Business Meeting Minutes
January 22, 2006

Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC

President Bruce Drewes (ID LTAP) called the meeting to order at 1:10 PM.

40 of the 58 Centers were present:
LTAPs: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, PR, SC (by proxy), SD, UT, WV, WI, WY
TTAPs: AK, CO, MI, Northern Plains, OK, Northwest

Centers absent at roll call:
LTAPs: AK, AR, DE, IL, ME, MT, NV, NM, NC, ND, OR, RI, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA
TTAP: CA/NV

Agenda approval. Linda Howe-Steiger (CA LTAP) moved and Costas Papacostas (HI LTAP) seconded to approve the agenda. The motion passed unanimously.

Approval of minutes of the July 2005 NLTAPA General Business Meeting. Lisa Harris (KS LTAP) moved and Terry McNinch (MI LTAP) seconded to dispense with the reading of the minutes and approve them as written. The motion passed unanimously.

LTAP at the national level

Rick Capka, FHWA's Acting Administrator, encouraged the LTAP Program to think creatively about how to use its collective skills, knowledge, enthusiasm, and resources. Capka said FHWA is looking at opportunities for tapping into private sector capital to augment the trust fund. He said there is a need in FHWA (including LTAP) to develop a skill set to partner with the private sector. We also need to understand what we have in our public investments, and its value, he said. Capka referred to the privatization of the Chicago Skyway tollway concession, awarded for 1.8 Billion, as an example of assigning value to a public investment. Capka said decision makers are going to be looking for innovative financing, and we need to be in a position to advise the decision makers about pros and cons. Capka closed his remarks by congratulating the Centers for how well and how cost-efficiently they transfer technology.

Joe Toole, Associate Administrator, and Director of FHWA's Office of Corporate and Professional Development, alerted LTAP Centers to Section 5204E of SAFETEA-LU that provides greater opportunities for training funding to the states, and with no match requirements. Funds can be used for training, scholarships, K-12 outreach, workforce development, etc, and are not restricted to the state system. Tony Giancola (NACE) asked if states are aware of this. Guidance has just been distributed to FHWA Division Offices and will be distributed to LTAPs and state DOT trainers next.

NLTAPA President Bruce Drewes suggested that Centers investigate funding opportunities in the new high risk rural road program under SAFETEA-LU. His state (Idaho) will receive $700,000 under that program. The program focuses on hazardous roads (based on data), and how to address problems. Funds can be used to develop a safety circuit rider program or road safety audit. Bruce said that NTLAPA and FHWA-LTAP are working more and more as a true team to provide resources to LTAP community.

Bruce noted that NLTAPA has been putting greater emphasis on developing tools LTAP Centers can use every day, through its six new work groups. The work groups need interested LTAP Center staff to become involved. If interested, contact the chair of the group. The six groups, and members so far, are:

• Program strategies - Bruce Drewes, chair; Lisa Harris, Cheri Marti, Evan Hong
• Partnerships - Marie Walsh, chair; Jim Burati, Jim Grothaus, John Reyneman
• Internal Communications - Chris Ahmadjian, chair; Lisa Harris
• External Communications - Terry McNinch, chair; Stuart Thompson, Kim Carr
• Training and Resource Development - Ed Stellfox, chair; George Huntington, Lisa Pogue
• Professional development - Linda Howe-Steiger, chair; Dan Cady, Gib Peaslee, Leonard Brown, Charlie Goodspeed, Richard Rolland

The professional development work group's first priority is to call every Center and learn about their professional development needs. The following materials were in a packet distributed to the members at the meeting:

• New NHI catalog
• Level II Kirkpatrick evaluation guidelines for LTAP Centers
• Draft LTAP Program logo
• DVD entitled "Traffic Safety Review" Mendocino version
• An overview of a sign retroreflectivity tool kit for locals currently being developed by the Texas Transportation Institute to be distributed through LTAP/TTAP when completed.
• Brochure on the 2006 International Technology Transfer Symposium scheduled for late July in St. Petersburg, FL.

Bruce Drewes also distributed a new interactive snow plow operator's training DVD produced by Idaho LTAP.

NTLAPA partnership reports

• NACE. Tony Giancola introduced Bonnie West, also attending from NACE. Tony said it's not too early to start talking about the next reauthorization, and he urged Centers to continue to work with staff and Congressional reps and to reach out to any new reps elected this year. Tony suggested that NLTAPA and its partners strategize about how to prepare for next transportation bill. NACE's next annual conference will be April 9-13 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Terry McNinch and his staff at Michigan LTAP are helping coordinate this year's conference. Tony thanked Don Anderson (ND LTAP) for helping coordinate NACE 2005 in Bismark, ND, and noted that nine LTAPers attended that conference. Tony asked that Centers send their LTAP newsletters to NACE. He also urged NLTAPA to try to help FHWA's Safety Office find funding to continue the safety circuit rider program. He encouraged LTAP to develop an implementation strategy for road safety audits; State DOTs have not embraced it yet, and there is a push to change that.
• AASHTO. Doyt Bolling (UT LTAP) reported that only a handful of Centers replied to a survey to assess their involvement in promoting TIG's 20 technologies. Doyt will ask again later this year and he urged more Centers to reply.
  Some Centers have experienced problems in obtaining free AASHTO publications. Doyt said the publications will be offered to each Center's director unless Doyt is notified another person should receive them instead.
• APWA. Dan Cady (NE LTAP) reported about his work on APWA's education committee. APWA is developing a professional development track from entry level through Master's degree. APWA is interested in seeing how LTAP might fit in with this. The education committee has asked for two things from the LTAP Centers in the short term: 1) topics and presentations for the Click Listen and Learn (CL&L) program. If you have a Powerpoint session that can be combined with a live feed, you can present it from your office. (Doyt Bolling, Utah LTAP, recently gave an overview of construction inspection as a CL&L session.) 2) LTAP involvement in an APWA pilot program committee for certification for construction inspection. Tell Dan if you are interested.
  Dan noted that Donna Shea is the new liaison with NLTAPA's partnership with APWA.
• Salt Institute. Dick Hanneman reported that the partnership's winter maintenance committee met in Dubuque last July. The committee would like to solicit involvement from APWA and other NLTAPA partners in their winter maintenance education efforts. Hanneman reviewed a few products the committee has developed: 1) a "Ten commandments for snow fighters" poster, developed by Kansas LTAP; a winter operations listserve hosted by New Hampshire LTAP; and 3) CDs with winter operations training materials. These CDs include five Powerpoint presentations; one with video footage. The committee wants to add video to rest of the CDs. Russ Neyman, chair of the winter operations committee, has received 10-12 responses on how Centers are using Salt Institute tools to date. For next winter the committee is looking for volunteers to test a prototype for a snow plow operators training tool. Training for supervisors and elected officials is next. Hanneman asked for session at the 2006 LTAP conference to discuss the snow plow operator's tool, and time on the 2007 agenda for a roll-out. Hanneman suggested the Centers get on the Salt Institute's quarterly newsletter mail list.

New training opportunities

• Ed Stellfox (MD LTAP) reported that NLTAPA's Training and Resource Development Work Group plans to: identify training and development needs among the LTAP Centers, identify other funding sources to develop training products, and identify Centers that could best develop new training products. John McCarthy suggested getting use of hardware for teaching retroreflectivity. Phil Tarnoff, MD T2 Director, talked about Web Courses available through the Consortium for ITS Training & Education (CITE). CITE currently has two courses that should be of interest to the LTAP audience: Road Safety Audits and Pavement Markings. They are interested in producing more of these blended courses that combine internet work at your own pace and face-to-face lectures with experts. NLTAPA's Training and Resource Development Work Group is looking at this method as a way of increasing our training coverage. www.citeconsortium.org

National LTAP logo

Terry McNinch presented a new national LTAP Program logo that can be used by Centers to communicate that LTAP and TTAP Centers are part of a national program. Members suggested a few minor changes and expressed support for the use of the logo on Center materials. The logo will be available in a couple of weeks.

National survey of LTAP customers

The External Communications Work Group is developing a short survey to send out to about 4 consistent customers of each LTAP/TTAP Center. The purpose is to collect more information to support LTAP funding for the next transportation bill. Terry, Stuart Thompson (UT LTAP), and Kim Carr (WV LTAP) are working on this. Centers will be asked to identify good candidates for survey participants in their states or tribal regions.

2006 International Symposium/LTAP Conference

Marie Walsh (LA LTAP) provided an update on conference planning. Centers received a program brochure and registration materials, showing the groups attending the conference. The International Roads Federation will also be participating. Marie said she received 50-60 responses from Centers to a survey about what was desired at the 2006 conference. The planning committee is still working on securing speakers.

NLTAPA work plan and budget

A work plan and budget for January 2006 to July 2007 was distributed to the members, along with work plans for each of the NTLAAP work groups. John Haberman (IN LTAP) moved and Lisa Harris seconded to concur with the work plan and budget as presented. The motion passed unanimously. A second review of the August 2006-July 2007 budget will take place at the Summer LTAP meeting, if any changes need to be made.

NLTAPA Treasurer's report

NLTAPA Treasurer Duane Smith (IA LTAP) distributed a snapshot report of finances and a list of Centers that have paid dues to date. Duane clarified that dues are due upon receipt of the invoice each Fall.

Product showcase report

Jim Smith (FL LTAP) reported on the Mendocino safety showcase and the upcoming San Diego showcase on ADA-compliant roundabouts. Jim showed a video presentation outlining results of the Mendocino County traffic safety program. The video recommends to viewers to work with their LTAP Centers. This promotional video will be used at the League of Cities conference and other such venues. LTAP Centers will receive a copy of the video. There was a question about whether Mendocino participants have implemented ideas from the showcase. Jim said the showcase hosts will check every two years, as it takes time to implement the ideas. Utah LTAP has joined Florida in being a showcase operations center.

The business meeting was adjourned at 4:25 PM.

Focus group discussions

Members re-assembled into focus groups for discussion on three topics:

• The relevance of LTAP's six reporting tasks, led by Bruce Drewes
• What products and services would you like to see from the Clearinghouse?, led by Julie Kobayashi (HI LTAP)
• LTAP Center best practices and internal communications, led by Chris Ahmadjian (MA LTAP).

The notes from these discussions will help NTLAPA and LTAP National staff in addressing these issues.

Minutes submitted by Lisa Harris, Kansas LTAP, NLTAPA Secretary