Call to Order

Chair Eileen Koutelas called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m

Roll Call                                 Present                                   Absent

Chair                                       Eileen Koutelas

Past-Chair                                                                               Dan McCarthy

Director                                   Jerald Robnett

Chair-Elect                              Ken Zielke

2^nd year Trustee                        Gerald Blain

2^nd year Trustee                        Don Gray

2^nd year Trustee                                                                        Dick Pedrotti

1^st year Trustee                        David Glenn

1^st year Trustee                        Iraj Pourmirza

1^st year Trustee                        Kevin Rood

Sec-Treasurer                         Richard Porter

Section Manager                      Karen Ford

Committee Chairs/Guests:  Patti Adams, Rex Heape and Tom Schrempp.

Chair Eileen Koutelas welcomed various committee chairs and expressed appreciation for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend.

Minutes of the Previous Board Meeting

Minutes of the previous Board meeting on December 1, 2000 were approved after a motion by Trustee Don Gray and a second by Trustee Gerald Blain.

Treasurer’s Report

Secretary-Treasurer Richard Porter presented the Treasurer’s Report for dates ending December 31, 2000, and February 27, 2001.   As of December 31, 2000, the KsAWWA account balance was $ 69,285.27, with $11,540.58 in the two Intrust accounts and $57,744.69 in CDs.  As of February 27, 2001, the account balance was $64.959.07, with $7,214.38 at Intrust and $57,744.69 in CDs.  Trustee Jerald Robnett made a motion for approval, Trustee David Glenn seconded the motion, and the Treasurer’s Report was approved.

Director’s Report

Director Robnett advised the Board of the following actions by the Administration and Policy Council:  Some amendments were disapproved and sent back to the Policy Council; there are now three membership categories (Individual, Service Provider and Utility), and dues increased from $99 to $103; approved the Accreditation Program for water and wastewater which will take about five years to develop and will foster closer relationships with WEF; approved Water for People as AWWA’s Charity of Choice; approved an E-marketplace partnership between AWWA and a Boston-based firm to cut procurement costs $6 billion annually, streamline and do away with purchase orders;  approved the 2001-2004 AWWA Business Plan with a 2001 budget of $32 million, including  capital expense of $1.9 million for the business plan and a budget that reaches $42 million by 2004 and a net income of $512,000; announced a “Water Matters” Rally in Washington, D.C. at the Annual Conference on Wednesday, June 20^th, on the steps of the Capitol and an award at the Conference to Colby, Kansas for fifty years of service to the water industry.  The next meeting of the Administration and Policy Council will be at the Annual Meeting.

Discussion followed concerning AWWA’s E-commerce proposal.  Secretary-Treasurer Porter and Publications Committee Chair, Patti Adams, expressed reservations about the E-marketplace plan and urged further contact with AWWA regarding the effect on and potential loss of small vendors.  Adams provided copies for the record of a February 13, 2001 position memo from Edward W. Morrison, Jr., of Heartland Waterworks Supply to WASDA members regarding AWWA’s website, EfficientUtilities.com.

Chair’s Report 

Chair Koutelas reminded Trustees and Committee chairs of the March 8^th Teleconference at the KU Overland Park campus, for which 25 are pre-registered.  She also referenced fundraising for Water for People, corrections on the June 1 meeting at the Wichita Water Plant, and provided a list of 2002 AWWA Awards for which nominations are due October 1, 2001.  Nominations are solicited for the Abel Wolman Award of Excellence, the Award of Merit, the Distinguished Public Service Award, the Honorary Member Award, the Outstanding Service to AWWA Award and the Water Industry Hall of Fame Award.  A list of these awards and criteria will also be on the web page.

Committee Reports

Budget Committee

Committee Chair Porter announced he would finish this report and email next week for possible discussion at the June 2 meeting in Wichita.

Conference Arrangements

Chair-Elect Zielke announced that there will be a 50s dance on Wednesday night, at a school south of Salina, with transportation provided.  There will also be a trap shoot and bowling.  Discussion followed concerning the possibility of utility display booths and charges for such displays, and there will be tables draped and available for an Information Exchange. OTC members have been appointed to the Conference Committee, and an Awards Committee is being formed as part of the Operator Meritorious Awards Committee for next year.

Operator Training Committee

Committee Chair Rex Heape advised that the committee met February 16^th in Emporia and since October 1,2000, they have held three more workshops, with one rescheduled for May 23-24.  He announced that the new Distribution System manual would be published in mid March at a cost of $35 per manual.  Each workshop costs $40 per person, with the local host receiving two complimentary manuals and attendance to compensate for expenses such as coffee, donuts and audio-visual equipment.  The host city also handles mailing and recruits people, but Committee Chair Heape recommended that the Committee should retain control over these workshops for now.  Discussion followed about costs and how to reduce them.

Discussion continued regarding Board support for the Top Ops Contest at $100 last year per contestant.  The Committee asked the Board to contribute $250 this year to cover the higher costs of going to D.C.  Trustee Gray moved and Secretary-Treasurer Porter seconded the motion to pay $250 each for three members this year, but to revisit the cost next year, and the motion passed.

Publications Committee

Committee Chair Patti Adams passed out guidelines, specifications and an advertising schedule for Solution H2O advertisers.  The Committee is now requiring digital ads to save costs, and estimates that each newsletter will cost $1,5000, which is about half the former cost (excluding layout).  In addition, the Committee is exploring the possibility of a not-for-profit bulk permit to further reduce costs for newsletter and conference program mailing.  Finally, the Committee will survey the membership this June to improve communication, and would like to make this an annual survey.

Membership Committee

Membership Committee Chair Porter reported 706 current members and advised that retention of members needs to be emphasized along with recruitment of new members.  To that end, he re-emphasized the need to contact AWWA regarding the potential harm to WASDA members by E-commerce and moved to send a letter to AWWA Executive Director Jack Hoffbuhr opposing AWWA’s new program.  Trustee Iraj Pourmirza seconded the motion, which was approved.  Committee Chair Adams will write the letter and send to Chair Koutelas to incorporate comments from the Board.

Old Business

1. KETS – Discussion followed regarding request to provide KETS with $500 for their training calendar, which was also published by the KDHE Nebraska Coalition. Noting that the request was denied last year, no action was taken.
2. Association Management Contract and Responsibilities – Chair Koutelas outlined the contract and responsibilities of Ford Management Services and opened the floor for questions or discussion.  None followed.
3. Strategic Plan Update – Chair Koutelas responded for Ron Parker, who updated the organization chart from 1999 and incorporated comments from the October groups, goals for membership, etc.  Trustee Gerald Blain moved to approve the updated version, Chair-Elect Ken Zielke seconded and the motion passed. 
4. Section Assessment – Chair Koutelas advised that Ron Parker suggested a subcommittee look at this and she named Secretary-Treasurer Porter, Trustee Gray and Chair-Elect Zielke to provide a recommendation at the June 2 meeting.
5. Annual Kansas Section luncheon – This year, the luncheon at the Annual Conference will be Monday, June 18, at the Rayburn House Office Building from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m., and the cost will go up to $25.  Past Chair Dan McCarthy will seek ten contributions from vendors for $100 each.  National Conference Attendance by KsAWWA Management - Trustee Blain moved to pay airfare, hotel and meals for Section Manager Karen Ford at the Washington, D. C. Conference (registration for a section representative is provided by AWWA).  Trustee Gray seconded, and the motion passed.

New Business

1. Revised Administrative Guidelines – Chair Koutelas reported for Committee Chair Ron Parker that administrative guidelines for all committees were updated, in addition to guidelines for the new Young Professionals Committee.  Secretary-Treasurer Porter moved that the guidelines be approved, Trustee Gray seconded, and the motion passed. 
2. Regional Officer’s Training – Chair Koutelas reported that this meeting will be held in St. Louis, May 3-5.  Chair-Elect Zielke moved that the Section pay up to $300 for Board Officers and Committee Chairs to attend.  The motion was seconded by Secretary-Treasurer Porter and passed.
3. Board Liaisons to Committees – Chair Koutelas appointed the following persons as liaisons:  Trustee Porter to Customer Service Committee; Chair Koutelas to the Diversity Committee:  Past Chair McCarthy to Legislative Research Committee; Chair Koutelas to Young Professionals Committee; Trustee Blain to Scholarship Committee and Chair-Elect Zielke to the Local Host Committee.
4. Legislative Research Committee Chair Tom Schrempp discussed the proposal to trade out a sales tax exemption for a water fee of 3 cents per $1,000, which Water District # 1 opposes.  Discussion followed.

Secretary-Treasurer Porter moved to adjourn and Trustee Blain seconded the motion.  Meeting was adjourned at 12:45 p.m.