Hello all,
We had a Group meeting via zoom on April 20th to discuss the plans for the annual seminar in October.  Wednesday Smith, Vice-chair started the meeting at 10:00 am.

There was no old business and Dennis gave the treasurers report.

We had some new business: We have found a volunteer that would like to become our new webmaster. He is Paul Molisani who owns a software program for tracking backflow records. He is a BAT in the Portland, Oregon. He has been to a few of our seminars and always reads the minutes to stay active with the Group. He has some great new ideas for our web page, and we are happy to have him. Technically, he must be appointed by the Chair, and Jeff was not present at the meeting. So, making him an officer is on hold for now.

So, on to seminar business, the first question that came up is: do we want to go in person or zoom. Dennis has everything set up at La Quinta in Tacoma, but it is temporary. If we have an person meeting, Scott from GRCC suggested that we should check out a few different venues. He would like to check out McGavick Conference Center-Clover Park Technical and Bates Technical College. We thought of somewhere towards Skagit County, but Courtney from Skagit PUD knew of nothing other than the casinos, which apparently pretty spendy. The Lynnwood Convention Center was discussed as well. We will check with these places to see what options are available. There was also a discussion of the possibility of a hybrid seminar (in person plus online). That, of course would depend on where the meeting would be held and if we have the technology available. Scott thinks he has the equipment to make that happen, but the location may make a difference. This would make presentations easier for speakers that would otherwise need to travel.

I am asking the question to you all: Do you prefer a Zoom virtual meeting or an in-person meeting?? Your opinions matter. Please send me a quick email if you could share and I will pass it on to the other officers. It will help the officers make decisions that work best for the majority of our members. CEUs will be awarded either way. mailto:TheGroup2021@outlook.com

We had a quick discussion regarding these multi-family buildings with the businesses below (Mixed Use) and the best way to protect. Tim explained that Woodinville has two different meters, one commercial and one residential to accommodate for different rate structures. Bypasses in parallel are a good idea, but still must have the same backflow protection as the main line. This could be a good topic for a Group meeting. New dynamics and new challenges are coming with grey water and recycled water coming into play. Tim and Paul will do some investigation to see if there is someone that could present to us regarding water re-use for the seminar. This discussion got Bill from DOH wondering if any of our purveyor members have taken their cross-connection plan to premise isolation only. We would like to hear from anyone that has completed that program from policy to actual implementation.

We are thinking about an L & I discussion and possibly having an attorney present to speak of legalities and responsibilities for purveyors and BATS.  So, with all of these questions looming in the air, the officers are going to have an executive meeting early in May. Hopefully we will have all of the information we will need to make all of these decisions and move forward. Remember your opinion matters so please get back to us very soon, it will influence our decisions. Also, please remember to pay your dues by May 30th.

More to come.
Have a great day!
Kathy Caldwell
Group Secretary