03/07/1997

Todd Moore - Todd has resigned to become a partner in his old firm in Goodlettsville. His last day will be March 27. We'll miss his legal expertise. He'll still do some city work for his firm, so I'm sure he'll stay in touch. We plan to advertise for his replacement beginning March 15th.

House Bill 280- The MTAS funding bill was approved by the State Subcommittee and moves to consideration by the full State and Local Committee of the House on Tuesday afternoon.

Travel Report - I've asked several people who have attended out of state conferences to report what they think would be of interest to the rest of us. Sharon recently went to a conference in San Francisco and they did not have an earthquack as they did the last time she was there.

The conference was sponsored by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF). The subject of the conference was Efficiency. Yes, even water and wastewater operations are having to do more with less while keeping quality high and costs low. This conference was put on by utility managers for utility managers. Presenters demonstrated how they are increasing efficiency in their operations in the areas of: finance and rate making, operations and maintenance, customer service and public involvement.

Sharon reports that the sessions on how utilities are bench marking and establishing performance measures were particularly helpful since some larger utilities in middle Tennessee are interested in getting into those areas. Sharon came away with a complete set of all papers presented at the conference. If you would like a copy of any of the papers, please contact her.

TML Roundtables - The TML roundtables were well attended and well presented. I want to thank Carole, Lissa, JimF, Sid, Todd, Rex, and Ray. A special thanks to Rick who went from table to table answering questions.

MTAS Retreat - I've attached a DRAFT of the agenda for the MTAS retreat. Please let me know what you think.

MTAS Retreat
Richland Inn - Columbia, TN
April 23 - 25, 1997

Wednesday, April 23

11:30 - Lunch at Richland Inn

Noon - State of MTAS - Bob Schwartz

12:30 - Impact Assessment - Ken Joines

1:30 - Fair Market Value - Dick Phebus

2:00 - BREAK

2:30 - When to Answer a Question; When to Consult; and When to Intervene - Pat Hardy

4:30 - Drive to Columbia Fire Department

4:45 - Program at Columbia Fire Department - Ray Crouch

5:45 - Program over, return to Richland Inn

6:30 - Dinner

Thursday, April 24

8:00 - All day session with Tennessee Associates, International

6:30 - Dinner

Friday, April 25

8:00 - LGDPC tour and overview - Mike Kesler (we will meet all day at the Local Government Data Processing headquarters in Columbia)

9:00 - Tennessee Associates followup - Bob Schwartz

9:30 - Notes tricks - Jim Finane

10:00 - Internet tricks - Lissa Gay

11:00 - Be careful out there!

Noon - Lunch and adjourn