MINUTES Northeast Section - AIPG
Executive Committee Meeting
Monday, January 16, 2001
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.
White Plains, New York

I. Call to Order
1615 hours · Attendees: Len Rexrode, Dennis McGrath, Curt Kraemer, Arnie Schiffman, W. Thomas West, Dan St. Germain, and Dick Young.

II. Secretary's Report
A motion was produced by Curt Kraemer and seconded by Dennis McGrath to accept the minutes of the December 6, 1999 meeting as written.

III. Treasure's Report
Arnie Schiffman indicated that he would in the near future be transferring available funds from the Section's checking account to the Janus money market account. The transfer is aimed at maximizing the profit on the Section's money by selecting a higher-yield interest account. According to Arnie, he has been paying closer attention to transferring funds within the Angelo Scholarship Trust Fund. Arnie pointed out that if the Janus Money Market account continues to perform at a rate consistent with past perspectives, then the goal of perpetual funding for the Angelo Trust Fund would be achieved by the end of the year. · A motion was produced by Curt Kraemer and seconded by Dan St. Germain to accept both the January 10, 2000 Section and Angelo Trust Fund Treasure's Reports as written.

IV. Correspondence
Len Rexrode received an e-mail, forwarded from Bill Soik, which he received from Jim Zeppaeri (CPG 7292). Mr. Zeppaeri was seeking to secure a letter from either Bill or the AIPG- Northeast Section as a reference for the State Geologist position in New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. After careful consideration, the Section concluded that we did not have sufficient information to offer a personal reference. Len agreed to respond to Mr. Zeppaeri's request.
· The Section received a letter from the New Hampshire Council for Professional Geologists (NHCPG) thanking them for their leadership and financial support. The letter included a request for the Section to reaffirm sponsorship of the licensing efforts. No action is required.
· The Section also received a letter from the New York State Council for Professional Geologists. The letter acknowledged that some corporations have met the AIPG Northeast Section matching grant, and the letter provided documentation of the donations. No action is required.
· Dan St. Germain received a letter from the Maine Soil Scientists and Geologists. The letter indicated that the State of Maine Soil Scientists was considering several options to lower the Board's overhead. The options being considered include: 1) increased licencing fees to $130 annually, 2) combining the boards to lower administrative costs, or 3) moving the Soil Scientist board outside of professional and financial regulations to gain administrative cost relief. Dan St. Germain indicated that he would draft a letter encouraging Soil Scientists and Geologists to strive to maintain independence.
· Len Rexrode drafted a letter to National presenting the results of Northeast Section's 2000 officer selection.

V. Old Business
Newsletter - Robert Stewart has graciously agreed to assume the Newsletter Editor position. The vacancy in the Editor's position occurred when Shane McDonald announced that he would be stepping down at the end of January 2000 as a result of a recent job relocation.
· An update on recent NHCPG activities was provided by Dorothy Richter via telephone. According to Dorothy, the licencing bill is in front of the full Senate this month with a decision from the Senate anticipated before January 27, 2000. The council is eager to work toward a spring-time push for acceptance of the licencing bill by the House, and hopes to continue to secure financial support from individuals, corporations and groups such as AIPG-NE.
· NE Section Webpage - Dan St. Germain provided an update on the Sections' webpage. In the past quarter, we have had 462 visits to the Section's homepage and 7212 accesses, with the average visitor browsing between 8 and 9 pages. Dan acknowledged that he needed to update the site with the 2000 Section officers and the most recent Section meeting minutes. In addition, the link to the advertisers page was still under construction. Dan indicated that he was waiting to hear from Dick Young concerning advertiser responses. Dan is interested in what the Section wants to do with the web site, any ideas are welcomed.
· Scholarship - John Rhyner announced that he has received 12 responses to the Angelo Scholarship announcement. Within the coming weeks John will be forwarding the scholarship applications to the scholarship screening committee for review.

VI, New Business:
Officers Nominations - The ballot for NE Section officers for 2000 will be placed in the Newsletter by the nominating committee and in accordance with our By-laws will be scheduled to be included in the Newsletter by July 2000. · Spring 2000 Meeting - The Spring meeting is scheduled for May 17, 2000, although the specifics of the meeting have yet to be secured. Len Rexrode followed up with Dean Herrick about quarries in the Albany, New York area. Robert Stewart is also willing to assist in firming up the meeting location. According to Dick Young, the final date for announcing the meeting in the Newsletter will be March 24,2000, although a second newsletter which can contain spring meeting information will printed and delivered in early May 2000.
· Membership Development - Len Rexrode brought up the issue of membership. Several ideas were discussed including tying in the Angelo scholarship process with student membership, offering technical workshops to increase AIPG visibility in the professional arena, development of a specific sub-membership committee to develop potential ideas, an open letter challenging members to increase membership with potential incentives, and development of a brochure or link to the Section Website that expands on "what does AIPG offer...."

VII. Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 1855 hours.