A. Call to order – Vice President Richard Lambert called the meeting to order at 9:02 AM.
B. Calling of the Roll of Officers: Dick Lambert, Barbara Skelton, Bruce Smith, Al Farris, Dabney Lewis, Freeman Abbott, Kathy Joiner, and Sharon Blodgett (MMA).
It was determined there was a quorum.
Not Present: Timothy Nelson, Jodine Adams, Paul Demers, and Jonathan Reed.
C. Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting
Bruce Smith made a motion to accept the minutes of the February 23 Board of Directors meeting, seconded by Barbara Skelton. All approved, as presented.
D. Report of Officers and Treasurers report.
Barbara Skelton submitted her report from December 11, 2008 through March 18, 2009:
Petty cash $79.52
Checking $3,677 (which she explained is lower than previously as she opened the CD as voted upon at the December 11, 2008 meeting).
18 month CD $4,050.39
12 month CD $2,917.70
9 month CD $8,000.00 (New no penalty CD)
Savings $99.32
Total $19,717.33
Barbara Skelton reported that she is in dispute with iPOWER over a privacy fee. The registration fee for the MBOIA domain name should have been $19.99 for 2 years. But, there was a $9 added fee that she is in the process of disputing. Barbara Skelton noted that she did pay the bill, so the domain name is registered. There was some confusion, because the correspondences were going to Al Farris. Barbara Skelton noted that she is now receiving the correspondences and will now be able to move forward with the disputed charge.
Richard Lambert asked if this domain name issue is linked to the info button on the MBOIA website has been updated. He noted that the button is still going to Biddeford. Barbara Skelton responded that that is a website maintenance issue and is unrelated to the iPOWER domain issue.
Al Farris made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s report, as presented, seconded by Freeman Abbott. All approved.
E. Report of Committees
1. Education Committee – Jonathan Reed was not present. In his absence, Richard Lambert reported that Tim Nelson is in the process of trying to coordinate a meeting between himself, Dick Lambert, Mark Tebbetts, Sue Inches, Martha Freeman and another member of the board to talk about taking over education for the state for CEOs. Dick Lambert noted that MBOIA is not interested in Bangor north, but would be willing to do everything south for the time being. There was interest, but Tim Nelson has not yet been able to schedule the meeting.
Freeman Abbott distributed an email forwarded by Ruth Marden, Town Manager of Jay. The correspondence from Shiloh Ring forwarded an update from Kate Dufour of MMA. Kate Dufour reported upon a plan from Senator Simpson which would ensure that the State Planning office could afford to continue to provide CEO training. Al Farris noted that in his view there are a number of other people whose interior plumbing certificates are up this year, but to date, the State Planning Office has not set up any training. It was noted that Roger Timmons spoke with Bob Leclair in Augusta. His office is willing to do training, but MBOIA would need to provide a time and a place. There is an opportunity for MBOIA to use municipal buildings (with little to no cost) to provide training. Al Farris offered that the training room at the fire station in Falmouth would be a good location. Bruce Smith noted the Cape Elizabeth fire station would be an acceptable location as well, but is concerned that with all the budget issues the state agencies may charge for instruction. Al Farris noted that Gordon McEwan of MIAPMO has offered in the past to provide training. Dick Lambert will ask Tim Nelson to contact Mr. McEwan about providing training. Al Farris will contact the fire station to see if there are any regularly scheduled days and times when the training room is not available.
Richard Lambert also announced that he brought with him a brochure on energy code in Saco and had distributed some in the meeting room on the table. The program, entitled “The Residential Energy Requirements of the 2009 IECC: What you REALLY Need to Now” is scheduled for March 27 at the Saco City Hall. This seminar is to be the pilot program for Energy code training in the State of Maine. Dick Lambert noted that he had sent the brochure electronically to all the Board Members and encouraged all to attend.
2. NEBOEA/ ESBOF–
i) ESBOF – Al Farris reported that the booklet for the upcoming Eastern States Building Officials Federation states is available in the meeting room on the table. He reported that he had a conversation with Mark Santa who noted that to date there are only 80 people registered for the program in Durham. None of the registrants are from Maine. It was noted that although the program is an expensive one, it is a quality one. Richard Lambert noted that he will make a pitch to the membership at the meeting this afternoon.
ii) NEBOEA – Al Farris reported that the New England Building Officials will be meeting next Friday in Sturbridge, MA. They will continue to discuss the upcoming program.
3. Legislative Committee – Richard Lambert indicated that this committee has not met yet and he had been hoping to put together a meeting for today. He noted that they will not have a quorum today.
F. Unfinished Business
1. MBOIA shirts and logo – Sharon Blodgett reported that there were only two shirts ordered from the last meeting in December: Freeman Abbott and Bruce Smith. It was noted that Jodine Adams had ordered shirts, but Sharon Blodgett had no record of this. She will follow up with her to find out the size and quantity.
Richard Lambert agreed that the shirts should be advertised on the website.
Al Farris suggested that they look at selling hats. Freeman Abbott will contact the company that he used for the shirts to look at the cost of cloth, not mesh, baseball hats. Al Farris and Freeman Abbott will work together.
2. Website – The website will be switching over to MMA. Dick Lambert had noted that the webmaster has been more responsive lately. Barbara Skelton reported that the webmaster is paid until end of April, but they will need to notify him of the change. Bruce Smith asked if there is a written contract for services. Al Farris and Barbara Skelton both agreed that the webmaster does not have a contract. MBOIA needs to find out how to move over to use MMA’s web services. Richard Lambert will contact Jeri Holt at MMA to find out next steps.
G. New Business
- New Members – Al Farris made a motion to accept Ryan Keith of Gray as a new Active member and Alan Paskewich as a Subscribing member. The motion is seconded by Barbara Skelton. All approved.
Richard Lambert noted that the New Member application will need to be updated, since the descriptions of the membership levels do not reflect the current Admin Guide.
- SPO Training “Scaling Back – Dick Lambert reiterated that Tim Nelson is working with Martha Freeman on this issue.
- MBOIA role in Statewide Education – Dick Lambert said that the board currently needs to find out from Shiloh Ring and Senator Barry Hobbins at the movement in the legislature to shift the burden of training to municipal budgets.
- Bruce Smith informed the association that he feels overwhelmed with the number of bills to keep track of. Barbara Skelton agreed that the board doesn’t have the time or manpower to keep track of all the legislation and agreed that the board needs someone who may be willing to watch the legislation. Al Farris made a motion for Bruce Smith to write a few letters to contact someone who would be willing to watch the bills for the remainder of the legislative session and find out the cost of this service. The motion was seconded by Freeman Abbott. All approved.
Freeman Abbott asked the board if MMA could email the membership and ask what credits they are missing. This survey would give the board an idea of what their needs are for training and recertification.
Barbara Skelton suggested getting the list from the State Planning Office and contacting all so MBOIA would have a total understanding of training opportunities beyond the membership. Dick Lambert believed that polling the membership would give a fair representation of the needs of the state.
4. Pending Legislation – Dick Lambert reviewed some pertinent LDs, including LD299, LD630, and LD652, the so-called “Clean-up Bill”. Dick Lambert will give a brief presentation to the membership on the status of his work on the committee working on the revisions to the statewide building code, if there is interest.
5. Out of State participation in Professional Organization – It was noted that there has been a pushback by cities to participate in out-of-state meetings and organizations. It was reported that some municipalities are capping travel or not allowing out-of-state travel at all.
H. The Good and Welfare of the Association – Dick Lambert reported that he will put his name in for Secretary/ Treasurer of NERC. Al Farris made a motion to support Tim Nelson drafting a letter in support of Dick Lambert’s candidacy. Motion seconded by Barbara Skelton. All approved.
I. Adjournment – Freeman Abbot made a motion to adjourn at10:00 AM, seconded by Bruce Smith. All approved.
