In an effort to keep up with changing times and busy schedules, the West Coast Chapter held its very first Electronic Meeting on October 10, 2014 with nearly 50 attendees. The Electronic meeting program allowed chapter President, Rick Walsh, to present the agenda and meeting documents for all to review. We were concerned about trying this new technology but were very pleased with the outcome and all the positive feedback. Generally, those who participated feel like it was worth doing and may be something we use periodically and/or as an added feature to “in person” future meetings.
Mike Walton with Employer’s Advocate, Labor Committee chair, reported on a successful meeting with the Local 3 Operating Engineers training chairperson. There is a Northwest training program scheduled for November 7-9 in Ellensburg, Washington. Mike also reminded everyone to schedule pre-job conferences prior to transferring key employees to other areas and that Employer’s Advocate is always there to help with any trust fund audits.
The Associate members have put together an “Attendance Policy” for the chapter and specifically for non-member vendors attending WCC meetings; this policy will be available on the WCC website.
For the Education committee, Rick reminded everyone that the WCC PowerPoint is available for education outreach. Rick will continue to forward requests he gets from colleges and universities (ASCE and other industry related groups) to the WCC for possible financial support.
Tony Kraut stressed that he wants to help with training in the Northwest and in particular for the May meeting, Rick asked that anyone with ideas contact Tony directly.
Mike Moore, ADSC International, was able to join us to give the International report. Mike congratulated us for trying the new meeting format and let the members know all about what’s happening with International ADSC – thanks Mike!
The normal DOT committee reports – WSDOT is gearing back up after a summer hiatus; ODOT task force meeting scheduled for year end, and IDOT taskforce has scheduled a drilled shaft constructability workshop. NDOT has completed the load test with the help of the WCC and looks to be advertising the project late 2014 or early 2015, work seems to be picking up in Nevada.
Rick handed the screen over to Bobby Perkins, with Malcolm Drilling, for our Safety Presentation. Near miss reporting and its importance in our industry. Thanks to Bobby for being our guinea pig. Happily the transition was seamless.
Armin Stuedlein, OSU Professor, joined us to discuss the need for in-kind contributions on the “Behavior of Drilled Shaft” research project. Our IAF has approved some funds for this project, we are still looking for Contractors and Associates to help it progress.
Our Fall Board meeting is typically about “housekeeping” and long-range planning for the WCC. We briefly reviewed the Chapter business plan; it was decided to resume the discussion at our January meeting so we can have a more open input from members to create action items. The 2015 budget was presented and approved, as well as 2015 WCC dues (which will remain at 30% of International). We reviewed potential properties for May 2015, narrowing it down to three choices that were sent out for an email vote. The vote has been tallied: we will be attending the Newport Beach Marriott in May 2015. I will research properties for 2016, which I will present to the membership in May for vote. Our next meeting will be January 10, 2014 at Champion Equipment in Paramount, California.
The newly redesigned website will be live by the end of the year. I am currently working with the designer to put together a media guide with advertising options for our members. Members will be able to register for the May meeting online, search for companies on a map or by products; I’m very excited about the new website. Membership includes listing in the online membership directory as well as complimentary listing in the “products and services” section, if members don’t provide that information they will not be included in that part of the website.
International ADSC approved our proposed Bylaw changes, I will be sending out the changes we proposed and more information next year. The chapter will vote on incorporating these changes at the May 2015 meeting.
At the WCC we feel our purpose is to educate. Will Gehrke, with Case Pacific, agreed to once again spearhead our May education session. We discussed adding a guest speaker or presentation to the January meeting, and possible future meetings, nothing was decided at this time but we will revisit the discussion. If anyone has any ideas for a speaker, please let us know.
While I was worried about glitches and new-fangled technology, the meeting went extremely well. Thank you to everyone who joined us in this new territory! Also, a quick reminder to everyone that I still have WCC 30th Anniversary Jackets for sale – they would make great Christmas presents. Contact Becky Patterson for details.