Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
December 11, 2006

Members present: Lisa Harris, President, Patsy Anderson, Bruce Drewes, Janet Leli, Jim Grothaus, George Huntington, Marie Walsh. Others present: FHWA: Clark Martin, Roger Dean, Cameron Ishaq, Alison Black (LTAP/TTAP Clearinghouse). Members not present: Ed Stellfox and Bernie Alkire.

The meeting was called to order and Lisa Harris presented two consent agenda items: today's agenda and the minutes from the 11/13 conference call. Both were approved.

FHWA Report - Clark Martin

Highways for Life - Clark Martin. Clark described a new funding opportunity for LTAP/TTAP Centers through the Highways for Life Program that will be directed toward improving safety on local roads. He is drafting a request for proposals that will outline criteria for award. This program will be administered through the Office of Professional Development in a fashion similar to the Safety Circuit Rider Program. He has set up a review group from within LTAP to assist with the RFP development; this committee consists of Lisa Harris, Patsy Anderson, Bruce Drewes, Terry McNinch and Marie Walsh. The current vision is that there will be up to ten grants available of approximately $35,000 each annually for a two-year period; a 100 percent match will be required. Involvement with the State DOT strategic highway safety programs will be strongly encouraged. This opportunity will be further developed and presented to the LTAP/TTAP community at TRB.

Continuing Administrative Business

TRB Agendas. Lisa had distributed draft agendas prior to today's meeting and asked for suggested changes. Clark recommended that Rick Capka and Joe Toole be allotted 30 minutes each for remarks and also asked that 10 minutes be reserved for Jeff Lindley, the new FHWA Associate Administrator for Safety. Marie Walsh asked that the APWA Education Summit should be on the agenda. Marie will ask partnership liaisons if the partners (AASHTO, APWA, NACE, Salt Institute) would like time on the agenda, with each partner being given a maximum of 10 minutes. Lisa Harris will revise the agenda and circulate again.

Recognition of Contributions of Lisa Pogue. During the TRB meeting, Lisa Pogue will be recognized for her many years of service to the LTAP/TTAP community. Clark Martin will take the lead on developing a recognition plaque and Patsy Anderson will work with others to identify and purchase a gift not to exceed $100.

TRB Side Meetings. The 2007 Conference Planning Committee will meet on Sunday from 8-10am in the same location as the EC meeting and general membership meetings. The Training Products Work Group (Ed Stellfox, Chair) will meet on Monday 12N-5PM at the Maryland LTAP Center. Tentatively, the following other groups will meet: External Communications (Bruce Drewes, Chair), a second EC meeting on Monday 8:30-10am, Partnerships Committee (Marie Walsh) from 10-12N, and Professional Development Work Group (Jim Grothaus, Chair) on Sunday from 5:30-6:30pm.

LTAP Participation in TRB Sessions. Lisa is compiling a list of TRB sessions related to LTAP and will coordinate this list with the lists Clark and NACE are developing. This list will be made available to NLTAPA membership with encouragement to attend and report back to the membership on information gained through attendance.

Ad Hoc Committee on Governing. The Committee met by conference call and agreed to recommend that NLTAPA not pursue regional changes at this because of membership opposition. During its summer meeting, membership voted to change the leadership structure to allow for the election of a vice president at large. The committee believes a discussion is needed with membership to clarify the mission of the Association and the need for updating the constitution. Steve Pudlowski has volunteered to draft a document to frame such a discussion, and the Committee asked for the EC's approval to proceed. Patsy Anderson made a motion that at TRB no action be taken on Option G for Governing Structure, and that there be a discussion of the mission of the NLTAPA and the need for constitutional changes; Marie Walsh seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

Work Group and Committee Structure. Patsy has developed a document to clarify purpose, duties and structure of NLTAPA committees and work groups. After review and discussion, Jim Grothaus made a motion that the EC adopt the document; George Huntington seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Patsy asked the work group and committee chairs to forward to her the last appointment date for each of their members. After adding this information to the document, it will be posted on the NLTAPA website and circulated to membership.

Focusing NLTAPA's External Contacts. During the Fall EC Meeting, the EC identified the external groups that can influence or benefit from interaction with LTAP. The Association does not have the resources to cultivate relationships with each of these groups. The Association must, therefore concentrate efforts in an organized manner. To develop a plan of action, Lisa asked that Patsy Anderson, Bruce Drewes, Marie Walsh, and Ed Stellfox, Clark Martin and Gib Peaslee meet with her by conference call. The call will take place on December 15 at 10am EST.

Roadway Safety Foundation Membership. Lisa asked the EC to review benefits and costs of membership at http://www.roadwaysafety.org/benefits.htm and be ready to discuss at the January conference call.

Long Range Goals. Discussion on this agenda item was postponed until the January conference call or the EC meeting at TRB.

Reports/Updates

AASHTO Presentation Follow-up. Cheri Marti has agreed to write a letter to AASHTO as follow-up to her presentation to the Standing Committee on Highways at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. Lisa will follow up with Cheri and report at the next EC meeting.

International Programs. Lisa Harris will follow up with Mike Avery next week on information received from International Programs in recent weeks.

LTAP Clearinghouse Support to the Association. Clark Martin is working with the Clearinghouse to determine the level of administrative service that can be provided to the Association. He will continue to work with Lisa Harris, Gib Peaslee and Alison Black to clarify responsibilities. It is anticipated that the Clearinghouse will assume the duties of the treasury; however, details have not been worked out. Patsy Anderson indicated a willingness to assume treasurer duties if Iowa cannot continue with these duties in the short term. There was discussion of Clearinghouse support for development and maintenance of the Association website but no decisions were made on the level of service. The Clearinghouse has agreed, however, to post a webpage for the 2007 LTAP National Conference; Alison will be working with Kevin Burke on this task.

Changes to LTAP Center Staff. Becky Hudson, KY, has been replaced by Heidi Weigel; ND: Gary Berreth will replace Don Anderson as director on January 1, 2007; IN: Tom Martin has been replaced by John Haddock as director; Linda Pitstick has accepted another position at Purdue.

Work Group and Committee Updates

2007 LTAP Conference Committee. Patsy presented a sponsorship plan and asked for EC approval. Some members had not received the packet and the Committee agreed to review and vote approval/disapproval by mail not later than Wednesday, December 13. Patsy believes the track teams are on schedule to have the agenda complete by TRB.

Standing Committee on Partnerships. Marie believes there is still confusion on the update plan for the NACE Action Guides and she will continue to work with Tony to get a written agreement on this issue. Re: AASHTO, she is waiting for Doyt Bolling to provide her with a list of TIG technologies for EC comments, and a time frame for those comments. The APWA partnership is going well and NLTAPA members will be encouraged to participate in the APWA Education Summit, which will be held in Denver, Colorado on March 29-31, 2007.

Training Products and Resources Work Group. George Huntington reported in the absence of the chair, Ed Stellfox. George is working on a Center Needs Survey draft and will send it to EC members for review and approval. The Group is awaiting a descriptive paragraph on the TCCC from Gib Peaslee to be part of a mailing to NLTAPA membership prior to TRB, encouraging a positive vote on becoming a contributing member of TCCC. Lisa added that members need this no later than December 21 and asked George to encourage completion of this task.

Professional Development Work Group. Chairman Jim Grothaus reported that this group will meet during TRB.

External Communications Work Group. Bruce is working on an LTAP-customer survey and needs input from Gib on a survey that was proposed by FHWA. Clark expressed his desire to have a unified survey strategy between FHWA and the Association to assess customer needs and will take responsibility for getting Bruce the already-developed FHWA survey. Bruce will provide Lisa a revised External Communications work plan prior to TRB. There was discussion on deepening relationships with FHWA offices, especially the Office of International Programs. The conference call on focusing external contacts should help determine how to proceed with federal offices (FEMA, Homeland Security, etc) outside FHWA. Lisa said we should think about the possibility of setting up some meetings within FHWA during TRB and discuss it at the January conference call.

Internal Communications Work Group. Janet has appointed membership to her committee and has been in discussions with them regarding ways to improve internal communications among centers. One thought is to have the Clearinghouse manage the email database and possibly host an online forum that would be searchable by subject. It would also be logical for the clearinghouse to manage the primary list serve and also create several sub-lists based upon interest. New Hampshire currently maintains the mail list. Patsy Anderson agreed to discuss a possible shift of this responsibility with the New Hampshire Center. Janet also suggested resurrecting the "Inside LTAP" newsletter or replacing it with another one. Alison indicated that an LTAP newsletter is in the works now, with the target date for issuing the first one being after TRB.

Program Strategy and Evaluation. This group will be meeting during TRB with a report to follow that meeting.

Strategic Planning Committee. Cameron reported that they are two new members of the SPC: Cheri Marti, Minnesota, and Leonard Brown, Ohio. The next meeting of the SPC will be in February, with exact date and location to be announced soon.

LTAP Clearinghouse Steering Committee. The EC Liaison, Ed Stellfox was not present. Alison indicated she is unaware of any meetings of this committee or activity at this time. Clark is concerned and believes we should determine if there is still a need for the committee. Lisa Harris stated that she was not sure the committee has had the opportunity to serve as it was intended. Lisa Harris will join with Clark in reviewing this issue and will report back to the EC at a later date.

Upcoming Meetings. Lisa Harris reminded the EC of the following EC meetings: January 8, February 12, and March 12 conference calls, each beginning at 10 am EST; January 21 Winter EC meeting at 10am and NLTAPA general membership meeting at 1pm. April 17-19, 2007 Spring EC meeting in Baton Rough, LA. Lisa Harris asked the EC to pencil in a 2nd EC meeting at TRB on Monday at 8:30-10:30 in the FHWA suite.

Due Dates. Lisa reminded the EC that by December 21 Centers must be emailed any items to be voted on at TRB. Please provide her with any information necessary for her to send this email. Patsy reminded the EC that she needs the review of the Conference Sponsorship packet by Wednesday, December 13, and the appointment dates for the work group members by December 13 also.

Adjournment

With no other business brought before the Committee, a motion for adjournment was made, seconded and passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 1:50pm.

(Minutes prepared by Patsy Anderson from notes taken by Cameron Ishaq).