Greetings Group Members!

The regular monthly meeting was hosted by Brian Gumke at Northshore Utility District.

2019 officer nominations and elections were held and the 2019 meeting calendar was planned.

The meeting was called to order by Chair Mick Holte at 10:05 am,

Introductions were made and those in attendance were…Debbie Crooks City of Kent, Carla Snyder Coal Creek Utility District Secretary, Steve Deem from DOH, Katarina Hirai Silver Lake Water and Sewer District, Julie Davis City of Marysville, Bob Eastwood Retired, Chris Sutton Backflows NW, Wednesday Smith City of Redmond Webmaster, Dennis McLaughlin Treasurer, Brian Gumke Northshore Utility District, Jeff Kobylk City of Edmonds, Mick Holte City of Renton, Megan Bardsley BAT, Heidi Hiatt City of Kirkland, Dale Baxmann Seattle Public Utilities, Scott Hemingway WETRC, and Dominic McLaughlin BAT/Certification Services.

Our Treasurer Dennis reported of balance of $30,999.00 in the Groups account.

Dennis also followed up on liability insurance for nonprofit organizations; one price quote he received was $1,700 per year. The Group had questions about what our liability risks are.

A motion was made by Dale Baxmann to create a committee to get legal advice not to exceed $1,000.00 to determine if the liability insurance is needed and report back to the Group. The motion was seconded by Wednesday Smith, all voted in favor. The motion passed, the committee members will be Scott H, Chris S, and Mick H.

2019 Group officer elections were held,

The 2019 Group officers are,

Chair Jeff Kobylk, City of Edmonds

Vice Chair Brian Gumke, Northshore Utility District

Secretary Katarina Hirai, Silver Lake Water and Sewer District

Past Chair Mick Holte, City of Renton

Treasurer Dennis McLaughlin retired BAT

Welcome new officers and thank you for taking interest in the Group, its looking to be a great 2019 please take time thank these folks we cannot do this without members who step up and take an active role! Congratulations 2019 Officers!

Planning the 2019 meeting calendar.

A list of suggested topics from members who attended the annual seminar was provided, after Group discussion, we have a 2019 calendar. This will be attached to this email.

Towards the end of the meeting there was discussion about a DCVA with mixed parts that Dominic brought to our attention.

Wilkins has released an assembly that is NOT USC approved.

The body is a Wilkins 950XLT2 and the shut off valves are approved for the 950 XLT.

The shut off valves are not lead free and there is a tag on the assembly that states the assembly is not approved for potable water.

For quick reference, the handles are blue not green, the green indicates lead free, and the valve bodies are more of a gold color than the main body of the assembly.

USC has not approved the assembly in this configuration. Here are a couple pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the winner of Dennis’s oil painting raffle. Jeff Kobylk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for now! The next meeting will be about the ever loved ASR with Bill Bernier, at Tacoma Public Utilities, 3628 S 35th ST, Tacoma, 98409, meeting starts at 10am. Remember to renew your membership dues for 2019 if you haven’t already, you can check your status on the backflowgroup.org web site under the membership tab. I have attached the form.

Happy New Year everyone!

Carla Snyder/2018 Group Secretary.