Great Symposium

While very lightly attended, this year’s Technical Symposium was the best ever with regard to technical content. My thanks and congratulations go out to Co-chairs Joe Vela, CPD, and Estaban Cabello, PE, FASPE. Also a big thanks to the ASPE staff who did a great job.

The programs were excellent. I only wish I could have attended more. But, with multiple tracks, you have to pick and choose which to attend.

As you know, the Symposium was jointly sponsored with PCA. As a result, there were a number of contractor based seminars. I sat through most of one of these seminars, and I can report it was excellent.

I want to thank all of the Chapters that sent a number of their members to the Symposium. I also want to thank the various Board members of the Chapters that attended.

This year, we saw a drop off of approximately 65% in attendance from the Atlanta Technical Symposium. I realize that it is a tough economy. Unfortunately, that means the Symposium will not be self-supporting. We will end up losing a significant sum of money.

Rechartering

I am happy to report that all of the Chapters have been rechartered. I realize that most of you are unaware that this process takes place every year. However, this is why we have the Chapters submit their annual report and their annual treasurer’s report.

Both reports are read by every member of the Board of Directors. It requires a majority vote of the Board for a Chapter to be rechartered.

I have asked the Region Directors to review the annual report forms and determine if there may be a better way to present the forms for the Chapters. The goal is to get outstanding reports from every Chapter.

We do use these reports to gain information regarding the activities of each Chapter. That is why it is important to spend the time that it takes to fill out the report every year.

Outstanding Reports

Many Chapters pour their heart and soul into the annual reports. I was so impressed with the quality of many of the reports that I asked the Board to vote the two best reports from each Region.

Let me tell you that the voting was close. That is a credit to all of the Chapters. Many were in the running for the award.

At the Technical Symposium, I handed out the awards for the outstanding Chapter Annual Report. Because of ties in the voting, there were three awards in Region 1 and four awards in Region 5. The winning Chapters were:

• Region 1: Boston, New Jersey, Capital Region New York
• Region 2: Central Ohio, Eastern Michigan
• Region 3: Alabama, Atlanta
• Region 4: Phoenix, San Francisco
• Region 5: Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Omaha, Houston
• Congratulations to these Chapters. I hope all of the Chapters shoot for this award next year. Keep up the good work.

Building Plaque

As I previously mentioned, ASPE will be unveiling a plaque in the entry to the new headquarters building thanking all of the Chapters that zeroed their old dues rebate balance. These Chapters made it possible for ASPE to obtain a mortgage to buy the building. Without this sacrifice, we would have never received a mortgage.

A total of 39 Chapters will appear on the plaque. Some of the recent Chapters that zeroed out their balances include: Miami Chapter, Connecticut Chapter, Portland Chapter, Central Illinois Chapter, and Alabama Chapter.

Orange County Chapter donated $1,000 of the dues rebates to the Building Fund.

It should be noted that Region 3 has a zero balance for the entire Region for old dues rebates. A big thanks to the Region 3 Chapters and to Dave Anelli, Region 3 Director.

The remaining dues rebates owed to the Chapters totals $184,060. This is down from the original high of $775,000. So again, a big thanks to all of the Chapters for your support and patience.

Those Chapters still owed money will start receiving monthly checks beginning January 2012. Monthly checks will be paid for 25 years to settle the remaining dues rebate.

As for the plaque, the Chapters that will appear on the plaque are:

REGION 1

• Baltimore
• Boston
• Capital Region NY
• Central New York
• Connecticut
• Ottawa Region
• Philadelphia
• Quebec
• Richmond
• Virginia Blue Ridge
• Washington, DC

REGION 2

• Buffalo-Niagara
• Central Ohio
• Cleveland
• Eastern Michigan
• Johnstown
• Pittsburgh
• Rochester
• Southwestern Ohio
• Western Michigan

REGION 3

• Alabama
• Atlanta
• Central Florida
• Charlotte
• Columbia
• Greenville
• Memphis
• Miami
• Nashville
• New Orleans
• North Florida
• Raleigh
• West Coast Florida

REGION 4

• British Columbia
• Los Angeles
• Phoenix
• Portland

REGION 5

• Central Illinois
• Omaha

The names will appear in alphabetical order. You can go to the ASPE website to vote for your favor plaque design.

Many of the larger Chapters expressed a concern for the smaller Chapters (and rightly so). However, it is interesting to note that all of the small Chapters have a zero balance for old dues rebates.

Co-Chair For Convention

Of all the appointments I have made since becoming President, the hardest has been the appointment of a Convention Co-chair. Part of the problem is that I have been telling the truth regarding what is involved. There is a lot of work, but it is rewarding work.

Perhaps it would have been better if I lied and said it was easy and didn’t take much time. Then, maybe I could find a volunteer.

In any event, I need your help. I have contacted many members asking them to be the Convention Co-Chair. I have spoken to a number of bosses, explaining what is involved. In every case, I was turned down. Hence, I am in desperate need of a Co-chair.

You can suggest someone that you know. Perhaps, someone on your Board may be interested. Or, maybe you might be interested.

One of the most important jobs of the Co-chair is the development of the educational programs for the Convention. The Co-chairs also oversee all of the educational programs.

If you have a suggestion, please get back to me.

New Baby

I was thrilled to receive the announcement that Minnesota Chapter Past President Renae Torborg had a baby girl on November 7, 2009. Lucy Maria Torborg was born at 11:16 AM. She was 7 lbs, 5 oz and 20.5 inches long.

I saw the pictures and she is a real cutey. Congratulations to Renae and husband Tom. A new plumbing engineer in the making.

ICC Code Hearings

For 2+ weeks after the Technical Symposium, I attended the ICC Code Hearings in Baltimore. Imagine the fun you can have sitting in a room from 8 AM until 8 to 11 PM at night.

Greg Farmer, Vice President Legislative will provide you with the complete update on the Code Hearings. But, let me just list some highlights.

As you know, ASPE has been a strong proponent of mandatory residential sprinklers in all one and two family dwellings and townhouses. There were a few changes proposed to remove this requirement from the International Residential Code.

When these issues came to the floor, there were approximately 1500 people in the room. The testimony did not last that long. The proponents made their pitch, with those supporting sprinklers arguing against their comments.

The IRC Code Committee voted 7-4 to maintain mandatory requirements for residential sprinklers. The 4 votes against the motion to deny the changes were cast by the NAHB representatives on the Committee.

During the Plumbing Code hearings, all but one of the ASPE Code Changes received favorable consideration. The Committee voted to accept ASPE 45 on siphonic roof drainage. They also voted to accept single stack drainage systems.

All in all, ASPE faired very well at the hearings.

The final hearings will be held next May in Dallas. The only code changes that will be considered are those changes that receive a public comment.

Public comments for the ICC code changes are due on February 8, 2010. You can review the action of the first hearing on the ICC website, www.iccsafe.org. 

No More CIPE

When reviewing some of the Chapter Annual Reports, I couldn’t help but notice a few Chapter officers identifying themselves as CIPEs. As all of you know, CIPE is no longer permitted to be used by anyone.

I would ask all of the Chapters to announce this again to your members. Also, have your Chapter officers stop using the acronym.

ASPE owns the copyright to the term. Therefore, you must receive permission to use the term. However, permission for its use has been withdrawn. Therefore, no one is entitled to use the term.

CPD Exam

I have received a few e-mails regarding the next CPD exam. It has been announced that the next exam will be held on April 16 and 17, 2010. The deadline for registering is March 19, 2010. However, realize that registration only commences on January 5, 2010.

Now is a good time to start promoting the CPD exam. Please let your Chapter members know when the exam will be held and the dates of registration.

While on the subject, I am happy to report that we are seeing greater recognition of the CPD designation. I have had to explain the meaning and purpose of CPD to other areas of the construction industry. That is a good sign that we are getting the recognition we deserve.

Fellows Application Reminder

There is now less than two months left to get any applications for a Fellow completed. The applications must be submitted to ASPE headquarters by January 15, 2010.

You may obtain the forms for submitting an individual on the ASPE website. Take the time and nominate a deserving candidate.

Welcome Bill

As many of you are aware, Paulie Silvestre underwent open heart surgery last month. I spoke to Paulie shortly after the surgery to wish him well and see how everything went. Of course, Paulie wanted to get right back at it and continue his duties as Region 1 Director.

My response to Paulie was to take it easy and recover. There is no need for him to be worrying about his ASPE duties while he is recovering. So, I asked Bill O’Donnell if he would like to serve on the Board of Directors in a temporary capacity while Paulie is recovering. Bill agreed to help out. I have already announced to Region 1 that I appointed Bill O’Donnell as Region 1 Liaison to the Board of Directors.

Now, the rest of you know that Bill has been appointed to the Board. For those of you that do not know Bill, he is a member of the Philadelphia Chapter, and of course, a close friend of Paulie’s. He is a past Chapter President, and a Fellow. Bill will be serving on the Convention Host Committee.

So welcome Bill to the Board of Directors. Bill hopes that his stay is short and the Paulie will be raring to go by Spring of next year.

Great ASPE Representation

This year, ASPE had many members serving on the ICC Plumbing Code Change Committee. Serving as Chairman was Ray Moore, P.E., CPD. Ray served for two terms as the Vice President, Legislative. Ray did an excellent job chairing the committee.

Also serving on the Committee was Greg Farmer, P.E. Greg, as you know, is the current Vice President, Legislative. Greg did a good job of presenting the engineering issues so that everyone would understand. While the Committee did not always vote with him, they clearly respected his input.

I should point out that the ICC Committee members are appointed by the PMG Code Council. I was recently appointed to a three year term on the Code Council. Hence, next year, I’ll be helping to select the Committee members.

Open House

Who comes to Chicago in January?!? Well, the Board of Directors does. We love testing the Board under severe weather conditions.

This January, we will be hosting the open house of our new headquarters building on the Saturday of the Board of Directors meeting. That will be on January 23, 2010. All are welcome to attend.

At the open house, we plan to unveil the plaque thanking the Chapters for their contributions.

If you are worried about the cold, don’t be. It was -19̊ F last year. So this year, it will be much warmer. It is only cold every other year. I try to convince the Board of this, but they never buy it either.

Your Comments

Your cards and letters are always appreciated. All of your comments are welcome. Also, feel free to share information with other Chapters through this Newsletter.

Contact me at any time. I can be reached at PrezASPE@aol.com. My office number is 219-922-6171.