IREA BOARD MEETING MINUTES                                            (back to home)

THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010

The IREA Board meeting was called to order at 3:05 PM by Vice-President Nancy Carlson.  The Board members in attendance were LeRoy Meyers, Gary Johnsen, John Flinn, Felix Vandewiele,  Norm Kramer, and Tom McLaughlin.  Guest Rachel Delmore was also in attendance.  A quorum was established.  Tom McLaughlin recorded minutes for the meeting.

The May 2010 IREA Board meeting minutes were approved as corrected.

Norm Kramer (Treasurer) provided a treasury report.  See attached report.  Norm stated that a new rule by the IRS this year requires nonprofit organizations with less than $25K income to submit annually a Form 990N to them.  Norm has submitted this year's form and will submit future forms at the same time as he submits the required annual State form.  The login and password for the 990N are contained in the electronic history for 2010 in the treasurer report and 990-N data folder.

LeRoy Meyer (Membership) provided an update on membership.  Due to the confusion caused by an arrears notice appearing on all members May newsletters, a postcard was sent to those members truly in arrears.  LeRoy reported that those members who have not paid their dues after receiving the reminder postcard will be moved to the inactive list.  See attached report.

John Flinn (Publicity co-chair)  reported he will change the status with United Mailing from profit to nonprofit.  The July newsletter dates are input to Nancy by July 10th and mail July 15th.  Assignments for the July newsletter are as follows:

            Presidents Message

                        Past President - Tom McLaughlin

                        Current President - John Johnson

            New Board - Nancy Carlson

            Spring General Meeting Summary - Nancy Carlson

            Membership - LeRoy Meyer

            Those No Longer With Us - Felix Vandewiele/Nancy Carlson

            INL Research/Operations Happenings - Nancy Carlson

            Consumer Affairs - Felix Vandewiele

            Social Events

                        Picnic - Diane Teunessen

                        Golf - John Flinn

            Investments -  John Johnson

            Webb Stuff - Everett Gruen

            Benefits - Rich Ising (Jim Dace Presentation, Nancy to summarize)

            INL Tour Summary - Chuck Briggs

Diane Teunessen (Social) was unable to attend but had submitted her newsletter report for July to Nancy Carlson.  The picnic is scheduled for Tuesday, August 3, at Tautphaus Park Shelter #1.  John Flinn reported that the golf tournament scheduled for Sage Lakes will be Wednesday, September 8, not the previously reported September 9.

John Johnson (Investments) was unable to attend and submitted no report.

Felix Vandewiele (Consumer Affairs/Historian) had no consumer affairs report.  Felix did state that Terry Chadwick would be taking over the electronic file for the Historian.  Felix said that he will contact Terry.

Rich Ising (Benefits/Retirement) was unable to attend and submitted no report.

Chuck Briggs (Programs) was unable to attend and submitted no report.  The report from those that attended the Tour of INL in early June indicated that it was a successful tour and very worthwhile.

Gary Johnsen (Energy Education) reported he will summarize Mark Reed's presentation from the Spring General Meeting on Smart Grids for the July newsletter.  He will also summarize data from the DOE web site on Smart Grids as part of the write-up.

New Business:  Rachel Delmore attended the meeting as a guest and agreed to take over duties as Secretary for the next year.  Welcome Rachel.

The June 2010 meeting adjourned at 4:00 PM.

The next board meeting will be held Thursday, July 15, 2010, at 3:00 PM at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center.

Tom McLaughlin

IREA MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR THE 6-17-10 BOARD MEETING (LeRoy Meyer)

There were 60 members that renewed their membership since the last board meeting. Ella Ellis indicated that she would help with picnic. Her phone number is 522-1637. Eighteen of the renewals since the card went out were in arrears. One card was returned marked vacated, unable to forward. This was Fred Balkovetz and he had a P. O. Box.

Two members died. The first was Ralph Chalmer Shank; he was 96 and paid up through 2013. His second wife also preceded him in death. He was removed from both lists. The second was William “Bill” Carl Heeding, 91, who was paid up to 2014 and also removed from the active membership list.

The newsletter was mailed out last month with an arrears notice by mistake for all paid up members. This was still causing many emails from worried members and their sending me copies of canceled checks showing that they had paid their dues. They were assured that they were not in arrears and that the arrears notice was a mistake on the mailing. John Spickard sent in another $40 for 5 years. He was already paid up to 2019. I sent him an email to see if he wanted me to return his check or credit him to 2024. He said to go ahead and credit him to 2024 and he would try to out live the extension. Now that is positive thinking!

For 2010 we have 89.2 % of the members that have paid which breaks down to 141 that paid $10:00 and 223 that have paid $8:00. We now have 408 active members.

There are 148 on the inactive list and 13 on the information list. The information list consists of nine widows, two INL Employee Assoc. leaders and two leaders of retired associations from other nuclear facilities.

INL Employees who died other than in May 2010

Milan "Bud" Bednar (66) died 2/5/10. He worked at the INL at the Computer Center in Technical Support. After working for 27 years he retired in May 2005.

May 2010

Kim Lee Sohn Young (45) died 5/1/10. She worked at the INL for Westinghouse Idaho Nuclear then at CPP on the WIPPS project.

Monte Ray Bowman (79) died 5/1/10. He worked at the INL at TRA in Maintenance for 42 years. He retired in 1995.

Larry Dellus Nielsen (76) died 5/5/10. He worked at the INL as a Carpenter.

Cloe Ann Beebe (71) died 5/6/10. She worked at the INL as a Secretary.

George Ray Bradshaw (76) died 5/10/10. He worked at the INL as a bus driver for 8 years.

Kip Knute Marler (58) died 5/16/10. He worked at the INL for DOE as a Senior Rad Con Tech for 20 years.

Garna Mae Hix Mickelsen (63) died 5/26/10. She worked at the INL as an Administrative Assistant.

Frederick Dean Lewis (69) died 5/27/10. He worked at the INL.

Michael Garcia (53) died 5/30/10. He worked at the INL for 22 years as a Fire Fighter & EMT.

William "Bill" Carl Heeding (91) died 5/31/10. He worked at the INL as a Sewage Operator.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

The IREA Board meeting was called to order at 3:10 PM by President Tom McLaughlin. The Board members in attendance were LeRoy Meyer, Nancy Carlson, Gary Johnsen, Chuck Briggs, John Flinn, Everett Gruen, Carol Jones, and John Johnson. Three guests attended – Diane and John Teunessen and Gary Goodson. A quorum was established. Secretary, Nancy Carlson, recorded the minutes for the meeting.

The March 2010 IREA Board meeting minutes were approved as corrected.

Norm Kramer (Treasurer) was unable to attend, but he provided a treasury report for April 2010. See attached report.

LeRoy Meyer (Membership) provided an update on IREA membership. See attached report.

Everett Gruen (Publicity co-chair) reported the website is up-to-date. He provided his cell phone number (520-5974) to board members so that we can alert him of items that are time critical to send to members via email. John Flinn (Publicity co-chair) requested that May newsletter input be sent to Nancy Carlson by April 24, 2010; he plans to have the newsletters printed and mailed during the week of April 26, 2010. There will be two versions of this newsletter – one for current members and one for those members whose dues are in arrears. The only difference in the newsletters will be on the cover sheet – those in arrears will have an printed message telling them this will be their last newsletter until they bring their dues current. LeRoy Meyer will email John Flinn an Excel file that the printer will use for adding addresses to the newsletters for both current and in arrears members.

Carol Jones (Social) reported that we had 119 attendees at our 2010 Spring banquet. With the slight increase in the meal charge for members and non-members as well as the proceeds from the raffle and silent auction we actually made $88.28. Using the Elks for the location and meal preparation really saved on the cost per plate of food and the food quality was great. Board members thanked Carol and her committee for an excellent banquet and all their hard work to bring revenue in line with expenses for the first time in many years. Carol also reported that she would provide webmaster, Everett Gruen, banquet photos taken by her husband to be posted on the IREA website along with the photos taken by IREA member, Don Coombs. Plans are underway for the summer picnic which will be held in August. Our 2010-2011 Social chairman nominee, Diane Teunessen, will handle picnic details.

John Johnson (Investment) requested investment column ideas for the July newsletter.

Felix Vandewiele (Historian and Consumer Affairs) was unable to attend, but he provided the Those No Longer With Us listing for March 2010 via email to Nancy Carlson. See attached report.

Rich Ising (Benefits) was unable to attend. Nancy Carlson reported that Rich had provided a Benefits article for the May newsletter.

Nancy Carlson and Chuck Briggs (Program Committee co-chairs) reported the speakers for the May 19, 2010 IREA Spring general meeting are Mark Reed of Idaho Falls Power and Jim Dace, director of BEA Human Resources. Both speakers requested a reminder phone call prior to May 19. Gary Johnsen will contact Mark Reed and Nancy Carlson will contact Jim Dace. Chuck announced that the IREA INL bus tour will be held on June 2, 2010 with a bus pick from the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center at 9 AM. We will use a white INL bus with seating for approximately 40 attendees. Attendees must bring along their lunch as there are no longer any large cafeterias at the site. Attendees must also complete a TLD questionnaire which will be included in the May newsletter. Members will be able to signup for the tour, using a from in the IREA May newsletter, at the May 19^th  IREA general meeting, via an email to Chuck, or by calling Chuck. Chuck is still working with INL Public Affairs to set the tour locations.

Gary Johnsen (Energy Education) will call Mark Reed of IF Power to remind him about the May general meeting and tell him that we only have a screen available at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center so he will need to bring other AV items needed for his presentation. Gary will summarize Mark’s presentation in Energy Education column of the July IREA newsletter.

New Business: President McLaughlin reported that Diane Teunessen volunteered to be our 2010-2011 Social chairman and that Gary Goodson volunteered to provide legal advice to IREA for 2010-2011. Lastly, Tom asked board members to provide him with potential names of members who would be potential candidates for the position of IREA secretary.

The March 2010 meeting adjourned at 4:25 PM.

The next board meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at 1:00 PM at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center directly before our Spring general meeting.

Secretary, Nancy Carlson.

ATTACHMENTS:

ATTACHMENTS (con’t):

MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR 4-15-10 BOARD MEETING (LeRoy Meyer)

There were 24 members that renewed their membership since the last board meeting and two inactive members became active again. These two were Julius Berreth and B. Arlene Rutledge.

There were three new members, Matt Ebner, Ronald Denney, and Victor H. Ransom.

Two members died. They were Dave Morken and Mark L Hansen. They were both paid through 2009 and removed from the active list

For 2010 we have 79.7 % of the members that have paid which breaks down to 115 that paid $10:00 and 207 that have paid $8:00. We now have 404 active members.

There are now 148 on the inactive list and 15 on the information list. The information list consists of eleven widows, two INL Employee Assoc. leaders and two leaders of retired associations from other nuclear facilities.

THOSE NO LONGER WITH US for March 2010 (Felix Vandewiele)

Those that died prior to March 2010

Ray Clifford died 2/7/10. He worked at the INL at the TRA in Maintenance.

James Esmond Sailer (52) died 2/23/10. He worked at the INL as an Environmental Engineer starting in 1991 with WINCO.

Those that died in March 2010

Harriet J. Makinson (80) died 3/3/10. She worked at the INL for Westinghouse at NRF as a Clerk for 30 years. She retired in 1999.

Mark LeRoy Hansen (55) died 3/5/10. He worked at the INL at the Chemical Processing Plant (CPP) for 22 years starting in 1974 as a Hoisting and Rigging Specialist then as a Maintenance Forman/supervisor over laborers Equipment Operators, Carpenters and Painters. He then worked as a sub-contractor for EG&G as a trainer and finally with the Department of Labor (DOL) Energy Employers Compensation Program where he helped former INL employees file claims.

David Joseph Morken (91) died 3/15/10. He worked at the INL as an Engineer at the Test Reactor Area (TRA). He started in 1969 and retired in 1984.

Albert "Dick" Richard Furrows (79) died 3/17/10. He worked at the INL as an Electrical Technician for 16 years.

Janet Eileen Madsen (67) died 3/18/10. She worked at the INL as an Administrative Specialist.

I. Moyle Workman (80) died 3/20/10. He worked at the INL as a bus driver from 1956 to 1989, logging more than a million miles.

Steven "Steve" Lynn Reynolds (70) died 3/21/10. He worked at the INL retiring in 1995.

Woodrow Parker (91) died 3/25/10. He worked at the INL for Argonne National Laboratory and retired from there.

Wilbert R. Beck (71) died 3/26/10. He worked at the INL as a Precision Machinist at the Advanced Test Reactor Area.

Norman LaMar Wheeler (67) died 3/27/10. He worked at the INL for 23 years.

John Manly Daniher (84) died 3/29/10. He worked at the INL at the Test Reactor Area (TRA) as an Engineer and retired in 1991.

IREA BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The IREA Board meeting was called to order at 3:05 PM by President Tom McLaughlin. The Board members in attendance were LeRoy Meyer, Nancy Carlson, Gary Johnsen, Rich Ising, Chuck Briggs, John Flinn, Felix Vandewiele, Everett Gruen, and John Johnson. A quorum was established. Secretary, Nancy Carlson, recorded the minutes for the meeting.

The February 2010 IREA Board meeting minutes were approved as corrected.

Norm Kramer (Treasurer) was unable to attend, but he provided a treasury report for February and March 2010. See attached report.

LeRoy Meyer (Membership) provided an update on IREA membership. See attached report.

Everett Gruen (Publicity co-chair) reported the website is up-to-date. John Flinn (Publicity co-chair) reported that the IREA March newsletter printing and mailing was handled by United Mailing Direct located on 1^st Street in Idaho Falls. The process went very smoothly. For future mailings, John reported that we were directed by United Mailing Direct to use their bulk mailing permit. This will result in a savings of $180.00/year as John will not need to purchase a bulk mailing permit for IREA. The board discussed the benefits of establishing IREA as a non-profit organization for reduced rates on bulk mailing. It was thought we needed to have an audit of our books by a CPA to become a nonprofit. To that end Gary Johnsen had volunteered to see if he could locate a CPA willing to do the audit for free. Gary reported he had not yet located a licensed CPA willing to do the audit for free. President McLaughlin thanked Gary for exploring ways to have the audit done for free and indicated Gary had completed his assignment. Rich Ising reported that IREA Treasurer Kramer has filed paperwork with the IRS to validate IREA is a nonprofit organization. Thus it was decided to see what response we receive from the IRS as to our nonprofit status.

Although Carol Jones (Social) was unable to attend, Nancy Carlson had talked with and reported Carol asked that board members who have items for the silent auction at our April 1, 2010 Spring Banquet send her an email describing the item and providing the approximate value of the item. Carol needs that information to prepare the silent auction bid sheet. President McLaughlin reported Carol had received 42 reservations as of March 18, 2010. As several board members brought their banquet forms and checks to the board meeting, LeRoy Meyer collected them and will relay the information to Carol. John Flinn reported that the IREA Golf Tournament has been set for September 9, 2010 at Sage Lakes with the tee time of 8 AM.

John Johnson (Investment) had no report.

Felix Vandewiele (Historian and Consumer Affairs) reported that Wal-Mart has some good cell phone deals through StraightTalk.com. The packages offered include various combinations of phone and/or text minutes as well as no roaming fee options. He also provided the Those No Longer With Us listing for February 2010. See attached report.

Rich Ising (Benefits) had no report.

Nancy Carlson and Chuck Briggs (Program Committee co-chairs) reported the speakers for the May 19, 2010 IREA Spring general meeting are Mark Reed of Idaho Falls Power and Jim Dace, director of BEA Human Resources. Chuck is working with INL Public Affairs (PA) to arrange a bus tour of INL site facilities. He has booked the tour for either June 2 or 3, 2010. Tour details will be finalized once his contacts at PA, Don Miley and Carissa Shultz, return from travel. Chuck will have tour information for inclusion in the flyer announcing the Spring general meeting.

Gary Johnsen (Energy Education) reported he saw a new technology to capture carbon in solid form on 60 Minutes. He will research this process to see how viable it is and if it holds the potential for making clean coal a reality.

New Business: President McLaughlin asked board members for suggestions on our IREA slate of officers for 2010-2011. The following are the positions current members indicated they were willing to fill:

·        President – John E. Johnson

·        Vice-President – Nancy Carlson

·        Membership – Leroy Meyer

·        Newsletter and Golf Tournament – John Flinn

·        Newsletter editing and formatting – Nancy Carlson

·        Website – Everett Gruen

·        Energy Education – Gary Johnsen

·        Consumer Affairs – Felix Vandewiele

·        Historian – Felix Vandewiele

·        Program – Chuck Briggs

·        Benefits – Rich Ising and Tom McLaughlin

·        Investments – John E. Johnson

·        Social – TBD

·        Secretary - TBD

The March 2010 meeting adjourned at 4:35 PM.

The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, April 15, 2010, at 3 PM at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center.

Secretary, Nancy Carlson.

ATTACHMENTS:

ATTACHMENTS (con’t):

MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR 3-18-10 BOARD MEETING (LeRoy Meyer)

There were 35 members that renewed their membership since the last board meeting.

There were two members, Terry Chadwick and Diane Teunessen. Terry (Ph 524-4539) indicated he would serve on the historian committee and Diane (Ph 522-7703) indicated she would serve on the Social Events committee.

One member on the inactive list died and his widow, Yvonne, was put on the information list. This was Milan Bednar. He was paid to 2013.

For 2010 we have 74.6 % of the members that have paid which breaks down to 98 that paid $10:00 and 201 that have paid $8:00. We now have 401 active members.

There are now 153 on the inactive list and 15 on the information list. The information list consists of eleven widows, two INL Employee Assoc. leaders and two leaders of retired associations from other nuclear facilities.

THOSE NO LONGER WITH US for February 2010 (Felix Vandewiele)

Dan Owen Reynolds (60) died 2/3/10. He worked at the INL for DOE in various positions.

Milan (Bud) Bednar (66) died 2/5/10. He worked at the INL for 26 years retiring in 2005.

Glenn (Bud) I. Fredrickson (84) died 2/7/10. He worked at the INL as a Bus Driver for 30 years and retired in1991.

Marvin Marcy Williamson (76) died 2/7/10. In 1976 he went to work at the INL as Director of DOE's Radiological and Environmental Science Laboratory. He retired in 1988.

Mark Robert Owsley (49) died 2/12/10. He worked at the INL in Security.

Robert Birdsall Benjamin (73) died 2/23/10. He started work at the INL with Phillips Petroleum Co.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

The meeting was called to order at 3:08 pm by board vice president John Johnson. Present at the meeting were: Rich Ising, John Johnson, Felix Vandewiele, John Flinn, Everett Gruen, Carol Jones and Leroy Meyer. A quorum was established. President Tom McLaughlin was not able to attend, but had provided the agenda. Secretary Nancy Carlson was unable to attend the meeting, so vice president John Johnson recorded the minutes. Last month’s meeting minutes were approved as distributed.

Treasurer - Norm Kramer was not able to attend, but will provide a treasurer’s report for February and March at the March board meeting.

Membership - The membership report (see attachment) was presented by Leroy Meyer. LeRoy reported that IREA currently has about 400 active members. He reported four membership renewals the past month and one deceased member (Robert Bailey).

Social – Carol Jones reported on preparations for the IREA banquet. Discussion with the Elks Club revealed that the only acceptable date available for the banquet is Thursday, April 1^st. Registration and social hour with beverage bar will begin at 6:00 pm and dinner service will begin at 7:00 pm. The Elks want a near final head count by March 24^th. Carol said she has about $300 to spend on door prizes. John Johnson indicated he might be willing to donate a print by Gene Sherman (ANL-W) as a raffle prize. A couple board members expressed concern about how quickly the Elks could serve dinner, based on past experience with the Elks’ single serving line. Carol agreed to ask the Elks to provide more than just one serving line.

Publicity – John Flinn had earlier notified board members that the schedule for the spring newsletter (with banquet information) needed to be moved up a week, based on Carol needing to provide a banquet head count to the Elks by March 24^th. Thus, newsletter input must be sent to Nancy Carlson by March 1^st, and the newsletter must be mailed shortly thereafter. John mentioned that the current plan of having the newsletter printed, assembled, and mailed by United Mailing Direct prevents us from attaching ‘red sticker’ notices to selected copies of the newsletter sent to recipients whose membership has expired. Perhaps the postcards to be sent prior to the May general meeting can serve the reminder function. John also mentioned that IREA’s mass-mailing USPS permit expires May 9^th, so we should make maximum usage of the current permit by sending out the postcards by May 9^th.

Everett Gruen reported that the IREA web site was up to date. He has added Mike Groh to the list of Senior PC Assistance Patrol volunteers, with Mike at the top of the list.

Investments – John Johnson had no new input.

Consumer Affairs and Historian – Felix Vandewiele had no new consumer affairs input. His recent listing of ‘Those No Longer With Us’ is attached.

Benefits/Retirement – Rich Ising reported that the INL Retirement Plan had increased its holdings from $753M last year to $808M recently. He also reported that the Plan’s Trustee had been changed from USBank to Great Northern Trust. INL and DOE are still considering changes to the Retirement Plan that would increase the penalty for early retirement, but these changes had not yet been made. Rich said he had found the two letters that Nancy needed to complete the COLA file for the archives.

Programs/Meetings – Neither Nancy nor Chuck Briggs were able to attend. The spring general meeting is scheduled for May 19^th, with presentations by Mark Reed of Idaho Falls Power and Jim Dace of INL/BEA Human Resources. A drive-by tour of selected INL facilities is in planning for next summer.

Energy Education – Gary Johnsen was not able to attend.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.

The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, March 18, 2010, at 3:00 pm at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center.

John Johnson, Acting Secretary

ATTACHMENTS:

MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR 2-18-10 BOARD MEETING (LeRoy Meyer)

There were 4 members that renewed their membership since the last board meeting.

One member on the inactive list died and was removed. This was Robert “Bob” H. Bailley.

For 2010 we have 67.5 % of the members that have paid which breaks down to 75 that paid $10:00 and 195 that have paid $8:00. We have 400 active members.

There are now 154 on the inactive list and 14 on the information list. The information list consists of ten widows, two INL Employee Assoc. leaders and two leaders of retired associations from other nuclear facilities.

THOSE NO LONGER WITH US for January 2010 (Felix Vandewiele)

Ruel Vernon Dye (76) died 1/2/10. He worked at the INL in managerial positions in Engineering.

Harvey Bowles Ward (75) died 1/3/10. He worked at the INL with Westinghouse for 9 years.

Richard Galen Mitchell (79) died 1/5/10. He worked at the INL at TAN as a Hot-Shop Tech.

James Perry "Jimmy" French (55) died 1/11/10. He worked at the INL as a Radiological Control Technician.

Verdas Henry Reed (96) died 1/12/10. He worked at the INL for AEC as a Carpenter until 1959.

Maria Elsa Richards (69) died 1/12/10. She worked at the INL as a Reactor Operator.

Robert "Bob" H. Bailey (93) died 1/16/10. He worked at the INL as an Electrician Forman at the CPP.

Edith Alberta Brailsford Bowen (82) died 1/22/10. She worked at the INL as a Secretary for EG&G.

Richard George Lehmann (82) died 1/25/10. He worked at the INL as an Electrician.

Lowell Arthur Jobe (95) died 1/27/10. He worked at the INL as a Senior Control Engineer beginning in 1960 and retiring in 1980.

Carl K. Rasmussen (82) died 1/28/10. He worked at the INL on the Security Force for ANL.

Glenn A. Phillips died in January 2010. He worked at the INL as a Security Guard for AEC.

Owen John Walker (86) died 1/29/10. He worked at the INL for 35 years as a Finish Carpenter.

G. Ross Darnell (76) died 1/31/10. He worked at the INL starting in 1973 for Westinghouse at the Expended Core Facility for 5 years then transferred to EG&G where he worked until retiring in 1995.

Thursday, January 28, 2009

The IREA Board meeting was called to order at 3:05 PM by President, Tom McLaughlin. The meeting date was changed from January 21, 2010 to January 28, 2010 by President McLaughlin due to many schedule conflicts on January 21, 2010. The Board members in attendance were LeRoy Meyer, Nancy Carlson, Gary Johnsen, Rich Ising, Chuck Briggs, John Flinn, and John Johnson. A quorum was established. Secretary, Nancy Carlson, recorded the minutes for the meeting.

The December 2009 IREA Board meeting minutes were approved as distributed.

Dr. Sergio Romero, 2010 US Census partnership specialist, presented information and materials about the upcoming census. From when the census started in 1790 to today, census figures are used to allocate Congressional representation for each state and to allocate federal funds at the state and local governments. In 2009 the average federal fund allocations per capita equated to $1,400.00/person; thus an accurate count is vital for local and state governments to receive their appropriate portion of federal dollars! The timeline for the 2010 census is as follows: week of March 8, 2010 an advance letter will be sent to all verified house addresses nationwide; week of March 15, 2010 the census form arrives at those addresses; week of April 1, 2010 census forms to be returned via mail. Following the cut-off date of April 15, 2010 census workers will contact, in person, households that did not return forms as well as spot checks of returned forms. The count will be finalized by the mid-summer. The personal contact phase of the census is very labor intensive and expensive, so Dr. Romero encouraged us to do our part to makes sure friends and family return their forms. Although under-counting is a real concern and is addressed by canvassing unresponsive households, over-counting is also a concern. Snowbirds account for some of the over-counting as they respond at both their summer and winter addresses. Dr. Romero stated that snowbirds should only enter data for the address at which they vote. He also indicated that he has prepared text for organizations to use in their newsletter. Nancy Carlson informed the board that she would obtain those words from Dr. Romero. Lastly, Dr. Romero told the board members that he is available to speak to other organization in which they are involved. To setup a presentation, Dr. Romero’s contact information follows:

Personal cell phone: 208-215-0202

Toll-free 2010 census information: 1-866-861-2010

Email: Sergio.romero@census.gov

Norm Kramer (Treasurer) was unable to attend, but he provided a treasury report. See attached report.

LeRoy Meyer (Membership) provided an update on IREA membership. See attached report. LeRoy stated he had sent all board members the 2009 active and inactive membership Excel files. Following discussion, it was agreed that we will place stickers on the July newsletter to alert those members who are still in arrears on their 2010 dues. This approach, which we used last year, really motivated members to pay their dues. The July newsletter was selected as many members who attend the summer picnic might not have attended the spring banquet. That way members can renew their membership at either the banquet or picnic.

Everett Gruen (Publicity Committee co-chair) was unable to attend, but he informed President McLaughlin the website is up-to-date. Additionally Tom reported that Everett indicated the service that hosts our website had made some software upgrades, and our website appears to be functioning fine with those upgrades. John Flinn (Publicity co-chair) reported he has located a printing firm, United Mailing Direct located on 1^st Street in Idaho Falls, that will print up to 14 double-sided pages; affix the USPS approved sticker closures; use our Excel membership file to print addresses on newsletters; and handle our USPS bulk mailing with the mail post office. The cost of the printed and prepared newsletter is $0.51/newsletter (excludes bulk mailing postage cost). The newsletter must be provided to United Mailing Direct as a pdf file. They need to receive the newsletter pdf and Excel mailing address file two days before our target mailing date. Board members agreed this is a great price deal and labor saver for publicity. We will try the service for our March 2010 newsletter. The deadlines for that newsletter are: articles due to Nancy Carlson via email by 5 PM on March 5, 2010; approved final text converted to pdf and delivered by John Flinn to United by March 10, 2010; United mails newsletters on March 12, 2010.

Carol Jones (Social) was unable to attend, but provided preliminary details about the spring banquet. She plans to hold an April IREA Spring Banquet at the Elks this year. Because the Elks is used every Wednesday night for square dancing, the board discussed holding the banquet on either Tuesday, April 6 or 13, 2010 or Thursday, April 8 or 15, 2010 with April 15^th as our fourth choice of dates due to the large number of board members who volunteer at TaxAide. Tom will contact Carol to see if any of those dates work for her and the Elks. Carol also provided a list of entrée selections, and the board members selected a pork and chicken dish. Menu for dinner, served buffet style, is choice of 2 entrees: pork loin and chicken Marsala, green salad, potato, veggie, and dessert. Carol delineated banquet costs: $300 refundable deposit, $200 rental (normally $550 would be but is $200 if they provide the meal), $100 bartender gratuity (none for the food service), and $300 door prizes/name tags for a $600 estimated total cost. Although Carol asked if we wanted to try another silent auction and raffle or something new, the board decided to defer the discussion to our February meeting. It was moved by Nancy Carlson and seconded by Gary Johnsen that IREA members and their spouse or significant other pay $12.00/person and non-members pay $15.00/person for the spring banquet. The motion was approved.

John Johnson (Investment) reported he is preparing an article about IRA-conversions for the March 2010 newsletter.

Felix Vandewiele (Historian and Consumer Affairs) was unable to attend, but he provided the Those No Longer With Us listing for December 2009 via email. See attached report

Rich Ising (Benefits) had no new benefits items to report.

Nancy Carlson and Chuck Briggs (Program Committee co-chairs) reported that Idaho Falls (IF) Power will present at the May 19, 2010 general meeting. Mark Reed, smart grid lead, will present information of local and regional power generation and distribution issues as well as provide insights into IF’s smart grid project. Mark can be reached at 208-612-8234; he asked to be reminded of presentation a few weeks prior to May 19, 2010 spring general meeting. Nancy placed a call to Jim Dace, director of BEA HR, to determine if he could speak at the spring meeting, but as of the January board meeting she had not heard back from Jim. She will try to reach Jim and report back at our February meeting. Nancy suggested we consider having the drive-by bus tour of the INL site the week after the general spring meeting; that way members could signup at the general meeting. Chuck Briggs agreed to coordinate the INL bus tour activity. Lastly, Nancy reported she had talked with Dr. Steve Herring about a tour of his hydrogen laboratory. Steve said any off-Friday for INL staff works best for him. We hope to tour Steve’s laboratory in September. He suggested coordinating that tour with Reuel Smith of INL Public Affairs. The final details of this technical tour will be worked in May or June.

Gary Johnsen (Energy Education) reported he had talked with Mark Reed of IF Power about his presentation on the smart grid. Gary will work with Mark to obtain smart grid text for the March 2010 newsletter.

Unfinished business: President McLaughlin reported to board he had contacted Alan Kirsch, retired INL lawyer, to see if he would be willing to assist the board as a legal resource on items such as interactions with BEA dealing with COLA. Alan indicated he would be willing to be a resource, but did not want to commit to being a board member at this time. Tom also reported he was unable to reach Gary Goodson, a retired INL lawyer, to pose the same question. Tom indicated that Gary Goodson’s phone listed in the phonebook was not operational. Gary Johnsen indicated he had a good number for Goodson and would send it to Tom.

The January 2010 meeting adjourned at 4:40 PM.

The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, February 18, 2010, at 3 PM at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center.

Secretary, Nancy Carlson.                        

ATTACHMENTS:

ATTACHMENTS (con’t):

MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR 1-28-10 BOARD MEETING (LeRoy Meyer)

There were 7 members that renewed their membership since the last board meeting.

One member on the inactive list died. This was E. H. Magleby. He was removed from the inactive list.

The active and inactive membership lists were sent to all of the board members on December 31, 2009.

For 2010 we have 66.5 % of the members that have paid which breaks down to 72 that paid $10:00 and 194 that have paid $8:00. We have 400 active members.

There are 155 on the inactive list and 14 on the information list. The information list consists of ten widows, two INL Employee Assoc. leaders and two leaders of retired associations from other nuclear facilities.

THOSE NO LONGER WITH US for December 2009 (Felix Vandewiele)

December 2009

Stanley Merle Hill Jr. (90) died 12/14/09. He worked at the INL in the early days when the site was first started.

Eugene "Gene" H. Magleby (78) died 12/15/09. He worked at the INL beginning in 1955 with Phillips Petroleum Co. in the Physics Department Cross-Sections Group at TRA. He served as a Technical Administrator for different managers of the Science and Technology Division. He later worked in the Hydro and NRC Radiological Programs. He retired in 1988. He was a member of the American Nuclear Society.

Donald LaRoy Parsons (83) died 12/15/09. He worked at the INL as an Electronics Technician for EG&G.

Geraldine Ruth Marie Kurtz (94) died 12/15/09. She worked at the INL for Westinghouse.

Mervin Jessie Gardner (82) died 12/17/09. He started work at the INL in 1951 as one of the first site bus drivers. After driving for 21 years he became one of the Managers of Bus Operations and held that position for 22 years  He retired in 1994 after driving 1,379,00 miles without an accident.

Douglas LaMont Taylor Sr. (75) died 12/17/09. He worked at the INL as a Carpenter.

Auther Russell "Russ" Tetley (79) died 12/19/09. He worked at the INL for 23 years retiring in 1993.

Darwin Clifford Bowden (86) died 12/24/09. He worked at the INL as a Laborer and Concrete Foreman.

Iganacio Resendez (70) died 12/27/09. He worked at the INL for DOE with oversight responsibility of the Idaho Operations Office. He retired in 1994.

John Orson Young (66) died 12/30/09. He worked at the INL for Argonne-West for 35 years.

Duane Hansen (78) died 12/31/09. He worked at the INL as a Bus Driver for 28 years) driving over a million miles.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

The IREA Board meeting was called to order at 3:05 PM by President, Tom McLaughlin. The Board members in attendance were LeRoy Meyer, Nancy Carlson, Felix Vandewiele, Rich Ising, Everett Gruen, Chuck Briggs, John Flinn, John Johnson, Norm Kramer, and Carol Jones. Dan Yurman, an IREA member, also was in attendance. A quorum was established. Secretary, Nancy Carlson, recorded the minutes for the meeting.

The November 2009 IREA Board meeting minutes were approved as corrected.

Norm Kramer (Treasurer) provided a treasury report. See attached report.

LeRoy Meyer (Membership) provided an update on IREA membership. See attached report. LeRoy stated after January 1, 2010 he will send all board members the 2009 active and inactive membership Excel files. Additionally, members who pay their dues between November 1 and the end of the year will be credited for 2010.

Everett Gruen (Publicity Committee co-chair) reported the website is up to date. John Flinn (Publicity co-chair) explained the USPS rules on newsletters and showed several examples of mail items that comply with these new regulations. Before our next newsletter, John will work with the post office and the print vendor to establish the most cost- and time-effective approach for producing our spring 2010 newsletter. The board discussed the cost of mailing a hard-copy newsletter. John Johnson suggested we promote sending newsletter content via email. Carol Jones suggested we consider providing a small reduction in yearly membership to those members who provide their email address and agree to receive their newsletter only in electronic form. Lastly, it was decide that we include the following announcement for receiving your newsletter by email notice in our spring newsletter: If you would like to receive this newsletter by email as a pdf attachment, just send your email address to mey217@cableone.net and request it.

Carol Jones (Social) reported that she will start contacting establishments regarding our spring banquet after the first of the year. In addition to the Red Lion, board members suggested exploring the Elks Lodge. Board members again discussed that the cost charged to members and non-members for both the banquet and picninc needs to be raised to keep pace with the increased expenses of these social events. President McLaughlin suggested we might consider raising the member cost for the banquet to $12.00/person.

John Johnson (Investment) requested ideas from the board for article topics for his spring newsletter Investment column. Members suggested three topics – reminders on the tax advantages that sunset in 2009 and 2010; changes to the tax laws governing the conversion of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, e.g. new income limits and ability to spread tax liability over two years; tax implications of using your MRD to donate to charity

Felix Vandewiele (Historian and Consumer Affairs) reported he had prepared the Those No Longer With Us listing for November 2009. See attached report. He reminded members that local restaurants are now offering great deals of food gift cards where you receive a lower denomination card for your use when you purchase cards for others.

Rich Ising (Benefits) had no new benefits items to report. Chuck Briggs suggested that we consider contacting both Alan Kirsch and Gary Goodson, retired INL lawyers, to see if they would consider being on the board. They would be a great asset to our board and could assist the benefits committee with potential COLA actions. President McLaughlin volunteered to contact both Alan and Gary. He will extend an invitation to join IREA and serve on the board.

Nancy Carlson and Chuck Briggs (Program Committee co-chairs) discussed potential speakers for the spring general meeting. Jim Dace, director of BEA HR, has agreed to speak at the spring meeting. Nancy will contact Jackie Flowers, manager of Idaho Falls Power, to see if she can provide a speaker to discuss local and regional power generation issues as well as an overview of what a smart grid is. Rich Ising will check the schedule at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Community Center to see if we can reserve both May19 and 26, 2010. If those dates work for the Center then Nancy will contact the speakers and see which date they prefer. The preferred start time for the spring general meeting is 3 PM.

New Business: Dan Yurman suggested IREA consider becoming a 501-3c organization. This would allow us to solicit sponsors for our newsletter, banquet, and picnic as the sponsor could write-off the cost of their sponsorship.

Nancy Carlson asked the board if they would be willing to have a speaker from the local 2010 census office give a short presentation at one of our 2010 board meetings; the board agreed.

The December 2009 meeting was adjourned at 4:15 PM.

The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, January 21, 2010, at 3 PM at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center.

Secretary, Nancy Carlson.

ATTACHMENTS:

ATTACHMENTS (con’t):

MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR 12-17-09 BOARD MEETING (LeRoy Meyer)

There were 30 members that renewed their membership since the last board meeting.

One member on the inactive list died. This was Orville R. Meyer. He was removed from the list.

There were two new members during this period, Rick McCracken and Patricia S. Ullom. She lives in Las Vegas, NV.

The statistics now show that 100% of the active members have paid their 2009 dues. This breaks down to 156 members that have paid $10 and 242 that have paid $8. Members who pay their dues between November 1 and the end of the year will be credited for 2010. For 2010 we have 64.8 % of the members that have paid which breaks down to 69 that paid $10:00 and 190 that have paid $8:00. We now have 400 active members.

There are 154 on the inactive list and 14 on the information list. The information list consists of ten widows, two INL Employee Assoc. leaders and two leaders of retired associations from other nuclear facilities.

THOSE NO LONGER WITH US for November 2009 (Felix Vandewiele)

Those who died other than November 2009

Glennys Lynn "Lynn" Olson (67) died on 8/3/09. She worked at INL for several research groups in an administrative support capacity. Her last assignment, before her retirement, was as a senior administrative secretary for the director of the Materials Science group.

November 2009

Francis Lawton "Skeets" Bentzon (89) died 11/2/09. He worked at the INL as a Nuclear Physicist for 30 years, starting in 1954 and retiring in 1985. Prior to that he worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, NM.

Sally Jean "Gott" Amar (52) died 11/4/09. She worked at the INL for several years.

John Jay Pitman (87) died 11/4/09.He started work at the INL in 1956 as a Maintenance Carpenter and retired in1980 having worked 23 years.

Verl Lee Bitter (80) died 11/11/09. He worked at the INL as an Instrument Tech at CPP. He also became a Foreman and retired in 1993.

Archie E. Ker (78) died 11/19/09. He worked at the INL as a Photographer for Westinghouse.

Joanne Marie Richter Flinn (70) died 11/24/09. She worked at the INL for DOE-ID as a Personnel Specialist.

Arthur Woodrow Reynolds (94) died 11/26/09. He worked at the INL starting in 1959 with Phillips Petroleum Co. and retired as a Health and Safety Technician in 1981.

Paul Reed Arnsberger (76) died 11/28/09. He worked at the INL for Argonne National Laboratory for 30 years, retiring in 1994.

Janet Lindsay Croley (71) died 11/29/09. She worked at the INL.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The IREA Board meeting was called to order at 3:05 PM by Vice-President, Johnson. The Board members in attendance were LeRoy Meyer, Nancy Carlson, Felix Vandewiele, Rich Ising, Everett Gruen, Chuck Briggs, and Gary Johnsen. A quorum was established. Secretary, Nancy Carlson, recorded the minutes for the meeting.

The October 2009 IREA Board meeting minutes were approved as distributed.

Norm Kramer (Treasurer) was unable to attend, but provided a treasury report via email to all board members. See attached report.

LeRoy Meyer (Membership) provided an update on IREA membership. See attached report.

Everett Gruen (Publicity Committee co-chair) reported the website is up to date. Gary Johnsen reported he is still trying to locate an accountant who would be willing to audit IREA’s financials for free so we could take advantage of the USPS non-profit bulk mailing rate. His initial two CPAs contacts are semi-retired and are not still certified to do audits, but he has an additional contact he will pursue. There was some discussion of the new USPS mailing regulations and the impact of those regulations on our newsletter mailing process. John Flinn (Publicity co-chair) was unable to attend the meeting. He has full knowledge of the mailing regulations so the board decided to defer further discussions until John can brief us on the regulations and our options. Lastly, the board members agreed that the newsletter mailing needs to have more members involved in the stamping, labeling, and mailing processes as the job is too time consuming for one board member.

Carol Jones (Social) was unable to attend. Board members again discussed that the cost charged to members and non-members for both the banquet and picninc needs to be raised to keep pace with the increased expenses of these social events.

John Johnson (Investment) provided an update to the CD rates article he wrote for our November 2009 newsletter. Local CD interest rates have dropped a bit and now the rate is more closely linked with the amount deposited into a CD. Also he mentioned that is pays to shop around for the best rates – usually found at credit unions.

Felix Vandewiele (Historian and Consumer Affairs) reported he had prepared the Those No Longer With Us listing for October 2009. See attached report. There were no consumer affairs items discussed. As part of IREA’s electronic history, Rich Ising reported he had completed a summary of IREA’s COLA activities from 1990 to 2009. Nancy requested that Rich provide her with two letters that detail IREA’s interactions with BEA as those letters are not currently captured in the electronic COLA history.

Rich Ising (Benefits) had no new benefits items to report. Rich did report that he had contacted Dan Yurman, a new member, to explore Dan’s willingness to serve on the Benefits committee and that Dan currently was not in position to serve.

Nancy Carlson and Chuck Briggs (Program Committee co-chairs) queried the board for suggestions on general meetings speakers. The following topics were suggested along with the potential speaker:

·        Nuclear fuel burn tests and results – Dr. Dave Petti of INL

·        Hydrogen generation/fuel cells – Dr. Steve Herring of INL

·        Electric vehicle/battery testing – Tim Murphy and/or Jim Francfort of INL

·        Local and regional power generation issues and smart grid – Jackie Flowers, manager of Idaho Falls Power

Lastly, the board suggested we consider a walking type tour of Idaho Falls power facilities this spring or early summer.

Gary Johnsen (Energy Education) had no report.

Unfinished Business:

Nancy reported on the November 5, 2009 meeting she and president, Tom McLaughlin, had with Mike Sponseller and Amy Lientz of BEA public affairs (PA). The report is attached.

Rich reported he finally was able to contact Judge Herndon (now retired from the bench) about the need for IREA to have liability insurance for board members. Judge Herndon stated he saw no need for the board to purchase such insurance as all our social events are catered and/or are held at reputable establishments.

The November 2009 meeting was adjourned at 4:30 PM.

The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, December 17, 2009, at 3 PM at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center. Rich will check with the Senior Citizens Center to see if they will prepare finger foods if board members reimburse them for the cost. Nancy will bring paper plates, napkins, and cups.

Secretary, Nancy Carlson.

ATTACHMENTS:

ATTACHMENTS (con’t):

MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR 11-19-09 BOARD MEETING (LeRoy Meyer)

There were 17 members that renewed their membership since the last board meeting. One member, Jess J. Aguirre, indicated he would help with Social Events. His phone number is 523-3059. He also wanted to know if we were having a Christmas party with no kids allowed.

One member died. This was Robert E. Gray. He was paid up through 2010 and his widow was transferred to the information list. She will get the newsletter through 2010. We received a death notice from her.

There was one new member during this period. This was Michael R. Groh who paid up for 5 years. He had checked the following committees that he would be willing to serve on:  Membership, Consumer Affairs, Energy Education, Senior PC Assistance Patrol, Investments, or Benefits. His phone number is 534-3253.

The statistics now show that 100% of the active members have paid their 2009 dues. This breaks down to 156 members that have paid $10 and 242 that have paid $8. Members who pay their dues between November 1 and the end of the year will be credited for 2010. For 2010 we have 57.3 % of the members that have paid which breaks down to 43 that paid $10:00 and 185 that have paid $8.00. We now have 398 active members.

There are 155 on the inactive list and 14 on the information list. The information list consists of ten widows, two INL Employee Assoc. leaders and two leaders of retired associations from other nuclear facilities.

THOSE NO LONGER WITH US for October 2009 (Felix Vandewiele)

Those who died other than October 2009

Robert "Bob" E. Gray, 86, died 9/29/09. He worked at the INL for AEC in 1951 as Chief of the Courier & Shipment Section and later as a Security Inspector. From 1978 until 1987 he worked for EG&G as a Security Inspector then became a Consultant for DOE retiring in 1991.

October 2009

Debra "Debbie" Kaye Norman Grigg, 51, died 10/4/09. She worked at the INL as a Security Guard for 8 years.

Sylvia Gayle Barnett, 71, died 10/10/09. She worked at the INL for a short time.

Orville R. Meyer, 83, died 10/21/09. He worked at the INL on projects to improve the safety of nuclear power plants. In his last 3 years before retiring in 1992, he was the principal investigator for the analysis of unusual operating events at nuclear power plants.

Teresa Lynne Daniels, 51, died 10/26/09. She worked at the INL as an Administrative Assistant.

Norberto "Nole" Gonzales, 77, died 10/30/09. He started working at the INL in 1966 with Westinghouse followed by other contractors and retired in1991.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS – SUMMARY OF 11-5-09 MEETING WITH BEA PA

On November 5, 2009 IREA president, Tom McLaughlin, and secretary/program chair, Nancy Carlson met with BEA PA Director, Amy Lientz, and deputy director, Mike Sponseller. Mike and Amy established that they will continue to alert both Tom and Nancy of INL activities that are open to retirees. These include events like the INL summer picnic, speakers series, open houses, etc. Nancy requested that PA provided the information as soon as details are set so we can alert members via e-mail and newsletters, when possible. Additionally PA will continue to include announcements about IREA events in iNotes. Nancy was directed to continue to send IREA event details to Mike Sponseller; he will handle the iNotes details.

The possibility was discussed of getting an IREA membership benefits letter and application form included in an INL “mass” mailing to retirees. The idea is to piggyback with an INL planned retiree mailing. Amy suggested contacting Jim Dace, HR Director, to discuss this possibility.

We discussed potential newsletter articles relating to laboratory research and operations happenings as well as potential INL speakers for general meetings. Mike and Amy reinforced that IREA can run articles that have been developed and approved by DOE; Mike is the contact point for gaining access to these articles. The following were discussed:

• Now that the status of INL Fellow is no longer a pay level but rather based on a Fellow’s contribution to the body of science knowledge, articles that summarizes who are the current INL Fellows and their accomplishments might be of interest to retirees. The PA contact for that article is Keith Arterburn.
• There are a host of new facilities that have been constructed, are under construction, or planned over the next five years. An article on this new infrastructure will help retirees to connect with the fact that INL is an integral part of the energy future of the US. Rick Bolton is the PA contact for infrastructure articles.
• Although not currently written, PA anticipates developing articles, over the next twelve months, about the past, present, and future of several INL complexes. There are plans to prepare articles on two complexes that would be of great interest to retirees – Reactor Technology Complex (RTC – this is the new name for Advanced Test Reactor complex) and Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC – the new name for the former Argonne-West complex). The contact for these articles is Teri Ehresman, but it will most likely be late next year until the articles would be completed and approved by DOE.
• Steve Aueimer has a super grasp of the complexities of energy and science issues and their interconnections. He would be a good speaker to spark ideas in folks. Plus he has great knowledge of Argonne-West, National & Homeland Security, nuclear science and engineering issues, and renewable energy.
• The head of BEA HR is Jim Dace; he would be a potential speaker to discuss current and potential INL benefits topics. Additionally, BEA HR is actively looking into benefit products that would be of interest to retirees so he might be able to provide an update on what is being explored.
• INL has an active Symposia series with multiple presenters a month. Many of the presenters are from organizations other than the INL with most presentations held in the EROB conference room; thus one does not need a security badge to attend the presentations. Mike volunteered to work with the Symposia lead, Michelle Blacker of INL PA, so that the upcoming speaker schedule will be shared with IREA members via our newsletters. The presentations cover a wide range of technical and scientific topics that members will find interesting. Note, at the November board meeting Nancy stated she would send notification of Symposia speakers, not already listed in our newsletters, to Everett for distribution via email.

We also discussed the potential of holding a bus tour of the site. The tour would be a drive-by with no walking so our older retirees could participate. Amy strongly endorsed this tour and directed Mike and Nancy to work out details. The hope is to hold the tour in the late spring or early summer of 2010.

Lastly, we discussed the change in BEA’s CFO. The new BEA CFO is Ron Paige. He comes to INL from a business in Laguna Beach, CA so he came to INL from outside the BEA family of companies. Once we have solid, research data based on the Mercer report, COLAs received at other DOE facilities, and a draft INL retirees’ COLA plan, dialogue with Ron would be a potential first step.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

The IREA Board meeting was called to order at 3:02 PM by President, Tom McLaughlin. The Board members in attendance were LeRoy Meyer, Nancy Carlson, Felix Vandewiele, Rich Ising, Norm Kramer, John Flinn, and Gary Johnsen. A quorum was established. Secretary, Nancy Carlson, recorded the minutes for the meeting.

The September 2009 IREA Board meeting minutes were approved as corrected.

Norm Kramer (Treasurer) provided a treasury report. See attached report. Norm reported that he included a summary of 2009 expenses. The board discussed the potential need to raise, by a few dollars, the cost of both the banquet and picnic as the expense of both social events have risen over the past several years due to the increasing cost of food.

LeRoy Meyer (Membership) provided an update on IREA membership. See attached report.

John Flinn (Publicity Committee co-chair) reported that he will handle the fall newsletter mailing process. LeRoy provided John with labels for the mailing, and Nancy Carlson reported she would take the formatted newsletter to ZipPrint on Monday, October 19, 2009. John’s goal is to get the newsletters mailed by October 27 2009. The mailing date works well for alerting those members, who are eligible to enroll in 2010 benefits plans of the major contractors, of each contractor’s November enrollment period dates. There was further discussion on the paperwork IREA needs to submit to the post office to qualify for the nonprofit mailing rate. To obtain this nonprofit status requires an accountant audit each year. It is assumed that the cost of paying for such an audit would negate any savings IREA could realize from the nonprofit mailing rate. Gary Johnsen reported he is still investigating if he can locate an accountant who would be willing to audit IREA’s financials for free. He hopes to report back to the board at the November meeting.

Carol Jones (Social) was not able to attend the board meeting but indicated, via email, she had nothing to report. The board discussed the possibility of investigating the Elks Lodge as the location for the spring banquet. Tom McLaughlin reported that an organization he is involved in used the Elks recently for a banquet; the food was good and the cost was reasonable.

John Johnson (Investment) was not able to attend so there was no investment committee report.

Felix Vandewiele (Historian and Consumer Affairs) reported he had prepared the Those No Longer With Us listing for September 2009. See attached report. As part of the IREA electronic history effort, Tom provided Rich Ising with two letters about BEA’s stance on a COLA for retirees. Rich will include this information in his COLA 1990-2009 summary. Additionally, Nancy Carlson will check the current electronic records to see if the two BEA related COLA letters are part of our electronic history and alert Rich if he needs to provide those copies to her for scanning.

Rich Ising (Benefits) reported that he included the Retirement and Investment Plan statistics provided by Mark Scrogham at