozinski – Metro Rep - CDOT |
The following is a summary of the interactions, comments and future items discussed. While this summary is not
intended to represent a complete or comprehensive account of the meeting, it is intended to reflect the salient points raised or issues for further
consideration. Should the attendees believe that anything may be misrepresented or misleading, please bring this to the attention of John Hunt, CASFM Secretary.
1. Secretary Report
In the absence of John Hunt, Jeremy Franz volunteered to serve as acting
secretary. The acting secretary determined that a quorum was present at the
meeting. The minutes of the January 2003 meeting were approved without
modification.
2. Treasurer Report
The treasurer reported that $20,000 was recently transferred to an interest
bearing savings account. This will result in an APR of about 1-percent. The treasurer
asked if the association would be better served by transferring some funds into
a CD that could yield an APR of 2.2-percent. This would require that all four
board officers sign a CD form. The discussion that followed indicated
that the benefit would probably not justify the effort, so opening a CD will not
be pursued.
3. Regional Representatives Reports
Metro Region: Peter Kozinski noted that the Metro Region has already hosted one
social earlier this year. The next social is planned for on or about April 17
and may feature a presentation by ICON about the status of their CLOMR/LOMR
review contract for UDFCD/FEMA. As usual, It will most likely be held at Baby Does. There
is an upcoming BMP class to be held on April 9 that is being co-sponsored by UDFCD
and CASFM and
will include approximately 20 speakers. Nobody in attendance was able to attend
Dr. Guo’s latest detention class held at CU Denver. Peter mentioned that he is
looking into arranging a field trip this summer.
4. Committee Reports
Floodplain:
Mark Matulik, the Floodplain Committee Chair, was not in attendance. In his
absence, Kallie Sampish reported that if the association desires to provide the
CFM exam at the conference this year, there is a significant amount of
coordination and paperwork to take care of. Stuart thanked Kallie for taking the
initiative in Mark’s absence. She requested Mike Meininger’s assistance in
obtaining approval from ASFPM to proctor and administer the exam and in teaching
the refresher course. Kallie and Mike were given the go-ahead to proceed with
making the necessary preparations to provide the refresher course and exam at
the 2003 conference.
5. Workshops and Seminars
Reference was made to the BMP workshop that will be held on April 9th (see Metro
Regional Report above).
6. 2003 Conference
7. Newsletter Report
Cindy Thrush reminded the association that the full-color printing was the
reason for the increased cost of the latest newsletter. If the newsletter had
been printed with only 2 colors, the price probably would have dropped by
approximately $500. She also stated that she had attempted to save the
newsletter as a PDF file for electronic distribution, but was unsuccessful. The
main problem was the loss of formatting in the conversion. She would continue to
experiment and hopefully be successful before the next edition. Stuart suggested
that the first article for the next edition should be about the award of the
first scholarship.
8.
9. Other Items not on the Agenda
Monica Bortolini mentioned that URS was selected by the CWCB for the FEMA D-Firm
Map Modernization Pilot Project. The project focus is to determine what it takes
to update an existing FIRM into a D-FIRM. The product will likely be a protocol
for the process of updating other FIRMS. There is no re-examination of hydrology
and hydraulics with this project, it is simply and update of the map based on
existing available information. It was noted that the CWCB is currently in the
process of hiring an individual to fulfill the role of local mapping
coordinator. NEXT MEETING:
ACTION ITEMS: Kallie Sampish
and Mike Meininger
will proceed with coordination to hold the CFM review and exam at the annual
conference this year. Cindy Thrush will
contact Larry Olinger of the ASFPM Association to find out what benefits the
Association can provide for CASFM members.
Robert Krehbiel and Stuart Gardner will schedule a trip to the Hotel Colorado to see if it
is capable of handling the annual conference for a future year. Stuart Gardner
will investigate a possible group discount at the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool for
attendees of the May general meeting.
The Treasurer then noted that the checking account balance dropped from $31,000
to about $12,000 due primarily to the transfer to savings. He also noted that
the latest newsletter was more expensive than recent versions due to full color
printing, which cost approximately $2,400. The Treasurer noted that item number
4 of the treasurer’s report was over budget. The Chair offered that this item
was over budget due to late payment of an item that was in the previous year’s
budget, so it shouldn’t be a concern. The treasurer’s report was approved.
Northwest Region: Rick Dorris announced that the first northwest regional social
for his term
is planned for April 17th. The topic for discussion is the Grand Junction combined sewer
separation project with a presentation by Trent Prall.
Northeast Region: Debbie Haferman arranged a social in January that was hosted by
Andrea Faucett of Sear-Brown in Debbie’s absence. Lyle Zevenbergen of Ayres made
an excellent presentation on the graphical user interface that Ayres Associates
just finished developing for the US Army Corps of Engineers sediment transport
program, SAM. About 15 people attended this social. Debbie is investigating the
possibility of planning a summer social field trip tour of the nearly completed
Horsetooth Dam renovation project.
No other regional representatives were in attendance at the meeting.
Stormwater Quality:
Kevin McBride, the Stormwater Quality Committee Chair was not in attendance.
Scholarship:
Jeremy Franz, the Scholarship Committee Chair passed around a revised
scholarship award process and criteria memo with several modifications for the
2003/04 academic year award. The changes included decreasing the maximum number
of short listed candidates from 5 to 3, removing the option for volunteers
beyond the Scholarship Committee members to sit on the scholarship selection
committee, authorizing the CASFM chair to provide final approval of the selected
candidate in lieu of a majority vote of the entire CASFM board, and including
registration and lodging for the annual conference with the scholarship so that
the scholarship recipient can present their research to CASFM.
Further suggestions given during the meeting included presenting the 2003/04
academic year scholarship award in two checks: one for $1000 presented in
August, with the remaining $1000 presented in January/February with proof of
full time registration provided prior to each disbursal. Another clarification
was made that the previous years scholarship winner will have an invitation to
the current year's conference to make a presentation with free registration and
lodging (i.e. 2003/04 scholarship winner will be invited to the 2004 annual
conference). It remains to be determined what portion of the conference they
would participate in – technical paper, poster presentation in the vendor area, etc... The Conference Program
Chair should make this determination once an abstract is received from the
student.
The proposed changes made by the Scholarship Committee were approved with the
annotated changes to payment schedule.
Outreach:
Chris Carlson, the Outreach Committee Chair was not in attendance. However,
he asked Jeremy Franz to report that he had signed CASFM up for a roundtable at
this years CML conference, and that there is also potential for CASFM to
participate in one of several 2-hour workshops that CML is coordinating along
the Front Range.
Membership:
Kevin Gingery, the Membership Committee Chair was not in attendance. Joe
Chaplain reported in Kevin’s absence that CASFM currently has 430 members, up
from 357 at this date last year.
Two National Highway Institute (NHI) courses taught by Ayres Associates have
been arranged including the Stream Stability and Scour at Highway Bridges course
which will be held July 15-17 at Northglenn Holiday Inn (fees: $365 member $450
non-member), and the River Engineering for Highway Encroachments class (formerly
Highways in the River Environment) which will be held August 12-14, also at the
Northglenn Holiday Inn (fees: $365 member $450 non-member). For further
information, please contact Kevin Gingery.
Robert Krehbiel reported that about 5 abstracts have been received so far, and
that, as the abstract submission deadline approaches, an e-mail reminder will be
sent out to general membership for more abstracts.
One offer for a workshop recently came from George Annandale. This workshop would focus on stream stabilization. Both SEH and Ayres Associates are
considering other workshop offerings.
David Bennetts mentioned that he’s still in search of a keynote speaker,
preferably somebody who can focus on the conference theme: droughts or possibly
post-fire restoration. Monica Bortolini mentioned that URS recently put on a
whole conference focused on post-fire engineering and erosion control. She
volunteered to provide some possibilities to David.
David Bennetts is also working with Rich Ommert for field trip possibilities.
The most promising possibility to date is a tour of the Blue River restoration
project, hosted by Deb Keammerer and others.
Robert Krehbiel reported that the Conference Committee is still brainstorming
plenary session subjects and asked for leads. One possibility that was brought
up was post-fire watershed restoration. This would fit in nicely with the
conference theme, and many specialists from URS would be available to talk about
the subject.
Robert then asked about suggestions for the wording of the conference theme
decided upon at the last meeting: “I’ve Seen Fire, I’ve Seen Rain.” The
consensus favored “I’ve Seen Fire and I Haven’t Seen Rain.” Dave Bennetts
mentioned that he has been corresponding via e-mail with Joe Busto to create a
logo consistent with the theme. It should be ready soon.
The Chair asked if we should have special student pricing on the conference
registration form. Debbie Haferman suggested some percentage discount from the
regular prices for students. The Chair suggested that it would probably
complicate things if we add special rates for students. Rather, we should
probably just have a note indicating that students should call the registration chair for special
pricing. It was also noted that students might have a difficult time getting
away from school for three days for conference attendance, and therefore,
student attendees would just naturally be very low. Final decisions will be left
to the conference committee.
The issue of regular conference registration fees then came up. It was still
uncertain whether or not the conference would actively accommodate partial registration
(one- or two-day). It is feared that, if allowed, many people will utilize a
partial registration option this year due to the proximity of the conference to
Denver, and that the conference may not be self-sufficient financially. The
Chair suggested that there could be three levels of registration: early,
regular and late with full fees of $220, $260, and $300 respectively. Individual
daily fees could be $100 for Wednesday, $140 for Thursday and $65 for Friday for
early, with commensurate increases for regular and late.
Kallie Sampish and Rick Dorris brought up the point that $220 is still very inexpensive for a
three day conference. David Hollingsworth made the point that partial
registration will make payment of the hotel very difficult because the bill for
food is based on some percentage of the number of attendees. If we have a
different number of attendees for each day, it will make the bill and payment
three times more complicated. Cindy Thrush also brought up the point that
admission to meals would have to be regulated more strictly. There would need to
be different types of nametags for different levels of registration and so
forth. Robert Krehbiel said that the conference committee would consider all of
the options and provide a decision by the May general meeting. The Chair agreed
that discussion about the subject should remain open, but that the bottom line
is that $220 is very inexpensive and most people should be able to justify the
fee, even if they aren’t able to attend the entire conference.
Kallie requested that the conference committee reserve a room for the Tuesday
before the conference for the CFM review class. Also, the registration material
should be very explicit about the fact that payment of fees for the CFM exam
should go directly to ASFPM. Jamie Cribbs then clarified that people who just
want to take the CFM exam don’t have to register for the conference too. The
schedule for the CFM review class and exam will be similar to that held last
year: the 4-hour review class will be held on Tuesday afternoon and the 3-hour
exam will be held on Wednesday morning from 7-10am.
David Krickbaum brought up the subject of vendor fees. Last year, they were
$200/day for both members and non-members. In addition to the fee, a donation
was suggested to support the happy hour socials. This topic was discussed
briefly, but the bottom line was that $200/day was below average compared to the
industry standard. It was suggested that vendor fees be increased to $250/day
for members and $300/day for non-members. Vendors are still not required to
register for the conference, but the option is open for them.
Stuart distributed copies of a letter sent to him from the Chair of the Illinois
Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management (IAFSM). The letter urged
CASFM to make a donation to the ASFPM foundation. Any donation made by CASFM
will be matched by IAFSM. Discussion of the possibility of a donation then
ensued. It was determined that more information about possible benefits that the
ASFPM Foundation provides to CASFM membership should be determined before a
donation could be considered. Cindy Thrush will contact Larry Olinger, The ASFPM
foundation chair, to find out more information and report her findings at the
May meeting.
Stuart brought up the point that several offices in the association are being
term-limited out this year, including Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and several
regional representatives. He asked
members to consider if they would like to serve in one of these positions.
Elections will be held prior to the Annual Conference.
The Chair requested that the Secretary to include the organization of meeting attendees in
the minutes for future minutes.
The next meeting will be held on Friday, May 2nd at the Hotel Colorado in
Glenwood Springs. No RSVPs will be required for this meeting. It was decided to
start the meeting at
noon and will include a working lunch. Stuart volunteered to investigate possible group discounts for admission
to the Hot Springs Pool for meeting attendees.