MINNESOTA LAND OF LAKES SWANA CHAPTER
News and Information
Attention Non SWANA Member:
The Minnesota Chapter is looking for new Members! This Year is the time to join!
New for 2008 anyone who joins as a new member will receive a $50 discount! For more information on the benefits of becoming a SWANA member and to join visit: www.swana.org
Or contact any member of the Minnesota SWANA Membership Committee:
Ryan Tritz ryan.tritz@rrtmn.com
Brad Hanzel bhanzel@co.carver.mn.us
Curt Hoffman Curt.Hoffman@state.mn.us
Also don’t forget to visit the Minnesota Chapter Web Site for news and upcoming events: www.swanachapters.org/Minnesota
Terms: To qualify for this promotion you must not have been a member within the past 12 months
MINNESOTA LAND OF LAKES SWANA CHAPTER
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
April 15, 2008
Conference Call.
President Jason Haus called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM.
PRESENT: Jason Haus, Gary Bruns, Dave Lucas, Ryan Tritz, Michael Reed, Steve Steuber, Kathy Osborne, Doug Morris, Brad Hanzel, Dan Costello, Curt Hoffman, and Don Chapdelaine.
EXCUSED: Kathy Holland Hanson and John Lloyd.
FINANCIAL REPORT: Don reported that he put $20,000 in CDs for 5 months at 2.35% and that we have approximately $53,000 in all of our accounts. RAM is now all paid up with a recent check from them for $8,205. Jason asked if the finance committee can look at ways to use some of these funds. Kath O. wondered about hiring an executive director. Gary added that we could look at paying for administrative support and Don agreed.
COMMITTEE UPDATES:
- Membership: Ryan announced that the winner in the 2007 membership drive is John Exner of Sherburne County. Michael asked how many members we have and Ryan said we have 90. Dan has a list of attendees of our seminars and it was suggested to give this list to Ryan. The Board members will call or send letters to encourage them to be SWAWA members. For 2008, there was discussion on ideas to recruit new members. One thought was to offer the $25 from national and $20 to $30 additional from our Chapter. Brad added that this discount may entice a hauler to be a member. Gary suggested making this offer at a seminar but Jason thought some people may need approval before joining. Curt suggested we get the list of attendees of our seminars and send them a letter offering the discount. Brad said then they could bring the completed application to the seminar and receive the $5 discount for being a member.
Curt asked for a vote to give new members a $50 discount. Ryan made a motion to give this discount for 2008 and was seconded by Curt. Don asked if this is for only one seminar and Curt suggested offering this all year. Jason offered an amendment that this individual must not have been a member within the past 12 months. The motion carried with the amendment.
Michael asked about offering e-seminars to groups. Gary was not sure about this with National having budget issues and that National would not support this since members get discounts already. Michael wondered if could offer them on a limited basis and Curt asked if could offer these e-seminars during a lunch. Steve thought we should ask National first and Gary said he would do that.
Brad said he was updating the “About us” section of our website. It was suggested we contact Gene Kramer and Rick Pearson for some history of the Minnesota Chapter. The Board discussed contacting RAM about putting our link on their website and vice versa. Someone said RAM does include our seminars in their regular electronic newsletters. And finally, Ryan contacted National to see how we can count hits to our Chapter website.
- Programs and Arrangements: Curt said Jason contacted Valley Fair and the Mall of America for potential behind the scenes tours but so far they have not called back. Jason will continue to try to make a connection. Curt said we wanted to tour Valley Fair in May before they opened but someone thought was that a tour would be more interesting if the park was open during our visit. Jason asked for other ideas for the May seminar and Michael wondered if could have Rep. Paul Gardner give a legislative update. Since the session ends May 17th, Don thought it might be hard to get Rep. Gardner for the planned May 22nd seminar. Jason said he would give Rep. Gardner a call. Doug asked if we could get someone to give us a summary of the executive report to the Governor on greenhouse reductions through solid waste management.
· Conference Planning: Jason asked if everyone had looked at the conference committee and encouraged everyone to sign up to help out. Curt asked for help on the silent auction. Kathy O asked to be added to the program committee. Michael mentioned that Rick Person is retiring in September and that we should honor him during the fall annual meeting.
- Scholarship: Jason asked to contact Tom Halbach regarding the $2.000 scholarship for 2008. Curt suggested we offer a membership as well as the scholarship. Don asked why not offer the runner-up for the scholarship a membership too. Steve made a motion for the $2,000 scholarship and two memberships to be offered for 2008. Curt seconded the motion. Motion passed.
OTHER AGENDA ITEMS: Jason asked for financial help to send Gary to the annual meeting. There was motion by Don to authorize $1,000 to help with Gary’s expenses. Michael seconded the motion. Motion carried
Jason noted that Gene Kramer resigned his Board position. Gary made a motion that we bring Tom Halbach in to finish Gene’s term. Kathy O. seconded the motion. Motion carried.
ADJORNMENT: There was a motion by Jason to adjourn the meeting. Don seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned at 10:15.
Respectively submitted,
Steve Steuber
Secretary
MINNESOTA LAND OF LAKES SWANA CHAPTER
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
February 7, 2008
Meeting was held at Khoury's Restaurant.
Vice President Curt Hoffman called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM.
PRESENT: Gary Bruns, Steve Steuber, Kathy Osborne, Michael Reed, Doug Morris, Kathy Holland Hanson, Brad Hanzel, Curt Hoffman, Ryan Tritz, Dan Costello, and Don Chapdelaine.
EXCUSED: Jason Haus, Dave Lucas, and John Lloyd.
MINUTES: Curt asked if there was any discussion of the minutes from the December 6, 2007 meeting. Don moved to approve the minutes as is with a second from Gary. Motion carried.
COMMITTEE UPDATES:
- Membership: Curt discussed the Chapter’s website and suggested that if there is any changes that are needed to Board members contact information, submit those changes to Ryan. Ryan is the chair of this committee. Curt noted that Brad and Ryan are really co-chairs as they each put in a lot of effort with Brad working on memberships and Ryan keeping the website updated. Brad said that he is still waiting for a current list of our chapter members from SWANA national.
- Scholarship: Curt suggested that we add the Scholarship committee information to the website. Gary is the chair for this committee. Dan wondered if we could sponsor an internship to attract younger members to SWANA. We could add this internship component to the scholarship committee. No Board action was taken.
- Programs and Arrangements: Dates for upcoming seminars are 5/15/08, 7/17/08, RAM/SWANA Fall Conference, and 12/11/08. There was a lot of discussion on future seminars. Kathy HH is no longer chair of this committee. Curt will be the new chair. Dan asked to be on this committee.
· Fall Conference Planning: Dave will be added to this committee. There was some discussion on how the conference revenues are divided between RAM and SWANA. The Board will revisit the distribution of funds later this year.
o Audit: Don was to check on how much we can have in our accounts. Don also said he sends the statements to Gary and Jason for review.
BOARD: There was discussion to appoint Tom Halbach to the Board to replace Gene Kramer, who stepped down. Michael thought that our bi-laws allowed the President to appoint someone to finish out someone else’s term. No action taken.
INTERNATIONAL BOARD UPDATE: National will provide chapters with tools to reach out to new members and institutions like universities to recruit younger members. National also noted that local chapters are taking advantage of the $20 bonuses for signing new members.
Total chapter loans to National now total more than $400,000.00.
Wastecon in Reno was financially successful, generating over $200,000 and $60,000 over budget. Exhibitors provided very positive feedback.
Many IB members discussed the updated version of MOLO and were disappointed in the results. The main concern was that the training manual needs to be reworked.
The instructors manual/ notes were said to be incomplete or not suitably related to the manual for the trainings.
There was an update on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 regarding state regulation of rail-based solid waste facilities. There is a one-year provision that gives states the ability to regulate solid waste facilities along rail lines. Up to this point, states have not been allowed to regulate rail-based solid waste facilities for environmental, health and safety protection because the Surface Transportation Board had been granted exclusive jurisdiction over these facilities under the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act. The provision essentially requires the Surface Transportation Board to get permission from a state before it allows any entity to operate a solid waste facility along a rail line.
FINANCIAL REPORT: Don reported that there is approximately $40,000 in all of our accounts and that we just received a payment from Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM). This payment from Ram was not included in the recent bank statement.
OTHER: Michael noted that Rick Pearson will be retiring this fall. There was some discussion to honor him at either the fall conference or during the July seminar. No action taken.
ADJORNMENT: Steve motioned to adjourn the meeting with a second from Gary. Meeting adjourned at 11:30.
Respectively submitted,
Steve Steuber
Chapter Secretary
Karla Carlson Wins 2007 SWANA-MN Scholarship
October 22, 2007, 9:30 PM, Roseville, MN.
On Monday, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) Minnesota Land of Lakes Chapter announced the 2007 winner of the Floyd Forsberg Environmental Quality Scholarship. The Floyd Forsberg Environmental Quality Scholarship is a $2,000 scholarship for an outstanding student enrolled at a Minnesota college who is majoring in Solid Waste Management, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Health, Environmental Science, Soil Science or related field of study.
This year’s winner is Karla Carlson. She is the daughter of Mary and Tom Carlson of Little Falls, MN. Karla is enrolled at Central Lakes College, Brainerd, MN where she is majoring in Natural Resources.
“SWANA-MN is honored to recognize this year’s scholarship winner,” said Jason Haus, President of SWANA-MN. “Karla represents the next generation and should be commended for her dedication to sound environmental education and practices in the solid waste industry. SWANA wishes her the best of luck as she pursues her higher education.” Haus went on to say that “The SWANA scholarship committee was impressed with her: letter of application, interest in education, outstanding GPA, excellent references, and her personal commitment in addressing the solid waste issues facing Minnesota both today and in the future.”
The Floyd Forsberg Environmental Quality rewards achievement and the potential of exceptional students in the area of environmental quality. Floyd Forsberg was the first Minnesota State Solid Waste Program Director. He began work in1968 when there were more than 1,200 open dumps in the state. With his leadership a state plan was developed with a major goal of eliminating open dumps in the State by the end of the 1970s. The scholarship is open to students enrolled in post High School educational institutions in Minnesota. Preference is given to undergraduate students who have sophomore standing or higher and graduate students.
SWANA is a professional association of individuals that are involved in resource conservation and solid waste management. The scholarship was presented at the 13th SWANA-MN Annual Conference on October 22, 2007 in Roseville, MN.