april, 2015 - sectionsections.asce.org/duluth/sites/sections.asce.org.duluth/files/asce 2… ·...

American Society of Civil Engineers Duluth Section 1

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:

Your ASCE Board has been asking members to step up and help with our Duluth

Section. So far we have not had much luck, and I thought a little description of

what is involved when you are an officer may help a few people think about volun-

teering for this leadership opportunity. The Duluth Section has a constitution

and bylaws that lay out our goals and duties. It’s easy.

Our bylaws state in Article 5 that “Duties of the Board of Directors shall include

management of the Section, responsibility for the budget and financial resources,

strategic planning, providing leadership, overseeing the various activities within

the Section and its subsidiary organizations, communicating with the Region and

facilitating the election process for Officers and Directors of the Section and

its subsidiary organizations. The Board of Directors shall have control of proper-

ty of the Section.” It sounds like a lot of responsibility, and at times it can be,

but we have broken the board tasks down so that everyone pitches in, so duties

are not that hard. For example, the main duties of the officers, in normal suc-

cession include the following:

TREASURER: Obvious, you are in charge of the checkbook and make deposits

from the collections at the lunch meetings; you pay the Radisson the same day

and then make a trip to the bank. You balance the account monthly, and do the

audit of the prior year’s Treasurer.

SECRETARY: Again, obvious, you take minutes during our board meetings so they

can be included in our monthly newsletter. You update the letterhead, and submit

any reports as required to ASCE National.

VICE-PRESIDENT: Main duty is publish the monthly newsletter. You gather the

reports and data from the other officers and put the publication together, and

transmit the newsletter to the membership. Another main duty is to solicit spon-

sorships, as we list on the last page of the monthly newsletters.

ASCE's mission is to provide essential value to our members, their careers, our partners and the public by developing leadership, advancing technology, advocating lifelong learning and promoting the profession.

Volume 19, Issue 7

April, 2015 Visit ASCE at www.asce.org

or call 800-548-ASCE

In This Issue

President’s Message -2

Meeting Announcement Page 3

ASCE Section Calendar Page 3

Board of Directors List Page 3

Award Dinner Draft Agenda Pate 4

Board Meeting Minutes Pages 5-6

Younger Member Update Page 7

Houston Leadership Update Page 8-9

Washington DC Fly-In Updated Page 10-11

Sponsors Page 12

Interested in submitting an article

for the ASCE newsletter or becom-

ing a Board Member next year?

Contact Dave Franseen

(newsletter stand in)

for information at 218.727.3282 or

[email protected]

EST. 1917


PRESIDENT ELECT: Main duty is arranging speakers for our monthly meetings, and stepping in for the Presi-

dent in their absence. Also serves on the scholarship review committee.

PRESIDENT: Introduces speakers at the monthly meetings, prepares and sends out agendas for the Section

Board meetings and writes the monthly President’s Message for our newsletter.

We also have a Membership Chair, Younger Member Chair, Toothpick Bridge Chair, Government Relations Chair,

and a Student Practitioner Advisor. I don’t want to sound like a PBS Membership Drive commercial, but all of

these people help make our Duluth Section a success. We need members like you to spend a few hours a month

to help with these duties or we won’t have quality speakers, meetings or the programs we offer. You get PDH’s

for our meetings!

WHAT IS IN THIS FOR YOU: You get the opportunity to network with other local professional engineers,

and also the opportunity to travel on behalf of ASCE to attend regional conferences and training. You can im-

prove your public speaking skills, organizational skills and your resume’. You will have input on our speakers and

programs! We have one monthly board meeting, excluding the summer months that lasts about an hour. You

have a good excuse to get out of the house and socialize! You learn a lot, and also get the opportunity to teach

others.

Please think about checking us out and stepping up. I know everyone in the Duluth Section will appreciate your

willingness to help. Our next meeting is April 23 at 6:00 pm at Tavern on the Hill.

Cindy Voigt, PE

Duluth Section President

EST. 1917


BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2014-2015

President Cindy Voigt, P.E. City of Duluth 411 W 1st Street - Room 211 Duluth, MN 55802-1191 (218) 730-5071 [email protected] President-Elect David Franseen, P.E. Krech Ojard Engineers & Architects 227 West 1st Street, Suite 200 Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 727-3282 [email protected] Vice President [Vacant] Secretary Nick Patterson Marine Tech 716 Garfield Avenue Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 720-2833 x 203 [email protected] Treasurer Tom DesMarais, EIT Northland Consulting Engineers 102 S 21st Ave W, Suite 1 Duluth, MN 55806 (218) 722-5995 [email protected] First Past President Lisa Karlgaard, P.E. LHB, Inc. 21 West Superior St, Suite 500 Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 279-2486 [email protected] Younger Member Chair Peter Demshar 952-913-6392 Membership Chair Dave Polson LHB, Inc. 21 West Superior St., Suite 500 Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 279-2486 Government Relations Chair Craig Bursch, P.E. (218) 722-1056 [email protected] Toothpick Bridge Chair John Hinzmann, P.E. (218) 590-3158 [email protected]

.

Please join us for the

April Award Dinner

5:00pm—8:00pm April 21st, 2015

Radisson Hotel

Pier B Presentation

Sandy Hoff, President F.I. Salter

Please RSVP by responding to the electronic invitation you received.

Professional rate is $25. Student rate is $10. Costs will be collected at

the door. ASCE Duluth Section will issue a PDH certificate to members in good

standing. It is the responsibility of the individual to determine whether or not

the presentation is applicable to his/her career.

ASCE Duluth Section 2014-15 Calendar Membership Meetings Board Meetings

November 18, 2014 November 20, 2014

December 9, 2014 December 18, 2014

January 20, 2015 January 29, 2015

February 17, 2015 February 26, 2015

March 17, 2015 HOLIDAY INN Bonus Lunch!

March 24, 2015 Radisson March 26, 2015

April 21, 2015 April 23, 2015

May 19, 2015 May 28, 2015

mailto:[email protected]








American Society of Civil Engineer’s Mission is to provide essential value to our members, their careers, our partners and the public by developing leadership, advancing technology and

EST. 1917

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2014-2015

President Cindy Voigt, P.E. City of Duluth 411 W 1st Street - Room 211 Duluth, MN 55802-1191 (218) 730-5071 [email protected] President-Elect David Franseen, P.E. Krech Ojard Engineers & Architects 227 West 1st Street, Suite 200 Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 727-3282 [email protected] Vice President [Vacant] Secretary Nick Patterson Marine Tech 716 Garfield Avenue Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 720-2833 x 203 [email protected] Treasurer Tom DesMarais, EIT Northland Consulting Engineers 102 S 21st Ave W, Suite 1 Duluth, MN 55806 (218) 722-5995 [email protected] First Past President Lisa Karlgaard, P.E. LHB, Inc. 21 West Superior St, Suite 500 Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 279-2486 [email protected] Younger Member Chair Peter Demshar 952-913-6392 Membership Chair Dave Polson LHB, Inc. 21 West Superior St., Suite 500 Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 279-2486 Government Relations Chair Craig Bursch, P.E. (218) 722-1056 [email protected] Toothpick Bridge Chair John Hinzmann, P.E. (218) 590-3158 [email protected]

Duluth Section ASCE

Annual Dinner & Awards Banquet (DRAFT)

April 21, Radisson Hotel

$25 Professionals, $10 Students

5:00 – 5:45 Social Hour

5:45 – 6:15 Dinner

6:00 – 6:15 Welcome & Announcements

6:15 – 6:55 Keynote Speaker: Sandy Hoff

6:55 – 7:10 Presentation of Past-President Plaque

Roll Call of Past Presidents

7:10 – 7:20 UMD Student Chapter Update

7:20 – 7:30 Presentation of the 2015 Student Schol-arships









ASCE DULUTH SECTION BOARD MEETING MINUTES

March 26th, 2015 at Tavern On the Hill. Board Members present were Cindy Voigt, Tom DesMarais, Lisa Karlgaard, Nick Patterson

and Dave Franseen. Also April Boehne (Student Chapter President), Pete Demshar

(Younger Member chair), and Dave Polson (Membership chair). The meeting was called to order at 6:00. A quorum was present. February minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s Report: (Tom)

Checking: $8,247.63, Savings: $6,967.88. Lost $309.35 on March 17th meeting due to Holi-

day Inn having a hard line on RSVP totals. March 24th meeting was +$79.00 overall.

Toothpick Bridge: (John) John unavailable to give board an update.

UMD Student Update: (April)

Krech Ojard is providing the upcoming speaker, 2 more meetings scheduled prior to end of

the year. Interested in putting the UMD civil engineering apparel line in 2015-2016 news-

letter for members to view and purchase if interested.

eRoom and Scanning: (All)

National would like us to clean out our eRoom and they will move our files to the “new

eRoom”. The system will be live in a couple of weeks with the final transition no later than

July for each section. Lisa will organize for the transition. Art will store the hard copies

of archive documents, Tom will look into storing them in a safety deposit box.

2015 Speakers and Meeting Schedule: (Dave)

April speaker banquet speaker still waiting on confirmation, other alternate options availa-

ble. Dave needs newsletter articles/info by April 10th. Cindy will put the banquet agenda

together.

EST. 1917


MEETING MINUTES CONTINUED:

Younger Member Update: (Pete)

7 people showed up for Sunday, March 8th curling event. Discussion about what day to host

younger member events, Pete would like to have consistency similar to luncheon schedules.

Maurices tour in the works, as is a DTA tour. Pete also planning on attending the concrete

canoe competition with a booth and info regarding ASCE.

Other Discussion Topics: (All)

Dave Polson signed up and established as current Membership Chair

Still searching for 2 new board members for 2015-2016 calendar year.

April 10th @ 4:45pm, Dave will host a constant contact introduction for those of us inter-

ested..

Next Board Meeting is scheduled for April 23rd @ Tavern on the Hill, 6:00-7:30pm

Meeting was adjourned at 7:37 pm

Nick Patterson, Secretary

EST. 1917


EST. 1917


2015Multi-Region Leadership Conference

Houston, Tx

January 30-31

Each year ASCE sponsors a conference intended to develop the ASCE member leadership of tomorrow.

The conference is composed of programming aimed at student representatives, younger member chairs,

and section and branch board member leaders. Through three parallel agendas, ASCE leadership

(Governors to Past Presidents) provides insight into the national ASCE organization. Regions 3, 6 & 7 at-

tended the two day event at the Omni Hotel & Resort in Houston, Tx.

Typically the conference is composed of an inclusive continental breakfast followed by breaking into the

three individual sessions, getting back together for lunch, and returning to either full group, or small

group sessions.

Workshop for Section and Branch Leaders (WSBL)

David Franseen and Tom DesMarais attended the 2015 Multi-Region Leadership Conference as the Duluth

Section Board representative. The WSBL (1 of the 3 parallel agendas) started by describing the organi-

zation of ASCE, and introducing the Regional Governors as well as pointing to ASCE staff available to as-

sist with local Section needs.

Most of day 1 is spent in a full group for the WSBL. Presentations this year included: Leading Others,

Society Leaders Q&A with the President Elect and Exec. Director, How to address Confrontational and

Difficult Leaders, and for those of us who have attended previous WSBL conferences, the classic “Mock

Board Meeting.”

We earned 6.5 professional development hours

for attending various sessions; 1 was focused on

ethics. Additionally, we learned of a few nation-

al level re-organization elements that would af-

fect our local operation, and of resources that

have been made available for small Sections such

as ours. If anyone is interested in helping to

increase our local schools become more active in

STEM, or in specifics relating to Raise the Bar,

please contact David as he has information and

contacts available to pass along.

Overall, though the opportunity for discussions

with Chris Rousseau, John Frauenhoffer, Tara

Hoke, and Tom Smith face to face was the most

significant take away for David.

We thank ASCE for sponsoring this event each year and providing incentive to local members to attend.


Younger Member Council (YMC)

Peter Demshar represented the Duluth Section as the Younger Member Chair. During the YMC breakout

sessions on Friday the group discussed a few key components to a successful younger member group

(YMG) including: student chapter interaction, membership recruiting, and hosting professional technical

meetings. The ideas from the developed groups will be helpful as the Duluth section YMG works to gain

momentum and active membership.

Saturday began with opportunities to meet the president elect nominees and network with the WSBL

members and students. Following that was the YMC business meeting during which Minneapolis was se-

lected to host the 2017 Central Region Multi Region Leadership Conference. Hopefully Duluth will have a

strong attendance at the event.

Multiple focus sessions took place the remainder of Saturday. Sessions that were attended by Peter in-

cluded the Government Relations University where he learned about ASCEs’ involvement in policy and the

importance of being involved as a professional in the field. The other session focused on transitioning

students to younger members. ASCE has seen a decline in the younger members recently and initiatives

are in place to help show students the benefits of becoming active in a local section after graduation.

Overall the group that attends the conference is a very motivating and involved group of professionals.

The energy and connections made at the event will be helpful while Peter works to increase involvement

of the YMG in the future.

Following the adjournment of the formal meeting

the group went on a tour of the Houston Space Cen-

ter, which houses many artifacts from the various

Apollo flights. We also had the opportunity to tour

the upgraded mission control that is in constant

contact with the International Space Station.

The Duluth Section reimburses its delegates for the travel and lodging to these great events. Thank you

ASCE.


LEGISLATIVE FLY-IN UPDATE: 2015

I was privileged to attend the 2015 ASCE Legislative Fly-In on behalf of Duluth Section from

March 24-26. ASCE had about 200 members in attendance.

Congress was in the middle of budgeting last

week, so Congressman Nolan, Senator Franken and Sen-

ator Klobuchar were all engaged in what staffers re-

ferred to as “vote-a-rama,” a multi-hour session in

which legislators repeatedly debate and vote on a pile

of non-binding amendments well past midnight. Accord-

ingly, my time with each office was spent discussing

ASCE’s issues with key staffers.

ASCE’s message to Congress this year had two

main points:

First, to Fix the Highway Trust Fund (HTF)

problems. The MAP-21 law which governs federal fund-

ing for surface transportation is set to expire on May

31, 2015 and the fund is projected to be insolvent in

September of this year. The Fund is on its 32nd consec-

utive short-term extension.

ASCE is strongly urging Congress to complete

work on a multi-year reauthorization bill and

identify a long-term sustainable funding solution

for the federal Highway Trust Fund. Since ASCE

takes an “all of the above” approach to funding

sources, the Society would be supportive of any

plan or idea that is proposed by members of Con-

gress. One such approach is the UPDATE Act of

2015 (HR 680), introduced by Congressman Blu-

menauer (D-OR), which would raise the gas tax by

5 cents a year for 3 years for a total increase of

15 cents per gallon. This bill would also index the

motor fuels tax rate to inflation in future years.

Unfortunately, there does not appear to be much

optimism from our elected officials in Congress

EST. 1917


for either a long-term reauthorization bill or more robust funding for surface transportation in 2015.

Only time will tell if this turns out to be true or if we simply get another short-term extension.

Secondly, we thanked Congress for passage of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act

(WRRDA) in 2014. Our “ask” was for full funding for the programs implemented in the bill. WRRDA is of

particular interest to those of us in Duluth as it relates to protecting the Harbor Maintenance Trust

Fund to help clear dredging backlog on the Great Lakes. I am happy to report that all three of our elected

officials voted for the WRDA bill and will support its full funding going forward.

This is a first class event put on by ASCE National and I thank the Duluth Section for allowing me to rep-

resent us in Washington! I am available for questions and discussion for anyone interested in being more

involved in Government Relations and advocacy.

EST. 1917


Thanks to Our 2014-2015 Sponsors!

(Consider being a sponsor!)

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