SMALL CITIES/RURAL COMMUNITITIES
MEETING SUMMARY
Friday, March 14, 2014
Present:
Stan Brown, Chair
Geoff Benway
Craig Kennedy
Jason Peek
Tracy Quintana, APWA staff
Bo Mills, Board Liaison
Don Bruey
Bob Lowry
Ann Daniels, Staff Liaison
Stan Brown, Committee chair, convened the meeting at 8:00 a.m. in the
Board room of the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Kansas City, MO
Self introductions were made to acquaint new member, Craig Kennedy,
with the other members.
The summary from the conference call held on January 2, 2014, was
reviewed and corrected to reflect that Geoff Benway and Bo Mills were both
present.
Bo Mills reviewed the House of Delegates change to a Chapter
Leadership Council organization, stating the Board believes this structure
will better meet the needs of the members. By-law changes are still being
drafted and webinars are available to explain the new plan for those
interested.
Selection of the 2016 Annual Congress was announced as
Minneapolis, MN. Bo shared information that the Board was reviewing the
current fiscal reserve policy and action would likely be taken in June. The
Strategic Plan is being reviewed and it is likely that only three goals will be
focused upon this year. He also told the members that Brad Patterson,
Chapter Relations, has maps available of the members by areas if there is a
need for that information. He further expressed that the Board recognizes
the value of the Small Cities/Rural Communities committee and the work the
members are doing on behalf of this large segment of our membership.
A review of the editorial calendar for the remainder of the year was
given by Ann Daniels as follows:
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Jim Bernahl will provide article on SC/RC award project winner)
March deadline
Dan Hartman or Vince Auriemma for April deadline (buy in for
Roundabouts
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Eric Pethtel for May deadline on Accreditation for Small Cities
Bob Lowry will provide an article on Asset Management for June
issue
Geoff Benway will prepare an article on Sidewalk program for July
Don Bruey will prepare and article for the August deadline
Other possible articles discussed included:
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Bob and Stan Brown, the role of educating elected officials/city
managers possibly for the September deadline
A request for additional articles will also be posted on the SC/RC
infoNow community
Stan Brown – Article on paperless office
Bob Lowry will prepare an article on the Pre-Pre Project Town Hall
meeting utilized in Colleyville that allows full discussion prior to any
development of plans for a new project to remove the idea that the
issues have all been decided.
The three guaranteed education sessions for Congress 2013 in
Toronto, were reviewed as follows:

Stormwater issues for small cities/rural communities – Geoff Benway
reported he has coordinated with Monroe County, NY and they are
planning a “look back” to where stormwater issues began and where
they have developed now.
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MAP 21 for Small Cities/Rural Communities – Jason Peek reported the
main thrust of the session will be based on the fact that federal
requirements must be met for arterial “enhanced national highway
systems” which will create a major issue for small cities or rural
communities that have a portion of a nation highway in their
jurisdiction. He has made contact with a representative from FHWA
who will assist in developing the session content but cannot physically
participate. Jason will contact both Sue Hall, At Large Director for
Transportation, and John Davis, former member of the Transportation
Committee. The session may develop into a fact-finding discussion of
issues being faced but not necessarily the solutions for those issues.
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Operating with a Paperless office – Stan Brown and Geoff Benway will
continue developing the material content.
Geoff is developing a
working outline and will send that, along with slides used previously, to
Stan so they can coordinate their planning efforts.
Stan Brown led the members in a review of the Business Plan for 20132014. The review indicated that all but two strategies in the Business Plan
for 2013-14 have been or currently are being finalized. The two that have not
been address are 2.3 discussing the use of social media and 3.1 discussing
asking for a subcommittee to be developed for Small Cities/Rural
Communities in each chapter.
On-going progress was reported as follows:
Jason Peek reported on the Advocacy Tool Kit project and Tracy
Quintana, Accreditation Program Manager, demonstrated the new web
pages. Advocacy detail sheets will be available soon on the site. Stan
Brown will provide a photo to go along with the welcome message.
Ann Daniels reported on the Outreach Tool Kit project, saying that the
new logo that was developed was not very appealing. Geoff Benway has a
graphic artist working on something that might be a little more reflective of
what we do and who we area. He and Ann will finalize a new brochure to be
available to be downloaded explaining what SC/RC is all about. Additional
fact sheets will be added to the web pages.
Ann reported that 34 applications were received for the SC/RC Project of
the Year compared to 29 last year.
The on-line Town Hall Meeting call, “Living Through an EPA Audit”, has
been rescheduled for April 1st, 2014 at 11:00 Central Daylight time. Geoff
Benway and John Gauthier, Greece, New York, will be the speakers. Ads are
placed on the web site and notices will be sent out to the individual infoNOW
communities one week prior to the event and also the day before.
Don Bruey will provide the second On-Line Town Hall meeting call on
“Ethics for Small Cities/Rural Communities” on either May 8th or 22nd, to be
finalized by the April call.
By General Consent, Don Bruey and Jason Peek will develop a survey to
SC/RC members to determine the need to develop mutual aid programs and
to provide NIMS training, possibly to be held as a workshop at Congress in
Phoenix in 2015. The results will be reviewed by the committee and will be
part of the discussion at the Town Hall meeting in Toronto.
Bob Lowry reported the Dallas Metro area had completed a major
Mutual Aid Agreement that involves 43 agencies and offered to share that
information with members. He also shared information about the Orange
Barrel report he utilizes in Colleyville.
Committee members briefly discussed the draft document prepared by
Bob Lowry discussion of the role of APWA with regard to Asset Management
for small cities/rural communities and how to get the members to invest the
necessary time and interest in making this a priority, as requested by Bo
Mills for input to the Board of Directors. Further discussions will be held as
Bo seeks input to the Board.
Bob Lowry reviewed the Click, Listen & Learn provided by APWA on
“Replacement costs of Asset management” with Tom Hickmann, Bend OR
Utility Manager and Bob as speakers. The group agreed that educating
Councils to the fact that everything costs money and showing real examples
or deteriorating lines or valves, etc., is the best way to make a point. “If they
can’t see it, it doesn’t exist” is often the case.
Bob shared information on ViewWorks for Asset Management for small
cities.
Following lunch, the members held a brainstorming session prior to
preparation of the Business Plan for 2014-15.
By General consent, the members felt the Business Plan for the current
year was being met in a timely manner and would be completed by the end of
Congress.
The Town Hall meeting, monthly phone calls, face-to-face
meeting, articles, and infoNOW postings have all been successful.
Focus areas for the 2014-15 Business Plan will include:
Map-21
Audits by EPA
NIMS/ICS
Leadership training to local leaders
Asset Management
Advocacy to local and state leaders
Outreach
Increased use of infoNOW
Discussion of new or different projects included:
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Developing a Succession Plan for small cities publication with Don
Bruey and Bill Sterling, Retired Public Works Director, Greeley, CO co-
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authoring. Ann will contact Connie Hartline, Publications Manager,
about this.
Development of a Best Practices page or “Solutions” template that
could be available for members to share innovative ideas on the web
pages
Possible development of a publication of case studies dealing with
training issues as a “how to” primer. Ann will contact Connie Hartline
about this project also.
Stan Brown led the committee through the development of a draft
Business Plan for 2014-15 as follows:
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The Board of Directors is encouraging three primary Goals for the
coming year as follows:
o Advocacy
o Professional Development
o Chapter Support
When the final wording has been approved, the committee will review
and revise their goals and strategies accordingly.
By General Consent, Strategic 2.3 will be deleted and 3.1 will be
modified in the coming year. The remaining items will be updated or
amended, with the addition of four new strategies, as follows:
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1.13 To actively promote education and training to elected/appointed
officials on the role of public works and projects and needs within their
own communities.
1.14
To encourage chapters to secure a session at their individual
State Municipal League Annual Meetings on a pertinent topic about
public works
3.1
To extend an invitation to participate in a monthly SC/RC call to
a member from such a community to allow them to share their
concerns, needs, information on successful programs, and issues with
the committee. *Don Bruey would invite the participant for each call.
3.4
Prepare a publication on succession planning for Small
Cities/Rural Communities
3.5
Prepare a publication on Best Practices for innovative methods
of solving old problems
A Draft copy of the proposed Business Plan for 2014-15 (subject to review
and adoption at Congress and throughout the year) is attached to this
document for review and ongoing discussion.
A discussion of the Town Hall format for Congress 2014 in Toronto was
held. Invitations will continue to be issued prior to Congress. The Meeting
will continue to be a continental breakfast and will begin at 7:15 a.m. on
Tuesday, August 19th, with breakfast being served beginning at 7:00 a.m.
Seating will be at round tables and a Committee member will be seated
at each table to assist in developing the dialogue for the questions that will
be posted to help in developing the major interests of the attendees,
authors/topics for future articles, topics for education session in Phoenix,
and soliciting volunteers to participate in sub-committees or as needed.
Individual white boards or flip charts will be available on each table. A
report session will be held to capture the information gleaned from each
table.
Jason Peek will develop a pre-Congress survey to SC/RC members to
solicit the most common issues and will share those at the beginning of the
Town Hall meeting to encourage either innovative methods participants may
have used to address the common problem and to allow more time to offer
additional topics. The top three issues from each table will be shared with
the group in the report session. Ann will prepare an instruction sheet for
each table.
Technical Committee liaisons reported as follows:
Emergency Management – Don Bruey reported there continues to be
discussion and effort towards reinforcing that Public Works is a first
responder and needs to be designated as such.
Leadership and Management – Don reported no new initiatives of
interest to SC/RC.
Engineering & Technology – Geoff Benway reported they were not
discussing any new initiatives.
Facilities and Grounds- Bob Lowry reported little activity, which is not
unusual since this is a small group of our members.
Fleet Management – Bob reported they were very active in planning for
the Snow conference and would be offering the Snow Plow operator
certificate again this year. They are also discussing ways to encourage the
participation in the Certified Fleet Manager certification. SC/RC members
discussed whether they might consider providing Technical training or
training on underground storage tank issues.
Solid Waste – Craig Kennedy provided an update on what is happening
in solid waste in Canada including electronic recycling, organic recycling,
pharmaceutical recycling, environmental justice, and sea level changes, and
he will share that information with the committee when appropriate.
Transportation and UPROW – Jason Peek reported this committee has
four sub-committees .
They are working on project delivery issues,
specifically quicker administration and reimbursement, Green Streets
program, and the Snow Conference. Little activity with UPROW.
Water Resources and Sustainability – Stan Brown reported the major
emphasis of the Water group is stormwater based.
The Center for
Sustainability is developing the program for the conference that will be held
as part of Congress in the future, as opposed to a standalone event. Ann
informed the members that J.C. Alonzo, Kansas City Metro Chapter, has been
assigned as a liaison to the SC/RC committee from Sustainability.
Ann reported that committee nominations were being received and
that Don Bruey and Bob Lowry had both submitted their re-nomination forms.
Geoff Benway has completed his years of service and there will be one new
appointment to the committee. Nominations will be received until April 1st.
Don Bruey suggested that there was a need to develop case studies
and/or videos pertaining to how to train various positions within public works
and specific to public works. Many training programs are designed for public
safety and may, or may not, be pertinent to public works. Discussion was
held concerning developing a publication of cast studies or setting up other
methods of offering this information. This is will be further discussed.
With no further items to be discussed, the meeting adjourned at 3:00
p.m.