UTILITIES AND PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY

COMMITTEE

Congress Meeting Summary

August 16, 2008

Participants:Monty Zimmerman, Chair

Patty Hilderbrand, Director at Large

Mark Andraka, member

Mike Joyner, member

Don Reid, member

Jay Spurgin, member

Murv Morehead, sustainability representative

Renee Jackson, subcommittee member

Visitors:Noel Thompson, President

Larry Frevert, Past President

Absent:Shawn O’Keefe, member

Staff:Carol Estes, liaison

Ashley Scherzer

Jim Fahey

1.Call to Order- Monty Zimmerman called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. CDT

2.Welcome and Self-Introductions –Members and guests introduced themselves. The roster was reviewed and corrections were made.

3.Expectations of Committee members – Monty Zimmerman reviewed the expectations of committee members

4.Review of Meeting Summary of July 2, 2008 – The meeting summary of the July 2 conference call was approved as submitted.

5.Discussion of the nomination process for technical committees. Staff explained the nomination process. The call for nominations is sent out around the end of November. The nominations deadline is included in the message and usually falls at the end of February/beginning of March. If a person is nominated by another person, an email is sent to the nominee to determine his willingness to serve if appointed. It is mandatory to respond to the email in order for the nominee to be considered for appointment. Anyone that is nominated by another should make sure to be on the lookout for the email. Staff was asked if those nominated to the UPROW committee could be recruited to a subcommittee. Staff will send the list to committee members for subcommittee recruitment purposes.

Action item: Staff to forward list of names to committee members.

6.At-Large Director Report – Patty Hilderbrand explained the role of the At Large Director and updated the committee on association news. Highlights included:

  • Membership now exceeds 29,500
  • Chapters are being encouraged to engage new members in activities to help retention
  • Jennings Randolph fellowships are coming up and the deadline to apply is November
  • The Certified Public Fleet Professional exam is being offered August 16 in New Orleans
  • UPROW was encouraged to determine if a right of way certification is needed
  • There was a successful Government Affairs fly-in in April
  • The SAFETEA-Lu Task Force has produced a video and tool kit for advocacy

7.Education Report – Shawn O’Keefe is the UPROW representative to the education Committee. Shawn was not able to attend Congress or the Education committee meeting to be held on Monday, August 18. Ashley Scherzer handed out the current Education Calendar. Mark Andraka needs the information on the Keyhole Technology Click, Listen, and Learn coming up September 10.

8.Annual Report – Monty Zimmerman reviewed the annual report of the committee which was submitted to the Board. Monty will be presenting the report at the Board business meeting on Wednesday morning.

9.Subcommittee Reports – Subcommittee chairs

  • Right of Way Management – Jay Spurgin reminded that committee that the subcommittee would get together on Tuesday, from 11 am to 1 pm in room 342 of the Convention Center.
  • Construction Practices – Murv Morehead reported that the committee had been having trouble scheduling a teleconference due to conflicts of members schedules. Carla Anderson has joined the subcommittee as a new member. The subcommittee is working on a 3D GIS program on bridges for submission as a congress session. Renee Jackson would moderate
  • OCSI – no representative from OCSI was available for the meeting. Monty reminded anyone interested in writing an article for the “Excavator Safety Guide” to submit it to Bill Balin by September 30.
  • GIROW- Mark Andraka reported that distribution integrity management, or DIM, is the topic for a session to be submitted by the subcommittee for Congress 2009

BREAK

10.Adoption of 2008/2009 Business Plan - The committee reviewed and approved the draft Business Plan for 2008-2009.

11.Update of Congress 2009 Topics – The committee discussed five topics for guaranteed session for Congress 2009. The topics considered were:

  • GIS – 3D model imaging for Bridges – Don Reid coordinating
  • Keyhole technology – Mark Andraka coordinating
  • White Lining – Monty Zimmerman coordinating
  • DIRT – Monty Zimmerman coordinating
  • OCSI Topic – Bill Balin coordinating

Action item: Continue on September agenda and select guaranteed sessions

Past President Larry Frevert addressed the committee and thanked them for their service during his term. President Noel Thompson introduced himself and thanked the members for being willing to serve in the coming year.

12.Discussion date for the spring meeting in K.C. – Committee members were asked to select a date in February or March of 2009 for the one day Spring Committee meeting to be held in Kansas City. The committee chose the date ofMonday, March 2, 2009. If that date is not possible, the back up date is Monday, March 9, 2009.

13.Set date and hour for monthly calls – The committee discussed the day and time for future conference calls. After discussion, the committee chose the first Thursday of the month at 1:00 pm Central time. The next call will be on September 4, 2008 at 1:00 pm Central.

14.UPROW related sessions and meetings – The committee discussed the list of UPROW related meetings and sessions to be held during Congress.

15.Staking University – Monty Zimmerman discussed his findings concerning locator training at StakingUniversity. It does not appear to be exactly what the committee is looking for. Mike Joyner reported that the State of Georgia is developing a certified locator program and would be interested in talking to APWA about its criteria for certification and joint involvement. Mike will follow up with Georgia.

Action item: Mike Joyner to follow up with the State of Georgia on locator training

16.Right of Way Manager Duties – Monty Zimmerman discussed the findings of local survey on the duties of a right of way manager. Ways of expanding the data were discussed, including posting on the infoNOW community. The item will be continued on the next call.

Action Item: Continue the item on the next call

17.New Business– The committee discussed right of way publications that might need to be updated. When Connie Hartline returns from leave, staff will ask for input.

Action item: Staff will check on the status of publications

The committee requested an update to the UPROW webpage including:

  • Include links to Reporter articles
  • Include links to past CLL programs
  • Include past Congress presentation PowerPoints

Action item: Staff will begin updating the web page.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 am Central Daylight time.

UPROW Committee Meeting Summary – page 1