Watermark > Spring 2003 > Reports: AWWA Director’s Report
Reports
AWWA Director’s Report
Relaxed meeting in Texas: 2003 AWWA Winter Board Meeting Report
By Dennis Mitchell, AWWA Director
This year’s AWWA Winter Board Meeting was held in San Antonio,
Texas, and, for the fourth year in a row, winter weather greeted
the meeting attendees. Despite the cool temperatures, the atmosphere
among the delegates was relaxed in anticipation of resolving the
controversial Efficient Utilities issue. The Directors had previously
been advised that an agreement had been reached between AWWASI
and ENI to transfer AWWA’s ownership in EU to ENI.
Saturday special session
As in previous years, the Directors met
before the formal Board Meeting to discuss issues in a relaxed
format to share opinions,
ideas and concerns. High on the agenda was the status of Efficient
Utilities, and Past President Ron Schwarzwalder reported that an
agreement had been reached between AWWASI and ENI for the transfer
of AWWA’s share in EU to ENI. The negotiations resulted in
both AWWA and ENI achieving equitable results, with AWWA being
successfully extricated from the contract, and ENI being allowed
to market EU to industries other than utility-based.
Sunday Board Meeting
One of the first items on the Board Agenda
was the election of Officers, which resulted in the following successful
slate of candidates:
- President Elect – Katie McCain
- Vice Presidents – Dixie Fanning, Andy Richardson, Chuck Van Der Kolk, Curtis Truss and Carlos Velazquez
- Director at Large – Mari Varga
Unfortunately, Gerald Samuel from Western Canada was unsuccessful in his attempt to become a Vice President. However, his strong finish among the remaining candidates was encouraging and Gerald may allow his name to stand again next year.
In other issues, the AWWA Strategic Planning process was revised to follow a three-year continuous review procedure. The review will commence with a oneyear data collection phase followed by six months of data analysis, six months of direction setting, then one-year of strategy and plan development. The program will set responsibilities and timelines for Board members, Council Chairs, Sections and the Strategic Planning Committee. A detailed process flow diagram is available on the AWWA website.
The motion accepting the transfer of EU to ENI was accompanied by further details on the impact EU had on AWWA. As part of the transfer, AWWA will honour a previous commitment to provide advertising support to ENI/EU in AWWA publications and events. We were also advised that, of the 88 companies that boycotted the New Orleans ACE over EU, 23 have now committed to participating in Anaheim and another 26 are reconsidering their involvement.
The Board was advised of an industry sponsored website to coordinate security information and resource sharing. www.waterisac.org is a site where utilities can learn about security threats and how to deal with them. It is a secure website that will require security clearance for specified users to access. Talk among Board members after the meeting was quite supportive of the site.
Finally, the Board decided to focus the Saturday special session at the June Board meeting on the issue of accreditation. There appears to be a consensus on AWWA developing operating standards for water and wastewater utilities, however, the issues of the need for accreditation, how accreditation would happen, and which agency would provide accreditation will be discussed.
This is my last report before your new AWWA Director is elected in April. I would like to take this opportunity to express how proud I have been to represent the BC Section on the AWWA Board and look forward to assisting your new Director carry on a strong tradition of Canadian representation on the Board.
