SMALL CITIES/RURAL COMMUNITITIES
MEETING SUMMARY
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Present:
Stan Brown, Chair
Craig Kennedy
Geoff Benway
Ann Daniels, Staff Liaison
Absent:
Bob Lowry
Jason Peek
Don Bruey
Bo Mills, Board Liaison
Stan Brown, Committee chair, convened the conference call at 11:05
a.m.
The summary from the conference call held on October 3 was
reviewed, along with the summary from the informal call held on November 7,
2013, and both were approved as printed.
The three guaranteed education sessions for Congress 2013 in
Toronto, were reviewed as follows:
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Stormwater issues for small cities/rural communities – Geoff Benway
and Craig Kennedy are developing the program
MAP 21 for Small Cities/Rural Communities – Jason Peek reported he
has made contact with a representative from FHWA who will assist in
developing the session content
Operating with a Paperless office – Stan Brown and Geoff Benway will
continue developing the material content.
The Editorial Calendar is set as follows:
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Christopher Bova, SC/RC Project of the Year Award for November
deadline - Received
Eric Pethtel, Fishers, IN for December deadline Received
Linnea Rader, Van Buren County, MI, for January deadline
Kaye Molnar, Ft. Myers, FL, SC/RC Project of the Year for February
deadline
Jim Bernahl, St. Charles, IL, SC/RC Project of the Year for March
deadline
Steve Carlyon, La Cross, WI, SC/RC Project of the Year for April
deadline
Dan Hartman, Golden, CO, Getting buy-in for roundabouts in small
cities for May deadline
Eric Pethtel, Accreditation for Small Agencies for June deadline
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Bob Lowry, Successful Asset Management for Small cities for July
deadline
The on-line Town Hall Meeting call, “Living Through an EPA Audit”, will be
rescheduled for the end of January and Geoff Benway will provide a date that
accommodates both he and our second speaker, John Gauthier.
Stan Brown reviewed the Final 2013-2014 Business Plan, specifically
checking on items 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and 3.1 for progress or determination if the
item is still relevant. Committee members determined the following:
2.2
2.3
2.4
3.1
Update on the discussions concerning endorsement of the Don
Bruey offers on leadership for utility departments. Ann Daniels
reported Don has discussed the program with the Leadership and
Management Committee and he had a meeting scheduled with
Peter King to further clarify issues. Don will be asked to provide
an update on the January conference call.
Emphasis on social media usage was unclear. Ann will post a
message on the infoNOW community to see if there is value in
continuing with this as a goal for the committee or if the existing
social media efforts supported by APWA are adequate.
Development of a new logo for SC/RC – Ann Daniels reported the
marketing department was configuring the new logo and hopes
to have it available by the January conference call
After discussing the changes to the House of Delegates, the role
of Regional Directors, and others, it was decided that asking
each chapter to provide a liaison to the SC/RC committee was
counterproductive and would most likely not be supported on a
chapter by chapter basis. This goal will be removed.
By General Consent, the committee agreed that work on the Business
Plan is progressing with all items underway.
By General Consent, the committee will ask Don Bruey to discuss the
proposal to coordinate with the Emergency Management Committee in
developing a NIMS training session for Congress in Phoenix in 2015.
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 for the SC/RC Committee’s review.
As an update on the Tool Kit for Advocacy, Jason Peek stated he was
still waiting for direct access to the APWA SC/RC web pages so the
information and be posted for members to use and enhance.
Ann Daniels reported the same issue for the Model Outreach Program
and that she would once again request the links be prepared that will allow
committee members and staff to post current items to the pages.
Technical Committee liaisons reported as follows:
Emergency Management/Leadership and Management – Don Bruey – No
report
Facilities and Grounds/Fleet Management – Bob Lowry – No report
Engineering & Technology – Geoff Benway reported the committee was
reviewing details on pervious pavement, asset management, and
possible changes to interpretation of “remodeled” projects for
Transit that could dramatically impact costs for projects.
Solid Waste – Craig Kennedy received clarification of his duties and
will begin monitoring this committee’s activities.
Transportation and UPROW – Jason Peek – No report
Water Resources and Sustainability – Stan Brown – No report
By General Consent, the SC/RC face-to-face meeting will be held in
Kansas City on Thursday evening, March 13 and all day Friday, March 14. A
hotel location will be determined prior to the January conference call.
By General Consent, the January 2 conference call will proceed as
always with the same hours of 9:00 Pacific/10:00 Mountain/11:00 Central/12
Noon Eastern time.
With no further business to be discussed, the conference call was
adjourned at 11:45 a.m.
Technical Committee liaison reports were given as followed:
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Emergency Management – Don Bruey
Leadership and Management – Don Bruey
Engineering and Technology – Geoff Benway
Facilities & Grounds – Bob Lowry
Fleet Management – Bob Lowry
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Solid Waste – Craig Kennedy
Transportation and UPROW – Jason Peek
Water Resources and Sustainability – Stan Brown
Discussion was held concerning the possibility of each Technical
Committee liaison posting a brief notice on the SC/RC infoNOW community
about that their committee is discussing
By General Consent, the committee will ask Don Bruey to prepare a
survey to be sent to the SC/RC infoNOW community concerning the
amount of or need for training for NIMS in their agency and to determine
how many agencies have mutual aid agreements with other agencies.
Jason Peek had asked that a page be developed for the SC/RC web site
which would be available for posting the Tool Kit for Advocacy information.
Ann Daniels will ask the APWA IT department to create such a page, as well
as one for the Model Outreach Tool Kit.
After reviewing the 2013-14 Strategic Plan, Stan asked that the
following items be placed on the December Agenda for discussion:
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2.2
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2.3
2.4
3.1
Update on the discussions concerning endorsement of the
Program Don Bruey offers on leadership for utility departments
The emphasis on social media usage
Development of the new SC/RC logo
Chapter liaison issue
Other items to be visited during the December call will include:
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Date for the On-Line Town Hall Call on how to survive an EPA audit
Survey to be developed for members on mutual aid and NIMS training
Discussions on partnering with the Emergency Management Committee
for NIMS training at Congress in Phoenix in 2015.
The date for the Face-to-Face meeting of the SC/RC Committee was set
for arrival on March 13, meeting on the 14th with return home that evening or
the next day, if transportation is not available.
With no further business to be discussed, the call was adjourned at
11:30 a.m. Central Daylight time.
The next conference call will be held on Thursday, December 5th.
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