Florida Chapter
Board of Directors
Meeting Minutes
Orlando, Florida
September 30,2000

Meeting called to order at 8:03 by President Ben Cotroneo.
The Chair led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chaplain Terry Summerell gave the invocation.
Secretary Lee Wansor called the attendance. Attendees were Koert Van Wormer, Don Brindley, Max Godwin, Nelson Montgomery, Terry Summerell, Eric Wasser, Maynard Hamilton, Ben Cotroneo, Jim Sennello, John Martin, Dallas Stratton, Clarence Wilson, Tomas Menendez, Bob Moore, Tom Lasprogato, Joe Bolesina, David Hawkins, Tim Wright, Pete Pluta, Leonard Devine, Dave Appler, Tim Van Fossen, Robert Stickles, Larry Fuhrman, Jake Wright, Dick Widera, Ruben Rocha, Jack Topley Jr., Larry Cogburn, and Andy Shipley.
Secretary Wansor mentioned to the Chair that we had a quorum at which time the Chair opened the meeting.
Secretary Wansor stated that the minutes from the previous Board meeting had been misplaced at which time Koert Van Wormer motioned to accept the misplaced minutes and was seconded by Leonard Devine. Motion passed.
President Koert Van Wormer in his report stated that he would defer most of his topics of discussion to later on in the agenda. He did state that he was looking for volunteers for committee appointments and he was looking for workers for these slots and that he will have these assignments for the January Board Meeting.
Treasurer Eric Wasser reported that he had opened the new checking account in June. Ben Cotroneo that asked who was authorized to sign the checks. Eric Wasser stated that the Secretary or Treasurer are the only ones authorized.
He than stated that he will have a proposed budget for the January meeting and that he needed input from the President and Secretary to help put it together. Eric Wasser concluded his report by stating that we have received income from the I.O. dues distribution and from several seminars.
Secretary Lee Wansor in his report stated that the reason this meeting was called for was to get the Chapter back on track since the resignation of Dick Widera and for him to get a little more familiar with his job at hand. Secretary Wansor has in his report that he didn’t think anyone realizes what Mr. Widera was up against as past Secretary/Treasurer. He also stated that we need to start communicating better and suggested that everybody get on line, and for those who don’t have computers should give serious consideration to purchasing one. In addition the Secretary pointed out that this meeting is a perfect example of the lack of communication, out of the 40+ attendees only 23 had confirmed to attend this meeting. On another note he then reported that he had invited a Mr. Robert McCormick, Executive Director for the B.O.A.F. to attend the meeting later that morning to present a joint resolution which was included in every body’s packet. He instructed everyone to read the resolution and that we would be voting on it after Mr. McCormick’s presentation.


72nd Southern Section meeting coming up in Atlanta Georgia was reported on by Larry Fuhrman. There seemed to be a problem with the amount of rooms blocked and some members could not get reservation in the main hotel. He then stated that they were looking for ads and donations. Larry also stated he has brochures and application if anybody need them. At that time Secretary Wansor stated that he had submitted a full-page ad on behalf of the Chapter. The Secretary then asked the President, Koert Van Wormer if we should discuss the up coming election at the Southern Section. Larry Fuhrman spoke for several minutes on this subject stating that there was going to probably be a run off between two outstanding candidates, Wayne Lilly and Jim Carpenter, for Office at the I.O. level. Larry also mentioned that this was probably the first time that this has ever happened in the Southern Section. It was also mentioned that it takes about 20 years to go through the Chairs to become a candidate, but that it was not a requirement. After a long discussion on the subject of going through the Chairs versus not going through the Chairs a motion was made by Larry Fuhrman to nominate Wayne Lilly from the floor if he is not on the ballot. Tim Wright seconded motion. Further discussion by Larry Fuhrman clarified that the motion was just to acknowledge the fact that Wayne Lilly had gone through the Chairs and that it was not meant to go against Jimmy Carpenter, we were only nominating him if need be because he went through the Chairs. Motion Passed. A move to reconsider was then submitted by Don Brindley and after considerable discussion Tim Van Fossen amended the motion. Another vote was taken and the motion passed. The motion was that we would nominate anybody that had gone through the Chairs if they were eligible and had not been nominated by the nominating committee. Larry Fuhrman stressed that he is not pursuing this to be self-serving because he will start going through the Chairs this year.
At this time Koert Van Wormer suggested sponsoring a hospitality room at the Southern Section Meeting. After much discussion it was decided that the Chapter would not sponsor a hospitality room.
The Secretary asked Dick Widera if it was past policy to pay the expenditures for the President to attend the Southern Section Meetings. Mr. Widera said that it wasn’t. Larry Fuhrman made a motion that we send the Florida Chapter President to the Southern Section Meeting. Second by Tomas Menendez. During the discussion on the motion Larry Fuhrman amended the motion to put a cap of $750.00 in conjunction with the IAEI travel expenditure policy and that this was only for this year’s Southern Section Meeting and only because Koert’s municipality and division would and could not pay for him. Motion passed.
Leonard Devine brought up the issue of the U.L. rack for the Southern Section Meeting. He asked if anyone could bring the rack up to Georgia. Table to a later time.
Larry Fuhrman mentioned some new items of importance under the Southern Section. First being that Jimmy Bonds was elected and installed as International President. Second the George Welman Chapter was changed to the Southeast Louisiana Chapter. Lastly the addition of Joe Bolesina, Leonard Devine, Steve Fekete, John Travers and Lee Wansor for the code candidate pool and Jimmy Carpenter and Bob Duncan have been appointed as Diamond Jubilee Chairman and Assistant Chairman. Larry Fuhrman also brought up about the bonus point program that in order to receive a code book you must send in a request card. Watch your IAEI magazine for any further changes on this issue.
Break was called at 9:35am
Meeting reconvened at 9:50am
Palm Beach Division reported by Leonard Devine stated that they were solvent. He also mentioned they had a joint seminar with the I.O. with Michael Johnston on June 17th and that it was a very productive meeting with 173 people attending. He then stated they are having another seminar next weekend on October 7th with Mark Ode on Grounding and Bonding. The program will be a power point one and Leonard said that anybody wanted to borrow it to le t him know.
Central Florida Division reported by Jake Wright stated they are solvent and getting stronger each year. He also stated they had a seminar with Jim Pauley on Grounding and Bonding with 70+ attendees. He then mentioned that they are going to have their Third Annual Christmas Party and they are working on next year’s calendar.
Suncoast Division reported by Nelson Montgomery stated they are solvent and that they have had two seminars. One seminar was with Jim Stallcup on 99 Code Changes and the second one with Tarry Baker on the Contractor Requirements. He then mentioned how they are supporting the upcoming apprentices by donating code books and that they are heavy into education for the industry.
Maynard Hamilton Division reported on by Jim Sennello stating they are solvent and that they had a seminar in August and a successful golf tournament in June. He then stated there was some concern of membership dropping slightly as a result of the journeyman not being required to have licenses or continuing education.
Treasure Coast Division reported on by Doug Harvey. He stated he didn’t think there had been any meetings and that he brought the subject up at the Treasure Coast Building Officials meeting to get input from the other Building Officials. The comments from the floor varied from yes they would like to see the IAEI have meetings to remarks of they didn’t think it was a good idea. There are business issues that are preventing getting the meetings together and that some municipalities will not let their inspectors go to the meetings. The question was brought up as to whether the division had any officers. There was no answer to that question, so it was then asked if the division was dissolved. At that time Larry Fuhrman had stated back a few years ago they were put on inactive status. They will stay inactive until they have a slate of officers and apply to this board to become active again. The Chapter had received the balance of their checking last year.
Miami/Dade Division reported on by Tomas Menendez stated that he had good news and that the division has been in suspended animation for the last two years and that there is now a new slate of Officers. Koert Van Wormer stated he had attended their meeting last month and swore in some of the officers that were present and also mentioned that the Division is moving forward.
Florida Gulf Coast Division reported on by Pete Pluta and stated they are solvent and that they had two seminars this year. One seminar by John Minick on Grounding and a One and Two Family by Jim Pauley. Mr. Pluta also mentioned that they are hosting the 2001 Florida Chapter Seminar in Naples and that will be brought up under new business.
North Florida Division reported on by Dan Carter stated they are solvent and the major suppliers of education in the Jacksonville area. Don Brindley is the Education Chairman and put on four seminars this year with more to come. The division has also developed their own web site and hope to use it for a better means of communicating with their members. It was also stated that they have doubled their attendance and will be concentrating on having seminars with the contractor requirements included. Don Brindley stated that the BCAI board is no longer giving provisional licenses unless you have both a back ground in building and electrical these can be obtained by taking an approved 200 hour course in either depending on which one would be needed. Don said he has submitted a 262-hour course to the board for approval.
Panhandle Division reported by David Hawkins stating that they are financially stable and their meetings are very well attended. He then mentioned that Leonard Devine from Palm Beach even came to one. They have had two seminars one on Grounding and the other was a joint seminar with a local contracting organization. Everything is going very well for them according to Mr. Hawkins.
Old Business –
a) 2000 70th Florida Chapter Meeting was reported on by Larry Fuhrman. He stated that it was well attended with 180 inspector members with a total of 310 total attendees. He then thanked Terry Summerell for his help with the registration and that they couldn’t have done it without him. Tim Wright thanked the Division for the rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center even though they had nothing to do with it. Ben Cotroneo also thanked the division for putting on the seminar in such a short notice.
b) Chapter Committee Assignments – Koert Van Wormer stated that we are premature in selecting committee assignments at this time. He did request back in May that he would like to get a list of volunteers and to date as not received any. Koert than stated that he needs input from all the divisions Secretaries. Lee Wansor stated that there seemed to be a conflict with the By-laws in that the committees are appointed in January meanwhile the By-laws stated that the committees will coincide with the Presidents term of Office, which starts in May. Ben Cotroneo and Koert Van Wormer will get together on this issue. Dick Widera then stated that it is reflected in back minutes that the committee terms were to run on a calendar year. Reason being to have the committee’s overlap therefore giving more control. Lee Wansor said that it does make sense in that the incoming President has time to work with the present committees and he than can decide whom he wants to keep. Jack Topley made comment that it sounds like most of the committees are not being productive. He also mentioned that there are only a few people that actually work in these committees. He then suggested that maybe we should start combining some of these committees utilizing the people that are the workers and to try and get some new volunteers onto these committees. Ben Cotroneo also stated that he was made aware of individuals who belong to committees taking upon themselves to represent the chapter. Mr. Cotroneo than stated that we have to do something to help the organization out in regards to these committees. Dick Widera stated that there is nothing preventing us in the By-Laws from combining committees. Dan Carter stated that any policy change that are made as far as committees that we must have better communication and that we have to do it in a timely manner. Koert Van Wormer than brought up about utilizing the web site to resolve the problem of communication. Thanks to Ruben Rocha who put a lot of time and effort in to the web site we all should be taking advantage of this form of communication.
c) By-Laws - in the absence of Tom Bray the committee chairman the Secretary reported the following. The latest copy of the By-Laws in his possession was from 1988, which was confirmed by Dick Widera as being the correct one. At that time the Secretary stated that the I.O. had sent a copy of the Model By-laws and that we need to update our By-Laws to coincide with the model By-Laws with exception of any differences or addition that we have built into ours.
d) Nominations Committee – Tim Wright had no report with exception of what took place at the Cocoa Beach meeting. He thank the committee for coordinating the election, especially since the position of Secretary/Treasurer was separated causing a run off for the Treasurers position and that they had also increased the size of the Board of Directors.
e) Public Relations & Publicity Committee – Clarence Wilson reported that he enjoys working on this committee and focuses most of his efforts on the vocational programs and is in contact with several other organizations. He did state that he would like to remain on this committee.
d) Membership Committee – Pete Pluta reported that the Chapter is up to over 1600 members and that he had nothing further to report.
g) Education/Code Clearing & Code Question Committee – Lee Wansor reported that we need more input in getting code questions. He then stated that at the next Annual Chapter meeting in Naples that the format is going to change similar to what Palm Beach had done a few years ago. Mr. Wansor mentioned that will be 2-hour sessions on specific topics being taught by specific instructors, along with a code question session. The Board was than asked what they felt would be applicable a 2 or 4 hour code question session. Maynard Hamilton made a motion for a 4-hour session, which was seconded by John Martin. After several minutes of discussion the motion passed. It was suggested that the instructors try and relate their topics to the 2002 NEC.
h) Electrical Fire and Accident Committee – In the absence of John Travers, Eric Wasser spoke and stated that he has been clipping out articles and sending them in to the Chairman and suggested that each division do the same. The electrocution of the 15-year-old boy who was killed in Miami was mentioned and it was apparently caused by the mechanical breakdown of the conductors shorting out on a light pole at a tennis court. In addition the case of the 12-year-old boy that was killed at the bus stop was also brought up. Mr. Wansor stated Mike Holt had contacted him for any information that might aid him in being an expert witness for a supervisor who is being brought up on manslaughter charges under this case. Mike asked that anybody who might have heard of anybody being brought up on manslaughter charges similar to this case to please contact him.
i) Legislative Committee – In the absence of Chairman Tarry Baker, Joe Bolesina stated there was no report.
j) Fiscal Affairs Committee – Larry Fuhrman reported stated the committee wanted to start getting a budget that would be pre-approved instead of post approval. This will be presented at the January Board meeting utilizing the Southern Section format. He also stated that the Fiscal Affairs Committee would meet prior to the May meeting to go over the fiscal affairs of the chapter.
k) Annual Meeting Negotiation Committee – Ben Cotroneo reported that Pete Pluta and he had a handle on the negotiations for Naples and that they would forward the final negotiation to Koert Van Wormer, Larry Fuhrman and Bob Duncan. Larry Fuhrman mentioned that the actual committee also should be made up of a person who negotiated the previous meeting and a person who will be involved in negotiating the next meeting.
Terry Summerell volunteered to be on this committee.


l) Insurance invoicing to Divisions - Secretary Wansor stated that Eric Wasser would handle this, since Mr. Wasser is the Treasurer. Eric stated he has paid up the premium instead of making monthly installments. Eric than stated that he will be invoicing each division with a new Quicken program that he will be purchasing. Dick Widera brought up that there was some discussion of possibly changing insurance carrier. Eric stated he had not heard of any discussion and he felt comfortable with the present carrier. Invoicing should go out sometime between January and March next year.
m) Florida Building Commission Update – Don Brindley stated that all electrical addenda are being thrown out and the only thing electrical is the 99 NEC in Chapter 27. Leonard Devine said he had submitted the same addendum’s to the NEC and all were rejected. Secretary Wansor stated he put in each packet a copy of all the deletions in the Florida Building Code to date. He then pointed out that one major concern was that they took out all of the administrative section in the code. Don Brindley stated there is a court case challenging the code. Doug Harvey stated that the administrative section was taken out of the law because it was intended and written to only be a technical code. It was also stated that this code is not intended to promote privatization.
n) 2003 Diamond Jubilee Meeting – Secretary stated he had been in touch with Bob Duncan and that he had nothing to report at this time. Everyone was reminded to fill out the questionnaire in the IAEI magazine and to bring it up at your division meetings.
o) 2003 Annual Chapter Meeting – Discussion was brought to the floor about a possible conflict with the Diamond Jubilee. It was the consensus of the body that there shouldn’t be any conflict and that we should still hold it if at all possible at the original location in Fort Lauderdale. Dick Widera then stated that our Annual meeting would be held at 16 months, which would be in conflict of the By-Laws if we don’t have our Annual May meeting.
p) Web Page – Ruben Rocha said he is opened to suggestions for anything you might want on the web page and requested that everyone that is online should be registered.

At this time Bob McCormick gave a presentation on the Resolution known as the
Florida Building Safety Coalition between the IAEI, Building Officials Association of Florida and FAPGMI. After hearing the resolution and discussion a motion was made by Dick Widera and seconded by Don Brindley to approve of the resolution. Motion Passed. Another discussion was brought up about allowing a Threshold Inspector on the Florida Building Commission. A motion was made by Larry Fuhrman and Seconded by Don Brindley to allow the Coalition to send a letter to the Governor stating that we are not in favor of this. Motion passed.
q) Other old Business – Leonard Devine brought up the problem with the Treasure Coast Division. Several people stated that they would be glad to go and help them out to get them on track again. Ben Cotroneo stated that we need to have a decision by January. It was also discussed about the members at large being absorbed into close Divisions or forming new Divisions.


New Business
a) 2000 72nd Southern Section Meeting- already discussed
b) 2001 71st Executive Board Meeting January 13th 2001 Pete Pluta stated that it was all set and announcements would be going out in about two weeks. Discussion then pursued about not having the January board meetings at the same place as the Annual Chapter Meeting in May. Don Brindley mentioned a central location such as Ocala.
c) Format for 71st Annual Chapter Meeting – the meeting will consist of one 4-hour code session and 5- 2 hour classes on different topics by the different code panelists. Opening ceremony will be Thursday afternoon with a code panel session starting at 8 am Friday. Jack Topley stated that it is the responsibility for the Secretary to contact the code panelists for the annual meeting. Don Brindley has a 2 hour pool course for back up. Larry Fuhrman suggested a 2-hour ADA course.
d) Future State Meetings – Koert Van Wormer suggested having them at one location each year and that the Cocoa Beach Hilton was willing to do so. It was agreed and voted upon that the September Board meeting be held in one location but not the Annual General meeting, motion passed.
e) New ECLB Requirements – Secretary Wansor stated that the new requirements must be adhered to by April 2001. If new requirements are not adhered to heavy fines will be instituted and possible loss of sponsorship. The Secretary than stated that all courses given by any Division must go through his office because of the new requirements.
f) New ECLB Course – Secretary Wansor stated that we have a new approved course, which is a 2-hour one under Article 516 Health Care Facilities with Mark Ode listed as the instructor.
g) Sponsorship Renewal – Needs to be done in January 2001.
h) Florida Unified Building Code Training Program – The Secretary stated he had taken a course provided by FSU and found it to be very interesting. Only to find out later that FSU is backing out of training for the FBC and that DCA is regrouping.
i) Safety Coalition – discussed previously
j) International Code Council (ICC) Electrical Code – Secretary Wansor stated there was a move not only by the ICC but also the IEC to get a new national electrical code. There was discussion stating that these codes seem to be a soft version of the NEC.
k) NFPA Building Code – The Secretary said that in their agenda packet that there was an article on the NFPA developing a Building code in competition with the International Code.
l) NFPA 780 – Secretary Wansor said there was a vote being taken this week to eliminate Article 780 Lightning Protection back to 1997.
m) Fire Alarm Inspections – Secretary Wansor stated that there is a letter from the State Fire Marshall to the Secretary of State that unless an inspector is state certified as an electrical contractor you can not inspect fire alarms. It was the general consensus that Fire Inspectors can inspect placement of devices but not the wiring there of.
n) Honorary Member Dues - The Secretary stressed that Division and Chapter Honorary Membership Dues must be paid accordingly. After much discussion it was concluded that we must find out who is an Honorary Division, State or Section member, to determine who pays for whom. Larry Fuhrman stated that whomever initially sponsored the individual an Honorary Member would be the one to pay for his or her dues.
o) Sun-Sentinel Article – Manslaughter charges discussed earlier.
p) Phone, Fax & e-mail Numbers - Need Updates
q) Registration – Joe Bolesnia reiterated that $5.00 of all seminar registrations utilizing state-approved courses must be remitted to the state.
r) Budget – Expenses for the Secretary and Treasurer for the time being be brought to January Board meeting and a budget should be presented at that time. Larry Fuhrman asked that he be supplied with a proposed budget prior to the January meeting.

In closing Ben Cotroneo stated he wanted to thank everybody for coming and that he appreciated the amount of business conducted.

Meeting adjourned 3:03 PM