GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

3D"Description:

Colorado Association of Stormwater & Floodplain Managers

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES<= /span>

Held at the = Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, Denver, CO

January 13,= 2011<= /span>

Meeting Attendees

Officers:

Chair – D= avid Mallory, UDFCD

Vice Chair R= 11; David Bennetts, UDFCD

Treasurer ̵= 1; Deb Ohlinger, Olsson Associates

Secretary ̵= 1; Brian Varrella, City of Fort Collins

Metro Region Re= p. – Robert Krehbiel, Matrix Design Group (also Conference Chair)

NE Region Rep. – Basil Hamdan, City of Fort Collins

Committee Chairs:

Scholarship = 211; Shea Thomas, UDFCD

Stormwater Qual= ity – Holly Piza, UDFCD

Members:

Bill DeGroot, U= DFCD

Brandon Luster,= HDR

Brian Murphy, C= DM

Bryan Kohlenber= g, UDFCD

Ken Cecil, J3 Engineering

Ken MacKenzie, UDFCD

Kevin Houck, CW= CB

Kevin Stewart, = UDFCD

Robert Moore, W= RC Engineering

Sam Stevens, Ci= ty & County of Denver

Susan Hayes

The following is a summary of the interactions, comments and items discussed. W= hile this summary is not intended to represent a complete or comprehensive accou= nt of the meeting, it is intended to reflect the salient points raised and iss= ues for further consideration. Should the attendees believe that anything might= be misrepresented or misleading, please bring this to the attention of Brian Varrella, CASFM Secretary.

1) Call to Order

David Mallory = called the meeting to order, followed by a roll call. A quorum of officers and regional representatives was present. =

2) Secretary’s Report

Minutes for the November 4, 2010 General Membership mee= ting at Applegate Group in Denver were distributed and reviewed. The minutes were unanimously approved with no corrections.&= nbsp; <= /p>

3) Treasurer’s Report

a) 2010 Expense and Income Report <= /b>– account balances and expenditur= es were reviewed. The Treasurer = noted CASFM is planning to post a loss of $12,985.67 for 2010. The savings account holds $21,039.= 49 and the checking account holds $19,916.46.&nbs= p; Expenses totaled $126,885.96 and revenue was $113,858.35.

The 2011 projected budget estimates expenses totaling $127,875.00 and reven= ue of $117,000.00 for an anticipated loss of $10,825.00.

The Treasure= r noted the Annual Conference tends to post a net gain from year to year. The report was approved unanimously without discussion.

b)     2011 Budget Adoption – the Treasurer’s expense = and income report noted the organization is on a trajectory to post a loss for 2011. New items were added to= the draft budget including insurance, legal services, and contingency/miscellaneous. The one-time cost of obtaining 501(c)(3) status shou= ld be offset by the 2011 Annual Conference tax savings.

Further disc= ussion revealed that a loss is typically budgeted year-to-year, but the 2010 loss = was unusually high and not sustainable. The Chair noted cash-on-hand is still high, and the one-time expense= of $5,000.00 to support the Flood Risk Symposium was a direct cost from 2010 t= hat will not be repeated in 2011. Annual Conferences and workshops tend to come out slightly above budget. The Chair noted that overruns for the April 2011 Flood Risk Symposium will not be covered by CASFM. These considerations o= ffer a better perspective of recent organizational overruns.

A question was raised as to how disaster aid was allocated from the budget in 2010. A total of $2,500.00 was donated to earthquake relief in Haiti. This was half the amount budgeted = for the year. The members present= expressed favorable opinion of this donation.

Members present expressed a desire to balance the 2012 budget. The Chair acknowledged the trend of losses past, present and future. He noted credit card membership payment fees added up to a $700 to $1,000 loss= in the recent past. This will co= ntinue as long as the organization continues to accept credit cards for membership renewal and events. Annual Conferences tend to generate revenue, and with the added 501(c)(3) savings could lower expenses by $5,000. Conference fee increases were discu= ssed as a method of balancing revenue against anticipated 2011 expenses, but the group decided it would be better to see how 501(c)(3) savings would benefit= the budget before a higher fee should be considered.

A motion was passed to adopt the current budget with a second, and w= as approved unanimously without further discussion.

4)         Vice Chair’s Report

a)     Newsletter – the CASFM newsletter is coming soon. It will be proofed in about a week= and should be out for distribution in late January. A few Regional Representatives sti= ll need to provide a report. The= Vice Chair asked the members present if there was still value in producing a new= sletter, and the general response was yes. Two newsletters will go out in 2011; one for winter, and one for the Conference period.   <= /span>

b)     Chapter Insurance – large event notification will = be necessary point-forward. Exam= ples include the Annual Conference and the field trip. Dates can be provided to the Vice = Chair and he will communicate with the appropriate parties in advance of the event.

c)     Tax Status – the 501(c)(3) paperwork is back= on track. The Chair and Vice Cha= ir will continue to meet with the parties hired to prepare the paperwork. The timing the paperwork should be= determined within about 1 month. It is anticipated the 501(c)(3) status will be achieve= d this Spring, prior to the field trip and Conference events.<= /span>

d)     Water Summit at APWA Conference<= /b> – the Summit will be held Wednes= day, September 21, 2011. CASFM wil= l be present at the APWA conference and should be active from 8:30 AM to 11:00 A= M, and again from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM.

Most events = will be held before lunch. Topics include LID and water quality, flash flooding, floodplain preservation, and wildfires. Staff from the CWC= B will provide a Colorado flood season wrap-up.&n= bsp; Bob Carr from ASFPM will spend a half-hour discussing the APWA Stormwater Management Professional certification, which is similar to the C= FM certification. The Cherry Cre= ek field trip on the last day of the Summit has generated a lot of interest, a= nd it is anticipated up to 80 people may attend.

5)         Regional Representatives’ Reports

a)     Denver Metro – Robert Krehbiel said the last social was held in October 28, 2010 at Brooklyns at Invesco Field. Approximately 30 people attended the field trip social at th= e South Platte River restoration site. The Metro Regi= on generally holds 4 events per year, the next to be held on January 26 at CB & Potts at the Denver= Tech Center. Special guest Tom Browning of the = CWCB will be present to discuss the Chatfield Reallocation Project.

b)     Northeast Re= gion – Bas= il Hamdan reported a successful training and social event was held in November 2010. Ed Thomas of Baker prov= ided a ½-day training on sustainable floodplain mana= gement attended by 44 members. The s= ocial event held immediately after training was attended by 30 members in Old Town Fort Collins. Special recogni= tion and thanks was offered to FEMA Region VIII, the CWCB, the UDFCD, and the Training Committee for helping Fort Collins organize the training event wit= h Ed Thomas.

The next field trip will visit northern Colorado LID sites. The NE Region Rep will coordinate = with the Stormwater Quality Committee Chair and UDFCD in preparation for the spr= ing 2011 event.

c)     Southeast Re= gion – Mich= ael Augenstein had no report.

d)     Northwest Re= gion – Rob= ert Krehbiel acted as proxy for Betsy Suerth.&= nbsp; He reported that a Water Law 101 course is confirmed for Friday, February 25 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the Garfield County Sherriff’s Annex in Rifle. ASFPM has pre-approved 6 continuing education credits (CECs) for the training. A flier with details and direction= s to the venue will be distributed to NW members in January, and posted on the C= ASFM website for all others. A soc= ial event will follow the training.

The NW Region Rep requested additional funding for NW region training and socials.

A second training event for hazard mitigation planning may be organi= zed for Wednesday, April 6 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The topic may be changed to waters= hed and headwater protection as it relates to downstream flooding. This is a topic of interest for th= ose managing areas impacted by or prone to wildfires.

e)     Southwest Re= gion – Vict= oria Schmitt had no report.

6)&n= bsp;        Committee Reports

a)     Floodplain/C= FM – David Mallory acted as proxy for Kallie Bauer, stating 28 of 30 individuals passed the CFM exam offered at the 2010 Annual Conference.

b)     Stormwater Q= uality – Hol= ly Piza noted that Herman Feissner has asked to step down as co-chair for the Stormwater Quality Committee. Holly will continue as the sole chair of this committee. The Chair thanked Herman for his s= ervice to CASFM through the Stormwater Quality Committee and recognized his contributions to the membership present.

The Stormwat= er Quality Chair spoke recently with the NE Region Representative to discuss t= he research project and tour the construction site. A field trip date has not been established but will probably occur in or around June 2011.

An e-mail wi= ll be sent to all committee members soon to request suggestions for site ideas for the field trip. A few locatio= ns suggested include the River North District taxi site, and the UDFCD Rain Ga= rden Monitoring site. Other ideas = are also welcome. Please send suggestions to Holly Piza.

c)     Outreach – Ken = Cecil reported a lunch will be held in January to plan for 2011 outreach events.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The Colorado Municipal League (CML= ) is an historic focus group for outreach. CASFM presented to a small audience at CML last year and hopes to be= come part of the plenary session in 2011. A paper has been offered to CML and a response is expected soon.

d)     Scholarship<= /span> – Shea Thomas reported scholarship applications were sent out to colleges across t= he state this week. The updated contact information at the schools helped the process move more efficiently this year. Applications are d= ue to CASFM and the Urban Watersheds Research Institute (UWRI) on March 15 and wi= ll go out to Committee members right away.&nb= sp; They will be ranked by the week following, and candidates will be interviewed on April 4. Winne= rs will be notified April 8.

e)     Membership – Kev= in Gingery had no report. <= /o:p>

f)      Training – Chris Carlson provided a report by e-mail, which was also supplemented by Brian Murphy.

The Training Committee is evaluating interest in ½-day to 1-day workshops. Potential topics include stormwater quality hydrology, a CFM refresher course, bioretention and rain garden des= ign and construction, design and specifications for sculpted concrete drop structures, the National Levee Safety Program, and a computer based bridge hydraulics (HEC-RAS) training. Many of these ideas were generated by surveys returned from the membership over = the past year, and priorities have not yet been assigned. Please contact the Training Commit= tee Chair or members with input on these ideas.

The Colorado Division of Water Resources, Dam Safety Branch, will be offering three 2-day technical seminars on the methods and procedures used to determine hazard classification and spillway hydrology for dams within Colorado. These seminars are free and include lunch and course materials. T= hey will be offered on March 15 - 16 in Grand Junction, April 5 - 6 in Loveland, and April 19 - 20 in Colorado Springs.&nbs= p; Please visit the CASFM website for more information and to download = the registration form.

The UWRI 2011 course schedule has been released and can be found on their website at www.urbanwatersheds.org. Four courses this spring are curre= ntly open for enrollment.

The Training Committee’s proposed goal for 2011 and beyond is to help promote UWRI’s courses for training that are in-depth generally occur for 2 t= o 3 days. The Committee proposes = CASFM focus on shorter workshops that can occur on a more frequent basis. This would include the 1 or 2 hour= long Bar Stool Series training events, which the Committee believes will provide= the greatest benefit and flexibility to the membership. 4 or 5 Bar Stool Series events wil= l be hosted in 2011 and will be pre-authorized for CECs. Topics include culvert rehabilitat= ion and restoration, partially-grouted riprap design and construction, levee overtopping physical modeling, LID design examples, ecological stream restoration, and 404 permitting.

g)     Website – Dav= id Mallory acted as proxy for Stuart Gardner, reporting that CASFM is now using Signup4 to help register and collect fees for events. This service allows CASFM to provi= de unlimited registration for a flat fee and still accept credit cards for registration. It will be test= ed for the field trip event this year. It is anticipated the new Signup4 system will save the organization money in 2011.

h)     Community Ra= ting System – Brian Varrella acted as proxy for Marsha Hilmes-Robinson. The 4-day workshop originally sche= duled for April but is being rescheduled for another date to accommodate the Colo= rado Flood Risk Symposium. The tra= ining will be free and will be tailored to Colorado-specific topics, and will off= er CECs.

An Activity<= /span> 510 trainin= g will be provided in 2011, dates undetermined at this time. The next Committee meeting will be January 26 at Fort Collins Utilities.

i)       Annual Confe= rence – Robe= rt Krehbiel noted the next Conference will be held in Snowmass from September = 27 - 30.

A Conference= theme was selected by present members. Themes offered by the general membership in the 2010 Conference opin= ion survey were shared with present members and modified by the group. The selected theme for the 2011 An= nual Conference is “Living with Fl= ood Risk – We’re All in This Together.” Keynote speakers suggested for consideration include Chad Berginnis, ASFPM Exe= cutive Director, and Klauss Wolte= r, NCAR, Brad Udall, Director of CU-NOAA Western Water Assessment, and Steve Westwood, Planner. The Conference Commi= ttee will make a recommendation for the keynote speaker.

7)&n= bsp;        Other Business

a)     Colorado Flo= od Risk Symposium – this annual event is being hosted outside Washington D.C. t= his year to address past concerns that local input is not generally represented= at these events. Colorado and In= diana will host 2 of this year’s scheduled 3 scheduled events. CASFM will host the Colorado event= at the Colorado University Natural Hazards Center on April 14. This is a 1-day invitation-only ev= ent, and CASFM membership will be well-represented. An agenda has been prepared, and t= he CASFM installment of $5,000.00 has already been paid from the 2010 budget.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

b)     CWCB Rules and Regulations – the new state floodplain rules= and regulations go into effect tomorrow (January 14, 2011). A cheat sheet for the 3-year implementation period will be developed soon for distribution to all Colora= do communities. Some of the more high-profile issues are waiting for FEMA concurrence. After January 14 all new physical = map revisions (PMRs) must calculate and map a ½-ft floodway. LOMCs are exempt from this regulat= ion. <= /span>

The Chair recognized the excellent work= and commitment dedicated to this effort by CWCB staff, and congratulated staff = for successful adoption of the new statewide floodplain regulations.

An anonymous comment was provided to the Secretary regarding CASFM opinions offered at the CWCB hearing for the new rules and regulations. The anonymous member asked it be carried forward to the meeting. He did not agree with the CASFM op= inion that the State floodplain standards had value in his jurisdiction, and he d= id not favor their adoption. He believed it was not appropriate for CASFM to represent this opinion as a body. The Chair noted that du= ring his public testimony at the CWCB hearing he articulated the organization is comprised of a diverse membership of professionals with a diverse set of opinions and values. He also = noted the testimony was vetted through the general membership through the Floodpl= ain Committee meeting on November 4, 2010 at Applegate Group.

c)     Colorado Dept. of Transportation (CDOT) CLOMR/LOMR Training &#= 8211; this free event hosted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and FEM= A is open to anyone outside CDOT. = It will be held February 9 at the FHWA building in Lakewood. Topics include an overview of floo= dplain regulations from an FHWA perspective, a National Flood Insurance Program (N= FIP) overview from FEMA, FHWA procedures, flood map processes, letters of map change, UDFCD examples, and the UDFCD digital map change submittal process.= Michael Baker Jr. Corp. staff may = also present map revision mechanics at this same event. CECs will be offered for the cours= e. Mommandi at CDOT can be contacted = for more information and to sign-up for this event at 303-757-9044, or amanullah.mommandi@dot.s= tate.co.us.

d)     Next General Membership Meeting;

Date + Time: &n= bsp;   March 10, 2011, 9:00-11:00 AM
Location:           CH2M Hill office
Address:           9193 S. Jamaica Street, Englewood

e)     Move to adjo= urn – mot= ion and second. Meeting adjourned= by the Chair. =

<= /o:p>