Greetings to all the Group members.
First, we would like to report that the Group now has 202 active members. After the October seminar, we gained 57 new members. We would like to thank all our Group for their continued interest and support and welcome the new members.
November has traditionally been the nominations and voting in new officers. We carried out this meeting virtually. Those in attendance were Wednesday Smith, Batgirl Backflow Testing; Dennis
McLaughlin, Treasurer; Jeff Kobylk, City of Edmonds; Tim Cantwell and Delynn, Woodinville Water District; Carla Snyder, Coal Creek Water; Brian Gumke, Northshore Utility District; Katarina Hirai, Silver Lake Water and Sewer; John Anderson, Sammamish Plateau Water; and Dale Baxmann, SPU.
As you may have noticed on the front page, our new Chair is Jeff Kobylk. Bylaws state that every year the Vice Chair is appointed to Chair. We would like to give Mick Holte a great big thank you for acting as Chair for the 2021 year. His activity with our Group has been appreciated and productive. We are sure he will continue to be an active member. With that being said, Wednesday Smith was nominated and unanimously voted in as Vice Chair by the members that were present at the meeting. She also agreed to keep maintaining the Web Page for us. Dennis McLaughlin and Kathy Caldwell were also unanimously voted in to remain as the treasurer and secretary.
Dennis reported the treasury balance including the income from the virtual seminar. We have decided that due to possible scammers showing interest in our website, we’ve decided that reporting our balance may not be a good idea. If for some reason a member would like that information, please contact Dennis. There was some discussion about offering up some new grants to upcoming interested folks that may choose to follow some type of drinking water career. More to come on that. Unrelated, the present members also voted unanimously to hire a private computer technician to support the secretary’s hardware and computer issues that arise on occasion.
The next meeting on December 15th , we will discuss next year’s meeting topics and set a schedule for everyone to see. With so many new members, we hope for some new fresh discussion topics. If you have ideas or even better, would like to do a virtual presentation, we would love to hear from you. If you don’t or can’t attend the meeting, please just email Kathy at thegroup2021@outlook.com and I’ll share your ideas with the others. Below is the link for the December meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85778950284?pwd=bzBBYmxzbVpHTUJVYXVpN1o3RGZTdz09
Meeting ID: 857 7895 0284
Passcode: 563225
Dial by your location
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 857 7895 0284
Passcode: 563225
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ksVd8Bwpd
Also, folks, it is very important for everyone to renew their membership by paying their dues. Last year, we did not collect dues because of the sporadic meeting events due to COVID. So, now is the time to bring yourself up to date! Dues should be in by December 31st . If you are not sure of your status, go the webpage https://backflowgroup.org/. Check out the membership list. To the right of your name, you will see a 21 or a 22 or whatever your status may be. If you believe there may be a mistake let us know. The membership renewal form can be accessed on our webpage, or on the link below. It is best to simply send a check to The Group at the given PO Box, but if you must use a credit card, please call our treasurer, Dennis McLaughlin at 206 364 9643.
Click here to download the membership form: download
