June 2010 General Membership Meeting
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The June meeting of the
Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 15 June 2010 in the cafeteria
meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building. Sixty-four (64) members and
guests were in attendance. Rosemary Gilbertson, President of the
Kentuckiana Post, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. Director Clay
Kelly led the group in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Gilbertson encouraged everyone to sign in
and reminded them to pick up a PDH certificate for their record of
attendance. She opened the floor for new SAME members in attendance to
introduce themselves.
President Gilbertson noted upcoming SAME activities,
including: the Nashville Post Infrastructure Security Workshop on 11 August,
the Ohio Valley/Great Lakes Regional Conference in Dayton from 31 August to
2 September, the Post golf scramble on 21 September, the Homeland Security
and Readiness Workshop on 19 October, and the Kentuckiana Post
Sustainability Workshop in November. Additionally, she reminded everyone
that regular membership meetings for the Post are typically on the third
Tuesday of the month and are generally held in the Federal Building
cafeteria meeting room.
President Gilbertson then asked Mickey Jones, Ph.D.,
P.E. to come to the front of the room so she could present him with a SAME
Outstanding Service Medal for his long service to the Post. President
Gilbertson noted that presentation of Dr. Jones’ award had been delayed
because he wasn’t available earlier in the year when other similar medals
were awarded.
President Gilbertson then introduced the first of
two program speakers, Meredith Doll. Ms. Doll, who is going to be a junior
at the University of Kentucky (U.K.), recently returned from a trip to
Africa with Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Because the Kentuckiana Post
was a sponsor for this activity, she was asked to speak to the Post about
her trip. Ms. Doll said U.K. just started a chapter of EWB in early 2009, so
this was the first trip the group has taken. She explained that EWB partners
with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of
life.
Ms. Doll said they went to Nkuv, a village of 1000
residents, in northwest Cameroon. She said the closest major city is Kumto.
The 15-mile long road between Kumto and Nkuv is in poor condition. EWB is
teaching the people of Nkuv how to fix the road. Ms. Doll showed pictures of
the road and its condition. She said the road is only navigable by a certain
type of six-wheel vehicle or a motorcycle. She said the terrain is straight
up and down, and it takes five hours to walk from Nkuv to Kumto. Part of
EWB’s assessment included surveying a 2.4 mile section of the road that was
the highest priority for the village. She said EWB will take the data back
to evaluate; and they are planning to return next May to follow up.
Following Ms. Doll’s presentation, President
Gilbertson introduced Col. Keith Landry, Louisville District Engineer, who
spoke on the Louisville District’s mission of “Good to Great.” Col. Landry
said the intent for the mission comes from the Corps’ Commanding General,
Lt. General Robert VanAntwerp.
In developing the Louisville District’s Good to
Great (g2G) program, Col. Landry said they defined what a “Great”
organization would look like. They said a “Great” one:
Col. Landry said that in the g2G mission analysis,
they had to figure out where they were and where they needed to be and then
deliver a plan to get there. He said the LRL goals focus on three things:
Col. Landry then shared some data on how the
Louisville District is doing toward meeting these goals. He emphasized that
it has been a team effort for the District to go to “Great.”
President Gilbertson thanked Col. Landry for his
presentation and provided him with a speaker gift as a token of
appreciation. She then mentioned upcoming programs. She said the next
membership meeting is scheduled for 20 July, when Gregory Knight of Jacobs
Engineering will speak on “Sustainable Energy Pilot Project”. The 17 August
meeting will be held at Ft. Knox. And the 21 September meeting will be the
annual golf scramble to be held at Quail Chase. At the 19 October meeting,
Jay Manik of CDM & SAME National will give a presentation on “Readiness and
Homeland Security.” This October meeting will be in conjunction with a
workshop to be held that same day. Readiness and Homeland Security Co-Chair
Brian James briefly discussed the purpose of SAME’s Readiness and Homeland
Security Committee and encouraged involvement by the general Post
membership.
Prior to closing, President Gilbertson recognized
that the first speaker, Meredith Doll, was also one of the Post’s
scholarship recipients. Ms. Doll was not able to attend the May meeting when
the other scholarships were presented, since she was in Africa at that time.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Respectively submitted,
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Post Secretary
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May 2010 General Membership Meeting
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The May meeting of the
Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 18 May 2010 at the University
of Louisville Alumni Center. Fifty-four (54) members and guests were in
attendance. Scholarship Co-Chair Erin Hall welcomed everyone. Director Clay
Kelly led the group in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ms. Hall gave a brief
overview of the mission of SAME. She said this is the thirteenth year the
Kentuckiana Post has assisted engineering students in pursuing their dream
of an engineering degree; and the Post has provided over 61 scholarships.
Before recognizing the 2010 scholarship winners, Ms. Hall recognized and
thanked all those from the Kentuckiana Post who have worked hard over the
years to make it possible for the Post to be in a financial position to
support engineering students in their pursuit of an engineering career.
Ms. Hall then
introduced the six recipients and gave a short biography for each. As each
recipient was announced, Ms. Hall and Scholarship Co-Chair Adam Connelly
presented the student with their scholarship, and each recipient was asked
to say a few words about themselves and their goals in pursuing an
engineering career. Scholarship winners were:
Following the presentation of scholarships, Ms. Hall
introduced the program speakers, Brandon Shelley, who is the outgoing U of L
ASCE/SAME Student Chapter President. Brandon talked about the activities
that the chapter has conducted during the past year. He then introduced the
incoming student chapter president, Jessica Stemley.
President Rosemary Gilbertson then offered some
closing remarks. She said the next regular membership meeting, in June, will
be held at the Federal Building. Col. Keith Landry, Louisville District
Engineer, will be speaking on the Louisville District’s mission of “Good to
Great.”
The meeting adjourned
at approximately 1300.
Respectively submitted,
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Post Secretary
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April 2010 General Membership Meeting
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The April meeting of
the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 20 April 2010 in the
cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building. Ninety-three (93)
members and guests were in attendance. Rosemary Gilbertson, President of
the Kentuckiana Post, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. Director
Clay Kelly led the group in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Gilbertson
encouraged everyone to sign in. She said that PDH certificates were not
available at the sign-in tables, but a certificate would be emailed to
anyone who provides their email address on the sign-in sheets. She opened
the floor for new SAME members in attendance to introduce themselves.
President Gilbertson noted upcoming SAME activities,
including the Joint Engineer Training Conference in Atlanta the week of 4
May, which she plans to attend; the Ohio Valley/Great Lakes Regional
Conference in Dayton the week of 31 August; and the Post golf scramble
scheduled for 21 September at Quail Chase Golf Course.
President Gilbertson then introduced the program
speaker, Steve Durrett, Chief of Engineering for the Louisville District,
who gave a presentation on “The Corps of Engineers Levee Safety Program.”
Mr. Durrett discussed the Levee Safety
Program’s objectives, and noted that the program’s first priority is public
safety. He said levees are a shared responsibility between the sponsors and
the USACE with the USACE helping the sponsors identify risks. He explained
that levee inspection standards and criteria are consistent across the
nation. The Corps evaluates risk for breach just prior to overtopping and
also the risk index at overtopping. A sponsor can be removed from the PL
84-99 flood damage rehabilitation assistance program if their levee receives
an unacceptable rating. If the deficiency is properly corrected, the levee
can promptly be re-inspected by the USACE and the community can get back in
the program. Mr. Durrett said the USACE is working with countries around
the world with regard to levee screening approaches and consequences.
At the
completion of the presentation, President Gilbertson thanked Mr. Durrett for
his presentation and noted that his PowerPoint slides will be made available
on the Kentuckiana Post website.
The next membership meeting is scheduled for 18 May
at the University of Louisville, when the Post will present scholarships to
students pursuing an engineering career. At the 15 June meeting, Col. Keith
Landry, Louisville District Engineer, will speak on the Corps’ mission of
“Good to Great.”
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Respectively submitted,
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Post Secretary
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April 2010 Board Meeting
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The Board meeting was called to order at 1000 Tuesday 20 April 2010 in the
cafeteria meeting room in the Mazzoli Federal Building. President Rosemary
Gilbertson chaired the meeting. Attendees are listed on the
attached roster. The meeting
followed the attached agenda.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
Everyone was encouraged to review their information carefully and make
corrections, as necessary.
Secretary’s Report
The minutes of the 18 February 2010 Board meeting had been circulated to the
Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received and incorporated into
the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes. Motion
passed.
Treasurer’s Report
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $27,078.63
in the Post checking account with no outstanding bills. This amount includes
a $500 donation made for the Post’s scholarship fund, which will be
transferred to the Education and Mentoring Fund. A motion was made and
seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President’s Report
President Gilbertson then gave the President’s report, which included the
following information:
Committee Report
Education and Training Committee – Committee Co-Chair Barry Dixon reported
that plans are in the works for a workshop on Sustainability to be held in
the fall.
Education & Mentoring Fund Management – Committee Co-Chair Tony Marconi
reported that the fund has a balance, as of 31 March, of $462,311.35. He
discussed the three new grant applications that were tabled at the last
Board meeting. New requests were received from: the University of Louisville
Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Outreach Program for $5,000;
the American Society of Certified Engineering Technicians (ASET) for $1,500;
and University of Kentucky Engineers Without Borders, who did not request a
specific amount. Mr. Marconi said the committee recommended $3,000 for the
U.K. Engineers Without Borders. This amount matches what was given last year
to the University of Louisville chapter. The U of L group does not plan a
trip this year. He explained that the STEM program is a five-day camp to
mentor to 20 to 25 seventh and eighth graders. Because their $5,000 request
represents STEM’s entire budget, the committee recommended support in the
reduced amount of $2,500. The committee did not recommend providing a grant
for the ASET program, since the money would be used for their statewide
convention; and that purpose does not support SAME’s mission. Following some
discussion, a motion was made to approve the Committee’s recommendations of
$2,500 to U.K. STEM and $3,000 to U.K.’s Engineers Without Borders, with the
stipulation that these groups present a report on their activities during a
future SAME membership meeting. Motion passed.
President Gilbertson asked for the committee to develop and present to the
Board an annual budget for grant awards; so, in the future, the Board can
prioritize which groups should receive funding. Concern had been expressed
at the February Board meeting that a policy needed to be developed to
determine how much should be spent each year from the fund and whether or
not it would be acceptable to spend down some of the principal in the
account.
Golf Outing – Lindsay Phegley reported that the 2010 SAME Kentuckiana Post
Annual Golf Scramble will be held on 21 September at Quail Chase Golf Club
in Louisville. She said she would like to increase industry attendance at
the event.
Membership Committee - Committee Co-Chair Lisa Wilson reported that the Post
membership currently stands at 603. She said four new members were obtained
through the January Small Business Workshop.
National Security Committee - Committee Co-Chair Lee Carolan said the
committee met earlier that day and discussed the difficulties of meeting the
streamer goals. They decided they should contact a national SAME
representative for National Security to discuss how other posts are moving
forward in this area. She said the committee needs more people to get
involved. Ms. Carolan also said that they would like to get information out
to the Post’s general membership through a future meeting, in order to
generate involvement.
Programs Committee – Committee Co-Chair Matt Rathsack discussed upcoming
programs for the regular membership meetings. He asked the Board to provide
him with information on areas where the streamers have requirements for
meetings.
Scholarship Committee – Committee Co-Chair Erin Hall said the applications
for the scholarship have been graded; and out of nine qualified applicants,
five individuals scored the highest. The committee recommended awarding five
$3,000 scholarships, with one going to each of the following individuals –
Robert Bickel, Meredith Doll, Shawn Kenney, Madison Just, and Emily Lewis.
Past President Marilyn Lewis asked that the students be required to show up
in person to receive their checks. A motion was made to accept the
Committee’s recommendation and award a $3,000 scholarship to each of the
five candidates. Motion passed.
Subsequent to the Board meeting, it was determined that applicant Rebecca
Mitchell’s submission was initially thought to be incomplete. Later, it was
determined that she should have been given equal consideration. Because she
is a highly qualified candidate, the Committee requested that she be
approved to receive a scholarship, as well. By electronic vote, a motion was
made to award a sixth $3,000 scholarship to Rebecca Mitchell. Motion passed.
Small Business Committee – Co-Chair Shenita McConis reported that the Small
Business Committee met to discuss the Post’s small business involvement,
beyond the annual workshop. She said they want to increase networking
opportunities, to increase face-to-face time between companies with similar
goals. She said they also want to have a round table discussion related to
small business concerns.
Upcoming Board Meetings
15 June 17 August 19 October December - Meeting to address streamers – Tentatively set for 14 December.
Date will be finalized at 15 June Board meeting.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1125.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Respectively Submitted,
Janet S. Skees, PE Post Secretary – Kentuckiana Post |
March 2010 General Membership Meeting
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The March meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was
held at noon on 18 March 2010 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli
Federal Building. Eighty-three (83) members and guests were in attendance.
Rosemary Gilbertson, President of the Kentuckiana Post, opened the meeting
by welcoming everyone. Past President Marilyn Lewis led the group in a
prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Lewis invited anyone interested in
volunteering to participate in the state Math Counts competition to be held
in Louisville at the Galt House West on 30 March.
President Gilbertson encouraged everyone to sign in and reminded them to
pick up a PDH certificate for their record of attendance. She opened the
floor for new SAME members in attendance to introduce themselves.
President Gilbertson noted upcoming SAME activities, including the Joint
Engineer Training Conference in Atlanta the week of 4 May, the Ohio
Valley/Great Lakes Regional Conference in Dayton the week of 31 August, and
the Post golf scramble in September. Additionally, she reminded everyone
that regular membership meetings for the Post are typically on the third
Tuesday of the month and are generally held in the Federal Building
cafeteria meeting room.
Programs Committee Co-Chair Ray Frye discussed the planned topics and
speakers for upcoming Post meetings. He then introduced the program speaker,
Dr. Leonard Peters, Secretary of Energy and the Environment for Kentucky,
who gave a presentation on “The Future of Energy in Kentucky.”
Dr. Peters’ presentation included discussion of:
After a period of questions and answers, President Gilbertson thanked Dr.
Peters for his presentation and provided him with a speaker gift as a token
of appreciation.
The next membership meeting is scheduled for 20 April, when the Corps’ Steve
Durrett will speak on the USACE Levee Program.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Respectively submitted,
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Post Secretary
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February 2010 General Membership Meeting
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The February meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was
held at noon on 16 February 2010 in the cafeteria meeting room of the
Mazzoli Federal Building. Thirty-six (36) members and guests were in
attendance. Rosemary Gilbertson, President of the Kentuckiana Post, opened
the meeting by welcoming everyone. Past President Marilyn Lewis led the
group in a prayer, followed by President Gilbertson leading the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Ms. Lewis asked for volunteers for the upcoming Math Counts competitions.
She said the local meet would be held 20 February at the University of
Louisville; and the state meet would be held 20 March at the Louisville Galt
House. She said that volunteering for Math Counts is eligible for credit
through Disney’s Give a Day promotion, which awards volunteers with a free
ticket to a Disney theme park.
President Gilbertson encouraged everyone to sign in and reminded them to
pick up a PDH certificate for their record of attendance. She opened the
floor for new SAME members in attendance to introduce themselves.
President Gilbertson noted upcoming SAME activities, including the Joint
Engineer Training Conference in Atlanta the week of 4 May and the Ohio
Valley/Great Lakes Regional Conference in Dayton the week of 31 August.
Following these announcements, President Gilbertson presented a plaque
expressing appreciation for Past President Marilyn Lewis’ service to the
Post. She also presented certificates to firms who supported the Post’s
Small Business Workshop by purchasing exhibitor space.
President Gilbertson introduced the program speaker, Cathy Crowley, PE, LEED
AP, from Mason & Hanger, who gave a presentation on “Models of Efficiency”
from her article published in the Military Engineer in Sept/Oct 2009.
Ms. Crowley discussed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) which
establishes energy conservation standards for design and construction of new
federal buildings. New buildings must achieve a 30% reduction in energy use
compared to a baseline standard established by ASHRAE (American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Standard 90.1. This
sets minimum standards for the building envelope, the HVAC system, power,
lighting, etc. Ms. Crowley discussed the requirements of the standard and
discussed various means of gaining efficiency. For example, she said, a ten
percent credit can be taken if occupancy sensors are used on the lighting
systems.
Ms. Crowley discussed the software used to model the base and proposed
conditions and showed typical output from the modeling. She said the firm
she works for, Mason and Hanger, typically looks at several areas to
increase energy efficiency – better insulation in roofs and walls, better
glass with a good “u” value and shading coefficient in windows, high
efficiency HVAC equipment, lowering light levels inside and outside, and
optimizing the building orientation on the site. She said they also look at
technologies such as geothermal systems, solar powered domestic water
heating, solar powered site lighting, day-lighting controls, natural
ventilation controls, photovoltaic cells on the roof, and wind power.
Ms. Crowley summarized her presentation by saying that modeling takes time
on a project; it takes input from the architectural, electrical, HVAC and
plumbing disciplines; and the designers need to think about energy
conservation from the very beginning of a project.
President Gilbertson thanked Ms. Crowley for her presentation and provided
her with a speaker gift as a token of appreciation. She then reminded
everyone that the next membership meeting is scheduled for 18 March, which
is a Thursday instead of a Tuesday. Dr. Leonard Peters, Secretary of
Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet will speak on “The Future of
Energy in Kentucky.”
President Gilbertson also announced that the Post’s scholarship competition
is underway, and engineering students interested in applying should go to
the Kentuckiana Post web site. Additionally, President Gilbertson said
anyone interested in becoming a member of the Post can obtain information on
the web site or can talk with a Board member.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Respectively submitted,
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Post Secretary
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February 2010 Board Meeting
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The Board meeting was called to order at 1000 Tuesday 16 February 2010 in
the cafeteria meeting room in the Mazzoli Federal Building. President
Rosemary Gilbertson chaired the meeting. Attendees are listed on the
attached roster. The meeting followed the
attached agenda.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
Everyone was encouraged to review their information carefully and make
corrections, as necessary.
Secretary’s Report
The minutes of the 15 December 2009 Board meeting had been circulated to the
Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received and incorporated into
the minutes. A comment was made to add Rachael Haunz in the December minutes
to the list of elected directors. A motion was made and seconded to approve
the minutes with this addition. Motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $25,338.71
in the Post checking account with no outstanding bills. A motion was made
and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President’s Report
President Gilbertson then gave the President’s report, which included the
following information:
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President Gilbertson thanked Past-President Marilyn Lewis for getting the
streamer submittal completed on time. She asked that in the future, everyone
should start with the same template; and she will send a template to each
person who is responsible for a streamer area. She asked that all Board
members should be aware of what information they are responsible for
providing for the streamer submittal. |
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President Gilbertson said there are a fair number of applications for the
Post to sponsor a student to attend each of the Air Force and Seabees
engineering and construction camps. |
Committee Report
Education & Mentoring Fund Management - President Gilbertson reported for
committee Chairman Tony Marconi. She said Mr. Marconi sent out a list of
grant requests to his committee members. There were no changes to the amount
requested for four applicants who had previously received grants –
Governor’s Scholars at $2,500, Leadership PE at $3,000, Louisville Regional
Science Fair at $1,000, and Math Counts at $6,500 ($5,000 for the state
competition and $1,500 for the Louisville competition). New requests were
received from: the University of Louisville Science Technology, Engineering
and Math (STEM) Outreach Program for $5,000; the American Society of
Certified Engineering Technicians (ASET) for $1,500; and University of
Kentucky Engineers Without Borders, who did not request a specific amount.
Some discussion followed regarding how many dollars in grants could be spent
each year without eroding the principal amount in the account. Further
discussion addressed that perhaps it was okay to spend the account down
depending on potential future fund-raising opportunities. Clay Kelly made
a
motion, which was seconded, that the first four requests be approved as
submitted and the committee should come back to the Board with a
recommendation for the others. Motion passed.
Committee Co-Chair Hans Probst reported that the Education and Mentoring
Fund has a balance, as of December 2009, of $458,656.
Education and Training Committee - President Gilbertson reported that the
committee is considering having a seminar on Environmentally Sustainable
Projects. They will be surveying the SAME membership to determine the level
of interest on this type of program.
Membership Committee - Co-Chairman Dan Taylor reported that the Post gained
13 new members, with 37 dropping in January, and gained 7 new members, with
34 dropping in February. He said the dropped members are mostly individuals
who have not yet renewed.
National Security Committee - President Gilbertson said that Committee
Co-Chair Lee Carolan told her that there have been changes in the National
Security streamer submittal requirements which will be discussed at the next
Board meeting.
Newsletter Committee - President Gilbertson said any material for the Post
newsletter should be sent to committee Co-Chairs John Storm and Richard
Petty.
Programs Committee - President Gilbertson said that speakers are needed for
the April, June, August, and October general membership meetings. One
possible topic would be on the effort in Haiti to provide clean water
through Edge Outreach. She said anyone with suggestions on speakers should
provide that information to Ray Frye or Matt Rathsack.
Scholarship Committee - 1st Vice President Brian James asked if the
scholarship eligibility criteria could be expanded to include Army or Navy
Reservists who live in the region. He pointed out that the criteria
currently states that active military personnel are eligible but does not
mention reservists. It was decided that the Scholarship Committee should
remove the word “active” from the eligibility criteria.
Past President Marilyn Lewis discussed the selection process for the
Engineering and Construction Camps, which is now the responsibility of the
Scholarship Committee. She said there are a number of students outside our
area that are submitting applications for sponsorship through the
Kentuckiana Post. Clay Kelly said that there are a few posts that have a
selection process in place. President Gilbertson asked the Scholarship
Committee to develop a screening process for selecting students for the Post
to sponsor.
Small Business Committee – Co-Chair Linda Hunt-Smith reported that the
Post’s Small Business Workshop in January was a success. She said Co-Chair
Rachael Haunz received favorable comments on the presentations; however,
there was some concern with the noise level in the facility. She said, so
far, the conference has netted $5,865.04; but that number will increase
after they receive a tax refund check from the hotel and collect a few more
checks from sponsors. She said the anticipated net is $7,864.40. President
Gilbertson thanked the Small Business Committee for all their hard work
toward putting on the workshop.
Website Committee – Brian James asked that the Post by-laws that were
approved in November should be posted to the website. He said there also
needs to be an update of the “readiness” information, and that he would talk
with Lee Carolan about that.
Young Members Committee – Co-Chair Kristen Crumpton announced that they have
added a new committee member, Steve Mayes of ConTech. She said they want to
solicit more ideas for events and also consider developing mentoring
ionships between the young members and the more senior members.
Upcoming Board Meetings
20 April
15 June
17 August
19 October
?? December - Meeting to address streamers – date to be set at next Board
meeting
The meeting concluded at approximately 1105.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Respectively Submitted,
Janet S. Skees, PE
Post Secretary – Kentuckiana Post
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January 2010 Board Meeting
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The January meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was
held at noon on
Wednesday, 27 January 2010 in the Seelbach Hilton Hotel’s Medallion Ballroom
in conjunction with the Post’s Small Business Workshop. Two hundred
ninety-eight (298) members and guests were in attendance. Marilyn Lewis,
President of the Kentuckiana Post, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone
and leading the group in a prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Lewis presented a summary of the Post’s accomplishments during
2009. She discussed mentoring activities, such as the Post’s support of Math
Counts (leadership, volunteers, and financial support totaling $40k since
2001), the Governor’s Scholars Program’s Engineering Focus Group
(leadership, volunteers, financial support), the national K-12 Outreach
initiative to recruit students into engineering programs, College Outreach
in the form of mentoring and financial support to the University of
Louisville Student Chapter, the Louisville Science Fair (volunteers and
financial support), the Post’s program to present an award and gift card to
the top engineering student graduate from the Army ROTC Summer Camps at Fort
Knox, and sponsoring students’ attendance at the Air Force Engineering and
Construction Camp and the Seabees Naval Construction Camp. She mentioned the
many uses of the Post’s Education and Mentoring Fund, including sending the
Post President and a young member to the Post Leader’s Workshop and giving
five $3,000 scholarships to engineering students.
President Lewis highlighted the Post’s Community Service activities such as
the $8,800 donation to the Wounded Warrior Project, which was comprised of
member contributions plus the proceeds of the 2009 Small Business Workshop.
She went on to praise the Student Chapter for their community services, such
as participating in Repair Affair and Project Warm. President Lewis noted
the 90% increase in attendance at our monthly meetings and the success of
the Sustainable Design Solutions Workshop organized by the Post. She
described the Engineering Expo 2009 that the Student Chapter hosted for
middle and high school students and the Golf Scramble which is a fundraiser
for both the Post and the Student Chapter. She went on to say that the Post
supported the Engineers Week Banquet at which the Post presented Outstanding
Service Awards to members for their service.
President Lewis praised the Small Business Committee, which implemented a
small business website in addition to hosting the 4th annual Small Business
Workshop, and the Post’s communications activities, including the website
and our robust newsletter. She mentioned the external recognition received
by two Post leaders (Clay Kelly - Past President, and Erin Hall –
Scholarship Committee Co-chair) as “Forty Under 40”; she also discussed Clay
Kelly’s induction into the Academy of Fellows. President Lewis listed the
great Education and Training programs put on by the Post in 2009: MILCON
Transformation at Fort Knox, Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina I-Wall
Failures and Applications to Louisville District’s Flood Protection
Projects, the Louisville Arena; USACE Implementation of LEED; and MSD’s
Prediction of Flooding. In addition to these PDH-generating programs, the
Post supported seminars at the Kentucky Engineering Center and provided PE
Review materials.
Finally, President Lewis discussed the many accomplishments of the Readiness
and Homeland Security Committee, including: receiving the streamer with
distinction; attending the Pandemic Emergency Conference and the Governor’s
Emergency Management Workshop; planning meetings with Kentucky’s Earthquake
Planning Coordinator, other state emergency agencies, and the National
Guard; maintaining a list of firms with potential to help in emergencies;
and coordinating FEMA training for Sustaining Member Firms.
After a few administrative announcements, President Lewis asked Marci
Snyder, representing Ernie Drott who is Regional Vice President of the Ohio
Valley Region, to join her on stage, along with the slate of officers and
directors to be elected. They are: Brian James (Michael Baker Corp) – 1st
Vice President; Steven Skaggs (Corps of Engineers) – 2nd Vice President;
Janet Sees (Burgess & Niple) – Secretary; John Allison (Corps of Engineers)
– Treasurer; and the four elected directors: Rachael Haunz and Gerard
Edelen(both Corps of Engineers), Clay Kelly (Strand Associates), and Mickey
Jones (Mason & Hanger Group) who was not able to attend. Ms Snyder installed
the Board. She then called the incoming Post President, Rosemary Gilbertson
(Corps of Engineers), to the stage and installed her while outgoing Post
President Marilyn Lewis passed the Post charter to the incoming President.
Before leaving the stage, Ms. Snyder announced the Ohio Valley/Great Lakes
Regional Conference, being hosted by the Kittyhawk Post 31 August through 2
September in Dayton, OH. The theme is “Challenge. Revitalize. Transform.”
The outgoing and incoming Presidents presented the Kentuckiana Post 2010
Small Business Awards to:
Construction Contractor: Lester Construction. Mr. John Lester accepted the
award given for the firm’s performance on the Rock Island Arsenal Combined
Fire/Police Facility, a challenging project involving a two-storey addition
which must match the existing facility, plus work on a historic building to
return it to its original (1860’s) appearance.
Environmental Contractor: PARS Environmental. Ms. Kiran Gill accepted the
award given for the firm’s work expediting the voluntary remediation of a
DNSC site in Marietta, PA.
A/E Contractor: Advanced Engineering Consultants. Ms. Lisa Huang accepted
the award given for the firm’s work preparing bidding documents for the
Wright Patterson Air Force Base Security Forces Operations Center and
Sensors Directorate Laboratory Addition/Alteration project, also located at
WPAFB, which received a Merit Award from the Air Force Materiel Command.
Past President Lewis closed the meeting with thanks to all attendees. The
meeting adjourned at approximately 1 pm.
Respectively submitted,
Rosemary Gilbertson, PE
|
December 2009 Board Meeting
|
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 1000 Tuesday 15
December 2009 in room 951c of the Mazzoli Federal Building. President
Marilyn Lewis chaired the meeting.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
Secretary’s Report
President Lewis said that the minutes of the October 2009 Board meeting had
been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received
and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to approve
the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $13,880.32
in the Post checking account with no outstanding bills. A motion was made
and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President’s Report
President Lewis then gave the President’s report, which included the
following information:
The Corps of Engineers, Louisville District Open
House will be held on 26 January 2010. The Kentuckiana Post Small
Business Workshop will be held on 27 January 2010. Sponsorships
(10@$500 and 10 @ $250) for both events were offered by Kentuckiana
Post and all sold out in the first week.
 |
The Post collected $1760 for the Wounded Warrior
Project at the October general meeting. Those present discussed how
much of the proceeds from the 2009 Small Business Workshop should be
used as matching funds; it was noted that our original intention was
to use the majority of those funds to support the troops. A motion
was made and seconded to match each dollar contributed with $4 from
the Small Business Workshop, resulting in a total donation of
$8,800. Motion passed. |
 |
The Student Chapter has requested that the Post
support two officers’ attendance at the Student Leaders’ Workshop in
2010. Discussion touched on our usual practice of sponsoring the
Chapter President’s attendance, at a minimum, and sometimes
sponsoring an additional officer. The Board felt the second attendee
should have at least one additional year of school to go to ensure
continuity in the Chapter leadership. A motion was made and seconded
to pay for two airline tickets and two hotel rooms for two nights
for the President and Vice President of the Student Post to attend
the Student Leaders Workshop. Motion passed. |
 |
UofL will host a new math and science program
(STEM) for middle school students in 2010 and is seeking support
from Kentuckiana Post. It was generally agreed that they should
apply for a grant using our standing procedures. President Lewis
encouraged sustaining member firms to support this program with the
time and talents of their employees, as well. |
 |
The 2010 slate of officers is being considered.
To date the following have been proposed:
| President |
Rosemary Gilbertson |
| 1st VP |
Brian James |
| 2nd VP |
Steve Skaggs |
| Secretary |
Janet Skees |
| Treasurer |
John Allison |
| Elected Director |
Gerard Edelen |
| Elected Director |
Mickey Jones |
| Elected Director |
Clay Kelly |
| |
|
|
 |
Members who are interested in taking on
responsibilities as elected or appointed directors were invited to
contact Marilyn or Rosemary. |
 |
President Lewis reminded the Board that we need
Fellows to meet the national organization’s requirements for
Distinguished Post. Past President Clay Kelly has been elected as a
Fellow and will be inducted in 2010. Other members who are Fellows
are Hans Probst and Don Basham. It will be important in future years
to nominate our members to become Fellows. |
Committee Reports:
 |
The Young Members Committee reported that they
are hosting a joint skiing event with the ASCE chapters from
Louisville and Lexington in February 2010. More details will be
provided as they develop. |
 |
Membership Co-Chair Lisa Wilson provided a report
showing membership numbers by month. Her report also included names
of new members and those who have dropped their memberships.
|
 |
The National Security Committee discussed the
proposed reorganization and comprehensive re-write of the National
Security Streamer requirements. |
 |
The Programs Committee reported that the March
2010 program will be a presentation by Dr. Lynn Peters, KY Secretary
of Energy on the Future of Energy in Kentucky. The March meeting
will be held on Thursday, March 18th, not Tuesday, March 16th, which
would be the normal schedule. |
Old Business:
Streamer Submittals: Each of the Elected Directors
reviewed their draft streamer reports with the Board of Directors over a
splendid lunch catered by Qdoba. Thanks to all who stayed to the end and
provided input to enhance the documentation! We appear to be on track to
receive a Distinguished Post citation for 2009.
Upcoming Board Meetings: President Lewis asked that everyone mark their
calendars for the 16 February Board meeting, for which a location has yet to
be set.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1:30 pm.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Rosemary Gilbertson, PE
Acting Post Secretary – Kentuckiana Post
|
November 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
|
The November meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was
held at noon on 17 November 2009 in the cafeteria meeting room of the
Mazzoli Federal Building. Sixty-five (65) members and guests were in
attendance. Marilyn Lewis, President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the
meeting by welcoming everyone. Past President Clay Kelly led the group in a
prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Lewis made some brief announcements. She encouraged everyone to
sign in and reminded them to pick up a PDH certificate for their record of
attendance. She informed the group of the Wounded Warrior Project that was
set up in the meeting room that day to take cash donations to provide
clothing and toiletries to soldiers while they are recovering in the
hospital from their injuries. She said this project was the “chosen charity”
for the year, and explained that last year, the Post chose to support the
troops by providing VISA cards for the Navy Seabees unit to help with their
costs during the holidays.
President Lewis reminded the group that there would be no December meeting.
She encouraged everyone to mark their calendars for the Corps’ Annual Open
House to be held 26 January at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel, followed by the
Post’s 2010 Small Business Workshop to be held 27 January, also at the
Seelbach. She said information on the Small Business Workshop is on the
Kentuckiana Post website. Information on the Open House is still being
developed and will be posted to the District web site. President Lewis said
there is a limited block of rooms available for a special room rate at the
Seelbach of $105/night for a single or double room.
Education and Mentoring Co-Chair Barry Dixon reported on the Post’s
Sustainability Workshop that was held on 20 October. He said there were
between 50 and 60 in attendance; and the Post cleared $1400 after expenses
for the event. He said they will be planning a similar endeavor for 2010.
President Lewis said that if anyone had any ideas for a future workshop that
they should share them with Mr. Dixon.
President Lewis informed the members that the Board had approved revisions
to the Post by-laws, primarily to update them for current committee names
and to more closely match the national template for Post by-laws. She
reminded everyone that the by-laws had been circulated to the membership by
email with the request that members be prepared to vote on accepting the
by-laws at the November meeting. Following President Lewis’ comments, a
motion was made and seconded to accept the revised by-laws as circulated via
e-mail. Motion passed.
Programs Co-Chair Matt Rathsack introduced the program speaker, Col. Warren
Hurst, Commander of the Kentucky Air National Guard. Col. Hurst spoke on
“The 123rd Contingency Response Group of the Kentucky Air National Guard”.
Col. Hurst’s presentation discussed the mission of the Contingency Response
Group (CRG), specifics of the 123rd CRG, and their future operations. He
said their mission is “to rapidly open an airbase for the Joint Force
Command (JFC) at the time and place of his choosing.” He said they deploy a
variety of skill sets to get an airbase operating as quickly as they can.
Col. Hurst described how after an airfield is seized in a hostile
environment, the CRG comes in to provide a smooth transition from the
seizure force to the force that will be operating the airfield. He said they
will also help with closing an airbase, which is what is going on now in
Iraq. The CRG will be the last ones out as they are handing over a base to
the Iraqis.
Col. Hurst described the make-up of the 123rd. He said their core group is
112 personnel. He explained that there are 10 CRG’s now, of which eight are
active duty and two are from the Guard. He said the CRG must be ready to
load in 12 hours. They work in austere, uncertain environments; and their
deployment is of short duration, usually 45 days.
Other areas of responsibility of the CRG include Continental US (CONUS)
operations, such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and Hurricanes Ike and
Gustav. Overseas disaster relief efforts have been associated with the
Pakistan earthquake to expedite the movement of cargo and the Tsunami. He
said they have also conducted national exercises such as one recently
simulating a nuclear detonation.
Col. Hurst outlined the chronology of the formation of the 123rd CRG. He
said the KY Air National Guard (KYANG) was assigned the CRG mission in
November 2006, and the group was activated as the 123rd CRG in February
2009. He said the KYANG also has an in-state mission such as relief efforts
for the ice storm in western Kentucky earlier this year. And the group has a
relationship with Ecuador as a partnership to teach them how to respond to
disasters.
Col. Hurst described the diverse experience of his team and some of the
activities that the group has been involved with recently. He closed by
saying that they have a heavy schedule planned for 2010.
President Lewis thanked Col. Hurst for his presentation and provided him
with a speaker gift as a token of appreciation.
Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye highlighted the future speakers for the coming
months' programs.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Post Secretary
|
October 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
|
The October meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was
held at noon on 20 October 2009 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli
Federal Building. One Hundred and Eight (108) members and guests were in
attendance. Marilyn Lewis, President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the
meeting by welcoming everyone. Past President Clay Kelly led the group in a
prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Lewis made some brief announcements. She encouraged everyone to
sign in and reminded them to pick up a PDH certificate for their record of
attendance. She informed the group of the Sustainability Workshop being
offered that afternoon; and Education and Mentoring Committee Co-chair Barry
Dixon described the event and offered registration at the door for those who
may be interested in attending.
President Lewis mentioned that the 2010 Ohio Valley/Great Lakes Regional
Conference is scheduled from 31 August to 2 September in Dayton, Ohio.
President Lewis noted that the Board has approved revised Post by-laws and
will be making them available to the membership to review in preparation for
a vote of approval at the November general membership meeting.
President Lewis thanked those who participated in the 15 September Golf
Scramble. She said the scramble netted about $3,000 for the Post; and the
University of Louisville Student Chapter made about $750 selling mulligans.
President Lewis reported that this year’s event to support the troops will
be held at the November meeting and will involve collecting funds for the
Wounded Warrior Project. She explained that the project provides clothing
and toiletries for soldiers while they are in the hospital recovering from
injuries. She said the Post will have a virtual clothing sale, similar to
the Angel Tree charity, where members can “buy” pieces of clothing and
“dress” paper soldiers. She asked that those in attendance come to the
November meeting prepared to make a donation.
Director Rosemary Gilbertson introduced the luncheon speaker, Bud Schardein,
who is the Executive Director of the Louisville and Jefferson County
Metropolitan Sewer District. Mr. Schardein leads an organization with a $170
million budget and a staff of 600. He spoke on “Recent Flooding and the
Impact on Louisville”. Ms. Gilbertson reminded the audience that one of
SAME’s missions is emergency preparedness.
Mr. Schardein opened his talk saying that he grew up in the Portland
neighborhood of Louisville and watched the river go up and down every year.
He said he learned early that you had better be prepared, when his father
showed him businesses that were flooded out on Main Street after the 1964
flood. He said he discovered that patronage was a part of the problem
because people changed jobs with each new administration, back then, when
the responsibility for flood control resided with the City and the County.
Mr. Schardein vividly described another event that has stayed with him. He
recalled the flood of August 5, 1992, when 5-1/2” of rain fell in 3-1/2
hours. He said a lady drowned driving into a flooded viaduct – “A lesson
learned, but one we don’t seem to be able to convey to people, even to this
day.”
In 1997, he said, there was a “horrible flash flood” of high intensity and
short duration. But, he continued, “The last five years have had two of the
wettest years on record.” And, on August 4, 2009, eight inches of rain fell
in one hour and 18 minutes, as recorded on the gage at McAlpine Locks. Mr.
Schardein said he received a 6 a.m. page saying to expect one to two inches
of rain that day. He said there was to be “nothing unusual” about it. But
the cold air from above dropped on warm air and “created a ball inside the
Watterson Expressway”. He said, “The color on the radar – I’d never seen
before. It had gone to purple.” He added that there is no professional that
can control that much rain because of the rate it came down. He said at that
point, you stop thinking about controlling flooding and think about
emergency help to serve the customers. “And you try to save people.”
He referred back to the lady who drowned in the 1992 event. He said that
face “never leaves.” He said he tells people not to drive or walk in that
kind of water, because six inches of running water will “knock you off your
feet. Two feet will float an SUV.”
Mr. Schardein went on to say that he doesn’t know about global warming, but
it has been proven that there has been climate change, just in the past 150
years for which there are good records. He said we are in a “wet period”
now.
Mr. Schardein went on to describe what MSD is doing now. He said they have
an emergency response plan in place “that is pretty good.” But, he said,
they want evacuation plans in place; and they are working on that now. He
said they have to have an orderly way to move people first, and then their
pets.
He went on to discuss one problem with flooding is that there is not much
grass left in the urban area. He said, “We need to remove those folks in
harm’s way and create green space.” He continued, “We can’t continue to defy
nature.” One option he described would be to build flood storage basins in
urban areas and turn them into passive recreation areas.
After a period of questions and answers, President Lewis thanked Mr.
Schardein for his presentation and provided him with a speaker gift as a
token of appreciation.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
October 2009 Board Meeting
|
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 1000 Tuesday 20
October 2009 in the cafeteria meeting room in the Mazzoli Federal Building.
President Marilyn Lewis chaired the meeting. Attendees are listed on the
attached roster.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
Old Business
President Lewis moved the discussion of the Post By-laws to the beginning of
the meeting. Secretary Janet Skees had previously circulated to the Board a
red-lined copy of the old by-laws showing the proposed changes. She
discussed the comments that were subsequently received by e-mail from the
Board. Additional comments were brought up during the Board meeting, with
some minor revisions agreed to from what had been circulated by e-mail.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the by-laws as amended.
Motion passed. The revised by-laws will be submitted to the membership for a
vote of approval at the November regular membership meeting.
Secretary’s Report
President Lewis said that the minutes of the 18 August 2009 Board meeting
had been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been
received and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and
seconded to approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $17,858.83
in the Post checking account with no outstanding bills. This amount includes
the proceeds from the September golf scramble, which took in $9,055.00 and
had expenses of $6,093.35, thus netting $2,961.65 in profit. A motion
was made and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion
passed.
President’s Report
President Lewis then gave the President’s report, which included the
following information:
 |
President Lewis said the 15 December Board
meeting will be to develop draft streamer submittals. She asked the
Directors to start preparing for that. |
 |
President Lewis is still looking for ideas for
the Corps Open House to be at the Seelbach Hotel on Tuesday 26
January 2010, followed by the SAME Small Business Workshop on 27
January. Small Business Co-Chair Rachael Haunz said they have
tentative acceptance on a key-note speaker for the workshop and
should be able to confirm the hotel location by the end of the week.
Discussion followed on some potential topics for the events and the
logistics of SAME providing refreshments for the Open House. Janet
Skees volunteered her office to again coordinate the Open House
refreshments and sponsorships.
Note: Subsequent to the
meeting, it was decided that there would be ten sponsorship slots
for each of the two events that would be offered to KP-SAME
Sustaining Member firms. The sponsorships for the Open House will
cost $500 each. And the sponsorships for the Small Business Workshop
will cost $250 each. Each sponsoring firm will be recognized on a
sign to be located by the refreshments throughout the event on the
day they choose to sponsor. Additionally, sponsoring firms’ logos
will be projected on the screen in the meeting rooms during the
breaks. |
Committee Reports
 |
U of L Student Chapter President Brandon Shelley
reported that the student chapter made $764 from the golf tournament
sale of mulligans.
|
 |
President Lewis provided a balance sheet for the
Education and Mentoring Fund as of 30 September that she received
from Tony Marconi. The balance sheet shows assets of $452,289.82 and
liabilities of $12,769.10, for net equity of $439,520.72.
|
 |
Membership Co-Chair Lisa Wilson provided a report
showing membership numbers by month. Her report also included names
of new members and those who have dropped their memberships. Total
Post membership (individual members plus Sustaining Member firm
representatives) for August is at 517. Ms. Wilson is going to try to
make sure Sustaining Member firms are taking advantage of all the
slots they are allotted.
|
 |
Education and Training Co-Chair Barry Dixon
reported that there are 50 individuals registered plus five speakers
for the Post’s workshop that afternoon on Sustainability.
|
 |
National Security Co-Chair Brian James noted that
he has talked with committee co-chair Lee Carolan and they are in
good shape for addressing the streamer guidelines for the year.
|
New Business
There was some discussion about supporting the troops through the Wounded
Warriors project. This is a non-profit service organization that provides a
kit of clothing, toiletries, calling card, CD player, playing cards, etc
neatly packaged in a backpack to help ease the comfort of military members
who are hospitalized. It was decided that this activity would be a part of
the November membership meeting.
Note: Subsequent to the meeting a
conference call was held on 28 October with the Board leadership to discuss
the details of the Wounded Warriors project. The group proposed to conduct
an "Angel Tree" type of fundraising event at the November meeting. Those
attending would be given the opportunity to "purchase" clothing for the
backpacks and KP-SAME would match the contributions with money raised from
last year's Small Business Workshop. Following the call, an email was sent
to Board members asking for a vote of approval to spend the funds raised at
the Workshop, which was approximately $7,800, for this charity. The results
of the e-mail vote was unanimous.
Upcoming Board Meetings
President Lewis asked that everyone mark their calendars for the 15 December
Board meeting which will be a working meeting through lunch to draft
streamer submittals.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1120.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
September 2009 Golf Scramble
|
The annual SAME Kentuckiana Post golf scramble was held on Tuesday,
September 15th at Quail Chase golf club in Louisville. The weather was
perfect and the golf course was in excellent shape except for a few hoof
prints left by a loose horse who provided an “only in Kentucky” moment as he
stampeded across the course. 103 total golfers (46 Federal and 57
Non-Federal members) attended the event which raised over $2,800 for the
Post. The University of Louisville Student Chapter raised $764 from mulligan
sales and the putting contest. Hole sponsors and scramble results are listed
below:
 |
Hole Sponsors:
Arcadis-Thelen
Associates Joint Venture, Carlson Construction,
CH2M Hill,
Gresham Smith & Partners,
HC Nutting,
K.S.
Ware & Associates,
Mason &
Hanger,
Michael Baker,
Shaw,
Stantec
Consulting,
Tetra Tech/Pond Joint Venture, Tidewater.
|
 |
1st Place – (55) Bob Krupp (USACE),
John Bohn (USACE), Dan Frank (USACE), & Mike Goodman (USACE) |
 |
14th Place - (71) COL Jerome Stolinski
(FEST-M Ft. Knox), Chuck Oliver (FEST-M Ft. Knox), Jim Hagan
(Michael Baker), COL Keith Landry (USACE) |
 |
28th Place - (91) Sheila Baysinger (Baysinger),
Ashley Bullock (Baysinger), and Shenita McConis (USACE)
|
 |
Hole Prizes
 |
Closest to the Pin #4 East –
Brian Mattingly (Bay West) |
 |
Longest Drive #5 East – Shane
Rushing (USACE) |
 |
Closest to the Pin #2 West –
Ralph Johanson (GRW) |
 |
Longest Drive #8 West – Tony
Marconi (URS) |
|
|
August 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
The August meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 18
August 2009 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Seventy-eight (78) members and guests were in attendance. Marilyn Lewis,
President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by welcoming
everyone. Past President Clay Kelly led the group in a prayer and the Pledge
of Allegiance.
Randy Stambaugh discussed the upcoming Golf Scramble on 15 September and
encouraged those interested to submit their registration forms before the 19
September deadline. He said the form is on the Post’s website.
Marci Snyder of Woolpert,
from the Kitty
Hawk Post in Dayton, announced that their post will host the 2010 Ohio
Valley/Great Lakes Regional Conference. She said they are currently signing
up sponsors. The theme of the conference will be “Challenge, Revitalize and
Transform.”
President Lewis thanked those who presented the SAME awards at the ROTC
Leaders Training Course award ceremonies at Ft. Knox.
Education and Training Co-chair Barry Dixon provided advanced notice of a
planned workshop on sustainability to be held on 20 October. He said an
informational flyer should be distributed within the next week or two.
Col. Keith Landry introduced the luncheon speaker, Col. Jeff Ogden, who is
the Deputy Garrison Commander for Transformation at Ft. Knox and was the
previous Deputy Commander in the Louisville District.

Col. Ogden spoke on “MILCON Transformation at Ft. Knox.” He showed a video
which gave an overview of Ft. Knox - beginning with its founding in 1918 as
Camp Knox and continuing to its present day with the construction of the
Human Resources Center of Excellence and the effect of BRAC (Base
Realignment and Closure) on Ft. Knox’s mission. He followed the video with
information on BRAC 2005. He said the result will be the installation will
have a 30% growth in permanent military and full-time civilian personnel. He
showed a footprint of what the Post will look like in 2011, when BRAC has
been fully implemented. One of the main additions to Ft. Knox will be the
Human Resources Center of Excellence, which will have 883,180 square feet –
a structure 1/6 the size of the Pentagon. It will house 4,294 employees and
have parking for 3,765 automobiles. It is scheduled to be occupied in June
2010, with personnel relocating to Ft. Knox from three HR facilities across
the country. Col. Ogden discussed other projects at Ft. Knox, such as the
new High School that just opened. He gave an overview of the impact of BRAC
in terms of net gains and losses in personnel and payroll at Ft. Knox. He
said Ft. Knox will go into the future moving from a predominant blue collar
workforce to a predominant white collar work force. Col. Ogden’s
presentation was followed by a period of questions and answers.
President Lewis closed the meeting reminding everyone of upcoming meetings.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
August 2009 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 1000 Tuesday 18 August 2009 in the
cafeteria meeting room in the Mazzoli Federal Building. President Marilyn
Lewis chaired the meeting. Attendees are listed on the attached roster. The
meeting followed the attached agenda.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
President Lewis noted that the October and December Board meetings would
also be in the cafeteria meeting room.
President Lewis said that the minutes of the 16 June 2009 meeting had been
circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received and
incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $14,103.58
in the Post checking account with no outstanding bills. He reported that
there was $2,269.10 in expenses associated with the Governor’s Scholars
Program; and those bills have been paid. A motion was made and
seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President Lewis then gave the President’s report, which included the
following information:
 |
The Post donated a basket for the
Silent Auction held at the Regional conference in Detroit; and
President Lewis said she needed the Board to approve the
expenditure. A motion was made and seconded to reimburse
Marilyn Lewis up to $150 for the expenses associated with providing
the basket for the Silent Auction. Motion passed. Discussion
followed on whether the Post would want to continue to participate
in silent auctions held at conferences because of the expense to
ship a basket and the fact that auction participants who fly to a
conference would have a difficult time traveling home with a basket.
Additionally, the winning bids on items donated often do not exceed
the cost of the items. President Lewis will call SAME National and
the regional V.P., Ernie Draut, to see how best to handle these
requests in the future. |
 |
Rachael Haunz and Rosemary Gilbertson
had previously expressed interest in attending the fall Post Leaders
Workshop set for 10–11 September in Alexandria, Virginia. President
Lewis said she would ask them if they would be interested in
attending next Spring instead of this fall since the Post was
already represented this year at the Spring workshop. |
 |
President Lewis asked the Elected
Directors to give an update on the status of meeting Streamer
guidelines. National Security Co-Chair Lee Carolan and Director
Mickey Jones reported on the status of the National Security
Streamer. Ms. Carolan said they think they can catch up by November
on the required number of collaboration meetings and are on track
for meeting the requirement for committee meetings. She asked for a
copy of the National Security Streamer submittal from last year. Dr.
Jones said they are working up a new form to use for obtaining firm
profiles. Ms. Carolan said she attended the Kentucky Governor’s
Emergency Management Conference in July; and she talked with some
state officials on meeting with SAME. Dr. Jones added that they have
a goal to test the program by participating in a multi-state New
Madrid Fault emergency response exercise that is planned for 2011. |
 |
The Engineering Division of the
Louisville District will have the responsibility for the January
2010 Corps Open House which will be held on 26 January, followed by
the Post’s Small Business Workshop on 27 January. President Lewis
asked for ideas of what Sustaining Member firms would like to see at
both the Open House and the Small Business Workshop. |
 |
President Lewis gave an update on the
status of developing a Sharepoint site on the web for the Post. She
said that Webmaster Troy Mays has told her that he is in contact
with a company that might be willing to host a website pro bono in
exchange for some advertising on the site. A Sharepoint site would
allow various people within SAME to post items to the site; and it
could also be used as a part of the National Security initiative.
Some discussion followed expressing concern that there could be too
much advertising and Mr. Mays should check into this. |
 |
President Lewis reported for Director
Gilbertson that the status of the Armed Forces Ticket Operation
initiative is dead. |
Committee Reports
 |
Education and Training Committee
Co-Chair Barry Dixon reported on the status of the Post’s
Sustainability Workshop planned for 20 October. He said that the
Workshop may have to move from the University of Louisville to the
Federal Building due to the recent massive flooding at the
University. Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye expressed concern about
whether the planned speaker from the University of Louisville would
participate if the program were moved and also said that one goal is
to integrate the University more into the Post’s program. Mr. Dixon
said he would like to know where the program will be held as soon as
possible in order to get the first announcement out to the
membership within the next week. |
 |
Education and Mentoring Fund Co-Chair
Tony Marconi reported that he has just closed out the fiscal year
ending 30 June. He said the fund has a balance of $401,862.90, which
will change after he pays out the liability associated with the
Governor’s Scholars program. During the fiscal year, there have been
$16,000 given away in grants and $15,000 in scholarships, of which
half has been paid out so far. He asked when the second half of the
scholarships should be paid out. Past President Clay Kelly said the
amounts could be paid this fall. Mr. Marconi said he would discuss
with Scholarship Co-Chair Erin Hall. |
 |
Membership Co-Chair Lisa Wilson
provided an update on the status of the Post’s membership numbers.
Total Post membership for August is at 598, with three new members. |
 |
Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye said the
speaker at that day’s luncheon meeting would be Col. Jeffrey Ogden
presenting “MILCON Transformation at Ft. Knox.” The Annual Golf
Scramble, to be held at Quail Chase Golf Course on 15 September,
will serve as the September meeting. Tony Marconi said the
announcement flyers for the golf scramble have been distributed and
registration is due 9 September. |
 |
Small Business Co-Chair Aaron Jamison
reported that Rachael Haunz is working on topics for the next Small
Business Workshop. He said they are evaluating locations for the
event that would be closer to the Federal Building but the costs are
greater than if the workshop were to be held again at the Holiday
Inn South. |
 |
Young Members Co-Chair Kristen
Crumpton said she has been coordinating with the Young Members group
of the Louisville Chapter of ASCE to see if SAME’s Young Members
group can join them in some of their activities. She said there was
a joint outing to a Bats baseball game in July, but there was a
small turnout. She said she wants to start making contact with other
young members to ask them what types of activities they would like
to see. |
Old Business
Secretary Janet Skees passed out red-lined copies of the Post By-Laws which
incorporated suggested changes to bring the By-Laws up to date. She
discussed the edits, which included several associated with the most recent
template for Post operations from the National SAME website. She asked the
Board members to review the revisions and provide comments; and said the
goal would be to present revised By-Laws to the full membership for approval
by the November meeting.
New Business
Dr. Jones reported that he became a member of the National SAME Homeland
Security and Readiness Committee in July.
President Lewis presented Tony Marconi and John Allison with Regional Vice
President medals that were awarded in August 2008 but were just received by
the Post. She expressed appreciation for their efforts.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1130.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for 20 October at 1000 in the
Mazzoli Federal Building cafeteria meeting room.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
July 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
The July meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on
Tuesday, 21 July 2009 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal
Building. Eighty-Four (84) members and guests were in attendance. Marilyn
Lewis, President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by welcoming
everyone and leading the group in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Lewis then offered a few comments; she reminded everyone that the
Great Lakes and Ohio Valley Regional Conference will be from the 11th to the
13th of August in Detroit. She said the Kentuckiana Post’s Annual Golf
Scramble will be on Tuesday, the 15th of September. She said they moved the
scramble to the afternoon to allow people to participate without having to
take an entire day off work. She explained that the proceeds from the
scramble go to support the troops. President Lewis then thanked those who
volunteered to present the Post’s awards to individuals who have completed
the ROTC Leaders Training Course at Ft. Knox. She said there is still one
day available when she needs a volunteer to attend the awards ceremony –
Sunday, the 9th of August.
President Lewis then introduced Will Hoggatt from Pittsboro, Indiana, the
student the Post sponsored to attend the U.S. Air Force Engineering and
Construction Camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Will gave a slide show
presentation and discussed his camp experience. He said the students broke
out into “flights” (groups of about 10 students) at the camp. And the
“flights”
competed against each other in activities such as building a catapult. At
the end of the week, the scores for each team were added. Will said his
“flight” took second place overall. He said they visited the Air Force
Academy, which was very meaningful, as he is currently applying to attend
the Academy. He said he learned leadership and teamwork from the camp
experience. Will thanked the Post for sponsoring him to attend the camp.
Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye then introduced Dr. Mike Evans, of Evans and
Associates, who presented “Leadership Starts and Stops with the Leader”. Dr.
Evans gave an animated talk using personal examples and discussed Emotional
Intelligence (EI). He showed a model that describes a process of solving
problems. He said it starts with Awareness – an understanding of why we do
what we do. Next comes Self Preparation – getting ourselves prepared for a
situation by asking, “What did I actually hear and see?” Next is Conflict
Reduction – being able to utilize skills such as assertion, listening and
being able to know ourselves so that we do not get to our emotional breaking
point. The process then leads into Negotiation – where you try to understand
the “whys” behind what somebody wants so you can get an agreement that works
for both of you. And lastly, you arrive at the Agreement stage with the
other individual. Dr. Evans said that an important part of getting to an
agreement is your values that dictate every decision you make. He said it is
important to realize that others are seeing the situation “though different
lenses” because they may have a different set of values.
One rule Dr. Evans laid out is that “No one will ever listen to you unless
you listen to them first.” He said you can approach a situation by being
assertive, aggressive or submissive. He gave examples of each. “Sometimes,”
he said, “being submissive is the right approach – just walking away from a
situation.”
After Dr. Evans’ presentation, President Lewis thanked him and provided him
with a speaker gift.
She reminded the group that the next regular membership meeting of the Post
will be on 18 August with COL Jeffrey Ogden giving a presentation on “MILCON
Transformation at Ft. Knox.”
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1:00 p.m.Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
June 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
The June meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 16 June
2009 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Sixty-Eight (68) members and guests were in attendance. Marilyn Lewis,
President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by welcoming
everyone. Past President Clay Kelly led the group in a prayer and the Pledge
of Allegiance.
President Lewis offered a few comments. She recognized Mike Barry, Past
President of the Nashville Post, who was in attendance and offered his
congratulations to the Kentuckiana Post’s recognition for achievement at the
national conference in May. President Lewis reported that the Post has
selected two individuals to attend two of the SAME sponsored Engineering and
Construction Camps this summer. The Post has recommended to National SAME
that Will Hoggatt of Pittsboro, Indiana attend the Air Force Academy Camp
and Taylor Young of Fisherville, Kentucky attend the Seabees Camp.
President Lewis discussed upcoming activities. She said the USACE
Infrastructure Conference will be held in Cleveland from 20 to 24 July. The
Great Lakes and Ohio Valley Regional Conference will take place in Detroit
from 11 to 13 August. Information on both events will be posted on the Post
web site. President Lewis said she is still looking for volunteers to make
an award presentation to the top graduate of each class of the ROTC Leaders
Training Course held at Ft. Knox.
Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye then introduced the guest speaker for the
luncheon meeting, Mickey Wilhelm, Dean of the Speed School of Engineering,
who gave a presentation on the “Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research
and Environmental Stewardship (CCRERES).” Dean Wilhelm discussed the
background for the founding of the Center. He talked about U of L’s programs
that led to a partnership with the state on this initiative. He said U of
L’s areas of focus have included: next generation biofuels, materials (such
as batteries and fuel cells, hybrid vehicles, etc.), logistics and
distribution, and renewable energy resources. He said there are several
centers already at U of L focusing on these areas, such as the Institute for
Advanced Materials, From Lab to Marketplace, Micro/Nanotechnology Center,
Rapid Prototyping Center, the Logistics and Distribution Institute and the
Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center.
Dean Wilhelm said the Conn Center was established through a January 26, 2009
announcement by Governor Steve Beshear who said that Kentucky would enter
into a Memorandum of Agreement with U of L for establishing the center. The
center would be for renewable energy research and would borrow the expertise
of all the areas of the various centers that are already in existence at U
of L. The stimulus for the Governor’s support was a gift from Henry and
Rebecca Conn, who pledged over $20 million toward renewable energy research.
It is a deferred gift that will be realized in a few years and will enable
the hiring of several eminent scientists, engineers and students at U of L.
Initial research themes will include: Energy Storage, Alternative Fuels,
Smart Grid, Energy Efficiency, and New Energy Sources. Dean Wilhelm then
gave some examples of types of research that is currently going on at U of
L. His presentation was followed by a period of Questions and Answers.
President Lewis thanked Dean Wilhelm and presented him with a token of
appreciation.
The speaker for the 21 July meeting will be Dr. Mike Evans of Evans and
Associates who will present a program entitled, “Leadership Starts and Stops
With the Leader”.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
June 2009 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, 16 June 2009
in Room 709 of the Mazzoli Federal Building. President Marilyn Lewis chaired
the meeting. The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was
circulated.
President Lewis noted that the minutes of the 21 April 2009 meeting had been
circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received and
incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $16,622.14
in the Post checking account. The only outstanding bill is an amount of
$565.69 to reimburse the air fare for a student sponsored by the Post to
attend an Engineering and Construction camp. A motion was made and
seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President Lewis showed the Board the new speaker gift, which is a set of
glasses with an etching of the City of Louisville designed by a local
artist. She said the SAME logo sticker will be put on the gift box.
Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye, who was not able to stay for the entire Board
meeting, presented his committee report at this time. He noted that the
General Meeting being held following this meeting would feature Dr. Mickey
Wilhelm, Dean of the Speed School of Engineering, who would speak on the
“Cohn Center for Renewable Energy Research and Environmental Stewardship.”
Mr. Frye said meetings have been scheduled through September. The July
meeting will have Dr. Mike Evans of Evans and Associates speak on
“Leadership Starts and Stops With the Leader”. The August speaker will be
COL Jeffrey Ogden presenting “MILCON Transformation at Ft. Knox.” The Annual
Golf Scramble, to be held at Quail Chase Golf Course on Tuesday, 15
September, will serve as the September meeting. Some discussion followed on
potential future topics for Post meetings.
Director Rosemary Gilbertson mentioned that since the Sustainability
Conference is being planned for October, one of the conference speakers
could be featured during the October Post meeting. Mr. Frye said a program
focused on ATFP (Anti-Terrorism Force Protection) needs to be planned, as
well.
President Lewis then gave the President’s report, which included the
following information:
 |
Board meetings are not likely to
continue to be held in Room 709. She said Board members should be
sure to check meeting locations on future announcements. |
 |
The Post has identified a camper to
sponsor for each of two Engineering and Construction Camps. Each
student will make a presentation on their camp experience to the
general membership after they return. |
 |
The Post donated a basket to the
Silent Auction for the 2009 Joint Engineer Training Conference.
President Lewis said the problem with donating a basket is that air
travelers have difficulty traveling with the basket. She said the
most popular items were gift cards; but the items that generated the
most money were golf clubs. |
 |
Volunteers are still needed (at the
time of the Board meeting) to make presentations of an SAME award at
each of several ROTC Leaders Training Course awards ceremonies held
at Ft. Knox. President Lewis encouraged those who have not
previously participated to take part. She asked if the Post would
want to award something in addition to the certificate such as a
gift card and/or a National SAME coin. Past President Clay Kelly
said he would check on obtaining several of the coins. A motion was
made to provide a $50 VISA gift card and a National SAME coin to
each award recipient. Motion passed. |
 |
The status of the Armed Forces Ticket
Operation initiative was discussed. This is a service to the
military providing them with unsold tickets for various events. Ms.
Gilbertson said that Jay Mazzoni has contacts in the arts in the
Louisville area; and he is reaching out to his contacts to ask for
support in supplying tickets. |
 |
The fall Post Leaders Workshop is set
for 10th & 11th of September in Alexandria, Virginia. There as some
discussion on who might be interested in attending the workshop.
President Lewis said there is a streamer criteria to have a Board
member and a young member attend one of two annual workshops. The
Post covers the cost of transportation; and National SAME covers all
the other costs. Ms. Gilbertson and Rachael Haunz both expressed an
interest in attending. |
 |
The Engineering Division of the
Louisville District will have the responsibility for the January
2010 Corps Open House. President Lewis asked for ideas of what
Sustaining Member firms would like to see at the Open House. She
said they would like to combine the Small Business Workshop with the
Louisville District Open House, as was done last year. |
 |
President Lewis asked the Elected
Directors to give an update on the status of meeting Streamer
guidelines. Director Gilbertson, who oversees the Outreach and
Communications Streamer, said there are five criteria for that
streamer. She said in order to be designated as a Distinguished
Post, all the “required” and “desired” criteria have to be met. She
then discussed how the Post is progressing toward meeting each
criteria. |
Committee Reports
 |
President Lewis reported for the
Education and Training Committee. She said an email was just sent
out requesting speakers for the planned Sustainability Workshop.
Education and Mentoring Fund Co-Chair Tony Marconi reported that he
would have a check issued to cover the Governor’s Scholar program
grant, which was previously approved by the Board. He said that as
of 30 April 2009, the fund balance is $398,379.37. Tony said the
Vanguard Fund has increased in value since the last report, adding
about $20,000 to the account’s bottom line. |
 |
Ft. Knox Co-Chair Erich Hoehler
reported that his committee is coordinating to have COL Jeffrey
Ogden speak at the August Post meeting. President Lewis said she
would determine if that meeting needs to be held at Ft. Knox or if
it could be held in the Federal Building and still meet streamer
criteria. |
 |
Membership Co-Chair Lisa Wilson
provided an update on the status of the Post’s membership numbers.
Total Post membership for June is at 594. She said Membership
Co-Chair Dan Taylor is following up with the visitors to Post
meetings who work for the Corps; and she is following up with the
visitors who work outside the Corps. President Lewis asked if the
committee is checking to see if all Sustaining Member firms have
filled their five allotted membership slots, since that would affect
membership numbers, as well. |
 |
National Security Co-Chair Lee Carolan
reported on committee activity. She said she will be attending the
Governor’s Emergency Management Conference to be held at the end of
July at the Galt House. She asked if the Post would want to have a
vendor booth at the conference, which would cost $200. Past
President Kelly said that the new streamer guidelines for national
security have evolved toward taking a “partnership” approach, and
primarily making sure the agencies know there are Post members
available to support their missions in the event of an emergency.
Ms. Carolan said she would look further into having a booth and will
report her findings to the Board, so a decision can be made. Ms.
Carolan said Co-Chair Luke Leising is doing research to put together
a survey to send out to members related to their ability to provide
support in an emergency. |
 |
Small Business Co-Chair Linda
Hunt-Smith said her committee is starting to look at what they want
to do for the next Small Business Workshop. She said this is
dependent on the date the Corps picks for their Open House, since
the two events are going to be held back-to-back. |
 |
Past President Kelly said Brandon
Shelley is the new U of L Student Chapter President. He said the
roster should be updated to reflect that Brandon is now a Co-Chair
of the Student Chapter Committee. He said he would provide contact
information for Brandon. |
 |
Young Members Co-Chair Kristen
Crumpton said she has been coordinating with the Young Members group
of the Louisville Chapter of ASCE to see if SAME’s Young Members
group can join them in some of their activities. She said they are
planning a joint outing to a Bats baseball game. Past President
Kelly said he needs to know the numbers of SAME members
participating in those types of activities for reporting purposes.
Ms. Crumpton said that ASCE is currently giving a one-year free
membership to graduating students from the joint ASCE/SAME Student
Chapter, and asked if this is something that the SAME Post would
want to do. Student membership to the Post is $35. The Board asked
Kristen to provide information on ASCE’s program and the numbers of
students that would be affected. |
Old Business
Secretary Janet Skees was to have provided an updated version of the Post
By-Laws for Board review and approval. She said that she found a template on
the National SAME web site and believes there are additional updates that
need to be addressed beyond what was discussed at the April Board meeting.
She said she will summarize these potential changes, coordinate with Marilyn
Lewis and Clay Kelly for initial review, and present a draft of the revised
by-laws via email to the Board for review at the next Board meeting. The
by-laws will need to be presented to the Post’s general membership for a
vote of approval prior to being adopted.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for Tuesday, 18 August at 10:00
a.m. in the Mazzoli Federal Building in a room still to be determined. The
meeting concluded at approximately 11:30 a.m.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
May 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
The May meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 19 May
2009 at the Cardinal Hall of Fame Café on Crittenden Drive. Thirty-two (32)
members and guests were in attendance. Past-President Clay Kelly opened the
meeting by leading in prayer.
Scholarship Co-Chair Erin Hall welcomed everyone and gave a brief overview
of the mission of SAME. She said this is the twelfth year the Kentuckiana
Post has assisted engineering students in pursuing their dream of an
engineering degree; and the Post has provided over 50 scholarships. Before
recognizing the 2009 scholarship winners, Ms. Hall recognized and thanked
all those from the Kentuckiana Post who have worked hard over the years to
make it possible for the Post to be in a financial position to support
engineering students in their pursuit of an engineering career. She also
thanked Scholarship Co-Chair Adam Connelly.
Ms. Hall said that this year there were more applicants than ever before.
Sixteen total applicants represented seven different schools; and four
schools were represented among the five students selected to receive
scholarships. She then introduced the five recipients and gave a short
biography for each. Scholarship winners were:
 |
Sarah Bertke is a Junior at Western
Kentucky University, who expects to receive her undergraduate degree
in Civil Engineering in May 2010 and plans to obtain a graduate
degree from U of L in May of 2011. |
 |
Shawn Kenney is a Junior at the
University of Louisville, majoring in Civil Engineering. He expects
to receive his undergraduate degree in May 2010 and his graduate
degree in May 2011. |
 |
Steven Shifflett is a graduate student
at the University of Louisville, majoring in civil and environmental
engineering. He received his undergraduate degree in May of 2008 and
plans to obtain his graduate engineering degree in May of 2010. |
 |
Jeremiah Gill is currently a sophomore
at Purdue University. He plans to obtain a degree in Nuclear
Engineering in May of 2011. |
 |
Matthew Dobbertien is a junior at the
University of Notre Dame, who is pursuing his degree in Civil
Engineering and expects to graduate in 2010. He intends to pursue
and obtain a graduate degree by May 2012. (He was unable to be
present at the ceremony.) |
Following the presentation of scholarships, Ms. Hall introduced the
program speaker, Christie Allgeier, who is the current U of L ASCE/SAME
student chapter vice president. She is a Civil Engineering graduate student
with a concentration on Structures and Geotech. She talked about the
activities of the student chapter and their plans for the future.
President Marilyn Lewis then offered some closing remarks. She said the next
regular membership meeting, in June, will be held at the Federal Building.
Mickey Wilhelm, Dean of the Speed School of Engineer, will speak on the
“Cohn Center for Renewable Energy Research and Environmental Stewardship.”
The July speaker will be Dr. Mike Evans of Evans and Associates who will
present a program entitled, “Leadership Starts and Stops With the Leader”.
She said reservations will not be required for these meetings.
President Lewis congratulated the scholarship winners. And she closed by
announcing that the Post has received official notice of being awarded all
four streamers with distinction for 2008.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
April 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
The April meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 21
April 2009 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Ninety-Five (95) members and guests were in attendance. Marilyn Lewis,
President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by welcoming
everyone and leading the group in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Lewis offered a few comments. She reported that the Post has
selected five engineering students to each receive $3,000 scholarships,
which will be awarded at the May meeting. She encouraged attendance at this
meeting to support the students.
President Lewis said the Post selected one individual out of three
applicants for support to attend the Air Force Academy Engineering and
Construction Camp. She said the Post is looking for individuals to apply to
attend the Seabees Camp, which has a 15 May deadline for submittal of the
application.
President Lewis discussed upcoming activities. She said the June membership
meeting will include a presentation by Mickey Wilhelm, Dean of the Speed
School of Engineering, who will speak on the “Cohn Center for Renewable
Energy Research and Environmental Stewardship.” The July speaker will be Dr.
Mike Evans of Evans and Associates who will present a program entitled,
“Leadership Starts and Stops With the Leader”. President Lewis said the
national SAME Conference will be from 12 to 15 May in Salt Lake City. And,
the national MathCounts competition will be from 7 to 10 May in Orlando,
Florida. She said there are four students representing the state of Kentucky
who will be advancing to the national competition. She said SAME is one of
the sponsoring organizations for MathCounts.
Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye then introduced the guest speaker for the
luncheon meeting, Mr. Jim Host, Chairman of the Louisville Arena Authority,
gave a presentation on the Louisville Downtown Arena. Mr. Host is one of
fifteen people who serve on the authority on a “strictly volunteer basis.”
He showed a video of a computerized fly through of what the arena will look
like when it is finished. It will have the largest plaza, at 1-1/2 acres, of
any arena in the United States. The lobby area will be 14,000 square feet –
large enough to host banquets for up to 1,000 people. The arena will also
house a Norton’s Emergency Care Center. There will be 22,000 seats, with
11,000 downstairs and 11,000 upstairs. There will be a 650 seat restaurant
and sports bar facing the river open to the public during all events and
rented to private groups to use at other times. There will also be lounges
on each end of the arena.
Mr. Host continued his presentation by showing the various configurations
that the arena could be arranged for basketball, arena football, concert
setup, indoor soccer, and ice hockey. He also showed a typical suite that
seats 16.
The NCAA was so impressed with the planned facility, according to Mr. Host,
that they selected the arena as the site for the 2012 final NCAA volleyball
championship. Additionally, he said, they have already booked two national
conventions that will use the arena hospitality rooms for some of their
meetings in conjunction with their events at the Convention Center. He said
the arena includes a lot of space that can be used for other events to
generate income. He then showed renderings of what the outside of the arena
would look like, including a fountain with changing colors at night.
Mr. Host concluded his formal presentation and opened the floor to questions
and answers. One individual said he was concerned about the downtown traffic
and asked how this was being addressed. Mr. Host compared the situation to
Rupp Arena in Lexington which seats 24,000 and is also located in a downtown
area. He said because of the number of available options for parking, the
Rupp Area can be cleared in 20 minutes. He said there are 15,000 parking
spaces within two blocks of the proposed Louisville arena. He said the Arena
Authority has a traffic committee and they are currently working with
various local agencies on the best approach for handling traffic. He said
the City is already knowledgeable about handling traffic in the downtown
area through their experiences with Thunder Over Louisville and the Derby.
Mr. Host discussed the financing process and the complexities of getting the
bond issue. He also talked about the sustainable, or “green”, aspects of the
project. He said he wanted the arena project to be LEED certified but the
certifying agency doesn’t certify arenas; and it would cost $4.5 million to
get it certified. So they went the route of making the facility Energy Star
compliant with everything they have done. He said that even the site of the
arena was a Brownfields redevelopment site. He said if they were to pursue
LEED certification, they would obtain at least 32 points with what they have
planned, and it takes a minimum of 26 points to get certified. He said the
project will be the first ever arena to be an Energy Star partner. Mr. Host
concluded his remarks by discussing the selection process for the arena’s
designers. He said HOK was selected as the lead architectural firm.
After Mr. Host’s presentation, Programs Committee Co-Chair Ray Frye provided
Mr. Host will a small speaker gift and thanked him.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
April 2009 Board Meeting
|
TThe Board meeting was called to order at 1000 Tuesday 21 April 2009 in Room
709 of the Mazzoli Federal Building. President Marilyn Lewis chaired the
meeting. Attendees are listed on the attached roster. The meeting followed
the attached agenda.
Due to several new faces that have joined the Board this year, introductions
were made.
President Lewis noted that the minutes of the 17 February 2009 meeting had
been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received
and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $17,807.85
in the Post checking account, with no outstanding bills. However, the Post
will have upcoming expenses for an accountant to complete the IRS 990 form
and for air fare for the sponsored attendees to attend the Engineering and
Construction Camp. A motion was made and seconded to approve the
Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
Clay Kelly clarified that any committee co-chair or member of the Board can
make a motion and vote at Board meetings.
President Lewis said she is still looking for a co-chair for the Education
and Training Committee. She also reported that Anne Black, co-chair of the
Small Business Committee, has resigned.
Scholarship Co-chair Erin Hall presented the names of five students that the
Scholarship Committee was recommending for receipt of the Post’s $3,000
scholarships. She said there were a record number of applicants (fifteen).
She said the committee evaluated the applications and chose the five
individuals with the highest evaluation scores. She said the scholarships
would each be awarded in two $1500 installments. The recommended individuals
were: Sarah Bertke, Matthew Dobbertein, Jeremiah Gill, Shawn Kenney, and
Steven Shifflett. A motion was made and seconded to approve the
Scholarship Committees’ recommendation of the five individuals to receive
$3,000 scholarships. Motion passed.
It was decided that the Scholarship Committee would be responsible for
scheduling and coordinating the May regular membership meeting at the
University of Louisville for the presentation of scholarships. President
Lewis said she wanted to encourage attendance, because sometimes it is
difficult to get a good turnout when reservations are required. Some
discussion followed on what else should be on the program for the remainder
of the May meeting.
President Lewis provided the Board with an update on the Post’s involvement
with the Engineering and Construction Camps. She said there have been three
applications for the Air Force Camp. She said she asked the Board’s elected
officers and the members of the Scholarship Committee to evaluate the
applications and help in the selection of an individual for the Post to
support. She notified the two who were not selected that they could
follow-up and apply through national SAME or could apply for the Seabees
Camp. She said the Post is looking to recruit a candidate for the Seabees
Camp. In the future, President Lewis said she would like to have the
Scholarship Committee take the lead in evaluating applications for the
camps.
President Lewis said the Post pays the registration fee and the air fare for
the sponsored student. She explained that there is a concern that a student
might purchase a high-price airline ticket and submit that cost for
reimbursement. She asked the Board if there should be a limit on the amount
of the air fare that the Post would reimburse. After some discussion,
a motion was made and seconded that conditions for reimbursement of airline
tickets for both camps should include the stipulation that the ticket be a
‘coach fare’ rate obtained with at least a 14-day advance purchase.
Motion passed. President Lewis said she would notify the selected students
of this requirement.
President Lewis told the Board that she had received a request from the
Young Member Council of National SAME to support their efforts toward a
Silent Auction to be held at the 2009 Joint Engineer Training Conference &
Expo to raise money for the SAME Education and Mentoring Fund. The Council
was requesting that each Post provide an item for the Silent Auction with at
least a $100 value. Janet Skees offered to have someone in her office put
together a Kentucky-themed basket, similar to what was donated at the
Regional Conference last year. A motion was made and seconded that the
Post could spend between $100 and $150, including shipping costs, toward
providing a gift basket to support the Silent Auction. Motion
passed.
President Lewis asked for volunteers to make award presentations to
graduates of the ROTC Leader’s Training Course at various ceremonies to be
held at Ft. Knox from July 4 through August 9.
The Board then spent some time reviewing the Post By-Laws to update them,
since they were last updated in December 2004. The revisions suggested were
primarily associated with updating committee names. Additionally, it was
decided that the best means for announcing the slate of officers and elected
directors prior to the election would be to publish those names in the Post
newsletter prior to the meeting when the votes would be taken, and the
by-laws should be edited to reflect this. Secretary Janet Skees will make
the recommended edits and distribute updated by-laws to the Board for
approval at the next Board meeting.
President Lewis asked the elected Directors to review the Streamers and
determine the progress the Post has made toward meeting their criteria and
report the status at the next Board meeting in June.
Committee Reports:
 |
Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye passed out
a list of the topics and speakers for the upcoming regular
membership meetings and discussed each planned program.
|
 |
Education and Training Co-Chair Barry
Dixon said he is working on a half day workshop on Sustainability.
He said it would possibly be held in October before or after the
regular membership meeting.
|
 |
Membership Co-Chair Lisa Wilson passed
out a report on the status of the Post’s membership numbers. Total
Post membership is at 569.
|
 |
National Security Co-Chair Luke
Leising said he is working on contacting various agencies to see how
the Post can assist them with emergency operations. He is also
working on putting together an updated list of Post members and the
types of services they could provide in an emergency.
|
 |
Small Business Co-Chair Linda
Hunt-Smith reported that Anne Black resigned from the committee. She
also said that she and Rachael Haunz have met with Webmaster Troy
Mays to discuss what needs to go on the Post’s Small Business web
page.
|
 |
Young Members Co-Chair Aaron Steele
said that he has talked with ASCE to see if the Post’s Young Members
could participate in some of their young member activities. He is
also trying to get student members to be involved in Post
activities.
|
 |
Education and Mentoring Fund Co-Chair
Tony Marconi requested via email on March 10 that the Board vote to
approve the Committee’s recommendations for 2009 Grant Applications.
All of the applicants had requested support in the same amounts that
had been approved by the Board for previous years. The Committee’s
recommendations were to provide the following grants:
 |
Leadership PE 2009 - $3,000 |
 |
Louisville Regional Science
Fair 2009 - $1,000 |
 |
Kentucky State and Louisville
Mathcounts 2009 - $6,500 ($5,000 State, $1,500 Louisville) |
 |
Governor’s Scholars 2009 -
$2,500 |
 |
On March 23, Mr. Marconi
reported the results of the e-mail vote as 11 votes “for”
and none “opposed”. Therefore, the motion to approve the
grants as recommended by the Committee passed. |
|
Old Business:
Past President Kelly discussed the Investing in our Own proposal. He said it
is important to get people engaged in more than just the local Post so they
can get the big picture of what the SAME organization is all about. He has
developed a proposal of the things the Post could support to help people get
involved on the national level. Copies of the proposal were provided to the
Board. A motion was made and seconded to approve the goals of the
Investing in Our Own proposal, with the President assigning responsibility
for each item to the appropriate Director and Committee Chair responsible
for the Streamer under which the item falls. The motion stipulated that
associated costs for activities would be paid for out of the Post checking
account, as a first choice, or out of the Education and Mentoring Fund, if
necessary. Motion passed.
Director Rosemary Gilbertson brought up the topic of renting a post office
box to use for Post activities requiring money to be collected, since money
is not to be sent to the Corps’ address. President Lewis said it would be
okay to wait to rent a box until the Post has an activity that requires
collecting money.
New Business:
Director Gilbertson discussed the Armed Forces Ticket Operation. She said it
is a service to the military to provide unsold tickets for various events to
the military. She said the Post might want to serve the military through
this type of activity. She asked if anyone knows someone in the arts
community that could support the operation.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1130.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for 16 June at 1000 in Room 709 of
the Mazzoli Federal Building.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Janet S. Skees, PE
Post Secretary – Kentuckiana Post
|
March 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
The March meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 17
March 2009 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Ninety-Three (93) members and guests were in attendance. Marilyn Lewis,
President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by welcoming
everyone and leading the group in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Lewis offered a few comments. She reported that the Post has heard
that we were successful in our streamer submissions; and she said she is
looking forward to the announcement of awards. She said the Post scholarship
applications were due on 16 March. Additionally, applications for this
summer’s Construction Camps will soon be due, with the Air Force camp
application being due to the Post on 31 March to meet the 24 April deadline
for submission to National SAME. The Navy camp applications are not due to
National until 15 May.
President Lewis said that the Math Counts competition was held last month in
Louisville, with the winners advancing to the state competition on 28 March
to be held in Lexington at the Holiday Inn North. She asked for volunteers
to help at that event. President Lewis reported that the National SAME
Conference will be in Salt Lake City 12-15 May. She said that anyone
interested in getting involved in SAME could contact committee chairs, whose
names are listed on the Post web site.
President Lewis then introduced the guest speaker for the luncheon meeting,
Mr. Terry Sullivan, a structural engineer with the Louisville District, who
gave a presentation on
“Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina I-Wall
Failures and Applications to Louisville District’s Flood Protection
Projects”.
Mr. Sullivan gave an overview of the flood protection system in New Orleans,
discussed the basics of I-wall design and construction, and summarized the
modes of failure of I-walls. He said the damage from the 2005 Hurricane
Katrina included 50 major breaches in over 300 miles of flood protection for
New Orleans. Four of these breaches were caused by foundation-induced
failures at the I-Walls. The Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET)
developed a sequence of reports. It was determined that about 45 of the 50
failures were caused by overtopping and scour.
Mr. Sullivan continued by discussing I-Wall remediation in New Orleans. He
said that from September 2005 to June 2006, the Corps had to work fast to
make repairs. The decision was not to use I-Walls. He said they used T-base
walls with sheet pile cutoff that sometimes went 70 to 90 feet below grade
to penetrate all the way through the sand.
He explained how Katrina affected the Corps’ operations. He said that
Post-Katrina, the Corps had to evaluate all of the I-Walls in the country.
Geotechnical and structural engineers performed visual inspections of the
I-Walls. Reports were sent to local sponsors stating that I-Walls in excess
of six feet in height actually provided a level of protection less than what
was previously specified. For the Louisville District, there are 27,600
lineal feet of I-Wall. The Phase II evaluation required all I-Walls greater
than six feet to be evaluated. They have evaluated all of the Louisville
District I-Walls and are awaiting guidance for Phase III, which is expected
in October 2010.
Mr. Sullivan continued by showing a map of plans for full protection all the
way around New Orleans. After a period of Q/A, President Lewis thanked Mr.
Sullivan for his presentation, and provided him with a speaker gift.
Programs Co-chair Ray Frye summarized the topics for the upcoming meetings.
He said that the 21 April meeting will feature speaker Jim Host, Chairman of
the Louisville Arena Authority, who will discuss the progress on the
construction of the downtown arena. The May meeting will include
presentation of scholarships and will be held at the University of
Louisville. In June, Dr. Mickey Wilhelm, Dean of the University of
Louisville’s Speed School of Engineering, will give a presentation on the
Cohn Center for Renewable Energy and Environmental Stewardship. In July, Dr.
Mike Evans, a leadership consultant to the Louisville District, will speak
on the topic of Leadership. In August, Col. Jeff Ogden, Ft. Knox’s Garrison
Commander for Milcon Transformation, will discuss Ft. Knox’s progress in
this area. And the Post’s Golf Scramble will be held again in this year in
September.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
February 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
The February meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held at noon on 17
February 2009 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Seventy (70) members and guests were in attendance. Marilyn Lewis, President
of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and
leading the group in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Lewis offered a few comments. She reminded everyone to sign in for
the meeting as proof of attendance and as a backup for verifying PDH’s
earned. She reported that the Corps’ Open House and SAME’s Small Business
Workshop held in January were successful. She said the presentations from
the Small Business Workshop are now on the Post’s web site.
President Lewis thanked Past President Clay Kelly for spearheading the
effort to submit the streamer submittals to National SAME. She reminded the
group that the Louisville Chapter of Math Counts will be held on Saturday 28
February at the University of Louisville Speed School of Engineering; and
she asked for volunteers to help with that event.
President Lewis reported that the 2009 Post scholarship applications are now
available and are due to be submitted in mid March. They are available on
the Post website. She said the Post will award up to five $3,000
scholarships.
President Lewis reminded everyone that Post membership meetings are held the
third Tuesday of each month, and said that next month’s meeting, on 17
March, will be a presentation by Terry Sullivan on the Corps’ levee work.
President Lewis then introduced the guest speaker for the luncheon meeting,
Mr. Doug Pohl, a registered architect, who gave a presentation on “USACE
Implementation of LEED”. Mr. Pohl’s presentation was based on a document
created by the Corps entitled, “USACE Army LEED Implementation Guide” dated
15 January 2008. Some of the aspects of his talk included information on:
the Corps’ policy, Army and Air Force requirements, Military Transformation,
LEED registration and certification, reporting, the project manager’s
responsibilities, engineering responsibilities, and construction
administration responsibilities. He said that LEED Silver is the minimum
design standard for Army projects scheduled for FY 08 and beyond.
While the Corps is required to do LEED design for any project, Mr. Pohl said
that LEED Silver may not be achievable for all projects because some
projects may not be able to obtain enough points, due to the nature of the
project. Documentation is required for all projects; and for those that are
not able to achieve LEED Silver, backup is prepared both for the points
obtained and for those that were not obtainable.
Mr. Pohl said the Air Force is now on board with the LEED program. Beginning
in FY 09, all new construction and major innovation will have to be designed
to achieve LEED Silver.
Mr. Pohl explained that the Corps’ Centers of Standardization (COS’s)
develop LEED points for individual facility types and the Geographic
Districts develop the LEED points associated with the specific project site.
He explained that the government will validate the projects for LEED
compliance, but the certification comes through the US Green Building
Council (USGBC). Although all projects are not taken through the USGBC
certification process, a number of projects are selected to be certified
primarily because it makes the Corps accountable.
Mr. Pohl talked about the importance of educating the end users of a
facility to make sure they operate it as it was intended in order to see
“true results.” Following a period of questions and answers, he pointed out
that a link to the Implementation Guide is on the Corps’ web site.
President Lewis thanked Mr. Pohl for his presentation. In addition to
providing him with a traditional speaker gift, she presented a bright yellow
booklet entitled “Green Building and Remodeling for Dummies.”
President Lewis reminded everyone that next month’s meeting on 17 March will
include a presentation on levees; and she asked for topic ideas for future
meetings. Prior to closing, she mentioned that several members have let
their memberships lapse and encouraged those individuals to take care of
renewing.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
February 2009 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 1000 Tuesday 17 February 2009 in
Room 216J of the Mazzoli Federal Building. President Marilyn Lewis chaired
the meeting. Attendees are listed on the attached roster. The meeting
followed the attached agenda.
Due to several new faces that have joined the Board, introductions were
made.
President Lewis noted that the minutes of the 2 December 2008 meeting had
been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received
and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $16,358.69
in the Post checking account, with one outstanding bill in the amount of
$31.80 and a few checks to deposit that are receipts from the Small Business
Workshop held in January. A motion was made and seconded to approve
the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President Lewis reported that the Corps’ Open House on 27 January had a good
turnout; but there were somewhat smaller numbers in attendance than expected
due to the ice storm. She asked for feedback or suggestions that could be
helpful in planning for future Open Houses. She said her group in
Engineering Division will be responsible for planning the Open House next
year. For this year’s Open House, SAME partnered with the Corps by providing
the refreshments through sponsorships from Sustaining Member firms.
President Lewis said the Post needs to consider getting a post office box so
that money for SAME activities is not collected using a Corps address.
Rosemary Gilbertson offered to investigate the cost of a box.
Previous Small Business Co-Chair Steve Skaggs reported on the results of the
Small Business Workshop held on 28 January. There were 130 in attendance. He
passed out a draft financial statement and reported that the event should
earn about $7500 in net revenue. (Note: Final accounting subsequently showed
a $7,660.04 net profit.) He said the return would have been greater but
there were several registrants, who had not yet paid, that didn’t attend due
to the ice storm. Mr. Skaggs said the receipts included $3350 in
sponsorships to cover the cost of the breakfast and break. The proceeds of
this event have traditionally been used to support the troops.
Past President Clay Kelly provided the Board with an update on the streamer
submittals. He described the process for the benefit of the new Board
members. The submittal that was made in January covered the Post’s
activities for the previous year. If a Post is awarded all of the streamers
with distinction, then it becomes a Distinguished Post. Mr. Kelly encouraged
the Board members to become familiar with the streamer guidelines. He said
he will forward a copy of our submittal to the Board once he gets an updated
roster. He thanked the Directors for pulling together all the information
that went into the submittal.
Kristen Crumpton reported on the Post Leader and Student Workshop that she
and Marilyn Lewis attended in February. Ms. Crumpton had prepared a
PowerPoint presentation summarizing the information they learned from the
sessions they attended. Because the meeting room was not equipped to view
the presentation, she passed out a printout of the slides and said she would
email the presentation to the Board. The information garnered from the
workshop focused on tips for improving a Post’s operation.
President Lewis recognized Rosemary Gilbertson and John Allison for their
receipt of SAME Outstanding Service Awards that were presented at the
Engineers Week Banquet on 13 February.
President Lewis deferred the review of the Post’s By-laws until the next
Board meeting, due to the meeting running short on time. She asked everyone
to review the By-laws for any needed updates, since they are supposed to be
a “living document”.
Committee Reports:
 |
Programs Co-Chair Ray Frye reported
that the March regular membership meeting will feature Corps
employee Terry Sullivan discussing the Corps’ work with levees. In
July, a Corps consultant will speak about leadership. He encouraged
the Board to submit ideas for future meeting programs.
|
 |
Education and Training Co-Chair Barry
Dixon discussed an email received from National SAME suggesting that
training opportunities be held in conjunction with lunch or dinner
meetings. One Post was successful offering two-hour seminars, where
they could go into more depth than what can be presented by a
lunch-hour speaker and two PDH’s could be awarded.
|
 |
Director Rosemary Gilbertson has been
working with Mr. Dixon on evaluating a workshop on Sustainability
and the DOD’s Guidelines. She discussed that the Corps’
Environmental Conference was no longer being held annually. However,
Cathy Knudsen, with Planteco Environmental Consultants, who had
worked on that conference, has been looking at developing the
sustainability workshop. Ms. Gilbertson said the Board needs to
decide if the Post should offer a whole day or a part-day workshop.
Some discussion followed on potential options. Mr. Dixon and Ms.
Gilbertson will have a conference call, this afternoon, with Ms.
Knudsen to discuss possibilities.
|
 |
Tony Marconi, Chairman of the
Education and Mentoring Fund Management Committee, reported that as
of 31 December 2008, the fund balance was $426,771.55. He said they
are due to have a committee meeting to discuss upcoming grants and
investment choices. He has received several grant requests that
closely match what has been supported in past years.
|
 |
Past Membership Chair Kristen Crumpton
reported that the Post roster has seen a heavy drop in individual
numbers primarily due to members letting their memberships lapse
with the new calendar year. She said there has been a loss of 42
individual members (from 158 to 116) since the last report on
December 1. She printed a list of individuals with lapsed
memberships and asked if some of the Board members would help her to
follow up with those people. The Post, however, did gain four
Sustaining Member firms that renewed their memberships after letting
them lapse.
|
 |
Past President Kelly reported for the
Scholarship Committee. He passed out the final version of the
scholarship application. He said that typically they are due the
first Monday in March, but the committee decided to push out the
deadline a couple of weeks to 16 March. The application will be
posted to the Post’s web site and will be included in the next
newsletter. Information will also be sent to schools. The number of
applicants has dropped in recent years. Mr. Kelly encouraged Board
members to let others know of this opportunity. Additionally, he
said that anyone interested in serving as a grader for the
applications should respond to an email that Erin Hall, Scholarship
Committee Co-Chair, will send requesting assistance.
|
 |
Small Business Co-Chair Linda
Hunt-Smith told the group that presentations from the Small Business
Workshop will be on the Post’s web site.
|
 |
Webmaster Troy Mays said the Post’s
website was down for a period of time but is back up with a new ISP
(Internet Service Provider). Currently, the Post’s website is tied
to the National SAME website. He said he is investigating changing
the Post’s ISP to allow more flexibility with regard to how the web
site can be used. Currently, the site can only be used to post
information, but he would like to be able to add capabilities, such
as permitting on-line registrations for events. Mr. Mays also
reported that the Small Business web page is now on-line. |
Old Business:
 |
Past President Kelly discussed the
Investing in our Own proposal. He said National SAME has presented
several ideas for the Posts to consider. He asked the Board to
review the proposal and prepare for discussion at the next Board
meeting. One of the items in the proposal is related to sending a
young member to the National Conference. Director Steve Bickel
discussed that if we wait until next Board meeting, it will be too
late to plan for this. A motion was made and seconded that the Post
will send one young member to the National Conference, with a
preference to send either a Board member or a young member who has
been involved in Post activities. Motion passed. |
Future Board meetings will be in Room 709 of the Federal Building, unless
the Board is notified otherwise.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1130.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for 21 April at 1000 in Room 709 of
the Mazzoli Federal Building.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
January 2009 General Membership Meeting
|
The January meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 28 January 2009
at the Holiday Inn Airport South on Fern Valley Road in conjunction with the
luncheon during the Post’s Third Annual Small Business Workshop. There were
One Hundred Thirty (130) people in attendance at the event and Twenty-Three
(23) exhibitors. Attendance was down from the numbers registered, but seemed
to be remarkable in light of the ice storm and electric outages that plagued
the state that week.
Clay Kelly, President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by
welcoming everyone and leading in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Kelly offered a few comments. He encouraged people to be
pro-active about getting involved in the Post, and not to wait until someone
asks them. He mentioned that the proceeds of the Small Business Workshop are
being used to support the troops, one of SAME’s missions. He said the Post
gives away about $30,000 annually toward SAME’s primary mission - to support
national defense.
President Kelly thanked those who had “mentored him along the way” during
his year as President of the Post, and then introduced Mercedes Enrique to
install the Post’s new officers for the coming year. Ms. Enrique serves on
the National Board as Chair of the SAME Small Business Council. She read
SAME’s mission and reviewed the five goals of the organization. Ms. Enrique
then introduced the Post officers and proceeded with the installation of the
following individuals:
| Frank Terak, 1st Vice President |
Rosemary Gilbertson, Director |
| Steve Skaggs, 2nd Vice President |
Steve Bickel, Director |
| Janet Skees, Secretary |
Gerard Edelen, Director |
| John Allison, Treasurer |
Mickey Jones, Director |
Clay Kelly then transferred the post By-Laws and Mission Statement to
incoming President Marilyn Lewis, and Ms. Enrique installed Ms. Lewis as the
Post’s new President.
Newly-elected President Lewis then recognized Clay Kelly’s leadership
throughout the past year and presented him with a plaque in appreciation of
his service. She told the group that during the coming year, she is
committed to encourage Corps employees to be more involved in SAME.
President Lewis then introduced the guest speaker for the luncheon, Mr.
Anthony Bell, Chief of Small Business Programs for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers. Mr. Bell acknowledged that this was his second year in a row
speaking to the Post’s Small Business Workshop attendees. He said he was
happy to be able to support the Louisville District and Small and
Disadvantaged Business Utilization Coordinator Linda Hunt-Smith, who he said
“is on the A Team.” Mr. Bell thanked Louisville District Commander Col.
Keith Landry for reaching out to the small business community. He also
thanked Ms. Enrique for her work with the national Small Business Conference
this year in Memphis, which had a record 1200 in attendance.
Mr. Bell shared that he plans to work with Ms. Hunt-Smith to see where
projects can be broken out into smaller projects to allow more small
business participation. But he said he recognizes that this is not always
possible. He discussed the importance of teaming and said that it takes a
team effort to be successful – both industry with the Corps and small
businesses with large businesses – what he called “a three-pronged
approach.” Mr. Bell discussed a GAO (Government Accountability Office)
recommendation regarding language in the Federal Acquisition Regulations
(FAR) about parity as it relates to contract set-asides. As a result, he
explained, contracting officers may be reluctant to offer Service-Disabled
Veteran (SDV) set-asides. However, Mr. Bell said he would not instruct
contracting officers to not offer SDV set-asides, because, he said, there is
still a 3% contracting goal for this category.
Regarding the proposed economic stimulus program, Mr. Bell said that while
it is not known what the final bill will look like, he could share some
items from the various versions that have been offered. He mentioned how
small business has always played a strong role in bringing the country out
of a recession. He said the stimulus package is going to be so robust that
he believes there will be something in it for everybody. Mr. Bell discussed
the various types of projects that will come under the stimulus program and
the types of projects that could come through the Corps of Engineers. He
said the Corps is taking a pro-active approach to work with contracting to
be able to handle the anticipated volume of stimulus projects and to reach
out to small businesses. Mr. Bell then took several questions from the
audience. At the conclusion, Clay Kelly presented Mr. Bell with a token of
appreciation.
The meeting continued with the presentation of awards to three small
businesses. Mr. Kelly, Ms. Hunt-Smith, Mr. Bell, President Lewis and Col.
Landry jointly presented the awards in three categories. The recipients were
as follows:
 |
For Construction Services – TJC
Engineering |
 |
For Engineering Services – Government
Services IPT |
 |
For Environmental Services – Terrain/Ensafe |
Mr. Kelly recognized the nine sponsors for the workshop. He mentioned
that the proceeds of this year’s workshop went to provide VISA cards to
support the troops at Christmas, to help with their additional expenses at
that time including travel to come home. He thanked Brittany Ford of the
Corps of Engineers and Lindsay Phegley of QEPI for their organizational
efforts toward the workshop. He also thanked the Post’s Small Business
Committee members Linda Hunt-Smith, Steve Skaggs and Anne Black.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1400.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
December 2008 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 1015 Tuesday 2 December 2008 in
Room 951 of the Mazzoli Federal Building. President Clay Kelly chaired the
meeting. Attendees are listed on the attached roster. The meeting followed
the attached agenda.
President Kelly noted that the minutes of the 21 October 2008 meeting had
been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received
and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $15,185.43
in the Post checking account, with no outstanding bills. A motion was
made and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President Kelly spent some time discussing ideas for “investing in our own”,
which has been a theme for this year. Specifically, he would like to
encourage members to attend SAME events outside the Kentuckiana Post and to
sponsor Post leaders to attend these events. He said he would like the Post
to sponsor both public sector and private sector employees, although it was
recognized that private sector employers often are willing to cover their
employees’ expenses to attend SAME events. Some ideas would include
sponsoring the Post President to attend the National SAME Conference,
sponsoring a young member to attend the National Conference or a Regional
Conference, supporting a Vice President to attend one of the two annual Post
Leaders Workshops (preferably the one in February so the knowledge gained
could be put to use throughout the year), sending a young member to a Post
Leadership Workshop, and optionally supporting one other member to attend a
Post Leadership Workshop. President Kelly said that SAME National has
determined that these types of expenses would qualify as acceptable
expenditures associated with the Education and Mentoring mission. He asked
that the Board consider sponsorships for further discussion and possible
action at the next Board meeting.
Incoming President Marilyn Lewis will be going to the Post Leaders Workshop
in February. The only Post expense is her airline ticket, since National
SAME covers the cost of meals and lodging. Nominations for a young member to
attend are due to National SAME in mid December. Kristen Crumpton has been
asked if she could attend in this role. A motion was made and seconded
to support sending one regular member and one young member to the February
11th and 12th, 2009 Posts Leaders Workshop. Motion passed.
President Kelly said the transition of Post officers is traditionally
accomplished at the January regular membership meeting, which has been held
in conjunction with the Corps’ Open House. This year, since the Small
Business Workshop is to take place the day following the Open House, it was
suggested that the regular membership meeting be held during the luncheon
for the workshop and the officers be installed at that time. The logistics
of getting people from the Seelbach Hotel where the Corps’ Open House is
held to the cafeteria meeting room of the Federal Building in time for lunch
can pose some problems. Additionally, the attendance at the Small Business
Workshop luncheon is expected to be much larger. Therefore, it was decided
that the January Post regular membership meeting would take place on January
28 during the luncheon of the Small Business Workshop at the Holiday Inn
Airport on Fern Valley Road. Regarding installation of 2009 officers,
President Kelly noted that an individual still needs to be recruited for the
2nd Vice President position.
Committee Reports:
 |
Tony Marconi, the Chairman of the
Education and Mentoring Fund Management Committee, passed out the
Fund’s Annual Report for fiscal year ending 30 June 2008 (copy
attached). He reported that the net asset value of the Fund as of 30
June was $519,893. During the fiscal year, the Fund distributed
$28,471, including five $3,000 scholarships. Since 1997, he said,
$281,221 has been given away. The report will be submitted to the
Kentucky Engineering Foundation where the Fund resides. Mr. Marconi
said that as of 1 December 2008, the net asset value of the Fund had
dropped to $402,559.75. A large portion of the Fund’s assets are
invested in the S&P 500, and the Fund’s value has taken a hit due to
the current recession. A motion was made and seconded to
accept the Annual Report. Motion passed. Mr. Marconi noted
that grant applications to request money from the Fund for the
coming year should be submitted in January.
|
 |
Kristen Crumpton, Chairman of the
Membership Committee, reported that the management system is “up and
running”. She said the Post’s membership numbers are looking good
for individual memberships, with a gain of 13 new members in the
past three months. However, numbers for Sustaining Member firms have
declined. Since her last report, the Post has lost four firms, but
Ms. Crumpton said these are likely to be firms who have just
inadvertently let their memberships lapse and will come back.
|
 |
National Security Co-Chair Brian James
said their committee has increased to five members since the last
Board meeting. He is going on active duty with the Naval Reserves on
5 December and has recently been working to transition committee
responsibilities to others. He said they have been meeting with
several agencies to address one of the Streamer requirements to see
how the Post can assist organizations with emergency operations. He
said they also have had several people complete IS100 and IS200
Emergency Management on-line courses through FEMA. Additionally, Mr.
James reported that he and Mickey Jones participated in a seminar on
the guidelines for a post to receive the National Security Streamer.
He said they provided a lot of input to National SAME that they felt
would affect future requirements for obtaining this Streamer. Mr.
Jones said that the agencies they have met with all have indicated
that SAME could be a valuable resource for accessing support in an
emergency.
|
 |
Program Co-Chair Ray Frye requested
suggestions for topics and speakers for future Post meetings. He
said two potential ideas include addressing “green” issues and
presenting the mission of the Post’s National Security Committee.
There was some discussion on whether the Post would have a regular
membership meeting in February, since last year there was no meeting
due to the Engineer’s Week Banquet. It was decided that a February
meeting should be held, since there will not be a December 2008
meeting. There was some discussion on trying to have a joint meeting
with the University of Louisville Student Chapter. Mr. Frye said he
would go ahead and reserve the cafeteria meeting room in the Federal
Building for the third Tuesday of each month throughout 2009.
|
 |
President Kelly reported for the
Scholarship Committee. He said for 2009, Erin Hall will move into
the committee chairman position.
|
 |
Small Business Co-Chair Steve Skaggs
gave an update of the status of the Small Business Workshop to be
held on 28 January. He said they were able to maintain the same
prices as last year with the hotel. He said they have confirmed the
speaker - Mr. Anthony Bell, Chief of the Small Business Program for
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Bell spoke at the last
workshop in December 2007. Mr. Skaggs said the registration form for
the workshop will be included with the next Flyer newsletter. Anne
Black and Linda Hunt-Smith will attend the National Small Business
Conference in December and will pass out flyers at that event
advertising the Post workshop.
|
 |
President Kelly reported for the Young
Members Committee. He said Ryan Tinsley has been working in the
field a lot this year and the Post should try to find another person
to serve on this committee. |
Old Business:
President Kelly asked Brian James what he found out since the last Board
meeting regarding a suggestion to support the troops by helping to defray
costs for some to get home for the holidays. Mr. James reported that there
are about 50 individuals in his Naval Reserves unit at a grade of E-5 or
below. These individuals would be the ones who could benefit the most from
assistance. Some discussion followed and a consensus was reached that a VISA
gift card could provide the most flexibility for recipients to spend it on
travel costs. A motion was made and seconded for the Post to spend up
to $50 per person to defray holiday travel costs for up to 50 service
members of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24. Motion
passed.
President Kelly reported that he had not yet heard from Webmaster Troy Mays
regarding whether the Post’s web site could serve as a means for connecting
Corps of Engineers retirees with potential employment opportunities. Mr.
Mays is in the process of investigating whether there are limitations on
what can be done through the company that currently hosts the Post’s web
site.
New Business:
President Kelly said there are some committee openings for Membership,
Scholarship, National Security, Education and Training, Student Chapter, and
Young Members.
President Kelly said that at the February Board meeting, the group would
look at the Post By-laws to make sure they are up-to-date. It was pointed
out that some committee names have changed.
A motion was made and seconded for the Post to provide $250 toward the
cost of construction materials for a wheel-chair ramp for a newly disabled
member of the Louisville engineering community. Motion passed.
For the remainder of the meeting, Board members discussed the various
Streamer criteria and how they had been met throughout 2008. This
information will go into a report to be submitted to National SAME for their
use in evaluating which posts should receive Streamers.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1400.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for 17 February 2009 at 1000 in Room 709
of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
November 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The November meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 18 November
2008 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Sixty-three (63) members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly,
President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by welcoming
everyone and reminding them that although the advertised start time for the
Post meeting is 1130, the actual business meeting does not start until noon
to allow attendees to eat their lunch and spend some time networking. He
reminded the group to sign in as a record of their attendance, which will
serve as backup should they not obtain or lose their PDH certificate for the
day’s meeting.
1st Vice President Marilyn Lewis shared that ASCE will be offering a tour of
the McAlpine Locks construction site on Friday 21 November at 1600; and
anyone interested in participating should let her know. President Kelly then
led the group in the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Small Business Committee Co-Chair Steve Skaggs reported that the Post’s
Small Business Workshop will be held on Wednesday 28 January at the Holiday
Inn Airport South on Fern Valley Road. The program portion will start at
0800, after breakfast. Mr. Tony Bell, Chief of the Small Business Program
for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C., will be a featured
speaker. Mr. Skaggs said those interested in more information can find it at
the Post web site.
Fred Grant, with the Louisville District Corps, said that the District’s
Open House will be held on 27 January at the Seelbach Hotel starting at
0800, with registration beginning at 0700. Lunch will then be either on your
own or with the Kentuckiana Post’s General Membership Meeting to be held
that day in the Federal Building cafeteria meeting room. The afternoon will
offer opportunities to schedule individual meetings with various Corps of
Engineers representatives.
President Kelly reported that because National SAME moved their Small
Business Conference to December, the Kentuckiana Post decided to move the
Small Business Workshop from December to January to coincide with the Corps’
Open House. He said the Workshop should finish up on Wednesday afternoon
early enough for attendees to make afternoon flight arrangements.
President Kelly said there will be no December regular membership meeting,
but the Board will meet to finalize Streamer submittals.
President Kelly then introduced Ben Myser, a Senior at the University of
Louisville, who was part of the Engineers Without Borders group that the
Post supported, in part, to go to Belize in May. Mr. Myser shared some of
the accomplishments of the trip. He said that Belize is a former British
colony in Central America with a population of 300,000. He said it is an
ecologically diverse area with problems with water distribution. During
their trip, the students worked to fix leaks in pipes, worked on septic
tanks, and addressed developing a water purification system using salt and
electrolyses to make chlorine. They also identified possible future
projects. Mr. Myser said the cost of the trip was $1340 per person,
including airfare, lodging and food. The group is looking to increase in the
future: student involvement, professional involvement, sponsor donations,
faculty involvement, capstone projects, and collaboration with engineering
programs at UK and WKU. He thanked SAME for sponsoring the trip.
Then, President Kelly introduced program speaker David Dickey, a structural
engineer and project manager with Mason and Hanger, who spoke on
“Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection Challenges in Renovation of Existing
Military Facilities.” Mr. Dickey said that the DoD Mininum Antiterrorism
Standards for Buildings is the UFC4-010-01. He said that not all renovations
have to comply with the standards and discussed the triggers that would
require compliance. He talked about the importance of the information
gathering process including the site visit and consideration of possible
unforeseen conditions. He gave examples of aspects of the civil/site,
architectural, mechanical, electrical, and structural design issues. He said
one of the biggest issues with existing facilities is obtaining the required
standoff distance and getting a controlled perimeter. He said one of the
more pricey aspects of a project is window replacements. Mr. Dickey finished
by emphasizing that every project is different.
President Kelly encouraged the many guests in attendance to consider SAME
membership and discussed briefly the organization’s mission. The meeting
concluded at approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
October 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The October meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 21 October 2008
in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building. Forty-four
(44) members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly, President of the
Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by leading the group in the prayer
and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Kelly reminded the group to sign in as a record of their
attendance, which will serve as backup should they not obtain or lose their
PDH certificate for the day’s meeting.
President Kelly reviewed the September meeting. He reminded everyone that
regular membership meetings are the third Tuesday of each month, with the
next meeting being scheduled for 18 November. He said that because the
National SAME Small Business Conference is being held in December, the
Kentucky Post Small Business Workshop that is normally scheduled for
December is being moved to January. And, there will be no regular membership
meeting in December.
President Kelly said the Corps Open House is scheduled for Tuesday 27
January; and the Small Business Workshop will be held on the following day –
Wednesday 28 January. He said the topics at the workshop will be geared
toward small businesses but there will be opportunities for large businesses
to participate and interact as well.
President Kelly then introduced Jim Fitzhugh, AIA, NCARB, who spoke on
“Building the Perfect Design/Build RFP Tool”. Mr. Fitzhugh, who has 20 years
experience with military design and construction, is a principal of RSP
Architects and the managing principal of its Government Studio. He has
overseen the development of more than 60 projects for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the U.S. Army Reserve. He has led the RSP team in their
efforts to develop, update and maintain Army Reserve criteria and standard
documents. Working closely with the Army Reserve and the Louisville
District, RSP has updated the Army Reserve’s Design Guide, developed its RPX
Manual, developed and updated its D/B RFP Instruction Manual, and developed
its IT Manual.
Mr. Fitzhugh talked about the history of the Army Reserve’s procurement. He
explained that the mission moved to Design/Build (D/B) in the mid 80’s
because of the challenge to get contracts awarded sooner. In 1998, the goals
with D/B were set as: Consistency, Quality, Image, Functionality, and
Success. In 2002, the focus changed from very tight specs in the RFP to less
design by the RFP preparer to allow some leeway for innovation. At that
time, the RFP went out with a 15% design, an outline spec, and a Statement
of Work. In 2003, a standard Statement of Work was built that provided 80%
of the information on what was needed for typical Army Reserve facilities.
In 2005, the manual and templates for developing an RFP were updated. And,
goals focused on Faster/Cheaper/Better. To reduce the cost of RFP
preparation and the construction contract, the direction moved to minimal
design in the RFP, using industry standards and allowing more innovation so
that the RFP would be more attractive to potential bidders.
Mr. Fitzhugh discussed lessons learned. They talked to users of the RFP
process and then revised the RFP model. The result was that they are now
issuing RFP’s with 5% design, an outline spec and a standard Statement of
Work.
He said the RFP model put the Army in a good position to address BRAC. He
said, “Having the tool in place and already in use allowed the Army to move
forward quickly with their BRAC execution.”
Now, in 2008, there are six to eight A/E firms using the model to develop
RFP’s. The current update will provide a little more guidance to obtain more
consistency among those preparing RFP packages. In terms of success of the
approach, Mr. Fitzhugh said that the Army Reserve continues to have a high
rate of success in having projects awarded on time and within budget.
After a period of questions and answers, the meeting concluded at
approximately 1300.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
October 2008 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 1010 Tuesday 21 October 2008 in
Room 709 of the Mazzoli Federal Building. President Clay Kelly chaired the
meeting. Attendees are listed on the attached roster. The meeting followed
the attached agenda.
President Kelly noted that the minutes of the 19 August 2008 meeting had
been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received
and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $14,385.58
in the Post checking account, with no outstanding bills. He reported that
the Post Golf Scramble netted $1,190.28. A motion was made and
seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President Kelly noted that $3,000 will come from the Education and Mentoring
account to support the student chapter’s Engineers without Borders trip to
Belize. A representative from the students who participated in the trip will
speak about that trip at the Post’s November regular membership meeting.
Next year, the Post will coordinate through the Student Chapter Committee to
get the application for support in earlier in accordance with the Post grant
application process.
President Kelly reported that the Kentuckiana Post was represented at the
Regional Conference in Huntington in August by him, Steve Bickel, Stephen
Scott, and Anne Black, and that it was a good conference overall.
President Kelly reported that the date for the Corps’ Open House has been
set as Tuesday 27 January 2009; and the Post’s Small Business Workshop will
be held on Wednesday 28 January. Small Business Committee Co-Chair Anne
Black said the committee hopes to have a networking session on Tuesday
evening before the workshop to shorten the time investment required of
attendees on Wednesday. 1st V.P. Marilyn Lewis said she would try to find
out the location of the Corps’ Open House to help the Small Business
Committee on coordinating the two events.
1st V.P. Lewis discussed a potential topic for the Small Business Workshop.
She said that the Corps is developing a new electronic reporting system that
will track where the small business dollars are going. Currently, she said,
it is not easy to track the dollars going to small businesses that are spent
through large business contracts.
President Kelly discussed the upcoming officer transition that will take
place in January, typically at the January regular membership meeting. He
said he would like input if anyone knows of someone who would like to serve
on the Board.
President Kelly reported that Streamer submittals are due 30 January 2009.
The Board will meet on 2 December in Room 951 of the Federal Building at
1000. After a brief Board meeting, members will work on the Streamer
submission. The meeting is expected to last until 1300 or 1400; and lunch
will be provided. Secretary Janet Skees will bring a hard copy of all the
minutes for the year for reference.
President Kelly said that the Post Leaders and Student Leadership Workshop
will be held in Los Angeles on 11 and 12 February 2009. He said Marilyn
Lewis will attend; and a young member will also be invited to attend.
Regarding supporting the troops, President Kelly said that traditionally the
Post has addressed this by providing deployed troops with phone calling
cards toward the end of the year. However, he said, he hasn’t heard if
anyone at Ft. Knox is continuing to support this initiative. Rosemary
Gilbertson explained that when the Post was at Ft. Knox for the August
meeting, some people there told her that the phone cards were sometimes
difficult to use because phone service vendors in the areas of deployment
change from time to time. A suggestion was made for providing coffee gift
cards.
Board member Brian James, who is a Seabee being deployed in December,
suggested supporting the Seabee’s. He said he will be in Huntsville the
coming weekend, and will get some ideas for providing support. 1st V.P.
Lewis suggested a VISA gift card with a SAME logo which could be used for
coffee or phones without being limited to one vendor. President Kelly will
ask Ken Besser, who previously had made corn hole boards for deployed
troops, if he would be available to make some more.
Committee Reports:
 |
National Security Co-Chair Brian James
said he is coordinating with Mickey Jones to prepare the Streamer,
since he will be deployed on 5 December. He said he will try to meet
with FEMA next week to address one of the Streamer requirements to
see how the Post can assist organizations with emergency operations.
1st V.P. Lewis suggested that Brian also meet with the Corps
Emergency Operations personnel Steve Rager or Marcella Denton.
Additionally, the Board needs to find Brian’s replacement to serve
on the National Security Committee.
|
 |
President Kelly reported that programs
have been lined up for Post meetings through January; and there will
be no regular membership meeting in December. He said that
scholarship applications will be released in January.
|
 |
Small Business Committee Co-Chair Anne
Black reported that the committee is working on launching a web
site.
|
 |
Webmaster Troy Mays said the Post
website had a lot of hits this past year when it was approaching
time for both the Small Business Workshop and the Corps’ Open House.
He wants to make sure he has information on these events posted
before the events are announced through email blasts so that
visitors to the website can find the information they need. He also
wants to coordinate the timing to make sure the newsletter is posted
just before the email blast announcing that it is available. |
New Business:
President Kelly said he would like to see the Post play a role as a job
resource center linking Corps retirees to businesses looking to hire. He
said the National SAME website has a job center on their site. 1st V.P.
Lewis asked if this benefit could be used as an incentive to encourage
membership. Webmaster Mays said there may be some limitations on what can be
done through the company that hosts the Post’s web site; but he will
investigate options. President Kelly will check with National SAME on this
issue, as well.
Brian James asked the Board to consider if the Post might be willing to help
defray the cost for troops to get home for the holidays. Brian is going to
check on how the Post could support the Seabees in this regard through his
connections with his Reserve unit.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1120.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for 2 December 1000 in Room 951 of
the Mazzoli Federal Building. Meeting is expected to last until 1300 or
1400.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
September 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The September meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 16 September
2008 in the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Forty-three (43) members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly,
President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by leading the
group in the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Kelly reminded the group that they can receive PDH certificates
for the day’s meeting, which can be used toward meeting the new requirement
in Kentucky for continuing education for professional engineers.
He reported that the 9 September golf outing at Quail Chase was successful
with more than half of the participants being Corps of Engineers employees.
He said the University of Louisville Student Chapter raised $430 selling
mulligans to support their activities; and the Post raised about $1,000 from
the event.
President Kelly said SAME had a good Regional Conference. The event was held
from 26-28 August in Huntington, WV.
President Kelly introduced Thomas Solinger, the high school student who the
Post sponsored to attend the Seabees Engineering and Construction Camp at
Port Hueneme, California. Thomas is a student at Dorothy Sayers Classical
School. He gave a presentation on his camp experience. He said there were 40
campers there from across the country. He discussed some of their projects
including: designing a concrete beam, building a popsicle stick bridge, and
building a cardboard boat with duct tape. Thomas said they also visited
engineering firms. And they had a Seabee’s Olympics consisting of
construction and strength events. Events included: Cross-Cut Relay (cutting
2x4’s), Nail Relay, Pull Humvee, “Grenade” Toss, and Litter-Bearer Relay.
Thomas reported that his squad won the Seabee’s Olympics. He said he was
inspired by the camp and now knows that when he goes to college, he wants to
study engineering.
President Kelly then introduced Captain Hans Probst, PE, who spoke on
“Engineering and Construction Operations in al Anbar Province, Iraq”. Capt.
Probst, a past Post president, is the Commander of the 7th Naval
Construction Regiment (NCR), which is a Reserves unit, and is also an
engineer with the Louisville District Corps of Engineers. During his
deployment to Iraq, he was Commander of the 30th Naval Command Regiment.
Capt. Probst discussed the global mission of the naval construction
regiments. He said the mission of the 30th NCR in Iraq was to support
general engineering and construction and facilitate achieving Iraqi control.
He discussed how his Command was organized. He said they moved about quite a
bit with projects throughout the province. Sixty-seven percent of their
operations were performed outside the base, but there would be force
protection set up to keep them safe while they worked.
Capt. Probst discussed the projects they worked on including: runway
repairs, road repairs, sanitation (including grating culverts so explosive
devices could not be hidden in them), demolition support (including
demolishing bridges that were unsafe because of damage), moving rock where
needed for construction (Rockhounds), bridge assessments and repairs, bridge
emplacements, water distribution, key infrastructure, electrical upgrades,
force protection, and other areas. He said they used pre-fabrication
whenever possible since it was safer to work inside the walls before moving
outside. He discussed the logistics of getting the materials to the theater
and managing them.
Regarding the surge, Capt. Probst said he could see, by being there, that
the surge was working. He discussed the importance of gaining the trust of
the Iraqi people, which was accomplished through developing relationships
with the sheiks who were over the tribes.
“The surge worked. There is no doubt in my mind, whatsoever,” Capt. Probst
said. He emphasized the importance of telling the story of the successes,
which he said has not been in the Press. He said the news media has had a
negative bias.
Before closing, Capt. Probst thanked the Kentuckiana Post for supplying golf
equipment and corn hole toss boards to his deployed command. He said those
items were very well received.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1:00 p.m.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
August 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The August meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 19 August 2008
at the Leaders Club at Ft Knox, KY. Sixty two (62) members and guests were
in attendance including 32 NCOs and Jr Officers from the 19th EN BN. Clay
Kelly, President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by leading
the group in the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Kelly reported that the Post has provided PDH certificates for the
day’s meeting, which can be used toward meeting the new requirement in
Kentucky for continuing education for professional engineers. He encouraged
everyone to sign in as the sign-in sheets will be used as back-up in the
event that someone looses their certificate and needs proof of attendance
for a continuing education audit.
President Kelly reminded the attendees of the SAME Regional Conference from
26-28 August to be held in Huntington, WV. He said the
SAME.org web site has more details on the
event.
President Kelly encouraged participation at the September 9th golf outing at
Quail Chase. He outlined future programs to be held at the Mazzoli Federal
Building which include – September 16th, Hans Probst, former Kentuckiana
Post President, who will speak on “My Experiences as an Engineering Brigade
Commander in Iraq”; October 21st, Jim Fitzhugh who will speak on the USAR
RFP Instruction Manual; and November 18th, David Dickey will speak on ATFP
Challenges in Renovation of Existing Military Facilities.
President Kelly then introduced the featured speaker, LTC Heath C. Roscoe,
19th Engineer Battalion Commander who spoke on “Engineering to Fight
Insurgents”. LTC Roscoe opened the meeting with an overview of the 19th EN
BN and then introduced CPT Robert R. Fairel, CPT Kerrie Second and MAJ
Jeffrey D. Hall who each presented information regarding the mission and
deployment to Iraq of the 19th EN BN. Their presentation was accompanied by
pictures that showed the work they preformed and the conditions they
encountered in their missions.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1:00 p.m.
Respectively Submitted,
Marilyn W. Lewis, P.E. for the Post Secretary
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
August 2008 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 10:10 AM Tuesday 19 August 2008 in
the Leaders Club at Ft Knox, KY. President Clay Kelly chaired the meeting.
Attendees are listed on the attached roster. The meeting followed the
attached agenda.
President Kelly thanked Matt Rathsack for traveling from Michigan to attend
the meeting.
President Kelly noted that the minutes of the 17 June 2008 meeting had been
circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received and
incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to approve the
minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $11,918.44
in the Post checking account, with no outstanding bills other than the bill
for today’s luncheon where the Post will cover the cost for the NCO’s
lunches and subsidize the cost of the Jr. Officers lunch. A motion was made
and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President Kelly renewed the discussion on a donation to the U of L Student
Chapter for their Engineers Without Borders trip in May. Tony Marconi, Chair
of the Education & Mentoring Fund had recommended a donation amount of
$3000. The Student Chapter had 7 students participate in the trip at a cost
of approximately $1900/student. After discussion a motion was made and
seconded to approve the $3000 donation to the group to offset expenses
incurred. Motion passed.
President Kelly read an email from the student who attended the Seabee
Construction Camp. The student expressed his appreciation for the Post’s
support and indicated his willingness to speak at a future meeting about his
experience at the camp.
President Kelly thanked the Board members who made presentations at the ROTC
Leaders Course graduation ceremony at Ft. Knox. President Kelly gave a brief
explanation of how the award is determined and the history of the Post’s
involvement in the ROTC award. Based on the information that some awards
presented by other organizations included cash a discussion was held on ways
to upgrade the KP Post award. The discussion centered on adding a cash
prize, a SAME coin, and a prepaid SAME membership. A motion was made and
seconded that a cash prize be awarded in the amount of $250 in the form of a
prepaid VISA, MC or AE card. Motion passed. 1st Vice President Lewis
offered to investigate purchase of the cards and inclusion of the SAME logo
on the cards.
President Kelly inquired about whom from KP planned to attend the Regional
Conference in Huntington the week of 25 August. A gift basket has been
prepared as a door prize and will be delivered to the conference by Stephen
Scott.
President Kelly reminded the Board of the Post Leaders Workshop to be held
September 5-6 in Washington DC and the fact that attendance by a young
member was a streamer requirement. KP had two members attend the workshop
held in January, including a U of L student chapter member. It has now been
determined that a student chapter member will not count as the young member.
President Kelly will talk with Erin Hall about the possibility of attending.
A reminder was given about the USACE Small Business Conference to be held
December 8 -10 in Memphis.
President Kelly noted that traditionally the four elected directors of the
KP Board had each taken responsibility for one of the streamers. President
Kelly passed out copies of the criteria and noted that committee members
would be a good source of information for filling out the criteria. He
encouraged the Board to be proactive in collecting the information. Some
Board members requested electronic copies of last year’s streamer submittal.
Committee Reports:
 |
In a review of the committee reports,
President Kelly noted that the Committee Chairs names have been
updated and are current. |
 |
President Kelly passed out a summary
of the Education and Mentoring Fund report that was provided by Tony
Marconi prior to the meeting. |
 |
Special thanks were given to Rachael
Haunz for the set up of the meeting at Ft Knox. |
 |
The membership report was noted as
having 10 sustaining member firms that have dropped from the roles,
3 new firms who have joined making a total of 80 sustaining member
firms to date. Individual membership has increased from 140 to 145. |
 |
John Storm noted a change in how the
newsletter is being distributed. The email now provides a link to
the website. |
 |
A review was provided of the remaining
programs for the year. |
 |
The golf scramble is scheduled for 9
Sept. with a registration deadline of 5 Sept. |
 |
President Kelly suggested the December
Board meeting serve as a working session to review the streamer
submittal that had been prepared by the assigned board directors and
include a catered lunch. The meeting will be held on Tuesday,
December 2nd. |
 |
Anne Black reported on the new SB
website initiative. The SB Committee plans to post relevant
articles, highlight firms, note upcoming events, post current year
presentations, include contact information and have a statement of
KP-SAME’s commitment to SB on the web page. She indicated a decision
was being worked to hold the annual SB Workshop adjacent to the LRL
Open House in January since the USACE SB Conference is now scheduled
for December 8-10. |
 |
The Student Chapter will add Board
members to their newsletter distribution list. The students are
again planning to sell mulligan’s at the golf scramble for a fund
raiser. |
 |
The next Regional Conference will be
held in Detroit in 2009. |
 |
President Kelly noted that we needed
to identify a replacement for Ryan Tinsley as the Young Member
Co-Chair. He also encouraged the Board members to invite young
members to the meetings and to get them engaged in the activities of
the Post. |
 |
Rosemary Gilbertson reported on the
success of the KP-SAME sponsored Governors Scholars session and
thanked the Post for their support. Funds from the Post provided the
students with lunch, transportation and portfolios. Rosemary and
John Allison led the 56 students who chose the engineering track on
an excursion to Cave Run Lake. Rosemary shared that the USACE
Louisville District has committed to hire 2 of those students for
summer work to maintain the thread of connection to these students. |
The meeting concluded at approximately 11:15 AM.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for 21 October at 10:00 a.m. in
Room 709 of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Marilyn W. Lewis, PE
1st Vice President
|
July 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The July meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 15 July 2008 in
the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building. Twenty-seven
(27) members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly, President of the
Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by welcoming to the Louisville
District the new District Commander, Colonel Keith Landry, and the new
Deputy Commander, Major Stephen Bales, who will be promoted to Lieutenant
Colonel in October. President Kelly introduced Major Bales, who was in
attendance, and shared that he is a Kentucky native from London, KY and a
graduate of the military academy at West Point. President Kelly then led the
group in the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Kelly reported that the Post will start providing certificates of
attendance, which can be used toward meeting the new requirement in Kentucky
for continuing education for professional engineers. He encouraged everyone
to always sign in when attending a Post meeting. The sign-in sheets will be
used as back-up in the event that someone looses their certificate and needs
proof of attendance for a continuing education audit.
President Kelly reminded the attendees of the SAME Regional Conference from
26-28 August to be held in Huntington, WV. He said the SAME.org web site has
more details on the event.
President Kelly encouraged everyone to put the upcoming Post meetings on
their calendars. He said the 19 August meeting will be held at Ft. Knox, and
the topic will be “19th Engineering Combat Battalion – Engineering to Fight
Insurgents.” 9 September is the Post’s golf outing at Quail Chase. 16
September will feature Hans Probst, former Kentuckiana Post President, who
will speak on “My Experiences as an Engineering Brigade Commander in Iraq.”
President Kelly then introduced the featured speaker, Marcella Denton, the
Emergency Operations Manager with the Louisville District. She gave a
presentation on “The Corps of Engineers’ Role in the Recent Midwest United
States Flooding.”
Ms. Denton explained that the District’s mission statement includes Disaster
Relief. She discussed the Corps’ Preparedness Responsibilities that includes
natural disaster. She said the Corps of Engineers can respond as a DOD
component under the Corps’ Statutory Authority or through the Stafford Act
that established FEMA and gives authority to the Corps.
Ms Denton said the Corps’ tasks associated with its mission for Flood
Fighting Assistance includes providing sandbags and pumps, technical
assistance, GIS products, and emergency contracting. She discussed the
Corps’ relationship with an area’s Local Levee Sponsor, the State EOC, and
the local communities.
Ms. Denton explained that the Corps is the lead agency for Emergency Support
Function #3 (ESF#3) - Public Works and Engineering. She discussed that the
Corps’ mission under ESF#3 includes providing various items/tasks such as:
ice and water, emergency power, debris management, temporary
housing/roofing, and infrastructure assessment (water/wastewater).
For the June 2008 floods that hit the Midwest, the Louisville District
provided direct support to the state of Indiana during the flooding by
providing: an individual to serve as a liaison to the state EOC, technical
assistance teams, and pumps. Now, after the flood, the Corps is providing
support to Indiana for levee rehabilitation. The Corps also provided support
to FEMA. During the flood, this support included appointing an individual to
serve as a liaison to FEMA Region V and providing a team leader for a joint
field office. After the flood, the Corps’ support to FEMA includes: safety
assessment of dams and bridges, and testing and installation of temporary
housing (mobile homes).
Ms. Denton showed the group various photos of the flooding, illustrating the
types of support the Corps provides, associated with disaster relief
efforts.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1:00 p.m.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
June 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The June meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 17 June 2008 in
the cafeteria meeting room of the Mazzoli Federal Building. Fifty-six (56)
members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly, President of the
Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by leading the group in prayer and
the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Kelly welcomed the numerous visitors and encouraged them to
provide their email to the Post so they could receive the newsletter. He
said the www.SAME.org
website provides information on the organization from a national prospective
and has a link to the Kentuckiana Post website. President Kelly gave a brief
overview of the organization and its purpose, as an introduction to the
guests in attendance. He mentioned that involvement in SAME can be used to
help meet the continuing education requirement for professional licensure,
and that individual membership is only $55 per year. Membership forms were
made available to those in attendance. President Kelly discussed that SAME
does a lot to support engineering education, such as the Post’s effort to
sponsor high school students to attend the military’s engineering and
construction camps. This year, the Post selected a candidate to go to the
Seabees Camp.
President Kelly introduced the guest speaker, David Cox, who is the
Executive Director of the Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional
Engineers and Land Surveyors. Mr. Cox gave a presentation on Kentucky’s new
law requiring continuing education for engineers. He said the requirement is
to obtain 30 professional development hours (PDH’s) over a two-year period.
Individuals with last names beginning with “L” through “Z” will have to
certify for their 1/30/2010 renewal that they obtained 30 PDH’s during the
2008 and 2009 calendar years. Those with last names beginning with “A”
through “K” will have to certify for their 1/30/2011 renewal that they
obtained 30 PDH’s during the period from the beginning of 2008 through the
end of 2010. For this first renewal period, the A-K group will be allowed to
count hours earned in 2008, as well as the two years before their license
renewal is due.
Mr. Cox provided the following information:
 |
“What courses count?” Time spent
listening to a presentation by a salesperson may not all count
toward the requirement. The portion of the time spent trying to sell
the product would not count, but any part where technical
information is discussed could count. |
 |
An engineer making a technical
presentation gets double credit for the time of the presentation,
for the first time the material is presented. |
 |
An individual can not take the same
class a second time and count it again, unless it is taken in a
separate two-year cycle. |
 |
A PDH (Professional Development Hour)
is defined as 50 minutes of classroom attendance. A CEU is 10 PDH’s
– for those courses that award CEU’s. |
 |
A University semester hour is 45
PDH’s. |
 |
Up to 15 hours can be carried over to
the next two-year cycle. |
 |
Individuals must keep records of their
attendance for the purpose of future audits. Record-keeping can be a
simple log showing the day of the course, the sponsoring
organization, the course’s title, and the presenter. Proof of
attendance should be a certificate from the presenter or a copy of
the sign-in sheet. |
 |
At the time of license renewal, there
is no form to fill out regarding the courses taken. The applicant
just has to certify that the requirements have been met. If a person
is audited, they would then send to the Board information on the
courses attended. |
 |
The Board will initially audit about
5% of renewals. If the audit determines that an individual does not
have enough credits, that person will then have six months to obtain
the credits. This allowance is made in case some hours are
disallowed. However, Mr. Cox said he does not anticipate that many
classes will be disallowed. |
 |
Two hours credit can be earned for an
individual’s service as an officer or a committee chairperson in a
professional society. The credit would be earned for each year of
service, and would be applied to the year following the completion
of a year of service. |
 |
In-house training can count, as well,
if it is offered through an organized program, is engineering
related, and is taught by an individual who is knowledgeable on the
subject matter. |
 |
Deployed military or civilian
personnel can obtain a waiver from meeting the requirements. |
 |
If a problem is found during an audit,
the licensee would continue to be audited until they are in
compliance. The Board will work with an individual if they are being
honest and are just short a few hours. But, this would not be the
case if someone said they had the required hours, and they were not
being honest on their renewal form. |
 |
Engineers, who have been licensed
continuously since 1/1/1972 and have not had a disciplinary problem,
are exempt from the continuing education requirement. |
 |
Newly licensed engineers do not have
to meet the continuing education requirement the first year after
receiving their license. |
Mr. Cox provided the attendees with copies of the regulation and his
business card to contact him if there are future questions.
A period of “Questions and Answers” followed. The information provided has
been incorporated above. At end of the Q/A period, Mr. Cox shared with the
group how the Board of Licensure works, its makeup and its function. He said
the Board’s purpose is to protect the public and serve the state’s
professional engineers in answering questions about their licensure.
Mr. Cox said the Board addresses about 120 to 160 complaints each year, with
about two-thirds of them being related to land surveying and one-third being
related to engineering. The Board investigates each complaint to determine
if there has been a legal violation. Then a conference is held with the
licensee and settlement terms are offered. If a settlement is not agreed to,
the parties go before a hearing officer who makes a recommendation, and then
the Board makes the final recommendation. This recommendation can be
appealed in Franklin Circuit Court. However, the Board has never lost a case
in Franklin Circuit Court. Penalties are worse if a case goes to a hearing
than they would be if there was an initial settlement.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1:00 p.m.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
June 2008 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM Tuesday 17 June 2008 in
the Cafeteria Meeting Room of the Mazzoli Federal Building. President Clay
Kelly chaired the meeting. Attendees are listed on the attached roster. The
meeting followed the attached agenda.
President Kelly introduced two new Board members – Ray Frye and Rachael
Haunz.
President Kelly noted that the minutes of the 15 April 2008 meeting had been
circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received and
incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The sign-in roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $11,904.50
in the Post checking account, with an outstanding bill to the Post’s
accountant for completing the IRS 990 form. Additionally, Clay Kelly
presented Mr. Allison with a bill in the amount of $763.50 to pay the
airfare for the individual the Post is sponsoring to attend the Seabee’s
Engineering and Construction Camp. John Allison reported that he will be
receiving a check in the amount of $2500 to be deposited in the Post
checking account, which will be reimbursement from the Education and
Mentoring Fund for the Governor’s Scholars grant money paid out by the Post.
A motion was made and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report.
Motion passed.
President Kelly reported on the status of the Post’s involvement with
supporting students to attend Engineering and Construction Camps this year.
He said the Post will be sponsoring one student to attend the Seabee’s Camp
at the end of July. The student is Thomas Solinger, who is a rising Junior
at Dorothy Sayers Classical School. He will give a presentation on his camp
experience to the general SAME membership at a future meeting
President Kelly indicated that he wants to put a grading process in place
for the Post to use to rank applications of students wishing to attend the
Engineering and Construction Camps. Each Post is allotted one slot at each
of the camps. He presented a sample rating form that is used by the Pikes
Peak Post. He said he would like to see one of the rating factors address
their affiliation with the Kentuckiana Post, with some preference being
given for a close affiliation, such as having a parent who is a member.
Other factors could include GPA, extra curricular activities, and
engineering interest. Discussion among the Board members ensued. The
consensus was that preference should be given to applicants who are
affiliated with the Kentuckiana Post. Additionally, there should be a
requirement that a sponsored student would give a presentation to the
general membership after returning from the camp. There was some concern
about the GPA being rated so heavily on the sample form. One idea presented
was to use a general Academics factor that could take into consideration
aspects beyond GPA, such as the number and type of Advanced Placement
classes taken. President Kelly asked the Board to think about this for
future discussion. 1st Vice President Marilyn Lewis stated that she would
like to see the Post sponsor a student to attend the Army camp at Vicksburg,
in addition to the two that are currently supported –the Seabee’s and Air
Force Academy camps.
1st Vice President Lewis said she is still looking for volunteers to go to
Ft. Knox to make an award presentation at the ROTC graduation ceremonies.
She said the Post recognizes the top graduate in each class with a
certificate. She has four of the six dates filled with a volunteer, but has
two dates in July available. The volunteer would just need to show up at
8:30 for a 9:00 ceremony.
Rosemary Gilbertson discussed the upcoming SAME Regional Conference in
Huntington from 26 August through 28 August. She said she has been asked to
help find a speaker for a military topic. Brian James suggested that she
asked Hans Probst to discuss his experience as a Commander in Iraq.
President Kelly said he would not be able to go to the Conference the first
day, and needs to find someone who is going to the Conference to deliver the
Kentuckiana Post’s flag.
President Kelly said that the Post Leaders’ Workshop is coming up in
September. He said there is a Streamer requirement for the Post to send one
member and a student or younger member. The requirement was met for the 2008
year, since John Allison attended in January. However, the Post still would
like to send someone to the September conference. The cost is limited to
transportation, since SAME National covers all of the other costs to attend.
President Kelly said that the Small Business Conference is planned for
December in Memphis.
President Kelly reported that he is working on ideas focusing on “investing
in our own”, by talking to other Posts to see what they are doing. This is a
concept that is being encouraged by the current SAME National president,
Maj. Gen. Del Eulberg.
Committee Reports
 |
Co-Chair Ray Frye reported for the
Programs Committee. He said the June program would feature David
Cox, of the Kentucky State Board of Licensure of Professional
Engineers and Land Surveyors, who will discuss the new continuing
education requirements for licensed engineers. For the July 15
meeting, he was hoping to have Hans Probst give a presentation on
his experiences in Iraq. However, he is unable to do so on that
date; and will have to schedule for a future meeting. 1st Vice
President Lewis suggested that a topic on the flooding that has
recently occurred would be of interest.
The August membership meeting will be held from 11:30-1:00 at Ft.
Knox. Committee Co-Chair Rachael Haunz is working on putting that
meeting together. The topic will focus on engineering to fight
insurgents, and will be presented by Captain Clay McVay at the
Leaders’ Club. The Board members discussed lunch options and decided
that a buffet set-up would be preferable to having everyone go to
the building’s cafeteria, because of their typically long lines.
After some discussion, a
motion was made and seconded for the Post to pay for the lunch cost
for NCOs from the 19th Engineer’s Battalion to attend the meeting.
Motion Passed.
Mr. Frye reported that the Post golf outing is being moved up to
September 9 due to the Ryder Cup that will be held in Louisville at
the time of the regularly scheduled meeting. There is anticipated to
be a large number of people in Louisville at that time playing golf.
The October 21 membership meeting will feature Jim Fitzhugh of RSP
Architects who will discuss the “USAR RFP Instruction Manual”. And,
on November 18, Jon Miller will give a presentation on “ATFP
Challenges in Renovation of Existing Military Facilities”. Both of
these meetings will be held at the Mazzoli Federal Building.
A suggestion was made to have a general membership meeting in
September, in addition to the golf outing earlier in the month,
since the Post may not have a December meeting. The normal December
meeting in conjunction with the Post’s Small Business Workshop is
being moved to January in order to avoid conflict with the National
Small Business Conference. With the addition of a September meeting,
it is possible that Hans Probst would be available to speak on Iraq
at that time.
|
 |
President Kelly reported for the
Education and Mentoring Fund Committee. He said he has spoken to a
group of students who went to Belize in May as an engineering team
to address the area’s problems. The group has requested support from
the Post to sponsor their trip. Although the group did not ask for a
specific amount, the Committee had proposed support in the amount of
$3,000. President Kelly said the cost per person to make the trip is
$1,900; and the donations that the group of seven has received so
far amounts to $5,000. A decision on amount was not settled upon by
the Board since the meeting had to adjourn due to time limitations.
Further approval can be accomplished through e-mail to the Board
members.
|
 |
President Kelly reported for the
Membership Committee. He said the Post has gained nine Individual
and four Sustaining members between April and June. |
The meeting concluded at approximately 11:15 AM.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for 19 August at 10:00 a.m. in Room
709 of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
May 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The May meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held Tuesday, 20 May
2008 at the University of Louisville Alumni Center. Twenty-four (24) members
and guests were in attendance. Marilyn Lewis, 1st Vice President of the
Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting by leading the group in the prayer
and the Pledge of Allegiance. She encouraged everyone to go ahead and serve
themselves for lunch, and then the meeting continued.
1st Vice President Lewis recognized Hans Probst, a Past President of the
Post who had recently returned from serving in Iraq. 1st Vice President
Lewis continued with several announcements. She said that the SAME Regional
Conference was going to be held in Huntington from 26 to 28 August.
Secretary Janet Skees shared that the theme would be “Managing Risk”, and
said that more information could be found at
www.samehuntington.com.
1st Vice President Lewis discussed that the Post had received three
applications for SAME to support high school students to attend the Seabees
Engineering and Construction Camp. The Post has forwarded one of the
applications to SAME National with recommendation for the student to attend
the camp.
1st Vice President Lewis requested volunteers to present awards to ROTC
Cadets during their graduation ceremonies at Ft. Knox. She said she needs
one presenter for each of six dates. Each ceremony lasts about an hour.
There are five dates in July and one date in June. She said the volunteers
do not need any preparation. They just need to show up prior to 9 a.m. on
the day of the ceremony.
1st Vice President Lewis reminded everyone that the next general membership
meeting will be on Tuesday, 17 June at the Federal Building. The presenter
will be David Cox from the Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Engineers
and Land Surveyors. He will discuss Continuing Education Requirements for
Professional Engineers.
The program was then turned over to Veronica Rife and Erin Hall, Scholarship
Committee Co-Chairs, who presented five engineering students each with a
$3,000 scholarship. Ms. Rife gave an overview of the Post’s scholarship
program, and explained that the program has assisted over 50 engineering
students since its inception. She said the program was started in 1996, when
the Kentuckiana Post was responsible for hosting the national conference.
The Post was able to set up an endowment fund from the conference proceeds.
Ms. Hall announced the recipients and read a short biography on each.
Awardees were Kent Coombs, Rebecca Mitchell, Mat van der Meer, Isaiah
Weilbaker, and Matthew Dobbertien.
Following the scholarship presentations, those in attendance heard from
Student Chapter President, Mathew van der Meer who talked about the work of
University of Louisville students, with the support of our Post; would be
going to Hattiesburg, Mississippi during their Spring Break. They worked
with Habitat for Humanity as a part of the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
They spent five days working on a residence and building sheds. He showed
photos of the trip and thanked the Post for the support.
The meeting concluded at approximately 1:00 p.m.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
April 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The April meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held Tuesday, 15 April
2008 in the Cafeteria Meeting Room at the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Twenty-five (25) members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly,
President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting and welcomed
everyone. He then led the group in the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Kelly made several announcements. He said that the SAME national
conference would be 20 to 23 May in Minnesota. He reminded the group that
the regional conference would be in Huntington, W.V. in August, and
registration is now open.
President Kelly discussed the Engineering and Construction camps for high
school students that the Kentuckiana Post has sponsored. He said there are
three camps – the Air Force Camp at the Air Force Academy in Colorado
Springs, the Army Camp in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the Seabees Camp at
Port Hueneme in California. He said the deadline to apply for the Seabees
Camp is 15 May, and encouraged the attendees to get the word out to eligible
students.
Chris Ackard spoke on behalf of Mercedes Enrique, the SAME national Small
Business Council President. He said there is a scholarship opportunity for
small business members to attend the national SAME conference and receive up
to $500 toward the cost of the conference. He also said there will now be a
national award for a Post Small Business Liaison officer.
President Kelly introduced the guest speaker, J.B. Williams of Michael Baker
Corporation, who gave a presentation on the Louisville bridges project. The
presentation was entitled “Two Bridges, One Project” Mr. Williams gave an
overview of the six sections of the project and discussed the bridge
selection process. He described the public involvement aspect, whereby the
design team obtained input from the public by creating images of various
types of bridges and getting feedback on what characteristics the public
liked. From the results of polling on the downtown bridge, it was determined
that there was not “overwhelming support” for any one alternative. But
generally the public liked the bridge types with lower height and simpler
configuration. Mr. Williams said of the three alternatives (single-tower
cable stayed, three-tower cable stayed, and
three-span thru arch), the three-tower cable stayed alternative has been
selected to go forward to final design. He said the construction for the
downtown bridge is currently scheduled to start in the year 2015.
The next Kentuckiana Post meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 20 May at the
University of Louisville, with presentation of scholarships and a report
from the U of L Student Chapter on their work during Spring Break in
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which was supported by the Post.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
April 2008 Board Meeting
|
The April meeting of the Kentuckiana Post Board was called to order at 10:10
a.m. Tuesday, 15 April 2008 in Room 951C of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
President Clay Kelly chaired the meeting.
President Kelly noted that the minutes of the 19 February 2008 meeting had
been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received
and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to approve
the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
John Allison presented the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is $11,636.53
in the Post checking account with no outstanding bills. The Education and
Mentoring Fund has reimbursed the checking account for expenses paid out
associated with supporting University of Louisville students to work on a
Habitat for Humanity project in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, during their
Spring Break. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s
Report. Motion passed.
President Kelly discussed revisions to the Board roster, addressing new
committee assignments. He also reported on the status of the Post’s
involvement with supporting students to attend Engineering and Construction
Camps this year. The application due date for the Air Force Academy Camp was
15 April. He said there were some leads for potential students to attend,
but a candidate did not materialize from those leads. President Kelly
expressed hope that the Post would be able to send two students to the
Seabees Camp. Eligible applicants should be rising high school sophomores or
juniors (class standing for upcoming school year). Students need to have
expressed an interest in pursuing engineering as a career. He said that he
would like to see a greater level of the Post’s involvement in the future in
this program. President Kelly informed the Board that he has asked Chris
Ackard with CMS, of Bloomington, if he would help the Post develop a process
for evaluating candidates. Mr. Ackard has been in the Air Force for eight
years and is familiar with the camps. Applications for the Seabees Camp are
due to SAME National by 15 May, and camp dates are 20 July through 26 July.
President Kelly highlighted the concept of “Investing in Our Own.” He said
SAME’s national President, Maj. Gen. Del Eulberg, has been focusing on this
topic, which encourages that resources going outside of the organization be
channeled so that there will be some return. One way to address this would
be to encourage recipients of support to become involved in the local Post.
President Kelly said that one of the streamer criteria is related to
“investing in our own.” The criteria is for a Board member and a younger
member to both attend the Post Leadership Workshop. President Kelly said one
way to invest in people is to plug members who are active at the local level
into national-level involvement. For example, the Post could support an
individual to attend a national conference. He said he would send out a
white paper with related ideas to Board members via email, and would like
feedback from the Board.Committee Reports
 |
Tony Marconi reported for the
Education and Mentoring Fund Committee. At the end of the second
quarter (12/31/07), the fund had a balance of $596,540.92. A
contribution has not yet been made to Leadership PE 2007. A
contribution to the 2006 program was made retroactive. This is the
second time this contribution has “fallen through the cracks.” As
one of the three founding organizations, SAME has contributed $3,000
each year in support of this program. President Kelly asked Mr.
Marconi to coordinate with George Binder and Marcie Fisher at the
Kentucky Engineering Center to submit a written request to the Board
annually for funding support, and at the same time to re-evaluate
the financial needs of the program and provide SAME feedback on
their needs. The Board discussed paying to support the 2007 event,
retroactively. It was decided that since SAME already has received
promotion through the 2007 program, it is a debt owed as a prior
commitment. A motion was made and seconded to approve the 2007
Leadership PE grant of $3,000 that would be retroactive and posted
to the fiscal year 2007 books as a liability. Motion passed.
As a Leadership PE alumnus, Steve Skaggs agreed to take on the
responsibility of making sure their grant request application gets
turned in each year in a timely manner.
Mr. Marconi reported on the fund’s make-up. He said the fund is
still in the range of its investment goals to have 60 to 80% in
stocks (Vanguard 500 Index Fund) and 20 to 40% in cash (Money
Market).
|
 |
Gerard Edelen reported for the
Programs Committee. He said the cafeteria meeting room is not
available for the August meeting, so he would explore having the
Post meeting at Ft. Knox that month. President Kelly said it might
be possible to have the troops who have returned from Iraq and
Afghanistan share about their work while deployed.
The May meeting will include presentation of student scholarships
and a report from the University of Louisville students who were
supported during their Spring Break trip to Hattiesburg,
Mississippi, to work with Habitat for Humanity.
At the June meeting, David Cox, of the Kentucky State Board of
Licensure of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, will discuss
the new continuing education requirements for licensed engineers.
|
 |
Kristen Crumpton reported for the
Membership Committee. She said the Post roster includes 131
individual members, which is nine more than shown on the previous
report. She said this is due to the Post gaining back some members
that had previously let their memberships expire. She said she still
needs to follow-up with 38 members who did not renew at the end of
2007. The number of Sustaining Members remains steady at 83.
President Kelly mentioned that the dues structure will be changing,
and it will be interesting to see if the numbers are affected. Ms.
Crumpton informed the group of the Post Management System that is
now up and running. She described the Chapter Leader Access System (CLAS),
where information can be updated on-line, including information on
committee management, financial management, Post rosters, etc.
|
 |
Anne Black reported for the Small
Business Committee. She said the national SAME Small Business
Conference is going to be later this year and will conflict with the
Kentuckiana Post’s plans to hold a small business workshop in
December. The national conference is scheduled for 8 December
through 10 December in Memphis. The move to December appears to be a
permanent change. The Board discussed various options for scheduling
the Post’s workshop. One possibility would be to hold the workshop
on the same day as the Corps’ Open House in January, so that
businesses would not have to travel to two separate events. Gerard
Edelen said he would find out who is coordinating the Corps’ Open
House so that the Board can discuss options with them. The Board
discussed targeting another activity in 2008 for small businesses
since the workshop is being moved to 2009, possibly a networking
activity in conjunction with the golf scramble.
The Board asked Tony Marconi to coordinate this year’s golf
scramble, which is to be held in September, so that it doesn’t
conflict with the Ryder Cup activities that will be occurring in
Louisville that month.
|
 |
Erin Hall reported for the Scholarship
Committee. She said the committee would meet that afternoon to
review cumulative scores from the evaluation of applications and to
select recipients. She said the committee would then notify those
selected to make sure they can attend the May meeting for the
presentation of the scholarships. President Kelly explained that
Board members would first receive an email recommending the
recipients for their approval.
President Kelly reported on the Student Chapter. He said the group
is active. They are heading back to Belize to install septic
systems, as a part of a combined medical, dental and engineering
team, addressing the region’s problems.
|
 |
Troy Mays reported for the Web Site
Committee. He shared that the Student Chapter has started it’s own
web site. He also said he wants to continue posting Power Point
presentations from the speakers at the monthly meetings to the Post
web site. And he would like to obtain information on Leadership PE
to post to the site, as well. |
New Business
President Kelly said he will email the 2007 submittal for streamers to the
Board, so the Board is aware of what applies to each committee for meeting
the streamer goals. During the next few Board meetings, he will discuss one
streamer at a time to encourage awareness.
President Kelly said the National Conference will be held 20 May through 23
May in Minneapolis, and several Board members have planned to attend,
including himself.
President Kelly informed the group that the new Colonel for the Louisville
District, Colonel Keith Landry, will be installed on Wednesday, 9 July.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for 17 June at 10:00 a.m. in the
cafeteria of the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Janet S. Skees, P.E. Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
March 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The March meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held Tuesday, 18 March
2008 in the Cafeteria Meeting Room at the Mazzoli Federal Building. Eighteen
(18) members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly, President of the
Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. First Vice
President Marilyn Lewis then led the group in the prayer and the Pledge of
Allegiance.
President Kelly made several announcements. He said that scholarship
applications are currently being graded; and the May regular membership
meeting will include the presentation of scholarships to the recipients.
Additionally, in May, attendees will hear from University of Louisville
students, supported by the Post, who went to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
During their spring break, they worked with Habitat for Humanity in support
of the Hurricane Katrina efforts.
President Kelly shared excerpts from a presentation entitled “Strategic
Perspectives” by Major General Del Eulberg, national president of SAME. He
said that throughout the year, he would share with the Post nuggets of
information from this presentation. For the March meeting, President Kelly
provided an historical perspective of the SAME organization. He said the
roots of the association go back to 1909, when the Army Corps of Engineers
first published the Professional Memoirs, a service journal. Following World
War I, which saw civilian engineers as a part of active duty forces, a group
of officers wanted to maintain the spirit of cooperation between the
military and private sector engineers. This resulted in the founding of SAME
in 1920, initially to publish The Military Engineer magazine. Since then,
membership has grown to over 20,000.
President Kelly discussed Century House, SAME’s Headquarters in Alexandria,
Virginia. He also reviewed the organization’s mission, “To promote and
facilitate engineering support for national security by developing and
enhancing relationships and competencies among uniformed services, public
and private sector engineers, and related professionals.” Additionally, he
discussed the association’s goals, which are: National Security and
Emergency Response, Education and Training, Relationships, Relevance, and
Recognition. President Kelly encouraged the attendees to get involved as a
leader in the organization.
President Kelly mentioned that the SAME Great Lakes and Ohio Valley Region
is working on developing a unique coin for the regional organization. He
said this is following the lead of the national organization, which already
has a coin.
Program Co-Chair Ray Frye introduced the guest speaker, Nick Schmitt, PE,
Senior Principal Engineer with MACTEC, who spoke on Remediation of an
Unnatural Disaster: Catastrophic Failure of Taum Sauk Upper Reservoir Dam
and the Ensuing Rebuilding of Johnson Shut-ins State Park.
Mr. Schmitt discussed the failure of the dam on 13 December 2005, when one
side of the upper reservoir failed and more than a billion gallons of water
rushed down the mountain, heading toward the state park. The deluge totally
wiped out two miles of stream between the upper and lower reservoirs and
destroyed the park. Ameren UE, the power company which maintained the dam,
accepted responsibility and embarked on an aggressive program to restore the
stream and the park. The Johnson Shut-Ins State Park was considered the
“jewel” of the Missouri State Park System, and was the most highly visited
park in the state. The dam that failed was 700’ wide and 84’ high with an
additional 10’ high concrete wall atop the dam, for a total of 94’. The
failure was equivalent, hydrologically, to a 10,000 year flood event. In
addition to restoring the park, the lower reservoir had to be restored
because of the large amount of sediments that were deposited during the
disaster. Amazingly, there was no loss of life.
The next General Meeting for the Kentuckiana Post is scheduled for Tuesday,
15 April, with a presentation on the Ohio River Bridges. The May meeting
will be on Tuesday, 20 May at the University of Louisville, with
presentation of scholarships and a report from the U of L Student Chapter on
their work during Spring Break.
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post |
February 2008 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 10:10 AM Tuesday 19 February 2008
in Room 951C of the Federal Building. President Clay Kelly chaired the
meeting. Attendees are listed on the attached roster.
President Kelly noted that the minutes of the 4 December 2007 meeting had
been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received
and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as electronically circulated. Motion passed.
The roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated to verify
attendance and review for updates.
Treasurer John Allison reported that there is currently $11,590.67 in the
Post checking account and the only outstanding bill is to SAME National for
$127.00. Treasurer Allison also reported that a financial statement will be
submitted at the end of the month and will be reviewed by Rosemary
Gilbertson. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s
Report. Motion passed.
President Kelly started off the President’s Report by stating the importance
of building young member involvement in the Kentuckiana Post. Each member of
the Board should be thinking about a young person to encourage involvement
on committees, as there are many co-chair positions vacant at this time.
Involvement in the Regional and National conferences also presents great
opportunities and benefits for young members.
A major portion of the Board meeting focused on discussion of committee
positions that need to be filled for the 2008 calendar year. The Directors
positions have been filled and installment of new leaders occurred at the
general membership meeting on January 29.
It was agreed that terms would be left as-is for Elected Directors and
collateral assignments and streamer responsibilities were agreed to by all
Elected Directors, with the exception of Mickey Jones who was not present at
the Board Meeting. It was suggested that the Post keep track of activities
and accomplishments throughout the year for streamer submissions to avoid
cramming at the last minute. Reviewing the newsletter is a good reference
source for keeping track of these activities. Rosemary Gilbertson suggested
the Board add streamer updates to the agenda.
Other items to note re: Streamer submissions:
 |
John Allison informed the group that the format for streamer
submission forms are changing for 2008 |
 |
Including pictures with submission is a good idea |
Possible names for committee positions were mentioned to fill some of the
openings and several Board members committed to discuss the opportunities
with these individuals.
The Education & Training Co-Chair position would be responsible for managing
PDHs for technical training
Announcements and Committee Reports
 |
John Allison gave a report on the Post Leaders Workshop he attended
in February. Some key points he brought back from the workshop include:
 |
New requirements state that a young member and a member are to
attend the Post Leaders Workshop |
 |
The mission of SAME should be stated at all general meetings |
 |
Should consider helping local boy scout troop with engineering
badges |
 |
High school teachers should be informed of Engineering and SAME |
 |
Only 37/115 Posts submitted streamer applications for National
Security and this presents concerns all-around |
|
 |
Steve Skaggs reported that $7341.00 profit was made from the Small
Business Workshop in December |
 |
Kristen Crumpton reported that 12 new individual members and 5 new
sustaining members have recently joined the Post. However, 38 individual
members did not renew their memberships after the first of the year. She
will send out an invitation to join the Post to non-members who attended
the Open House in January and will contact those who did not renew their
memberships after the first of the year. |
 |
Free memberships sponsored by the Kentuckiana Post should be
considered for young members who join a committee and Fort Knox/NCOs –
this supports the motto “investing in our own” – National SAME President
Bob Wolfe supports this. |
 |
Scholarships due 1st week of March – need volunteers to help grade
applications |
 |
The Post needs to invite the young man who attended the Construction
camp last summer to an upcoming general post meeting to make a
presentation on what he learned |
 |
Louisville District employees agreed to spread the word about the
Air Force and Construction camps – the website will also be utilized to
spread the word |
The meeting concluded at approximately 11:30 AM.
The next general membership meeting of SAME will be on Tuesday, March 18th,
in the Federal Building Cafeteria meeting room. The presentation, by Nick
Schmitt of MACTEC, will be on “Remediation of an Un-Natural Disaster:
Catastrophic Failure of Taum Sauk Upper Reservoir Dam and the Ensuing
Re-building of Johnson Shut-ins State Park”.
The next Board meeting will be on Tuesday, April 15 at 10:00.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes. Minutes are also available on the
Post’s web site.
Respectively Submitted,
Janet S. Skees, P.E.
Secretary, Kentuckiana Post
|
January 2008 General Membership Meeting
|
The January general membership meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was
held 29 January 2008 in concert with the Louisville District Corps of
Engineers’ Open House. The meeting was held in the Cafeteria Meeting Room at
the Mazzoli Federal Building. Eighty-five (85) members and guests were in
attendance. The meeting was called to order at 12:30 p.m. by Colonel Raymond
Midkiff, 2007 Post President. Col. Midkiff welcomed Ernie Drott, from the
Cincinnati Corps of Engineers, who serves as the SAME Ohio Valley Regional
Vice President.
Steve Bickel, KP Past President, presented the Post with an American flag
that flew in Iraq on 22 November 2007 in honor of the Kentuckian Post SAME.
The flag was a gift in appreciation for the Post sending golf equipment and
corn hole boards to the 30th Naval Construction Regiment in Iraq to give
them recreational opportunities. The regiment is the command of former Post
President Hans Probst.
1st V.P. Clay Kelly led the group in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Col. Midkiff made several announcements. He said the scholarship
applications are due March 3. Scholarship Committee Co-Chairman Veronica
Rife said that anyone wanting to help get the word out to colleges regarding
the scholarship opportunity should contact either her or Erin Hall. Col.
Midkiff mentioned that the major fund-raising activity for the scholarship
initiative is the Post’s annual golf outing.
2nd V.P. Marilyn Lewis requested assistance for the February 2 Math Counts
event.
Regional V.P. Ernie Drott presented Regional Vice President medals and
accompanying certificates to Janet Skees and Gerard Edelen for their service
to the Post since January 2005. Ms. Skees’ award was associated with her
work with the Small Business Committee and the December 2006 Small Business
Workshop. Mr. Edelen’s award was for his work for the past two years
planning and facilitating the Post’s programs every month.
Mr. Drott proceeded to induct the 2008 Post officers. He first thanked
outgoing President Col. Midkiff. He emphasized the goals associated with
SAME’s national strategic plan, which include: national security and
emergency response, recognition and relationships, education and training,
outreach and communication, and making the society relevant to the
profession. He asked each of the new officers to support the plan and then
inducted them for the 2008 calendar year. Then Col. Midkiff transferred his
leadership role as President to Clay Kelly by passing to him the Post’s
charter document.
Newly inducted President Kelly offered several comments. He discussed the
feeling of accomplishment one gets by giving back to an organization such as
SAME. He said this year he wants to share, “a nugget at a time,” the vision
that is going on at the national level. “We are all teaming to accomplish
national security,” he said. “We can have a global impact through the
Kentuckiana Post.” President Kelly went on to encourage everyone to “invest
in our own.” He said others outside the organization do not understand what
SAME does. He explained that a lot of the outreach programs through the
society are to educate the public.
President Kelly encouraged the group to “invest in our people” such as
“sending a young member to attend a national conference so they can see the
synergy” of the society. He encouraged the members to get more involved and
asked them to step forward for service. “I invite you to ask how you can
help,” he said. President Kelly pointed to ways to get membership
information, such as through the Post’s web site. He explained that the Post
newsletter can be obtained directly from the web site, and members should
now be receiving an e-mailed link to the site when the newsletter is
available. In his closing remarks, President Kelly said, “As we go through
this next year, I want us to be relevant; and we are going to need your help
for us to do it.”
President Kelly closed the meeting by presenting outgoing President Col.
Midkiff with a plaque as a memento and in appreciation for his service to
the Post over the past year.
The Post will not have a separate February meeting due to participation in
the Engineer’s Week Banquet on Friday night February 15 at the Olmsted. |
December 2007 General Membership Meeting
|
The December meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 4 December
2007 at the Holiday Inn – Airport South on Fern Valley Road during the
luncheon of the Post’s 2nd Annual Small Business Workshop. There were 202
attendees at the event and 30 exhibitors. Clay Kelly, 1st Vice President of
the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting leading the group in the prayer
and the Pledge of Allegiance.
1st V.P. Kelly introduced the guest speaker for the luncheon, Mr. Anthony
Bell, Chief of the Small Business Program for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers. Mr. Bell was complementary of the information that had been
provided during the morning sessions of the workshop. He discussed
contracting with the Corps, and emphasized the importance of carefully
reading the RFP. He said respondents should not hesitate to contact a
contracting officer for clarification, if needed. He mentioned the
importance of obtaining debriefings on proposals submitted.
Mr. Bell went on to say that there is “going to be a tremendous push, more
so than ever, for the Service Disabled Veteran Contracting program.” He said
the Corps is currently not meeting contracting goals in this area. He also
encouraged small businesses to respond to announcements for Sources Sought.
He said if enough small businesses indicate an interest in a project, the
project can be advertised as a small business set-aside.
Mr. Bell encouraged small businesses to keep their initial capability
statements submitted to the Small Business Office short and concise. He said
that within three or four pages, a business should discuss what services
they are providing that the agency really needs and include “discriminators
that make your company different.” Financial information should also be
included that shows that the business has an appropriate line of credit. Mr.
Bell advised attendees to be “slow to marry in business”; because, he said
he hears many stories about some business relationships that “have gone awry
because they didn’t understand each others’ businesses and their cultures.”
But, he said, when it does work, “it works really well.”
Following Mr. Bell’s presentation, Col. Raymond Midkiff, President of the
Kentuckiana Chapter, recognized the success of the initiative over the past
couple of years to strengthen relationships between the Louisville District
and small businesses. He thanked Steve Skaggs, Anne Black, and Linda
Hunt-Smith for their work in putting together this year’s Small Business
Workshop. Then, Col. Midkiff presented awards recognizing small businesses
in three categories. The award recipients were as follows:
A drawing for a Bass Pro Shops gift card was held for those who donated
toys or cash to the Toys for Tots program. The Post has supported the
U.S. Marine Corps’
Toys for Tots during the December program for many years. Forty toys and
$45 cash were collected.
Small Business Co-Chairman Steve Skaggs thanked
SAIC for sponsoring the
breakfast during the workshop, and Mickey Jones and
Mason & Hanger
for underwriting the cost of the color-coded identification badges. He also
offered a special thanks to Brittany Ford of the Louisville District Corps
for her work helping the Small Business Committee organize the workshop.
The January program for the Post will be the Louisville District Corps’ Open
House, for which the Post is a co-sponsor.
|
December 2007 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 2:00 PM Tuesday 4 December 2007 in
the Winners Circle Room of the Holiday Inn – Airport South. 1st Vice
President Clay Kelly chaired the meeting. Attendees are listed on the
attached
roster. The meeting followed the
attached
agenda.
1st V.P. Kelly noted that the minutes of the 16 October 2007 meeting had
been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received
and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated to verify
attendance and review for updates.
Treasurer John Allison reported that there is currently $14,409.10 in the
Post checking account and all outstanding bills have been paid. However, the
bill for the Small Business Workshop, held on the same day as this meeting,
has not yet been received and paid; and the checks received this day have
not yet been deposited. Small Business Co-Chairman Steve Skaggs reported
that the bill for the hotel facilities will be about $7,800; and the
workshop event should clear over $7,000 after expenses are paid. Steve
reported that there were about 220 people registered for the workshop (note:
final attendance count was 202). A motion was made and seconded to
approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
1st V.P. Kelly showed the Board members a certificate of appreciation
received on December 3 from the
19th Engineer Battalion during a Welcome Home ceremony he attended at
Ft. Knox. The certificate was presented in recognition of the Post’s
providing phone cards for the deployed troops.
A major portion of the Board meeting focused on discussion of Director and
committee positions that need to be filled for the 2008 calendar year. Two
of the four current Directors have retired from the Corps of Engineers and
may not wish to maintain the same level of involvement with the Post; and a
third Director has transferred within his corporation to an office across
the country. Various committee openings were also discussed. Possible names
were mentioned to fill some of the openings and several Board members
committed to discuss the opportunities with these individuals. It was also
decided to send an announcement to the Post membership to encourage
involvement at a higher level for those who have been regularly involved in
attending Post meetings and may wish to step up to a position on the Board.
The Post leadership positions need to be filled prior to the regular
membership meeting on January 29, when the leaders will be installed for
2008.
Treasurer Allison discussed that the Board will need to obtain the services
of a tax professional to complete the IRS Form 990 (Return of Organization
Exempt from Income Tax). The filing of this form is required because the
Kentuckiana Post is a non-profit organization that will have received in
excess of $25,000 in gross receipts for the year. It was decided that
Treasurer Allison should discuss this with the accountant who provides
services for the
Kentucky
Engineering Foundation in Frankfort and obtain a price for completing
the form.
The Board decided to hold the January membership meeting on the day of the
Louisville Corps’ Open House on January 29. During that meeting, Col.
Midkiff will discuss the Post’s “Year in Review”; and the Board members for
2008 will be installed. An announcement to this effect will be sent to the
membership.
The Board decided that the Post should coordinate to provide refreshments
for the morning session of the Corps’ Open House. The Post is a co-sponsor
with the Corps for this event. Secretary Janet Skees will send an email to
the membership to request corporate sponsors for the refreshments. An
estimated 400 persons are expected to attend.
Scholarship Co-Chairman Veronica Rife reported that the application for the
Post’s scholarships to be awarded during 2008 have been distributed in the
newsletter. Webmaster Troy Mays will be asked to place the application on
the Post’s web site. After the first of the year, there will be a web blast
to notify the Post’s membership of the scholarship program and to encourage
participation. Director Marilyn Lewis said she wants to promote the program
stronger within the Corps, by distributing more announcements, than has been
done in the past. Ms. Rife said that she and Scholarship Co-Chairman Erin
Hall will be contacting various universities to advertise the scholarship
program, as well.
Webmaster Mays shared that he has added analytics to the Post web site and
can now obtain statistics on how often the web site has been “hit” and how
the viewer was directed to the site, as well as other information.
It was decided to continue to hold the Board meetings during 2008 on the
same day as the regular membership meetings. Therefore, Board meetings,
beginning with February 19, will continue to be held on the third Tuesday of
the even months at 10:00 in room 709 of the Mazzoli Federal Building, unless
otherwise announced.
A motion was made and seconded to adjourn. Motion passed.
The meeting concluded at approximately 3:00 PM.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the attachments can be found in the
Post file cabinet under Board Minutes. Minutes are also available on the
Post’s web site. |
November 2007 General Membership Meeting
|
The November meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 13 November
2007 in the Cafeteria Meeting Room at the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Twenty-four (24) members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly, 1st Vice
President of the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting and welcomed
everyone. He then led the group in the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
1st V.P. Kelly made several announcements. He said that the Kentuckiana
Flyer newsletter will now be delivered via an emailed hyperlink tying to the
Post’s web site, instead of sending the newsletter as an email attachment.
This is to avoid having to use a third party to send the mass emails, which
has resulted in emails being blocked by spam filters. He said the email with
the hyperlink to the November newsletter should go out in a day or two. If
anyone does not receive the email, they should contact one of the Post’s
leaders.
Anne Black, Small Business Committee Co-Chairman, discussed plans for the
second annual Small Business Workshop to be held at the Holiday Inn on Fern
Valley Road. She said the all-day workshop would have informational sessions
in the morning and networking in the afternoon. She said they are expecting
a “big turnout.” 1st V.P. Kelly mentioned that the agenda for this year’s
workshop is different than last year; and the proceeds will be used to
support the troops overseas. He said that phone cards have been sent to the
19th Engineer Battalion that is deployed to Afghanistan. And, he said, the
Post also has sent recreational items to Iraq for the benefit of the 30th
Naval Construction Regiment, under the command of former Post President Hans
Probst. Items sent included golf equipment and cornhole boards with the SAME
logo, which were made by Post member Ken Besser.
1st V.P. Kelly announced that scholarship applications should be coming out
later this month.
1st V.P. Kelly reminded attendees that individual Post memberships are due
to expire at the end of the year, and members should be watching for renewal
information.
Next month’s regular Post membership meeting will be held during the
luncheon of the Small Business Workshop on December 4. The January program
will be the Louisville District Corps’ Open House, for which the Post is a
co-sponsor.
Programs Co-Chairman Gerard Edelen introduced the guest speaker, Larry
Cozine, AIA, who is Chief of the Louisville District Corps’ Design Branch.
He spoke on the status of the Corps’ Centers of Standardization, as it
applies to the USACE MILCON Transformation.
Mr. Cozine said there are MILCON Transformation goals and objectives that
are “very real expectations”. And a part of those objectives is the
implementation of Centers of Standardization (COS) to “build better, faster,
and cheaper”.
Mr. Cozine explained the different responsibilities between the COS and the
local geographic districts. He discussed the planned evolution of the
program from FY ’07 through FY ’09. He said the COS will be fully
operational by 30 September 2008, with the standards and standard operating
procedures being in place. By FY ’09, additional facilities will be built
re-using designs that had been developed for initial projects. 3-D BIM
models will be developed and re-used.
Mr. Cozine talked about some of the challenges with making the transition to
COS. He said that a major challenge is when a COS works with a different
Geographic District, and people do not know each other. Since the COS is
designing the building and the Geographic District is responsible for
designing the building site and overseeing the construction contract,
working relationships have to be developed.
Another challenge is related to architectural compatibility. Different types
of facilities need to look compatible since they will be located together on
the same complex. Mr. Cozine’s presentation demonstrates the effort needed
with conceptual designs created for Fort Bliss. The link to his presentation
can be found
here.
The next KP-SAME meeting is scheduled for December 4 during the luncheon of
the Small Business Workshop at the Holiday Inn on Fern Valley Road. |
October 2007 General Membership Meeting
|
The October meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 16 October 2007
in the Cafeteria Meeting Room at the Mazzoli Federal Building. Eighteen (18)
members and guests were in attendance. Clay Kelly, 1st Vice President of the
Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. He then led
the group in the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
1st V.P. Kelly provided an update on the Post’s activities. He mentioned
that there have been problems with the Kentuckiana Flyer newsletter email
being blocked by spam filters. He said they are looking at ways to avoid the
problem, and that future newsletters may be sent as a link to the newsletter
on the Post web site.
1st V.P. Kelly reported that the Post raised $2200 for operating expenses
and scholarships from the golf outing in September. He mentioned that the
golf outing, which had previously been held in July, was moved this year to
September. He thanked Tony Marconi, Jimmy Stahl, and the U of L Student
Chapter for organizing the event.
1st V.P. Kelly provided an update on the phone cards the Post is sending to
the 76th Engineer Company of the 19th Engineer Battalion that is deployed to
Afghanistan. The 19th Engineer Seahorse Association was working toward a
goal of raising enough money to send 150 phone cards to the troops. They had
enough money to send 55 cards, and the Post provided the funds for the
remaining cards.
1st V.P. Kelly reported that part of the 19th Engineer Battalion will be
returning to Ft. Knox in November; and there will be a welcome home
celebration in December. Kentuckiana Post members will be invited.
The Post will be sending some golf equipment and cornhole boards to the 30th
Naval Construction Regiment in Iraq to give them recreational opportunities.
The regiment is the command of former Post President Hans Probst.
The University of Louisville will be hosting a networking event on November
1. The Post and the Corps of Engineers plan to participate. The Post’s
scholarship program for 2008 will be launched at the networking event.
Applications will be due in the spring. 1st V.P. Kelly explained that Post
scholarships are cash awards in the amount of $3,000 to help students in
engineering continue on that path.
Next month’s regular Post membership meeting will be held on November 13;
and Larry Cozine will give an update on the Corps’ Centers of
Standardization. December 4 will be the Small Business Workshop. A
registration form is attached to the October Kentuckiana Flyer newsletter.
The Corps’ Open House will be held in January.
Tony Marconi introduced the guest speaker, Gerald Hollinden, PhD, Sr. Vice
President of the Power Business Sector of URS Corporation. He spoke on
“Technologies to Reduce or Capture and Store Carbon Dioxide Emissions”, as
it applies to the use of coal for energy.
Dr.
Hollinden’s presentation was recently given to the U.S. Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee. He said by 2030, there will be an
additional two billion people on the earth, and there will be a huge
explosion in energy requirements in the next few years. He said that India
and China will grow the most, and they will use coal as their source of
energy. He explained that the significant challenge with coal is that
“managing carbon dioxide must be met to maintain sustainability in the
world.” Coal consumption will increase from 5.4 billion tons to 10.6 billion
tons per year by 2030; and China will account for 60% of the growth. Dr.
Hollinden said that China is not likely to worry about global warming and
develop the technology necessary to address the carbon dioxide emissions. He
said we have to have the technology ready for China, which will be emitting
half of the carbon dioxide emissions in the entire world by 2030.
Dr. Holliden went on to say that the United States has reduced our carbon
intensity in the last ten years by more than any other country in the world.
The U.S. doesn’t belong to Kyoto; but the countries that do have badly
missed their Kyoto targets.
Dr. Holliden discussed the technologies for capturing carbon dioxide,
including coal combustion and gasification plants. Carbon dioxide that has
been captured can be injected in deep geological formations. When injected
into old fuel beds, it can force fuel out of the ground that could not be
acquired before.
Dr. Holliden discussed the U.S. energy policy, and its focus on gas. He said
that gas is not really “clean”, since it emits 43% of the amount of carbon
dioxide that coal does. But, he said the many new gas plants being built are
not accommodating carbon dioxide storage. Because of the requirements being
put on new coal plants, he said another “Inconvenient Truth” is that coal
will be the “cleanest burning fuel in 2020, and the contrary, natural gas
will be dirty.”
Dr. Holliden closed by saying there is more coal in the United States than
there is gas in the world. He said we have a supply of fuel that is there
for 200 years, and we have oil in the “worst possible countries we could
have it in.”
The next KP-SAME meeting is scheduled for November 13 at 1130 in the
Cafeteria Meeting Room of the Mazzoli Federal Building. |
October 2007 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM Tuesday 16 October 2007 in
Room 709 of the Mazzoli Federal Building. 1st Vice President Clay Kelly
chaired the meeting. Attendees are listed on the attached roster. The
meeting followed the attached agenda.
1st V.P. Kelly noted that the minutes of the 21 August 2007 meeting had been
circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been received and
incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded to approve the
minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated for updates.
Rosemary Gilbertson presented John Allison’s Treasurer’s report. Currently
there is $8,426.37 in the Post checking account; however the bill for the
calling cards for the deployed 76th Engineering Company of the 19th Engineer
Battalion has not been paid ($3,750). Golf equipment and postage for the
30th Naval Construction Regiment (Hans Probst’s command in Iraq) has been
paid. The September Golf Scramble made approximately $2,200. The final
amount is pending receipt of two checks. The treasurer’s report stated that
if the Kentuckiana Post receives for the year gross revenue in excess of
$25,000, the Post will have to file with the IRS a Form 990 (Return of
Organization Exempt from Income Tax). The Board discussed that the Post may
want to consider going through the Kentucky Engineering Foundation (KEF) for
administering the Golf Scramble in the future to reduce total cash received
through the Post. Anyone who has a good contact with a tax professional with
whom the Post could work should contact John Allison.
A motion was made and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion
passed.
1st V.P. Kelly reported that an email from Steve Bickel had been circulated
to Board Members to seek feedback and/or approval about the possibility of
the Kentuckiana Post providing golf equipment to the 30th Naval Construction
Regiment to give them recreational opportunities. The regiment is the
command of former Post President Hans Probst, and is currently deployed to
Iraq. The equipment would be set up in a secure enclosed yard and would
include two frames with nets, mats with rubber pegs, several inexpensive
drivers, pitching wedges, and balls. The equipment would cost between $800
and $1000. Email comments from the Board members, which were received prior
to the Board meeting, were favorable. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the purchase of the equipment. Motion passed.
1st V.P. Kelly noted that after Bruce Murray’s retirement luncheon Rosemary
Gilbertson was encouraging Ken Besser to remain active with the KP. Through
that conversation, Ken agreed to make a set of cornhole boards to be sent to
the troops under Hans Probst.
1st V.P. Kelly provided an update on the phone cards the Board approved in
August. Clay acknowledged the tremendous help of Charlene MacDonald at FMSM,
who ordered the cards. He has been in touch with Candice Dietz, whose
husband, CAPT Christian Dietz, is with the 19th Engineer Battalion. Candice
and the 19th Engineer Seahorse Association is organizing a shipment of phone
cards to be sent to the 76th Engineer Company in Afghanistan. The goal was
to raise enough money to send 150 500-minute cards. When Clay contacted
Candice, the Association had received enough money to send only 55 cards.
She was very excited to learn that SAME-KP was basically going to cover the
costs of the remaining 95 cards. Candice shared that the phone cards provide
a lifeline for the troops back to their families and it’s typically the
highlight of their week while they are deployed. Through Charlene’s efforts,
SAME-KP will provide 300 125-minute cards (no 500-minute cards were
available). The cards will be delivered to Candice within the week.
Committee Reports
 |
Clay Kelly reported for Erin Hall for
the Scholarship Committee. The focus over the next few months will
be to spread the word to universities and others to increase
awareness and boost the number of applicants. |
 |
Tony Marconi reported for the
Education and Mentoring Fund Committee. He distributed the draft
“Annual Report for the Year Ending 30 June 2007.” He asked for
comments to be provided within a week (by 23 October 2007) so he can
incorporate the comments prior to meeting with the Kentucky
Engineering Foundation (KEF) on 25 October 2007. Highlights of the
report include:
 |
The Fund net asset value (NAV)
as of 30 June 2007 equals $595,660. |
 |
28,250 has been distributed in
scholarships and grants during the fiscal year. |
 |
$249,750 has been awarded
since 1997. |
 |
The equity portion of the
Fund, currently at 64.5% of the total investments, is in the
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFAIX); and has
experienced a 20.5% increase over the year, while the S&P
500 index increased 18.4%. |
|
 |
Gerard Edelen reported for the
Programs Committee. Today’s speaker will be Gerald Hollinden, Sr.
Vice President in the Power Business Sector of URS, presenting on
the topic of “The Use of Coal in our Future.” Future meeting
presenters and topics are as follows:
 |
November – Larry Cozine, USACE
Louisville District, who will provide an update on the
Centers of Standardization |
 |
December – Small Business
Workshop |
 |
January – Louisville District
Open House. |
1st V.P. Kelly mentioned that the entire Post membership will be
invited to a welcome home ceremony for the 19th Engineer Battalion
some time in December; however the date has not yet been set. |
 |
Rosemary Gilbertson reported for the
Young Members Committee. She said they are still trying to get a
date tied down for the work associated with the Portland Promise
Center. This is a project supported by the Student Chapter to
provide a boundary survey for a property that has been acquired for
building a small business incubator. Ms. Gilbertson also reported
that the Student Chapter is sponsoring Project Warm, a program to
help low income residents with winterizing their homes. She said
that anyone who wants to participate can contact her or Ryan
Tinsley. Ms. Gilbertson said the committee will investigate having a
booth at an upcoming networking event with the University of
Louisville to use that as an opportunity to promote both the Post
and the scholarship program.
|
 |
1st V.P. Kelly asked for input if
anyone knows of someone who might be interested in being active with
the Post’s National Security Committee.
|
 |
Anne Black and Steve Skaggs reported
for the Small Business Committee and discussed the Small Business
Workshop to be held in December. The Holiday Inn on Fern Valley Road
will be the location for the workshop to be held on December 4th. A
draft agenda for the workshop and a list of estimated expenses and
income were passed out to the Board. Confirmed and potential
speakers were discussed. A contract with the facility was provided
for signature; and the Committee obtained a check from the Treasurer
for a deposit on the facility. A registration form was included in
the October newsletter. Attendees and exhibitors will be encouraged
to bring toys to support the Marines’ Toys For Tots and those who
bring two toys will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card to
Bass Pro Shop.
Discussion ensued regarding having a regular
membership meeting and/or Board meeting on the day of the Workshop.
It was decided to have an abbreviated regular membership meeting
during the lunch at the workshop. The meeting would include: 1)
highlighting the Post’s activities over the past year, 2) discussing
the benefits of membership in SAME, and 3) presenting Post awards to
small businesses.
It was decided to also hold the Board
meeting the same day as the Workshop since December is a very busy
month for everyone and so that Board members would not have to make
an extra trip on a different date. The meeting will be held at the
Holiday Inn at 2:00 on December 4.
|
 |
Troy Mays reported for the Web Site
Committee. He reported that the website is currently up-to-date.
|
 |
1st VP Kelly reported that some Post
members are having problems getting the newsletters, which can
become trapped by spam filters. He said he will coordinate with FMSM
to address the problem. It appears sending an email link to the
Post’s web page where the newsletter is stored may be a good
solution to address the problem.
|
 |
Kristen Crumpton reported for the
Membership Committee. She said the Post has gained 22 new individual
members this year since April (the beginning of the period for
tracking membership). She said she wants to focus on retention of
existing members. Eighty-four of the Post’s 97 individual members
have memberships due to expire on January 1. A suggestion was made
to add a banner to the top of the next newsletter reminding members
to renew. |
New Business
1st VP Kelly
encouraged Board members to remain active with the Board for the next year;
and asked that members let him know if they want to stay in their current
positions or get involved in other areas. He also said he’d like to start
looking at putting a succession plan in place for future Post leadership.
Young Members Committee member Rosemary Gilbertson said she would like to
see a “younger” member take the lead with this committee; and she would be
willing to take on other responsibilities with the Board.
The meeting
concluded at approximately 11:30 AM.
The next Board meeting date is scheduled for December 4, 2007 at 2:00
p.m. at the Holiday Inn on Fern Valley Road. It will be held during the
Small Business Workshop.
A file copy of these minutes and all of the
attachments can be found in the Post file cabinet under Board Minutes.
|
September 2007 Annual Golf Scramble
|
The Annual Kentuckiana Post Golf Scramble was held at Quail Chase on
Wednesday, 19 September 2007. The event was moved from July to September to
take advantage of the cooler weather, although it was still quite warm.
Sixy-four golfers thoroughly enjoyed a beautiful day on the course while
raising approximately $3,000 for the SAME Education and Mentoring Fund.
First place went to the team of Nick Bibelhauser, Matt Watts, Terry Durham
and Scott Hennig. We appreciate the tremendous participation by the
Louisville District Corps of Engineers employees and the generous
sponsorships from the private sector.
Thanks to everyone who participated and contributed to this great outing. A
special thanks to Jimmy Stahl, Tony Marconi and Joni Pardue of URS for
organizing the event, John Storm of FMSM for handling the sponsor signs, and
to the University of Louisville SAME Student Chapter for their involvement
and assistance. The student chapter raised over $200 selling mulligans and
running the putting contest.
This year’s event was sponsored by:
 |
Barge, Waggoner, Sumner &
Cannon |
 |
FMSM Engineers |
 |
Mason & Hanger |
 |
Stanley Consultants |
 |
Woolpert Inc. |
|
 |
Burgess & Niple |
 |
HNTB |
 |
RSP Architects |
 |
Tetra Tech |
|
 |
Cornerstone Engineering |
 |
Michael Baker Jr. Inc. |
 |
Shaw E & I |
 |
URS Corporation |
|
|
August 2007 General Membership Meeting
|
The August meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held Tuesday, 21
August 2007 in the Cafeteria Meeting Room at the Mazzoli Federal Building.
Twenty-one (21) members and guests were in attendance. 1st Vice President
Clay Kelly of the Kentuckiana Post opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.
He then led the group in the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.
1st Vice President Kelly reminded everyone that the annual Kentuckiana Post
golf scramble is in September this year in an effort to play in cooler
weather conditions. The outing will be held at Quail Chase Golf Course on
Wednesday, 19 September with a tee-off time of 0930. The golf scramble is
the September program, so no meeting will take place in the Federal
Building.
1st Vice President Kelly announced the October program as Jerry Hollinden,
Vice President Power Business Sector, URS Corporation - Clean Coal
Technologies. The meeting will be held in the Federal Building cafeteria.
1st Vice President Kelly reminded the attendees that the 2nd Annual Small
Business Workshop would be held on Tuesday, 4 December at the Holiday Inn on
Fern Valley Road. He described the 2006 workshop as a tremendous success and
expects the same for the 2007 meeting. The topics will be different from
last year’s program, but still focused on helping small businesses succeed
in the federal market. As last year, proceeds will be used to send deployed
troops phone cards with the SAME logo on them.
Steve Bickel, PE, PLS, Kentuckiana Post Past President, went on to say that
the Board will work in conjunction with the 19th Engineer Seahorse
Association to distribute the phone cards this year. This will allow us to
leverage our support by joining forces with a group from Fort Knox very
active in supporting deployed engineers.
Past President Bickel also updated the group on Captain Hans Probst, PE,
former Kentuckiana Post President, who will soon be deployed to Iraq from
Port Hueneme, where has been stationed for several months. Hans has been
missed and we will continue to
think of him as he transitions to an active war zone. We look forward to his
safe return.
1st Vice President Kelly highlighted the Kentuckiana Post’s support of two
local participants to the Seabees SAME Engineering and Construction Camp in
Port Hueneme, California. The two students had the opportunity to meet
Captain Probst during their week-long stay. We will arrange for both
students to present their experience at a future Kentuckiana Post program.
Gerard Edelen, Programs Chair, announced that the Kentuckiana Post would
soon be able to offer professional development hours (PDH’s) to those who
attend our programs. With the State of Kentucky recently passing legislation
requiring engineers licensed in Kentucky to obtain 15 hours of PDH’s every 2
years, the Kentuckiana Post will offer PDH’s as a service to our members.
Mr. Edelen then introduced the guest speaker, Jeff Graham, PE, of Hydromax
USA, who gave a presentation on Emerging Technologies In Underground Pipe
Inspection. Mr. Graham started with Hydromax 4 years ago. Prior to Hydromax,
he was a partner with GRW Engineers. He has been involved with the
evaluation of more than 11 million feet of sewer and in the last
4 years he has been responsible for work in more than 20 states. Some of the
communities he has worked in include: Louisville, Tampa, St. Louis,
Cincinnati, Lexington, Houston, Atlanta, and Baltimore. Mr. Graham provided
a comprehensive presentation on the latest methods for accurately
determining the condition of underground pipe.
The next Kentuckiana Post, SAME event is scheduled for Wednesday, 19
September at Quail Chase Golf Course with a tee off at 0930. The programs
will reconvene in the Cafeteria Meeting Room of the Mazzoli Federal Building
for the October meeting. |
August 2007 Board Meeting
|
The Board meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM Tuesday 21 August 2007 in
Room 709 of the Mazzoli Federal Building. 1st Vice President Clay Kelly
chaired the meeting.
1st Vice President Kelly noted that the minutes of the 19 June 2007 meeting
had been circulated to the Board by electronic mail. Comments had been
received and incorporated into the minutes. A motion was made and seconded
to approve the minutes as circulated. Motion passed.
The roster of Post Officers and Committee Chairs was circulated for updates.
The Treasurer, John Allison reported that $4,980.62 is currently the balance
of the Post checking account. A deposit on the Golf Scramble has been made
with proceeds and expenses from the scramble upcoming. A motion was made and
seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion passed.
President’s Report
1st Vice President Kelly presented the President’s report in COL Raymond
Midkiff’s absence. He thanked those who volunteered at the ROTC Cadet’s
Leadership ceremonies at Fort Knox in early July. He reported that the two
Kentuckiana Post sponsored students, Sheldon Albertson and Brandon Irby,
attended the Seabee's engineering camp at Port Hueneme in California from 29
July to 4 August. Both will be coming to a Kentuckiana Post, SAME meeting in
the future to share their photos and experiences with the Post.
1st Vice President Kelly started a brief discussion and recap of the
Regional Conference held in Buffalo, NY, 15-17 August. Most attendees noted
that the conference could have used more tracts and topics not specific to
Buffalo Civil Works and Water Resources. There was little Military presence
at the conference likely due to the lack of a Military Track. Next years
Regional Conference will be held in Huntington, WV.
1st Vice President Kelly reported that the Post had been contacted by the
19th Engineer Seahorse Association asking for donations to send phone cards
to the deployed 76th Engineering company and to sponsor a “Welcome Home”
party for the 19th Engineering Battalion and their families. 1st Vice
President Kelly noted that last year the Post used proceeds from the Small
Business Conference were used to purchase 500 minute phone cards with the
SAME logo on them. After much discussion it was determined that the best
option for supporting the 19th Seahorse Association was to provide phone
cards similar to those provided last year. 1st Vice President Kelly will
follow up with Steve Bickel to get the details from last year and talk with
the 19th Engineer Seahorse Association. A motion was made and seconded to
approve a $4,000 donation from the Post checking account for purchasing a
minimum of 100 phone cards for the 19th Engineer Seahorse Association to
distribute.
Post Leaders Workshop - 1st Vice President Kelly shared that he will attend
the Post Leaders Workshop in Minneapolis 24-25 August 2007, to participate
and to give a presentation as the National K-12 Outreach Committee Chair.
National SAME offers this workshop two times each year, typically in January
and August, at varying locations. National SAME covers the registration
costs, hotel expenses and provides the meals. The only expense to
participants is travel. This will be the second PLW 1st Vice President Kelly
has attended and he confirmed that it is very beneficial, with the
opportunity to meet other Post Leaders and to meet SAME Headquarters staff,
while learning about the details of running a Post. He introduced the idea
of SAME Kentuckiana Post supporting the attendance of at least one of the
members of the Kentuckiana Post leadership by covering the airfare to the
PLW. He asked the Board members to think about this idea and to be prepared
to discuss it at a future meeting.
1st Vice President Kelly noted that Kentuckiana Post annual golf scramble
was coming up on Wednesday, 19 September and that the word needed to be
spread at the District and among the sustaining members. The golf flyer was
sent with the post flyer and in a separate e-mail blast but many members are
not getting the flyers or e-mails from the Kentuckiana Post because of
e-mail filters and security issues. Gerard Edelen and Steve Skaggs
volunteered to distribute golf flyers at the District and have them posted
throughout the building.
1st Vice President Kelly noted that Capt. Hans Probst left for the Middle
East on Monday and would be stationed there for the next 6 months.
Committee Reports
Tony Marconi reported for the Education and Mentoring Fund Committee and
stated that the end of Fiscal Year 2007 was 30 June and the fund balance was
$598,660 at the close of the Fiscal Year. The Fiscal Year 2007 report is
forth coming and will be presented to the Board upon completion.
Gerard Edelen reported for the Programs Committee. Today’s speaker will be
Jeff Graham from HydroMax presenting on the topic of underground utility
inspection techniques. Future meeting presenters and topics are as follows:
September – Golf Scramble; October – Jerry Hollinden, V.P. Power Business
Sector, URS Corporation - Clean Coal Technologies; November – Larry Cozine,
USACE Louisville District; December – Small Business Workshop; January –
Louisville District Open House.
Steve Skaggs reported for the Education and Training Committee. He said
there will be no LEEDs training. He also said that the committee is still
looking to provide Professional Development Hours (PDHs) at Kentuckiana Post
general membership meetings. After discussion by the Board it was decided to
shoot for providing PDHs at the November general membership meeting.
Anne Black reported for the Small Business Committee and the Small Business
Workshop to be held in December. The Fern Valley Road Holiday Inn has been
chosen as the location and the workshop will be held on Tuesday, 4 December.
She said registration for the workshop will cost $50 and booth space at the
networking event will be $200 for large businesses. The morning sessions
will consist of technical sessions focusing on design-build, meeting USACE
expectations, bonding issues, briefings, and upcoming small business
opportunities. The committee is looking to schedule a keynote speaker and
Mayor Abramson was suggested. Lunch will include a short Kentuckiana Post
meeting with a Post awards ceremony. The afternoon will consist of a
networking session with large businesses in the exhibit area. Attendees and
exhibitors will be encouraged to bring a toy to support Toys For Tots and
all proceeds from the workshop will go toward purchasing phone cards for the
19th Engineering Seahorse Association.
Mickey Jones reported for the Web Site Committee. He reported that the
website has undergone some major changes and encouraged the Board to take a
look at the website.
Kristen Crumpton reported for the Membership Committee. She said since April
the Post has gained 16 individual members and on average the post has been
gaining 10 members per quarter. Three new sustaining members (Rumford
Industries Group Inc., McTech Corporation, and TMG Services) joined in June.
New Business
Several Board members expressed that the newsletter was not being received
and was likely getting marked as spam by e-mail security filters due to the
e-mail being sent out late at night. 1st Vice President Kelly said he would
talk with Steve Bickel and Richard Petty regarding the newsletter e-mails.
There was discussion about the December Board meeting and it was decided to
move the meeting to Tuesday, 4 December at the Small Business Workshop. Time
to be determined.
The meeting concluded at approximately 11:15 AM. The next Board meeting date
is scheduled for Tuesday, 16 October 2007 preceding the proposed general
membership meeting. |
July 2007 Regular Membership Meeting
|
The July meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 17 July 2007 in
the Cafeteria Meeting Room at the Mazzoli Federal Building. Fifteen (15)
members and guests were in attendance. Col. Raymond Midkiff, President of
the Kentuckiana Chapter, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. He then
led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Col. Midkiff reminded everyone that the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes Regional
Conference is being held in Buffalo, NY from August 15 to August 17. He said
he will give a presentation on the Louisville District program for FY 08/09.
He said it appears that the District’s strong military work load is going to
stretch out beyond what was originally anticipated. Because the Reserves now
have a larger construction effort, the work could continue past 2011 to 2013
or 2014.
Col. Midkiff announced that there are two upcoming events in Louisville. The
Inland Waterways User Board meeting will be hosted by the Louisville
District 31 July. And, the PIANC Smart Rivers 2007 conference will be 16-19
September. According to the conference flyer, the objective of the 2007
conference is to “share knowledge and experience, and to work for a better
and more efficient integration of inland waterways (rivers and channels)
into an integrated intermodal transport system.”
Rosemary Gilbertson, Young Member Affairs Co-Chair, discussed SAME’s
participation in the Governor’s Scholars program that was held at Morehead
State University from the end of June through July. John Allison and Ms.
Gilbertson took 58 Scholars to Cave Run Lake on 27 June to show them about
military engineering. The students were shown the dam and a construction
site and then worked on a design project of a parking lot and boat ramp. Ms.
Gilbertson and Mr. Allison took the opportunity to promote SAME during the
program and also shared information on the Kentuckiana Post’s scholarship
program with the participants. They encouraged the Scholars to sign up for
SAME membership; and as a result, the Post now has about 35 new student
members.
Gerard Edelen, Programs Committee Co-Chair, said the 21 August meeting will
be at the Federal Building, and the topic will be “Emerging Technologies,
Underground Pipe Inspection” presented by Jeff Graham of Hydromax USA. The
18 September meeting will be the annual golf outing at Quail Chase. Mr.
Edelen asked for suggestions for presentation topics for the October and
November meetings.
Col. Midkiff introduced the guest speaker, Dave Klinstiver, PE, the Corps’
Resident Engineer at McAlpine, who gave a presentation on the McAlpine Lock
Replacement Project. Mr. Klinstiver explained that two older lock
structures, one 600’ long and the other 360’ long, were demolished to make
room for a new 1200’ chamber. With the completion of the new chamber, the
site will have dual 1200’ chambers. He explained the early history of the
locks going back to 1830 with the Louisville Portland Canal, which was
constructed to navigate past the Falls of the Ohio. McAlpine currently
processes tow traffic carrying 58 million tons of commodities per year. The
presentation also addressed the project’s emphasis on recycling materials.
For example, the sheet piling for the cofferdam was used for Olmstead’s
construction and will be used again at Chickamauga Locks and Dam. Mr.
Klinstiver described the historic significance of the old swivel bridge,
which they tried unsuccessfully to give away. He discussed the roller
compacted concrete construction method that was used to build the lock
chamber walls. After discussing the chronology of the construction, he
showed a digital rendering of the finished lock.
Following the technical presentation, six attendees continued the meeting
with a tour of the McAlpine construction site. Mr. Klinstiver led them on a
tour of the entire length of the lock from on top of the cofferdam and the
existing lock wall.
The next KP-SAME meeting is scheduled for 21 August at 11:30 in the
Cafeteria Meeting Room of the Mazzoli Federal Building. |
June 2007 Regular Membership Meeting
|
The June meeting of the Kentuckiana Post of SAME was held 19 June 2007 in
the Cafeteria Meeting Room at the Mazzoli Federal Building. Thirty-three
(33) members and guests were in attendance. 1st VP Clay Kelly opened the
meeting and welcomed everyone. Past President Steve Bickel led the group in
the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.
1st VP Kelly mentioned that the Kentuckiana Post has been excelling for a
long time and pointed out a streamer award that goes all the way back to
1977. He said the Post was recently awarded the Distinguished Post
designation for 2006, having received streamers in all categories.
1st VP Kelly announced that the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes Regional
Conference is being held in Buffalo, NY from August 15 to August 17. He said
more information can be obtained at the SAME.org web site.
2nd VP Marilyn Lewis mentioned that the Corps has now put the “long awaited”
environmental contracts “on the street.” The closing date for submittals is
July 11.
The July 17 regular membership meeting of the Post will include a tour of
the construction at McAlpine Locks and Dam. Rosemary Gilbertson said Dave
Klinstiver, the Corps’ Resident Engineer, will first give a technical
presentation at noon in the Cafeteria Meeting Room of the Federal Building,
followed by a tour of the construction site. The tour is limited to the
first 40 who sign up. She said those wanting to sign up can contact Gerard
Edelen or can give her a business card at the end of today’s presentation.
Ms. Gilbertson said that those who will attend the tour should bring a hard
hat and safety glasses, since the equipment available at the lock may not be
the right sizes. Additionally, she said women should wear slacks and
everyone should wear sturdy shoes.
1st VP Kelly introduced Michael Earl, who was a camper at the Seebees
engineering camp at Port Hueneme in California. Michael, who will be a
junior at Christian Academy of Louisville in New Albany, was sponsored by
the Kentuckiana Post. He plans to go into engineering at Purdue University.
Michael showed slides of his camp experience and shared that some of their
activities included building popsicle stick bridges and testing them, making
concrete cylinders and conducting compression tests, viewing a demonstration
on welding, learning a little about surveying, participating in a scavenger
hunt, and taking part in the Seebees Olympics, a series of military
exercises.
Secretary Janet Skees introduced Bob Draper, Federal Programs Manager with
Burgess & Niple, who gave a brief Sustaining Member firm overview. After Mr.
Draper’s presentation, he introduced the program presenter, Todd Henwood.
Mr. Henwood, is Survey Manager for Burgess & Niple’s Cincinnati office. He
gave a presentation on High Definition Surveying (HDS) using laser scanning
technology. Assisted by Burgess & Niple’s Chris Lykins, they set up the
LEICA HDS-3000 scanner and performed a detailed scan of the meeting room
prior to the meeting. During the technical presentation, Mr. Henwood
explained that this technology is “the future of mapping” and shared some of
its advantages and capabilities. He highlighted applications utilizing this
technology, and explained that not hundreds or thousands, but millions of
surveyed points can be obtained in a relatively short time to create a
3-dimensional "point cloud" of data that literally brings the project from
the field to the desktop. He also discussed several Burgess & Niple projects
that have made use of this technology and shared with the group some of the
various levels of deliverables that can be generated with the software.
After his Power Point presentation, he and Mr. Lykins showed the results of
the scanned room ¬ taking measurements, panning and zooming, all in 3
dimensions.
1st VP Kelly thanked Mike Earl and those from Burgess & Niple for their
presentations and presented each of them with a token of appreciation. The
next KP-SAME meeting is scheduled for July 17 as noted above. |
|