» Clean Water Current Archive

July 20, 2012

NACWA Conference Explores Transformational Leadership at Clean Water Agencies

NACWA’s 2012 Summer Conference & 42nd Annual Meeting, Transformational Leadership. . . Changing the Game for the Next 40 Years of Clean Water, took place this week in Philadelphia and focused on the innovative work taking place at clean water agencies that is changing the landscape of the industry. The conference also featured strategic advocacy discussions at lively committee meetings, an array of informative speakers and panels, the public launch of its online NACWA Engage™ network, key actions by NACWA’s Board of Directors and membership, and a ceremony for Association member award winners.

The conference theme was exemplified in the welcoming remarks of the Honorable Michael Nutter, Mayor of Philadelphia. Nutter focused on the city’s innovative Green City-Clean Water program as a vital initiative to manage rainwater before it becomes a pollutant, to save ratepayer dollars by not having to invest in more costly infrastructure alternatives, and also to spur waterfront investment, development, and local jobs. In addition to the many informative case studies that members provided throughout the meeting, a panel of three CEOs with NACWA affiliate member consulting-engineering firms offered a picture of the national trends that they see in the arena of transformational utility leadership. They discussed the shift from the basic focus on wastewater treatment to a much broader focus on the utility as a robust business enterprise. There was consensus that this transformation is not optional but is a necessity and there was also agreement about the need to inform the public about the critical value of water. The CEOs also focused on the need to provide customers with better service despite having fewer resources to do so, placing compliance and customer service on an equal footing, and focusing on a utility’s service as a brand that needs to be protected, projected and enhanced.

NACWA’s committees explored a number of key issues, with integrated planning and regulatory prioritization receiving significant attention. NACWA next steps on integrated planning include a planned series of regional workshops to explore successful development and implementation of an integrated plan as well as to identify the roadblocks to broader application of this approach. The committees also focused on nutrient-related issues, wet weather concerns, and utility of the future issues, among an array of others, all of which will be summarized more fully via a Member Update in the coming weeks.

NACWA thanks all the attendees, speakers, sponsors and our host city, Philadelphia, for making this Summer Conference such a success. Presentations from the conference are available on NACWA’s website.

NACWA Board, Membership Take Action to Help Ensure Key Efforts Advance

NACWA’s Board of Directors took several significant actions this week at the Summer Conference to ensure the Association is on a solid financial and programmatic path going forward. The Board voted to approve the fiscal year 2013 General Fund and Targeted Action Fund budgets. The Board also decided to combine the regulatory policy committee and legislative policy committee into one committee and had a robust discussion on NACWA’s Utility of the Future initiative focusing on the need to ensure collaboration with other sector organizations, which the Association is now pursuing.

Suzanne Goss Elected as NACWA President

The Board also took action to elect NACWA’s slate of officers for the 2011-2012 term. NACWA welcomes its newly elected officers:

President –
Suzanne E. Goss
Government Relations Specialist
JEA (Electric, Water & Sewer)
Jacksonville, Florida

Vice President –
Julius Ciaccia
Executive Director
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
Cleveland, Ohio

Treasurer –
Karen Pallansch
General Manager
Alexandria Renew Enterprises
Alexandria, Virginia

Secretary –
Adel H. Hagekhalil
Assistant Director
City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation
Los Angeles, California

The membership also elected or re-elected several new and returning Board Members. The new and re-elected members of the Board of Directors are as follows:

Region 2 —
Samuel McGhee
Executive Director
Joint Meeting of Essex & Union Counties, NJ

Region 5 —
Kevin Shafer
Executive Director
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, WI

Region 6 —
Ricky Clifton
General Manager
Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority, TX

Region 7 —
Patrick Ball
Utilities Director
City of Cedar Rapids, IA

Region 8 —
Cathy Gerali
District Manager
Metro Wastewater Reclamation District
Denver, CO

Dennis Stowe
Manager
Littleton/Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant, CO

Region 9 —
Philip Friess
Department Head, Technical Services
Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, CA

Region 10 —
Dean Marriott
Director
City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, OR

NACWA Engage™ Network Is Officially Unveiled at Summer Conference

NACWA officially launched its customized online collaborative tool for the clean water community called NACWA Engage™. This site will help clean water utilities and professionals from around the country better collaborate and advocate on key issues. Current discussion groups available on the site include affordability, financing and funding; stormwater; biosolids; pretreatment; nutrients; and combined and sanitary sewer overflows. Additional groups will be added over the next several months as NACWA continues the roll out. Many participants took advantage of the computer kiosks that were available at the Summer Conference to sign up for Engage, complete their user profiles and take a quick tour of the tool’s functionality. NACWA will be setting up state, regional and other discussion groups, which will ensure a robust discussion of issues of highest importance to the clean water community in key geographical areas. Finally, groups for each of NACWA’s standing committees will be added by the end of this year. To access Engage, users can go to www.nacwaengage.org/welcome. Users can also access the Getting Started guide for quick tips. Members should use the same email address and password that they use to access the members-only section of the NACWA website.

NACWA’s keynote speaker, David Nour, CEO of the Nour Group and a best-selling author on social media issues, discussed the critical need for clean water agencies to enter the social media space as a means to promote the value of their services to their ratepayers and communities. The high-energy and informative presentation was broadly acclaimed and David Nour will be providing a series of six web seminars for NACWA members on an array of timely social marketing topics in the coming months. Members are encouraged to register for these seminars, the first which is taking place September 12 from 2:00-3:00pm (Eastern). NACWA will be providing additional details regarding these web seminars via future communications.

NACWA Awards Ceremony Showcases Impressive Clean Water Agency Compliance Records, Management Excellence

NACWA honored twelve Member Agencies with Excellence in Management Recognition Awards on Monday evening at the Franklin Institute during an Awards Ceremony and Reception that took place during the Association’s Summer Conference in Philadelphia. The 2011 Peak Performance Platinum award-winning Member Agency facilities were also honored. These award winners included 18 facilities from 15 Member Agencies that, for their first time, achieved five consecutive years of perfect compliance with their national pollutant discharge elimination (NPDES) permit limits. The Peak Performance Platinum awards also featured 137 Member Agency facilities that had achieved perfect compliance for six or more years. A complete list of Award winners is listed on the NACWA website and will be acknowledged in the August/September issue of The Clean Water Advocate.