National LTAP Association Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
July 23, 2007
9 AM to noon
Millenium Knickerbocker Hotel, Chicago IL

Attendees: Lisa Harris, president; Marie Walsh, Bernie Alkire, Janet Leli, Ed Stellfox, George Huntington, Patsy Anderson

Absent: Jim Grothaus (excused), Region 9 rep (vacant)

Guests: Joe Toole, Clark Martin, Mike McGough, Dick Hanneman, John Haberman, Dan Cady, Charlie Goodspeed, Sandy Greenwood, Donna Shea, Larry Klepner, Patricia Kutt, Terry McNinch, Costas Papacostas, Bruce Drewes, Cameron Ishaq

Meeting called to order by Harris at 9:22 am.

Approvals

• Minutes of July 5 conference call - approved as written
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• This agenda - approved with addition of remarks from partners in attendance

Review arrangements for business meetings on July 24 and July 26 – Harris. The agendas were reviewed and last minute logistics were worked out. Bylaws adoption will be handled in two stages—obtain member input and suggestions at the first meeting, discuss/vote on specific changes at the second meeting. The EC will be hosting a reception for partners for the first time this year.

Reauthorization strategy – Harris, Terry McNinch. NLTAPA's strategy will place more emphasis on building relationships with organizations that can speak for LTAP. External Communications will also develop an educational template for sharing facts about the program. McNinch shared main points of a memo from FHWA attorneys about what is considered crossing the line into lobbying. (LTAP is prohibited from lobbying.) Toole suggested DOTs as one source that can speak on LTAP's behalf. Action: Schedule a follow-up conference call on reauthorization. External Communications to lead the call.

TCCC Meeting report and what's next – Anderson. Anderson reported on a TCCC meeting she attended in Maine in June. She said TCCC has five regions, and they are trying to throw more effort back to their regions. TCCC is trying to populate their training database – but they have not completed that project due to lack of time and resources. Course descriptions need to be developed. The TCCC has not spent any of the pooled-fund money; obligation expires at end of September. The TCCC welcomes LTAP help – particularly with course descriptions, responding to requests for course development, and as contracting mechanism for course development (considered more nimble than NHI). Chris Newman (FHWA) is the TCCC contact; TCCC is a small part of Newman's responsibilities. Stellfox and Doyt Bolling (UT LTAP) have been LTAP's primary contacts with the TCCC to date. Anderson said TCCC wondered if NLTAPA could help with distributing money for course development. Probably not since we aren't set up for contract monitoring. Anderson noted that we need to accurately discuss Center capabilities to help TCCC, and not oversell our capabilities. Burke said that FHWA-NHI? has funds to help TCCC. Action: None identified.

LTAP-ATSSA meeting report and what's next – Walsh and Stellfox. Walsh, Stellfox, and Mike Burk (FHWA-OPCD) recently met with Donna Clark and ATSSA's marketing rep about ways the two groups might work together regarding ATSSA's new workzone safety grant. Walsh said the discussions were open and frank. ATTSA will not be distributing work zone safety materials developed under the grant to LTAP Centers, but whatever is developed under the grant is public domain, but only for three years. The grant is considered a one shot grant; no a continuing program. It is aimed at "practitioner groups" more than local government agencies. The EC thought that having a special group within LTAP that would become very familiar with the grant would be helpful. Motion: Harris moved and Stellfox seconded that NLTAPA form an ad hoc group to follow the ATSSA grant and report relevant information to LTAP Centers, and support and promote training available under the grant. The group could also offer to ATSSA to review materials it is creating that would be of use to local agencies.
Discussion: None.
Vote: The motion passed unanimously.

The relationship between LTAP/TTAP and the FHWA's Office of Safety—Walsh, Harris. Walsh reported on a recent meeting with Beth Alicandri, and noted that the Office of Safety has shown increased interest in working with LTAPs on local safety issues; Harris reported that FHWA invited many of the individuals suggested by LTAP Centers to participate on pavement marking retroreflectivity focus groups. Martin reported that John Dewar, ADA from Delaware, is the new team leader for FHWA local safety programs, under Alicandri. Dewer is currently interviewing candidates for Leslie Wright's position, which will complete the local safety team. Action: EC to continue exploring ways to increase working with the Office of Safety. Will be a focus for 2007-2008.

Comments from NLTAPA partners

Salt Institute (SI)—Dick Hanneman asked for clarification about whether the Winter Maintenance Committee is an official committee of NLTAPA. The group was formed after the Salt Institute became an NLTAPA partner, but the committee was not brought before the EC for endorsement as a partnership activity. Its members include LTAP Centers and others. The general feeling of the EC was that it does not want to add another committee, but they would like the group to continue their work in meeting snowfighters' training needs. The EC suggested the Winter Maintenance Committee coordinate with NLTAPA's Training and Resources Development workgroup. Hanneman also stated that he would like to know, for each State, how many plow drivers are being trained by LTAP, if they are they using Salt Institute materials, and if the materials are considered effective. Hanneman sees the need for more plow driver training. Action: Incorporate activities of the Salt Institute's Winter Operations Committee into NLTAPA's Products and Resources Work Group.

APWA—Patricia Kutt, Dan Cady. Kutt and Cady reported main points from the APWA Education Summit in Spring 2007. Toole asked if there were specific LTAP action items from the summit. Cady said no, but the summit produced info that would lead a Center to take action in starting a dialogue with their APWA chapter. Martin suggested that we compare LTAP's and APWA's needs assessments to find common areas and ways we could cooperate to meet needs. Martin noted that many summit participants were not aware of LTAP – LTAP's participation at the summit helped build some awareness. Action: Report on summit to LTAP Centers on Tuesday, July 24; encourage greater involvement with APWA chapters.

AASHTO—Harris, Walsh and all. Consider becoming engaged with AASHTO's safety subcommittee and sending someone to attend its meetings. Mike introduced himself and asked us which AASHTO meetings we'd like to attend. AASHTO subcommittees meet in June and July and are posted on the AASHTO website; all are open meetings. The AASHTO annual meeting this year is in Milwaukee, September 27 to October 2. He said that AASHTO publications were getting out to Centers.

Walsh met with Keith Sinclair, the AASHTO staff liaison about the Safety subcommittee – she may attend the next meeting in Portland; NLTAPA will move towards being a friend of the committee. Each State can have three members on the subcommittee, and some States haven't filled all their slots. Underrepresented groups, including law enforcement and LTAP, will be encouraged to fill these slots.

Martin asked whether there were any other areas for LTAP/TTAP-AASHTO integration, such as technical committees or task forces. McGough noted that these are the lifeblood of AASHTO. He'll get us an organizational chart of AASHTO subcommittees. We should identify those subcommittees that are and aren't applicable to LTAP. The question was raised as to how we might collect and share best practices from NCHRP and other sources.

Cady asked why there wasn't a closer connection between TRAC and LTAP. McGough said he'll look into it. TRAC is geared towards increasing the engineering workforce by recruiting in high school and junior high. Martin said that there are efforts working towards national workforce development, and he wondered how various programs might be brought together. OPCD is likely to focus more on bringing various efforts together at higher levels. He also wondered about the role of the UTCs and LTAP/TTAP. He noted that TRAC is expensive and that it is challenging for LTAP/TTAP to expand its operations. Marie suggested that we might contract out to undertake these efforts, and that LTAP/TTAP might serve as the delivery mechanism. Action: McGough to supply NLTAPA with a list of AASHTO committees, subcommittees and task forces. The EC to determine how TRAC and the National Safety Academy might fit with LTAP/TTAP.

NACE—no report. NACE is scheduled to speak at the business meeting.

Highways for Life. Charlie Goodspeed asked to speak about a few items. He mentioned that FHWA-Operation's Highways for Life Program might be used to expedite the transfer of technology into practice, however, the mechanism isn't there with that program. He thought LTAP should look at ways of facilitating the exchange of information on topics such as constructing full depth joints, rapid construction techniques, and so on. Such exchanges might also take place on a global scale through the Web, with emphasis on lower tech solutions. Goodspeed will be on contract with FHWA through June 2008. Funds will not be available for long; if anyone is interested, they should get in touch with Charlie at charles.goodspeed@dot.gov. Walsh asked what might be the next step. Goodspeed suggested setting up a special site to enter and extract information. Such a site probably wouldn't have any quality control, however. Highways for Life funds might be used to support such a site. Harris suggested sharing the information at an NLTAPA roundtable call, as another idea.

Set dates for future EC meetings and conference calls. – Harris. This task was postponed until Regions 3 and 9 select their representatives at regional meetings later this week.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 noon.

Minutes submitted by Lisa Harris and George Huntington. Approved by the Executive Committee on December 5, 2007.