Minutes of SWANA Rocky Mountain Chapter Monthly Board of Directors Meeting

11:30 am, December 18, 2007, Wynkoop Brewery, 1684 18th ST, Denver, CO 80202

ATTENDANCE:

Present: Kathy Andrew*, Debby Barton, John Briest, Roger Doak, Stephen Gillette, Susie Gordon*, Neil Nowak, Dick Sprague, Cathryn Stewart, Tom Schweitzer, Tom Strickland

Absent:

Others Present: Ron Resseguie, Jason Savoie

Attendance Notations: * - Member arrived after meeting called to order

** - Member left before meeting ended

Minutes are in the order of the agenda and not necessarily in order of discussions.

CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order at 11:46 as 10 of 11 directors present for a quorum. Stewart arrived just as agenda was adopted.

MINUTES:

November Board meeting minutes were previously approved.

ADOPTION OF AGENDA:

Sprague/Gordon moved/seconded to adopt the modified agenda. Motion carried unanimously.

TREASURER:

Gillette reported that the checking balance is $11,283.48, savings balance is $18,419.80 with anticipated payment of interest in January 2008, and the e & t-loan balance with national SWANA is $16,153.25. There are no outstanding checks and all of 2007 bills are accounted for and paid.

COMMITTEE REPORTS and ASSIGNMENTS:

Membership: Andrew reported there are 2 new members. She will send out welcome letters to the new members. The directory was sent to all members and was well received. Discussion held on updating the directory. Andrew willing to send out addendum pages but the consensus at this time is to update during the annual meeting. Comments have been received that members are getting too much email from National.

Technical Program/Meetings:

Technical Program: Barton invited Geotech representatives to the luncheon to discuss the February 20, 2008, technical program approach. Ron Resseguie and Jason Savoie discussed the meeting location and the potential training. This would not be a sales presentation as they would use anyone’s equipment for discussion. Gas meter monitoring and basic maintenance issues could be completed in an hour. Ground water monitoring would take much longer as there are variables on the types of monitoring conducted in the state: manual balers, low-flow, dedicated pump systems and a combination. Doak requested that the class would include baler care, decontamination procedures, use of the baler, how to take samples, and issues on chain of custody. He stated that many rural landfill operators are often with the Road and Bridge crews so have many other duties. Consensus was to have the class begin at 10 am and end at 2:30 pm and would include lunch. Costs would be minimal at $15 for members and $25 for non members. Comments on additional items for the program should be to Barton by Thursday, 20 December 2007. Doak will work with Geotech and Barton to address priority concerns.

Annual Meeting: Strickland is the chair for the program. He reported that the membership survey indicated a request to improve the website calendar, allow for online payments, and include advertising or advertising links on the website. The time and location for the 2008 annual meeting will be made at the January 2008 Board meeting.

Educational Scholarship/Grants: Discussion was held on the criteria for the awarding of scholarships for professional development as there had been concerns about the scholarships being used as a member only benefit or used to encourage membership. An additional concern was raised as to whether the first year of annual dues should also be included in the scholarship consideration. National SWANA is working towards a membership drive. Ron Resseguie asked if the Board had considered having a private company sponsor dues for scholarship recipients. Consensus was reached that if two scholarship applications were received, member would receive a preference. Consensus reached that the purpose of the scholarships was for professional development with encouragement for non members to become members. Ron Resseguie asked if SWANA had a corporate membership. Sprague reported that this is an ongoing discussion at National level to have corporate memberships but at this time, membership is individual with two rates, one for public and one for private. Discussion held that scholarships should not exceed more than 50% award to non members. No consensus was reached on budgetary percentages. Gordon and Doak will review the current language on the scholarship application and make recommendations for any changes. Consensus reached that the program should not be excessively tight to limit granting of scholarships to individuals desiring professional development. One comment received that we need to find a way to reach out to non members to let them know of training availability as well as available scholarship funds for training.

Nominations: Tom Schweitzer was formally welcomed to the Board of Directors. As Leonard Butler has resigned from the Board due to his move to Scottsdale, Arizona, there is a vacancy on the chairmanship for the nominating committee. Per the Bylaws, the past president serves as the chairman. Further discussion on this will be held at a later date. Strickland reported that Lars Williams with the city and county of Denver will be talking to his superiors about the possibility of serving on the Board or serving as the liaison for the Board for the Colorado Road-E-O committee.

Legislative: As Gordon had to leave at 12:44 pm, Nowak provided the information. Two national bills are pending which may have some local impact. The first is the Climate Change Legislation which has advanced to the Senate Committee and will include Landfill Gas Projects. The second involves the Surface Transportation Board (STB) actions pertaining to rail/solid waste facilities. Nowak volunteered to serve as the private sector representative on the Legislative committee.

International Board: Sprague is awaiting minutes from the IB board meeting in October and will provide a summary to the Board members when he receives them. He did report that National SWANA will be offering $20 rebate for all new members as an incentive for chapters to increase membership.

Web site/Webmaster: All postings current up to the middle of November. Recommended changes needed to the website include adding a site search engine as we have several years of presentations on the site, improving the calendar of events for ease of access, changing the advertising to be upfront without being intrusive and adding on-line payment. Gillette will check with the Chapter’s bank about receipt of on-line payments or the possibility of setting up on-line payment for the benefit of the chapter. Most on-line payments charge around 3%. National SWANA will also need to be checked in to as they also offer on-line payment for registration for events. Consensus reached to continue with the existing contract. Briest and Doak will work on getting an updated contract prepared and signed. Four advertisers will be taken off the site as they have not paid; however, KRW is considering becoming an advertiser. Ron Resseguie stated he is willing to add a link from Geotech to Colorado Swana website.

Newsletter: Newsletter articles must be to Sprague no later than 14 January 2008. The current article assignments:

President’s Corner: Briest

Annual Meeting Wrap Up (Strickland and Stewart volunteered to write the article)

WasteCon Brief: (Gordon will write as a part of her stipend as a Board representative)

Upcoming Technical Meeting: (Barton assigned for the February session). Suggestion made to include researching ideas for two more sessions.

Website: Doak

Financial/Treasurer: Gillette

CDPHE Regulatory: Doak

New & Departing Board Members and Membership: Andrew. Talk about Leonard Butler’s promotion. Addition of Tom Schweitzer

Scholarship Article: Edmiston will be requested to submit a short article as part of the condition of her scholarship.

Road-E-O: Article will include plans for the 2008 Road-E-O, request for committee members and discussing the results of the Colorado winner’s standing at the national Road-E-O.

National News (if any): Sprague

OLD BUSINESS:

Road-E-O: All 2007 bills and income reconciled. Gillette recommended that future 2008 events have money given to the subcommittee for bills and they account for income and bills and provide the “profit” to the chapter for our accounting. He verified with an accountant that this is okay with accounting and tax laws. There is a need for a liaison from the board to serve on the 2008 Road-E-O committee. If Lars Williams from the city and county of Denver is able to serve, by consensus he would be designated as the liaison.

Geotechnical Stakeholder Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for 9 January 2008 at CDPHE. There will be a draft document sent out on CQA for the group to review.

Proctoring SWANA Exams: The Wyoming request did not bear fruit as an individual was found to proctor the exam for the requestor. Strickland/Gillette moved/seconded to table discussion on holding an exam day. Motion carried.

Next Board Meeting: The next Board meeting will be the third Tuesday of January, 15 January 2008, at 7 am at the Egg and I at 6818 S Yosemite.

ADJOURNMENT:

Gillette/Doak moved/seconded to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 1:12 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Barton
Secretary

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