Northeast Recycling Council, Inc.
Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors
MINUTES
October 27, 2005
Northampton, MA

Present:
Board Members: John Trevor, Rhode Island, President of the Board; Jeff Bednar, Pennsylvania, Vice-President; George MacDonald, Maine, Treasurer; Brenda Grober, New York (ESD); Jeff Schmitt, New York (DEC); Guy Watson, New Jersey; Brooke Nash, Massachusetts; Carolyn Grodinsky, Vermont; Don Maurer, New Hampshire; Jim Short, Delaware

Represented but no voting member present: Delaware Solid Waste Authority (Denise Denny and Wendy Pizzadili)

Advisory Members: Chip Foley, Steel Recycling Institute; Steve Rosario, American Plastics Council

Staff: Lynn Rubinstein, Executive Director and Secretary; Mary Ann Remolador, Assistant Director; Chaille Blais, Office Manager

Recorder: Chaille Blais and Lynn Rubinstein

Meeting Called to Order: 8:49 a.m. by John Trevor, President of the Board.

John noted that the attendance established a quorum for voting purposes.

State of the Organization: John reported the state of the organization is excellent and asked the Executive Director to make her report.

Director's Report:
REI Update
Lynn reported that at the Board Planning Meeting held last May in Philadelphia, there was an interest that NERC look at updating the REI study. She referred the group to a handout summarizing her findings and recommendations. No decision was made about how to proceed but additional discussion is anticipated.

WasteWise Endorser
Lynn referred the group to the WasteWise handout and noted that Al Fralinger (PSEG) had recommended that NERC become a WasteWise endorser. The Executive Committee has endorsed the idea. A vote was tabled until later in the meeting.

Regional Electronics Legislation Project
Lynn gave the group a status report on the progress of the legislation, as well as an update on the schedule for completion.

Steve Rosario noted that the process has been an eye-opening experience for many legislators and governmental staff who have not previously had much experience in the business world. The issues presented are very complex and ultimately, the end product will be a good one, he feels.

FISCAL Committee Update
Lynn noted that this committee was created following the May meeting and is comprised of the Executive Committee, Guy Watson and Marie Kruzan (advisory member - Association of New Jersey Recyclers.) The committee directed the Executive Committee to review the state dues structure. The Executive Committee has done this and recommends that the dues structure be unchanged at this time.

The committee has also bee working on expanding the number of Advisory Members. As a result of one of their recommendations, NERC has had two new Sustaining Members join in the past month: Metal Management and Curbside Value Partnership both joined NERC as Sustaining Members in response to this effort. As well as a new Supporting Member: DSM Environmental. In addition, two other potential members have expressed interest.

In the near future, NERC staff will send the Board a list of potential advisory members to which the Board will respond with comments, concerns, volunteer to contact, notes regarding conflicts of interest, etc.

Website Update & Maintenance Contract
NERC has received a contract from EPA Region 1 to update the website, including the state information, and to expand its resources.

Bylaws
Lynn suggested that the Board consider amending the bylaws to allow for mid-term appointments to the Board.

George MacDonald noted that there are several other areas in which the bylaws might be updated.

It was agreed that the Executive Committee would prepare a draft set of revisions for the Board to consider. It was also agreed that the Board would attempt to move forward in modifying and adopting amended bylaws via phone and email discussions and votes over the next two months.

Treasurer's Report:
A financial overview of the first quarter was distributed, including an updated FY 2006 budget. The budget was updated to reflect grants awarded after the budget had been developed. NERC remains in excellent financial health. It anticipates revenue and expenses of approximately $350,000 each in FY 2006.

Appointments to the Board:
The bylaws require that at the Annual Meeting the members of the Board that have been named by state agencies be appointed by vote of the sitting Board.

The persons being appointed to the Board are as follows:
	1. Connecticut - Judy Belaval 2. Delaware Solid Waste Authority - Tom Houska 3. Maine - George MacDonald 4. Massachusetts - Brooke Nash 5. New Hampshire - Don Maurer 6. New Jersey - Guy Watson 7. New York DEC - Jeff Schmitt 8. New York ESD - Brenda Grober 9. Pennsylvania - Jeff Bednar 10. Rhode Island - John Trevor 11. Vermont - Carolyn Grodinsky
John moved that the Board accept the appointments as presented, motion was seconded by Brooke. Vote was unanimous with no abstentions.

Vote to Become WasteWise Endorser
After the appointment of the Board, Jeff Bednar made a motion that NERC become a WasteWise endorser, with John seconding. No discussion followed, vote was unanimous with no abstentions.

Assistant Director's Report:
2006 Conflict with NRC Congress Dates
Mary Ann learned from Marie Kruzan that the 2006 NRC Congress is scheduled for the same dates as the NERC conference. Mary Ann contacted the NRC to request that NERC conference dates be taken into consideration when scheduling future events. She received no response. She then contacted Bill Heenan, Steel Recycling Institute, who is a member of the NRC Board. He raised the subject at the NRC Board meeting in August. Bill called Mary Ann after the meeting to say that the NRC Board determined that NRC will consider regional meetings before selecting future meeting dates and that she would receive a letter stating the same. She received a letter from NRC, but it did not state what Bill had anticipated. Instead, it advised us that NRC would be notified of their future meeting dates.

Chip Foley offered to take the issue back to Bill as well as to Meg Morris, another NRC Board member.

Upcoming NERC Conferences
The Fall 2006 Conference will take place in Northampton, Massachusetts, October 24 - 25^th, with the Annual Meeting of the Board taking place on October 26^th.

The Spring Conference will be held March 21 - 23, 2006 in Philadelphia. It will be a joint conference with Mid-America Council of Recycling Officials (MACRO) and the Mid-Atlantic Consortium of Recycling & Economic Development Officials (MACREDO). EPA Region III is hosting the conference at its offices. The first day, each group will hold their Board meeting in the morning. The conference will begin in the afternoon with tours of Woodhue Composting and Blue Mountain Recycling.

Project Updates
Special Events - waste sorts are done for all six events and the recycling plans have been distributed to the participants. The next step will be to complete the best management practice guide, which will be posted online in three to six months.

Peer to Peer - the New Hampshire and Maine groups are working well together, with a focus on green cleaning, energy efficiency and paper products, as well as alternatives to using salt for ice melting purposes. Vermont took a longer time to get established and the schools who are participating in the project have chosen to tackle the implementation of wind/solar power and indoor air quality in the schools. Mary Ann has helped to organize a mini-forum for the schools to learn about alternative energy sources. She will be doing a guide on mentoring EPP businesses.

Materials Exchange - the marketing plan for exchanges to use is complete and being distributed throughout New England and New York. It has also been posted on the NERC website. The Massachusetts Education Collaborative will be the "test" for the outreach. NERC recently issued an RFP to create a metasearch tool that will access multiple exchanges' databases from one site. Two proposals were received and are being evaluated. Once a contractor has been selected, NERC will seek funding for the project.

FY 2006 Operating Plan:
A draft Operating Plan had been distributed in advance of the meeting that reflected the comments received from the Board over the past months. The draft document was reviewed section by section and amended during the course of the meeting.

Motion was made by Guy Watson to revise NERC's mission statement to be "to advance an environmentally sustainable economy by promoting source and toxicity reduction, recycling, and the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services". Seconded by Carolyn Grodinsky. No discussion followed, vote was unanimous with no abstentions.

Motion by Guy Watson to remove the "Purpose of the Operating Plan" section from the Operating Plan and to change "NERC's Purpose" to "Vision Statement". Seconded by John Trevor. No discussion followed, vote was unanimous with no abstentions.
Guy Watson moved that the goals be amended as discussed to read.

Motion seconded by John Trevor, no discussion followed, vote was unanimous with no abstentions.

Motion by Brooke Nash to remove the section entitled "NERC pursues its mission, vision and goals." Seconded by George MacDonald. No discussion followed, vote was unanimous with no abstentions.

Guy moved that the Operating Plan, as amended by discussion during this meeting be adopted as the NERC FY 2006 Operating Plan. Carolyn seconded. No discussion followed, vote was unanimous with no abstentions.

Other Business:
Jim Short distributed a draft letter (written from the perspective of the Steel Recycling Institute) under that could serve as a template for other states who are seeking support from trade associations on recycling in their state.

Don moved that the meeting be adjourned at 12:08, George seconded the motion, no discussion followed and the vote was unanimous with no abstentions.

Meeting adjourned at 12:08 p.m.