| Present | Present | ||
| President Corey Mathisen | X | Director Mike Kruse | X |
| Vice President Dan Sullivan | X | Director Blake Nelson | X |
| Past President Forrest Hasty | X | Director Sam Padelford | |
| Treasurer Laura Lyons | X | Director Jason Radde | X |
| Secretary Benton Campbell | X | Director Mark Trogstad-Isaacson | |
| Director John Dalton | X | Executive Director Dana Wheeler | X |
| Director Kevin Joyce | Administrative Assistant Donna Blackwell | X | |
| Director Mary Kloos | X | Labor Relations Specialist Tony Kelly | X |
| Director Justin Kraus | X |
Others in attendance: Nicole Madison (MnDOT), Mike Rude (Military Affairs)
Welcome participants & guests (Corey Mathisen)
Call the Meeting to Order (Corey Mathisen)
Meeting called to order at 3:38 PM
Review & Approve Agenda (Corey Mathisen)
Blake Nelson adds insurance update. Blake Nelson moves to approve as edited, Forrest Hasty seconds. Motion Passes.
Secretary’s Report – Review & Approve Past Minutes (Benton Campbell)
September 26 Minutes. Blake Nelson moves to approve. Forrest Hasty seconds. Motion Passes.
President’s Report (Corey Mathisen)
- Annual Meeting Update
- Not a lot of board members able to participate. Corey Mathisen provided a quick recap: successful, especially considering a month’s advance notice was provided. First large-scale MGEC “in person” event since pandemic started. Less online participants than the past two annual meetings, so that was somewhat unexpected. Daytime Teams meetings usually have good participation, whereas this meeting may have been less well attended because it was in the evening on Teams. Hopefully we can do in person again next year. He’s glad we had a finalized contract for members by the meeting. Hoping to get the contract resolved earlier next year.
- Tellers Committee
- MGEC election is coming up in a few weeks. Corey Mathisen reminds everyone to vote on the MGEC Board election by 11/8. Ballot was sent to members 10/24. Corey Mathisen has nominated Mary Kloos, Mike Kruse, and Laura Lyons for Teller committee. They will be tasked with ensuring vote counts are accurate and technology is adequate. Board approved the nominations.
- MGEC Staffing Report
- Busy period with election coming up and new contract finalization. Hours were reviewed.
Treasurer’s Report (Laura Lyons)
- Monthly Financial Report
- Benton Campbell asked to update dates on top of sheet for clarity. This was done. Corey Mathisen asked about the small annual meeting cost, which per Dana Wheeler was paid in October and will be added to the sheet for October once the month is complete.
- Dana called attention to the fluctuation in funds in the Vanguard account and suggested professionals are moving funds to bonds and CD paying higher than usual rates currently. A bit of history per Laura Lyons. The previous treasurer and Finance Committees had set aside rainy-day funds in CDs. A couple years ago, a portion of those funds, with board approval, was transferred to a Vanguard index funds. Obviously, the market, which progresses and recedes, is down a bit currently, but we’re still ahead of our investment. The financial committee will be meeting within the next weeks to determine the future course of action. If any board members are interested in joining the committee, reach out to Laura.
- Dues
- Constitution and bylaws set biweekly membership dues at a max of ½ of step 1 senior engineer hourly wage rate. Per Benton Campbell’s math, the board can increase the dues from (current) $15.68 to (up to) $17.15. In his opinion, no need for an increase in dues, as that would cost members ~$30-$35 per year. Jason Radde asks what the goal is of increasing: Do we want a certain amount of money on hand? Are we trying to pay something down? Benton Campbell thinks we should hold off, as we have close to $1M net worth. No board motion to change dues, so they will remain at $15.68. The FY2023 budget revenue included dues increase commensurate with the ATB increase provided to members. The board may revisit once more formal staff transition plans are developed.
Executive Director’s Report (Dana Wheeler)
- Annual Meeting Minutes
- Provided for board information in case there are any corrections suggested. They will be reviewed by membership at next annual meeting.
- MMB Update on funding
- Governor did not advise agencies to include a salary supplement as a line item in the agency budget proposals. Agencies will have to budget for that regardless. Agencies may find that money by not filling positions etc. Historically, the governor has advised a salary supplement, the last time this occurred was in Governor Dayton’s budget.
- Department of Pipeline Safety Professional Dues denial update
- First time MGEC has had an agency choose not to reimburse professional association dues (in this case for MAPD). MGEC spoke with DPS HR about grievance process. DPS HR agreed it would be best to do a grievance without using an employee who has incurred a loss. However, they later reversed this opnion.
- School of PE
- An organization contacted MGEC, to offer online assistance with preparation for PE and FE exam prep. They gave MGEC a free 2-week trial. Dana Wheeler asked licensed board members to look at what this company offers online to determine if the information is high quality before MGEC decides to consider pursuing a recommendation. So far, MGEC has refrained from suggesting companies, but supported members taking classes through ASPE.
- Insurance update (Blake Nelson)
- Open enrollment has begun. Level 2 clinic goal within 30 miles of everyone in Minnesota. Southern MN and Moose Lake have some issues. Fertility benefit is now available, but only through HealthPartners. Lorna Smith, MMB Insurance Lead is planning to retire in January, but will be acting until a replacement is hired. Interview panel will include at least one union rep in each stage. Rates going slightly up. There’s a fear that there will be a large increase coming in the next 1-2 years due to inflation, nurses’ retirements, etc. MDEA carryover up to $610 this year. That amount is expected to be smaller or eliminated in 2023. Health benefits are approx. 11.4% of compensation on average for the enterprise. October 31 is the deadline for entering 300 points in Virgin Pulse for $70 to next year’s deductible.
Communication & Membership Report (Donna Blackwell)
- Membership Update
- SEMA4 report from 10/11 reviewed. 2 newly eligible, 1 RNM 1 full member. No new drops.
Labor Relations Report (Tony Kelly)
- Representatives Meeting Update
- Tony Kelly will take the initiative to rekindle the MGEC Representative network, establish ongoing conversations and worksite meetings to hear from the representatives, set up communication so questions and issues get raised to MGEC staff sooner.
- A few parental leave questions have come in from members. Also some meal reimbursement questions.
- 3 interest arbitrations in Minnesota have been reviewed for an indication of where arbitrators stand on the issues.
Vice President’s Report (Dan Sullivan)
- No updates
Past President’s Report (Forrest Hasty)
- No updates
Other updates, comments, questions, suggestions
- Quarterly meet and confer with MnDOT coming up. Get proposed agenda items to Dana Wheeler this week.
- Does MGEC want to share vacation donation requests from members? Board members raised questions about how the system works. Rather than recommend specific individuals, MGEC will call attention to the program and highlight the process by which employees can contribution vacation to those in need of paid leave for medical purposes.
- Jason Radde asks about the contract on MMB’s website. No discussion of additional floating holiday, supervisory pay differential grandfathering, or range adjustments. The letter should be appended to the contract for clarity, in Dana Wheeler’s opinion. It’s been posted on the MGEC website. Floating holiday has not appeared in some people’s timesheets yet. Clarity will hopefully be provided when this paycheck is finalized over the weekend (for 11/4 payday).
Adjourn
Laura Lyons moves to adjourn, Mary Kloos seconds. Motion passes. Meeting adjourned 5:16 PM.