General Meeting Minutes November 9, 2006

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

November 9, 2006 – Applegate Group, Inc., Denver, Colorado

Meeting Attendees

Name	Organization
Aaron Asquith	McLaughlin Rincon
Kallie Bauer	Applegate Group, Inc.
Chris Carlson	City of Loveland
Chuck Childs	Kimley-Horn
Lisa Farmer	Applegate Group, Inc.
Dawn Gladwell	Colorado Water Conservation Board
David Hollingsworth	City of Longmont
Kevin Houck – Vice Chair	Colorado Water Conservation Board
Robert Krehbiel	Matrix Design Group
Lisa Lauver	Stantec Consulting
Nancy Love	Love & Associates
David Mallory - Treasurer	Urban Drainage and Flood Control District
Deb Ohlinger - Secretary	Olsson Associates
Thuy Patton	Colorado Water Conservation Board
Holly Piza	Sellards & Grigg/SHE
John Pflaum	ASCG Inc.
Bill Schenderlein	Applegate Group, Inc.
Jason Ullman	Applegate Group, Inc.

The following is a summary of the interactions, comments and 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 and issues for further consideration. Should the attendees believe that anything might be misrepresented or misleading, please bring this to the attention of Deb Ohlinger, CASFM Secretary.

1. Introduction and welcome

2. Secretary Report – Deb Ohlinger

With Thuy Patton as proxy for Tom Browning, a quorum was present. The minutes from the September 28, 2006 meeting were distributed. The minutes were approved by a motion and a vote.

3. Treasurer Report – David Malloryts

The Treasurer’s Report was distributed. David noted that revenue is being under-run but expenses are also being under-run. The Treasurer’s report was approved by a motion and a vote. The IRS refunded the penalties it had previously assessed, with interest. It took one year to resolve the issue.

4. Regional Representatives’ Reports

No regional representatives were present.

5. Committee Reports

a) Floodplain – Kallie Bauer reported that 28 of 29 people who took the exam at the annual conference passed. The CFM review course and exam will be offered at the FEMA National Flood Conference and the 2007 Joint Arid Regions/CASFM Conference. Kevin Houck noted that the national pass rate is approximately 70%.

b) Stormwater Quality – No report was made.

c) Scholarship – Chuck Childs reported that the CASFM scholarship was awarded to Rob Rahrs at HDR Inc., who is working on a master’s degree in GIS studies. The UWRI scholarship was awarded to James Foreman, a sophomore at Colorado State University. UWRI has donated $2000 for next year. The undergraduate and graduate scholarships will continue to be advertised.

d) Outreach – Chuck Childs reported that CASFM had a booth at the Colorado Municipal League (CML) conference. He would like for more people to volunteer at the conference by either manning the booth or participating in roundtables. Onehour time slots could be available. Kevin McBride recently spoke at an ACEC conference in Steamboat Springs.

e) Membership – Chris Carlson asked whether dues will remain the same amount for 2007. They will. A discussion of whether federal employees could be members without paying dues. By a motion and a vote, it was approved that federal employees could be members without paying dues. Chuck will work with Kevin Gingery to send prospective federally-employed members a letter to inform them. Kevin Houck noted that there were 543 members prior to the conference.

f) Training – Chris Carlson reported that there will be a stream stabilization workshop January 17-18 in Greeley. He would like for it to be held at later dates in Grand Junction and Colorado Springs. CASFM will subsidize the workshop $4000. A 3- day workshop on GIS applications in HEC-RAS and HEC-HMS featuring James Doane of HEC will be held in July 2007. Thuy Patton will hold floodplain management workshops in the fall. Please let her know if there are any desired topics. There will be workshops in the spring for the State Criteria Manual, which just came out. The training programs are still being developed based on the membership survey results.

g) Website – No report was made.

h) Conference – Robert Krehbiel reported that the facilities and registration received the highest ratings; the conference went well and was on budget; approximately 205 people were registered; and there was approximately 40% attendance of the Thursday afternoon workshops.

6. 2007 Joint Arid Regions/CASFM Conference

A lot of discussion about the conference plans took place. Following are the resulting key points:

The conference will be held September 12-14 at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge. The hotel rate will be $107 per night. There will likely be an optional day of field trips on September 11th. Perhaps half-day and full-day field trips will be developed. An option would be to repeat a half-day field trip on Friday afternoon. Ideas for field trips include (1) Dillon Reservoir area, including water supply; (2) West Slope Big Thompson tour including the fire pumping plant and tunnel; (3) river restoration along the Blue River; (4) alluvial fan in Vail or Glenwood Springs, more likely Vail; (5) post-wildfire effects and flooding; and (6) kayak park in Golden, Coors Brewery, and return through Black Hawk and Central City. Scheduling the CFM review course and exam was a concern. It was decided that the conference committee could determine the most appropriate schedule.

In 2006, there were 33 presentations with approximately 200 attendees. It is thought that the presentations and attendees will both double for the 2007 conference. Additional technical sessions will be added Thursday afternoon, instead of workshops. Optional activities such as golf, river rafting, and additional technical sessions on Friday afternoon were discussed.

Keynote speaker ideas were brainstormed. It was thought that the person should be entertaining in addition to providing some technically-related information. Ideas included Nolan Doesken, State Climatologist; Mike Nelson, Channel 7 meteorologist; Glen Levy, Fort Collins Fire Chief; Grady Grammage Junior, who did a technical session at the last Arid Regions Conference about water in the West; and Justice Hobbs of Colorado. Any ideas should be forwarded to Robert.

Entertainment for the banquet was discussed. Ideas included a cowboy poet such as Baxter Black, someone from a mountaineering club, and music. Having music with a bar after the conference was another idea. If people want to network, they can also go to a Breckenridge establishment, but that could depend on the weather. The Breckenridge calendar of events should be checked for the conference dates.

The theme for the conference, based on a vote, will be “Roundup in the High Country – Gather at the Source.”

7. CASFM Magazine / Advertising Opportunities

There will be one Open Channel magazine and one self-published newsletter in 2007. Kevin would like submissions before December 15th for the self-produced newsletter to be published in January. Kevin would like some technical content for the newsletter. After discussion, it was decided that hard copies of the newsletters will continue to be mailed. The newsletter will also be posted on the website.

8. FEMA NFIP Conference

The conference will be held at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver, April 29 through May 3, 2007. The conference targets the insurance industry and expanded to include mapping and flood insurance. There is an opportunity for CASFM to participate in the 2007 conference by proctoring the CFM exam, conducting field trips, organizing a 5K run, or hosting a vendor booth. For field trips, organizers would like trips to Fort Collins, including Big Thompson canyon to show a high-risk community and its hazard mitigation and Boulder as Colorado’s most flood-prone city that is taking steps to reduce the hazards. Michelle Leach and Deb Ohlinger volunteered to develop a booth to have at the conference. Tom Browning will do a breakout session on CASFM.

People interested in helping with the conference should contact Kevin Houck. Persons/companies assisting with the conference in some way could likely have vendor space at no cost. In Philadelphia, the conference was attended by approximately 800 people.

9. Meeting Dates and Locations

The following meeting schedule was approved:

Thursday, January 11	Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, Denver, 9:00
Thursday, March 8	Fire Administration Building, City of Loveland, 9:00
Friday, May 11	Beaver Run Resort, Breckenridge, 12:00
Thursday, July 12	Sandstone Ranch, Longmont, 9:00
Thursday, September 13	Annual Conference at Beaver Run Resort, Breckenridge
Thursday, November 8	Applegate Group, Denver, 9:00

10. Other Business

Kevin Houck noted that the call for papers for the 2007 ASFPM annual conference deadline is tomorrow, November 10th. The conference is June 3-8 in Norfolk, Virginia.

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