Business Meeting Minutes
January 9, 2005

1:00 - Terry McNinch President of NLTAPA welcomed everyone to the Winter Meeting.

1:05 - Guest Speakers: Rick Capka, FHWA Deputy Administrator and Joe Toole, FHWA, Office of Professional and Corporate Development spoke to the organization concerning reauthorization, the development of new International LTAP centers and generally about the program.

1:42 - The meeting was called to order. Roll Call was taken and 40 Centers were present. The agenda was reviewed and approved by the Centers. The minutes from the Summer Meeting were summated, Lisa Harris made a motion to forgo reading the minutes. The motion was seconded and passed. The summer meeting minutes were accepted by the Centers.

1:50 - Janet Degner and Nina Barker lead the discussion on the Mendocino Showcase. After the opening remarks they ask a number of Centers to present a short recap as to what their Center have been doing with the information from the showcase.

• Mississippi - has three safety area in the state that they are work with the local agencies to improve the safety of the roadway.
• Indiana - has developed a manual for Road Safety Audits and is developing a Safety Circuit Ride on their own.
• Wyoming - presented the information at their state Safety Congress.
• Florida - is using Gene Calvert as one of their Safety Circuit Rider and he is doing training on this information.
• Pennsylvania - Are currently doing road safety reviews
• Texas - Their attendee has a presentation in Texas on the showcase.
• Kentucky - Is currently putting on workshops covering the material from the showcase.
• Wisconsin - They are doing workshop, have had it in their newsletter and are working on a demo project.
• New Hampshire - Continues distributing RSMS and providing training
• Idaho - Is working with Gene Calvert and Steve Ford to develop a training course on this program.

2:08 - Lisa Harris, Liaison to APWA, introduced the new work plan for the APWA Partnership. Goals of the work plan are:

1. Encourage participation in APWA Congress
2. Look at ways that LTAP can participate in the annual meeting.
3. Encourage growth and development of the partnership.
4. LTAP will summit for a session at the APWA Congress
5. Lisa and Ann Daniels will develop and article about the partnership.
6. APWA has asked Dan Cady and Kathy Des Roches to participate on their committees.

NLTAPA has submitted a proposal to APWA for a session on the successes of LTAP, where we will have some APWA member talk about the value of LTAP to them. This session has been reviewed and accepted for the 2005 Congress.

2:17 - Mike Mc Gough AASHTO Liaison to LTAP discussed the new partnership that was signed last Sept. Doyt Bolling , Utah LTAP will be the liaison to AASHTO. In the new agreement AASHTO will allow each of the LTAP Center to request one free copy of each of their new publications and allow the Center to purchase all of the manuals at member pricing. Currently the New Green Book is available to the Centers. Mike will be sending out additional information concerning both programs. Doyt will also participate on the AASHTO Technology Implementation Group (TIG).

2:24 - Tony Giancola Executive Director for NACE presented his view of what is going to happen with reauthorization. Until the new congress is in office the bill is on hold but everyone is hopeful that we will have something by the end of the current extension. Tony is currently on the AASHTO TIG committee and has been asked to chair the Roadway Safety Audits Committee, AASHTO is wanting to see a stronger use of roadway safety audits. Gene Calvert from Florida has been asked to participate on this committee for the LTAP community. The first meeting of this committee will be Jan. 10, 2005. Tony has also worked out an agreement with AASHTO that will allow the LTAPs to request a copy of the Road Weather Information System/ Anti-Icing training program that was developed by a pooled fund from the Clearinghouse. Gib Peasley, Florida LTAP is currently reviewing the videos and publication that NACE has on hand. Terry McNinch will have a presentation at the annual NACE Conference. Bonnie West, Assistant Executive Director, invited all of the LTAP Center to the NACE annual conference in Bismarck N. Dakota April 17 to 21, 2005.

2:41 - NLTAPA President Terry McNinch presented and over view of the accomplishments of NLTAPA (Attachment 1) Bill Evans, FHWA, noted that because of the relationship that NLTAPA, the Clearinghouse and FHWA have, a number of the accomplishments were completed by working together by all of the organizations. Additional items are:

• Low Cost Safety improvements Manual, ASCE Paved low Volume Roads manual, Additional funding and support to develop the Safety Circuit Riders program
• Lisa Pogue presented the accomplishments of the Clearinghouse over the last year. The Clearinghouse had a number of sessions at the LTAP 101 at the summer meeting and a number of roundtable discussions. The clearinghouse and Linda Pitstick from Ill. LTAP put together the graphics collection. The website and the NLTAPA website have had a number of changes made to them and these sites will continue being updated. The clearinghouse has sent out 11,377 packets of materials over the last year.

3:06 - A break was taken

3:25 - Duane Smith provided the treasurer's report, (Attachment 2) asking about the new format. The treasurer's report was accepted. Terry McNinch presented the work plan and budget. A question was raised about the surplus funds in the Treasury and that the work plan and budget does not show those funds being used. Terry explained that is work plan and budget is only a seven month plan and that a number of the costs are incurred in the fall. He also pointed out that without some funding being available to be used in special cases like the Mendocino Showcase that show case would not have been able to take place. All of the funding for that showcase was ran through the NLTAPA program budget and funds from the sponsors came in after the showcase. A motion was made to except the work plan and budget, which was seconded, with the motion passing. Bruce Drewes presented the Partnership Liaison Guidelines. (Attachment 3) John McCarthy, AL LTAP requested that a section be included in the guidelines that requires the liaison be a LTAP person. This request was incorporated into the document. A motion was made to except the modified document and the motion was seconded. The motion was passed.

3:58 - New Business

• Bruce introduced Russ Neyman, Va LTAP Center as the new Salt Institute Liaison.
• Bruce presented some background information on the AASHTO RWIS/Anti-Icing program. The Centers that have an interest in getting their copy of this program will need to contact Lisa Pogue at the Clearinghouse. This training program is a computer-based training that can be placed in the LTAP Centers Library and loaned out to the local agencies. If the local agency and a member of NACE the Center can make a copy available to them to keep and if the agency is not a member the Center will nee to collect $100 dollars from them. This money will then need to be sent to AASHTO for license fees. For additional information about this program please contact Bruce Drewes at the Idaho LTAP or Lisa Pogue at the Clearinghouse.
• Frank Peloubet, North Dakota LTAP announced that his Center has been working to develop a set of pocket guides titled "Pavement Distress Pocket Guides for Asphalt and for Concrete. FHWA is currently printing the Asphalt guide and it will be made available to the Centers through the Clearinghouse. The concrete guide is nearing completion.
• John McCarthy, AL LTAP proposed the following resolution:
  • Whereas, the objective of the "National Work Zone Awareness Week" are consistent with the goals of the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) and the Tribal Assistance Program (TTAP) of the Federal Highway Administration, and
  • Whereas, the National LTAP Association seeks to promote the activities of the LTAP and TTAP Centers, and
  • Whereas, the activities of the LTAP and TTAP Centers train persons to have the knowledge which when applied con help reduce the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities in the work zone on the highways of our nation,
  • Be it therefore resolved, that the National LTAP association take this action to support "National Work Zone Awareness Week", and
  • Be it further resolved, that each LTAP and TTAP Center take the action necessary to promote the April 2 to April 9, 2005, activities of "National Work Zone Awareness Week" by way of their newsletters, seminars and websites.
  • The above resolution was adopted by the National Local Technical Assistance Program Association at their Annual Business Meeting on Sunday, January 9, 2005.
  • A motion was given to adopt this resolution and a second was given and the resolution was adopted and signed by Terry McNinch, President of NLTAPA and by Bruce Drewes, secretary.
• Linda Howe-Steiger. CA LTAP is sponsoring Western Regional Grade Crossing Safety Training Conference May 1-4, 2005 in Costa Mesa, California. She would like to see a number of the Center attend.
• Renée Koller, CO LTAP is sponsoring International Conference on Best Practices for Ultrathin and Thin Whitetoppings Denver, CO, April 13-15, 2005. She would also like to see the LTAP Centers involved.

4:20 - A motion was made to adjourn the business meeting. Motion was seconded and passed.

At 4:30 Al Alonzi and Marie Walsh began the discussion of the Role and Responsibilities group.

Attachment 1

What Does NLTAPA Do for You? NLTAPA Successes

General Meeting TRB January 9, 2005 - Prepared by Terry McNinch

• Handling of the Finances for the Mendocino Safety Showcase: NLTAPA was the recipient of $25,000 in FHWA funding and $10,000 in AAA funding for Mendocino travel stipends. By routing the funding through NLTAPA, monies that would have gone to university overhead charges were used to send even more participants to the showcase. When the BIA authorized $20,000 for travel stipends, red tape prevented its award until after the showcase. NLTAPA stepped in, advancing the funds, thereby allowing tribal members to attend the showcase, even though BIA funding had not yet made it through the pipeline. NLTAPA Treasurer, Duane Smith, took care of all accounting for the $55,000 and dealt with payments for the stipends, to the travel agents, and for on-site expenses incurred at the event hotels. Mendocino organizer Gib Peaslee's comment "This showcase never would have happened if NLTAPA had not stepped in to handing the funding issues."
• Safety Circuit Riders: At the November 2003 Executive Committee meeting in Washington, the committee met with George Ostensen and his staff from the FHWA Office of Safety. During the meeting, Mike Blankenship reminded them that if they really want to move their safety numbers, they need to have an impact at the local level. That led to Tony Giancola's suggestion to George that what the Office of Safety needed to do was fund Safety Circuit Riders in the LTAP Centers. They were willing to think about it. During TRB last year, members of the Executive Committee met with Office of Safety staff to begin laying out what a Safety Circuit Rider program would look like. They were willing to fund one, half-time circuit rider, in one center, for $50,000. We appreciated the offer, but continued to stress that one half-time person would not even begin to demonstrate the impact that this program could have. Over the months more discussions took place. Tony sunk his teeth into the idea and wouldn't let go. Executive Committee members drafted the content of the RFP. Discussions continued right up to the time that the RFP was announced to the centers. End result: Increased funding from Office of Safety, funding from the Office of Professional Development, and funding from the Federal Lands Program for a tribal position. Total Funding: $600,000. Up from $50,000. If the 4 Circuit Riders prove successful, the Office of Safety is open to considering additional funded positions.
• AASHTO Publications for Centers: As part of our renewed partnership agreement with AASHTO, we negotiated an arrangement whereby centers will have the opportunity to request, at NO cost, designated new AASHTO publications when those publications are of local agency interest. Centers also get member pricing when purchasing other AASHTO publications. What is that worth? If all 58 centers respond with a request for the 2004 Green Book, that is worth $4,800.
• Anti Icing Computer Based Training: Through Tony Giancola's negotiation with AASHTO, and the NACE partnership with NLTAPA, centers will have the opportunity to receive this CBT at no cost and use it as part of training sessions, or as part of our lending libraries, and distribute freely to NACE members. What would this have cost? $100 per copy. Single distribution to 40 snow belt centers--$4,000.
• Intersection Safety for Non Engineers Training Package: This project was funded by $28,000 from the FHWA Office of Safety and the FHWA T2 & Innovation Program, and $15,000 that the Michigan LTAP spent from of its own program. The final product consists of a 13 module training package. Development is complete and it will be sent to FHWA for final review next week. Upon FHWA approval it will be distributed to every center. What did this cost your center? Nada.
• Increased Funding Levels In SAFE-TEA: Through the efforts of Executive Committee members and various center directors, along with NACE, NACO, AASHTO and ARTBA, we were able to get the funding level increased, on the Senate floor, from $12 million per year, to $15 million per year. The bulk of that effort and expense was incurred by centers that set their sights on getting the job done. While this was a great success, when the new Congress reconsiders the proposed legislation we may need to call out the troops again. What might this be worth? You do the math.
• NLTAPA Goals, Objectives & Activities - ready soon: Over the past few years, member centers have asked, "Why is there an association? Why do we pay dues?" Unfortunately this is the result of years of insufficient communication and lack of sufficient focus. Good things were being done, but centers didn't hear about it, and plans were being made, but if you were not at the meeting to hear it, you may have missed it. To that end, and as part of the R&R effort, members of the Executive Committee spent hours on conference calls and exchanged numerous e-mails in an effort to put ON PAPER the Goals, Objectives and Activities of the Association. The executive committee has reviewed this document, and once the R&R is complete it will be distributed for your comments and input. We hope to adopt this document at the summer meeting.
• LTAP Exposure within TRB - Cheri Marti, Chair of T2 Committee: Over the 6 years that Cheri has served as the Chair of the T2 Committee, the atmosphere surrounding the committee has change dramatically. T² and implementation is now an integral part of research BEFORE it begins. LTAP was originally viewed cautiously by the committee. But through Cheri's leadership and the dedicated participation of LTAP'ers on the committee and those who attend the meetings and work on the activities, LTAP is no longer something to be viewed with a cautious eye, but rather a group that gets ASKED to sit at the table. If you saw the October issue of TR News (the TRB publication) you saw an entire issue sprinkled with LTAP this and LTAP that, including a full page on what LTAP is and what it does. Cheri put forth a tremendous commitment for 6 years. She put in the hard work, the LTAP Program received visibility and recognition as being "The Real Thing."
• Strategic Planning Committee: Executive Committee members were part of the team that developed the National LTAP Strategic Plan and the National Performance Measures. The result of this effort puts us on the far end of the curve with regard to program accountability. The work will continue in February when the team gets together again to review the effectiveness of the PAR and CAR, Level 2 Evaluation, and the Customer Needs Survey.
• Roles & Responsibilities Group (R&R): Executive Committee members, representing the Association, joined other national stakeholders (FHWA, Centers, the Clearinghouse, and the Clearinghouse Advisory Committee) to do what has been needed to be done for many years - sort out who does what, why, when, etc. This activity is intended to set a new stage for all the National Program as we strive to make it the best it can be.

Attachment 2

Treasurer's Report

Attachment 3

National LTAP Association Partnership Liaison Guidelines

Strategic partnerships between the National LTAP Association (NLTAPA) and other agencies and organizations help to ensure and maintain a strong and viable LTAP program. The relationships created through partnering must benefit the LTAP community and all partnering organizations. Partnership liaisons fulfill a vital role in building and maintaining healthy, mutually beneficial relationships with partners; they are the point of contact between the NLTAPA, the LTAP Community, and the partner. The liaison position will be filled by a LTAP Center Director or staff.

To help liaisons fulfill the many obligations and expectations of their positions, the following guidelines have been developed. A signature below indicates an understanding and willingness to accept the role of liaison.

1. By June 1 of each year the liaison will provide a written report to the chair of the Advisory Committee on Partnering (ACP). The report will detail the activities that have been completed in that year, and will list activities planned for the coming year. Liaison will be asked to give a short overview of the written report that was submitted to the ACP at the summer conference.
2. Liaisons need to encourage partners to attend and be actively involved in the conferences. By January 1, the liaison will submit all requests for time and/or space at the summer conference. By October 1 of each year the liaison will provide the Executive Committee with all requests for time at the Winter LTAP meeting.
3. In the event NLTAPA or the LTAP community needs assistance or information about a partnership, the liaison may need to participate one of the monthly NLTAPA conference calls and/or write a short article that can be published.
4. At least once a year the liaison will discuss with the partner the accomplished activities from the previous year and plan mutually beneficial tasks and activities for the coming year. The purpose of the meeting is to evaluate the partnership activities and maintain mutual satisfaction with the partnership arrangement.
5. If the partner organization holds an annual conference, the NLTAPA liaison should be actively involved. Involvement can include presenting at the conference, meeting with the governing board, active engagement with organization staff, or any similar activity. With prior approval, NLTAPA can assist with travel costs.
6. The liaisons will track the involvement of individual Centers with the partners reporting those actives in the annual report.

______________________________

Name of Liaison

Title

Partnered Organization