IRCA Archive# 127 - Meeting Minutes January 8, 2008

To: ALL IRCA Member and Friends of IRCA
From: Co-Chairman
Date: 2/12/08
Subject: Meeting Minutes January 8, 2008
IRCA Archive # 127

January 8, 2008 IRCA Meeting Minutes

Meeting was held at the Bolingbrook Holiday Inn

Opening Remarks – President Marty Hettel called the meeting to order and welcomed all friends and members. A brief safety presentation was discussed in case of an emergency.

Presidents Report – Marty Hettel (AEP Memco)

President Hettel opened the meeting by following up on a few open items from the previous meeting.

Marty notified the group that grounding reports are being distributed to the group again for informational purposes. This helps keep industry informed of problem areas. A special thanks to Capt. Ritchey for her assistance.

A review of the current IRCA meeting schedule concluded that we need to remain with a five (5) meetings per year schedule. There will be no change to the published schedule.

Captains Committee Report – Quent Harris (B&H Towing)

• A meeting has been scheduled for January 14th to discuss navigational concerns regarding the construction of the new locks. The meeting will be held at Mel-Price Lock.
• The ice report has been favorable to date with very few problems being encountered. Conference calls will be scheduled when the ice begins to create problems.

Captains Committee Report – Darren Melvin (Hanson)

• A meeting has been scheduled for January 11th by the Southwest Economic Development Committee in Chicago that will reveal the City’s future plans for south Chicago. Todd Hudson will attend on behalf of the Association.
• A meeting was held on December 12th with the UCSG and Chicago Planning Department to discuss a proposal that would require a 17’ buildout just above Lake Street. We have asked that the plan be presented on an aerial view and that buoys be placed in the water indicating the extent of the proposal so comments can be requested from mariners.
• A meeting has been scheduled with USCG on January 25th at the Burr Ridge office. The meeting will include local members of Industry. The meeting has been initiated by Commander Mehler and the purpose is to share information on common issues.
• A meeting has been scheduled with officials at Bi-Centennial Park in Joliet to discuss mooring at the Park. Darren Melvin will attend on behalf of the association along with staff from MSU Chicago.

Todd Ude from Teng and Associates discussed the proposal options for the Beardstown Bridge project. The options did not seem to have an effect on Navigation channel but may impact fleeting in the area. The group recommended that the options be presented to the local fleeter.

IRCA Business – During the break a private members only session was held to discuss IRCA business. The group re-elected two officers for an additional 3 year term. Jay McDaniel from Kirby Corporation and Todd Hudson from ARTCO will both serve an additional 3 year term. Also, Terry Wiltz of Florida Marine was elected to a 3 year term replacing Quent Harris from B&H Towing (AEP). Terry will be assuming duties of the Captains Committee Chairman. The Board of Directors would like to compliment Quent Harris for a job well done.

Mike Cox – USACE, Mike updated the group on the current high water event on the Illinois Waterway. Mike pointed out that we are using the waterway action plan for the 5th time on the Illinois and it seems to be working well. There are many staff changes that have occurred on the IWW. Dick Moss, Dave Hood, Larry Collins, and Jim Hart have all retired. Larry Rodriguez will assume duties as Lockmaster at Marseilles Lock.

Mike discussed the recent closures at O’Brien Lock due to reverse flow conditions. The USACE will meet with the MWRD to discuss the issues and work on operational agreements.

Mike Zerbonia, USACE – Mike updated the group on the location of repair crews on the Illinois River.

Steve Hungness, USACE – Steve informed the group that Chuck Shea has returned to work. The USACE has received authority to maintain and operate the fish barriers indefinitely. COL Jack Drolet will be leaving command of the Chicago District to assume command of the Southern region in Iraq.

LCDR Tim Whalen, USCG – Tim informed the group that Capt. Ritchey will be retiring this summer.

CMDR Paul Mehler, USCG – Paul thanked the group for the cooperation during the salvation operation near Romeoville to search for a woman missing from Bolingbrook. Paul informed the group that a draft report has been received from the Navy experimental dive group regarding testing at the fish barrier. The report is being reviewed and comments will be sent to the Navy prior to the final report.

Attendees:

Mike Cox, USACE, michael.d.cox@mvr02@usace.army.mil
Matt Stewart, USACE, matt.e.stewart@usace.army.mil
Mike Zerbonia, USACE, michael.p.zerbonia@usace.army.mil
LCDR Tim Whalen, USCG- St. Louis, timothy.j.whalen@uscg.mil
CMDR Paul Mehler, USCG – Chicago, paul.mehler@uscg.mil
Brock Nelson, USCG – Chicago, brock.e.nelson@uscg.mil
Sean Rock, USCG – Chicago, sean.w.rock@uscg.mil
Todd Ude, Teng and Assoc., udetc@teng.com
Jay McDaniel, Kirby, jay.mcdaniel@kirbycorp.com
Michael Ebey, Florida Marine, mebey@flmarine.com
Dale Grimshaw, ARTCO, d_grimshaw@admworld.com
Randy Simmonds, ARTCO, r_simmonds@admworld.com
Doug Morgan, USACE, Douglas.s.morgan@usace.army.mil
Larry Rodriguez, USACE, larry.m.rodriguez@usace.army.mil
Rick Dykstra, Midwest Marine, rickdykstra@midwestmarineterminals.com
Rick Granados, USACE, rick.d.granados@usace.army.mil
Patrick Wharry, Lockport Lock, patrick.l.wharry@usace.army.mil
Todd Hudson, ARTCO, t_hudson@admworld.com
Darren Melvin, Lehigh Hanson, Darren.melvin@hanson.biz
Quent Harris, B & H Towing, qharris@bhtowing.com
Matt French, ARTCO, matthew_french@admworld.com
Marty Hettel, AEP Memco, martyh@memcobarge.com
Samuel Dickey, ACBL, ssdickey@acbl.net
Art Kehoe, CTLC, art.kehoe@cgb.com
Bill Russell, Illinois Marine, billr@imtowing.com
Roger Wiebusch, USCG Bridge Branch, roger.k.wiebusch@uscg.mil
Terry Wiltz, Florida Marine, terryw@flmarine.com
Chuck Burlingame, ARTCO, c_burlingame@admworld.com
Pat Shea, River Docks, riverdocks@insightbb.com
James Sobel, Ozinga, jamessobel@ozinga.com
Jeff Blazekovich, Dresden Island, Jeffrey.d.blazekovich@usace.army.mil
John Kindra, Kindra Lake Towing, jkindra@kindralake.com