INTERNATIONAL RIGHT OF WAY ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER 27
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING NOTES
"Achieving the best rather than pursuing the easiest"
Thursday, February 7, 2013
10:00 a.m.
Dante Club, Sacramento, CA
Present: Yoli Matranga, Christy Lambdin, Jamie Formico, Jason Andrews, Dan Wukmir, Mike Salyer, Ken Hancock, Ricardo Goñi, Steve Harris, Ray Guenther, Mike Pattison, Jerry Aplass.
1. Meeting Called to Order at 10:03 a.m.
a. January Executive Board Meeting Minutes. Motion to approve by Mike Salyer; Seconded by Ken Hancock. Motion passed.
2. President’s Report – Yoli Matranga
a. Spring Forum – Yoli M. discussed the Spring Forum, which is to take place from April 4, 2013 – April 6, 2013. It’s a business meeting and is to be held in Santa Barbara, CA.
b. Annual Conference – Charleston, West Virginia from June 22, 2013 through June 26, 2013.
c. Leadership Webinars / Conference Calls – Yoli M. stated that anyone can participate. President’s conference call on Tuesday, February 12; Yoli M. informed everyone that there are several conference calls that take place quarterly for key committee chairs: Education, Professional Development and Membership. Although Education Chairs are not present, Yoli M. believes they have been attending conference calls, Yoli M. to follow up with Vanessa and Conner. Yoli M. asked that Mike P. advise her if he cannot participate in Professional Development conference call, and then perhaps someone else could participate on his behalf. Yoli M. also stated that it is important to announce your presence on the webinar/conference calls. They are held so that everyone from all Regions can participate and attendance is tracked and reported to Region Chairs.
d. INEC Recognition Awards – Yoli M. submitted nomination application for the Chapter of the Year Award for Chapter 27. Yoli M. also submitted nominations for a) Bender Rosenthal, Inc. for Employer of the Year; and b) Mike Salyer for Professional of the Year to the Regional Conference.
3. Luncheon Report – Christy Lambdin
a. 40 attendees to attend the February luncheon.
b. Christmas Luncheon – Christy can request a check for deposit from Jason to mail to Tyler at the Firehouse.
c. Christy L. needs a deposit check for the West Sacramento Yacht Club luncheon to give to representative there.
d. Yoli M. stated that Chapter 27 should develop a committee for the Holiday Luncheon as it would be in the Chapter’s best interest to begin the preparation for that now, rather than later, as was the case for the 2012 Holiday Luncheon.
4. Vice President’s Report – Mike Salyer
a. Education Planning – Mike S. presented the Board with a Class Planning spreadsheet that was based on the Education Planning Workshop that was held at the end of January. In attendance were Jeff Peek, SR/WA and Matt Keefe, both with State DGS; Erline Applegate from SMUD; and Conner McDonald; Vanessa Cothran. Caltrans sent an email with course requests that there was general interest in. The participants targeted 10 classes and submitted the courses to HQ. Mike S. described the planning spreadsheet and the courses that were focused on. Mike S. stated that the focus was to be aggressive over the next two years with the course curriculum. The participants all felt that the core courses that are offered online would also be very important to be offered in the classroom environment.
b. Membership Renewal Reminder – Mike S. passed out a sheet showing members who still haven’t renewed their respective memberships. There are 25 people on the list. Mike S. feels it would be important to reach out to these prior members and find out if they plan on renewing. Discussion ensued. Jerry Aplass stated that he had drafted a letter to send out as a reminder. Ray Guenther made a point that the application form doesn’t state that retired members have a discounted rate, and that most retired members don’t realize that and that when they are contacted we should remind them of that point. Yoli M. asked that any Board Members who know anyone on the list who would be willing to reach out to a member who hasn’t renewed to please contact Jerry A. and let him know.
c. March Speaker – Ricardo Goñi and Lucille Baca, Assistant Chief Counsel from Caltrans Legal, will present a topic based on a court case that the appellate court ruled on in 2012.
5. Treasurer Report – Jason Andrews
a. Balance Sheet – Jason reviewed the Balance Sheet. Balance is showing at $91,669.22.
b. Profit and Loss Statement – Jason reviewed the P & L. Per Jason A., Chapter 27 took in income of $15,368.97 and spent $16,635.63, for a net income of ($1,266.66).
c. Jason A. stated that Yoli M. wanted a 6 month or mid-year update on the budget. Jason A. proceeded to walk through a FY 2012-2013 7-Month Update Budget and Expense spreadsheet describing projected income and expenses versus actual income and expenses. Discussion of the spreadsheet ensued, including discussion of January course attendance and income.
d. Jason A. stated that he had received a check from HQ for $1,197 for the online honorarium.
e. Per Ricardo Goñi, Chapter 27 just took in $1,650 from advertising revenue.
f. Jason A. discussed a directive from Fred Nasri at HQ to scan in all of the Chapter’s budget documents and send them to HQ for tax purposes. He also stated that Ch. 27 has boxes of these materials going back to 2004. Per Jason A., Rakshan at HQ simply said to send the box of materials to HQ and that HQ would take care of the materials from there. Jason A. wanted direction from the Board as to what procedure to follow. 2010, 2011, and 2012 year information will all definitely be scanned and sent. Discussion ensued. Board directed Jason A. to send the box of records from 2004 through 2009 to HQ for HQ to do with what they need to do. Jerry A. suggested looking into Pride Industries, a Roseville non-profit, for the retention/scanning of records, suggesting that it was efficient and economical.
6. Secretary Report – Ken Hancock
a. Ken H. informed the Board that he had made two unsuccessful attempts to contact Eric Finn, IRWA HQ Counsel, regarding current and prior By-Laws and their current status in terms of whether they were approved by HQ and any point.
7. Website Report – Jamie Formico
a. Update on website design – Jamie F. narrowed the search for a website design firm down to two firms: A-Tech Web Hosting LLC and Sacramento Pro Web Design and provided bid sheets submitted by each company. Jamie shared examples of each company’s range of services along with each company’s merits and faults. Sacramento Pro Web Design submitted a bid of $2,100.00 and an hourly rate of $50/hour for additional services, and A-Tech Web Hosting LLC submitted a bid of $2,490 and an hourly rate of $60/hour for additional services. Jamie F. discussed the fact that the company from Sacramento was very responsive and has a lot of local references, as opposed to A-Tech, which Jamie has had a hard time reaching in general. Jamie stated that according to Chapter 2, which uses A-Tech, the problem is not the quality of the work, it’s the company’s responsiveness. Discussion ensued. Jerry A. asked who would be trained as the “administrator” of the site, and Jamie F. responded that she, as the Website Chair, would be trained, and then whomever takes over that chair will be trained by Jamie F. and so on and so forth. Mike S. suggested that Sac Pro Web Design attend one Board Meeting per year and do a general training session with the Board Members. Board approved that the website design should be completed by Sacramento Pro Web Design.
8. Advertising/Marketing Report – Ricardo Goñi
a. Ricardo G. discussed the fact that he touched base with all of the advertisers from 2012 and had secured advertisement commitments from several firms totaling $1,650.00, and that $800 more was anticipated. Ricardo G. pointed out that in 2012, Chapter 27 had a total of 9 firms advertising, 6 new firms have shown interest and 4 of those 6 have already sent in checks. The remaining 2 firms haven’t provided the final advertising print, and so Ricardo G. was unsure of how much more revenue to anticipate, but that after all is said and done, Chapter 27 will make in excess of $2,450.00 in advertising revenue.
b. Ricardo G. stated that Yoli M. had asked him to take a couple of minutes during the luncheon to stand up and deliver a quick message regarding advertising. He stated he would get up and deliver a short promotion on advertising with Chapter 27.
9. Membership Report – Jerry Aplass
a. Jerry A. stated that the current membership count is 157.
b. Jerry A. also stated that there are 2 new applications for membership:
i. Joe Zapata – Bender Rosenthal, Inc.
ii. Lena Katsenko – Bender Rosenthal, Inc.
c. Board approved the new membership applications. Jerry A. confirmed that membership is now up to a total of 159. On Feb. 26th Board approved the membership transfer of Lena Katsenko to Annalesa Wagner, Bender Rosenthal, Inc., via email.
d. Jerry A. questioned whether polls or surveys will be part of new website design, so that Board can vote via that module on the acceptance of new members. Jamie F. commented that she would like for each chairperson to put together a list of what he or she needs in terms of website design, so in regards to Jerry A.’s question about the polls and surveys, Jamie F. would prefer to put everything together and provide everything to the developer at one time. Jamie F. asked Yoli M. to put an email together to go out to the Board asking for input on the website design. Jason A. stated that in the meantime, Chapter 27 can use IRWA HQ’s intranet site to conduct a poll. On Feb. 11, Yoli sent out an email asking the Board to forward any suggestions to Jamie by February 25th, 2013, for consideration to be included in our website so that she can discuss with web designer.
e. Yoli M. provided a report from HQ detailing that Chapter 27 has an 84.96% retention rate. There was some discussion of whether Chapter 27’s retention was the lowest, and Yoli M. emphatically stated that Chapter 27 is not the lowest and pointed out several examples of other chapters that had lower retention. Some discussion ensued.
10. Nominations – Blandon Granger, Absent. No report.
11. Education Report – Conner McDonald, Absent & Vanessa Cothran, Absent. Yoli M. provided the report.
a. Course 105 / 207 – Yoli M. stated that the total revenue from Course 105 was approximately $1,005.00 for 1 day, with 13 people who attended including the coordinator. Overall feedback was that Lisa Harrison was excellent. Since Vanessa was not in attendance, we do not have the reconciliation for Course 207.
b. Course 205 – Ken H. to coordinate Course 205. Ken H. stated that he just received his Course Coordinator Certification from Nathan Cruzado at HQ and added that so far only 2 people were registered for the course. Yoli M. stated that she is going to register for the class. Ken H. stated that in talking with Jamie F., she mentioned from past experience, that there will likely be several more registered by the time the class comes around.
c. Yoli M. stated that she felt it would be important to do some advertising with regard to Course 205. Ken H. asked who would be responsible for reaching out for more participants. Yoli M. stated that she would extend the invitation to other chapter presidents while she would direct Conner M. to send out an email to other chapter education chairs. On Feb. 12, Yoli sent out email advertising C205 to Chapter Presidents in Region 1 and Chapter email list.
12. Local Public Agencies – Dan Wukmir, Present. No report.
13. Professional Development – Mike Pattison
a. Mike P. mentioned that he has a couple of plaques that he would like to present to two members who achieved their SR/WA status recently but haven’t been to any luncheons in order to receive them: a) Jim Hilton; and b) Sharon Fultz with RT. Mike P. stated that he would deliver the plaques to both of these members as they were not able to make it to the February luncheon.
b. Mike P. stated that he received a completed SR/WA application from Delmar Armstrong, retired from US Army Corps of Engineers.
c. Mike P. stated that we are all set for the River Cats game in July as we got the deposit in and the game is slated for July 12th. Yoli M asked Mike P. whether or not the chapter would be putting out a flyer to advertise the game and Mike P. responded that he will work with the River Cats to put together a flyer and send it out via email and put it on the website.
14. Relocation – Steve Harris
a. Steve H. stated that he wanted to confirm that, since he has to respond to Michelle Folk, the International Chair for Relocation who had sent out a questionnaire, whether the Board had any comments as to the current market trends, which are affecting relocation. Discussion ensued.
b. Golf Tournament – Steve H. stated that he has looked into 1 option for the golf tournament. He stated that the event is not really a “tournament” but rather a golf “outing”. He investigated the potential for the outing to be at Mather for a Friday morning back-nine shotgun start, where every participant starts at the same time, and everyone finishes at about the same time, followed by a barbeque. Steve H. stated that the cost would be about $69 per player, and then there could be a raffle with sponsor donated prizes. The dates he said were available are April 12th and June 7th. Steve H. mentioned that someone had suggested Sierra View Country Club, but the issue is that you have to have a membership, in which the member would sponsor the participants. Ken H. stated that he knows the GM at Teal Bend Golf Course and that he would investigate the cost of hosting an outing there and provide that information to Steve H.