Members in attendance:

Diane McKenzie, City of Allentown
Scott Brodt, City of Allentown
George Nader, County of Lehigh
William Irish, County of Northampton
Chris Parnau, County of Northampton
Mary Ann Ramey, Whitehall Township
Maureen McIlvaine, County of Bucks
Ferne McGrath, County of Bucks
April Lenhart, County of Berks
Barry Hitchcock, County of Lancaster
Ann Wertman, County of Lehigh
Pete Navarro, County of Chester
Renee Carpenter, County of Berks
Price Morris, City of Lancaster Housing Authority

President Mary Ann Ramey called the meeting to order.  Berks County hosted the meeting in the Outside Inn, 6th and Penn Streets, Reading.

Motion by George Nader and second by Bill Irish to approve the minutes from the September 23rd meeting.

Treasurer’s Report: Scott Brodt passed out his financial activity sheets for September, October and the first half of November.  Renee Carpenter moved to accept; Diane McKenzie seconded the motion.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Awards Committee: Maureen McIlvaine had no report at this time

By Laws Committee: Diane McKenzie had no report at this time

Education Committee: Price Morris reported that the 2002 educational agenda has been completed.  The Chapter will be hosting a new RFP class in Philadelphia on January 15, 2003, the General and Intermediate Public Procurement classes in spring in Morgantown and Basic Legal Principles in Philadelphia at a date to be announced later.  Price has not as yet worked on the 2003 revenue schedule for educational classes.  George Nader questioned Price on the cost figures of the classes and suggested in addition to the revenue estimates prior to the classes, final revised figures be distributed.  Price also noted that Pittsburgh is interested in hosting classes in Western Pennsylvania.  Interest has also been expressed in classes on contracting for services.  Bill Irish will be able to save the Chapter outside fees by serving as the instructor for the CPPB Review later next year.  It was noted that the Holiday Inn at Morgantown would not pass on discounted room rates because we are not able to give them a guarantee on the number of rooms for each class.

Financial Committee: Scott reported on the Board revised and approved 2003 budget as well as revenue sources. Scott passed on the “Quick Books” software to the 2003 elected Treasurer, Chris Parnau. He also reported the progress on the 501-C3, 501 non-profit letter, and the Pennsylvania State tax exemption. Through William Lund, CPA, it was determined we should be using the national NIGP 501 umbrella through Chip Watson.  Our request should have been filed in October and acknowledgement and the 501 non-profit letter will be directed to Maureen McIlvaine.  The 501 non-profit letter will allow donors to file for tax deduction.  The state tax exemption papers are being completed and our exemption number will also be referred to Maureen so that we will not be forced into the additional expense of a post office box rental.  Scott will issue a revised copy of the 2003 budget.

Legislative Committee: With the election recess concluded and the 2001-2002 Session of the Pennsylvania Legislature close to completion, there was very little bill activity to be reported.  Ann Wertman circulated an updated legislative listing and several bill copies; Maureen McIlvaine distributed the listing of recently enacted laws from the Local Government Commission.

Liaison Between Chapters Committee: Price Morris had no report.

Membership Committee: Diane McKenzie mailed letters to 14 individuals from across Pennsylvania who attended the National Forum in Portland this past summer but have not joined our PAPPA chapter.  She has had no responses. Lawrence Churilla and Diane Cowen have joined the chapter.  Volunteers are need for this committee; reference should be made to the Operations Guide and the Strategic Plan for job duties until Mary Ann Ramey has completed the duty consolidation sheet she is working on.

Marketing Committee: Mary Ann also asked for volunteers for this committee.

Newsletter Committee: April Lenhart was commended for creating edition #1 of the PAPPA newsletter that can be found on the web site. April needs articles for January’s issue by mid-December.  Renee asked if a column on marketing tools could be included to benefit all.  April noted that Barry Hitchcock has volunteered to share his tools of the trade in future issues.

Operations Committee: Diane will be compiling the 2002 bid list update for the Operations Guide.  Please have your list of bids to Diane by January 15th either in Excel or in Word.  Diane will also forward updated versions to the new members.

Strategic Planning: Mary Ann Ramey shared her early version of a spreadsheet on the duties of committee chairs and members as found in the Strategic Plan and Operations Guide.  She also noted the Strategic Plan will need to be reviewed in May of 2003 for possible updates.

Web Committee: Price reported 2200 visits to the PAPPA website since the inception in March of 2001.  Renee Carpenter is the current member spotlighted and new members will be listed.  Other web features include commentary by Bill Irish, the newsletter, and the legislative report.  Mary Ann Ramey asked Price to add the name of Diane Cowen to the site.

OTHER REPORTS:

New members are Jeffrey Slentz of Berks County and Lawrence Churilla of Bucks County.  Neither was in attendance to receive their membership plaques.

Member participation certificates were compiled by Maureen McIlvaine and distributed to the members.  The responsibility for collecting this data will be discussed by the Board. Bill Irish reported NIGP liaison.  During the October Board Meeting of NIGP, an 18-month budge of $4,859,463 was adopted so that the budget year could be moved to a fiscal year beginning July 1st.  While there will be no increases in membership fees, the National Forum registration will increase $25.  Bill also reported we have been meeting the 3% suggested membership increase each year.  He also noted that NIGP funding is derived mainly from the annual Forum and seminars.  More intensive training for chapter leaders and committee chairs as well as more energetic agendas are being targeted.  The Forum locations for the next three years are as follows: 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee; 2004 in Biloxi, Mississippi; and 2005 in convention friendly Palm Springs, California.  A new chapter has been chartered in British Columbia.

OLD BUSINESS:

The 2003 PAPPA Officers are:

The 2003 Chapter Meeting Schedule is:

Changing the established Monday meeting date during the winter months was discussed so that cancellation because of inclement weather would be easier.  No agreement could be reached and no change will be made.

George Nader distributed the results of the Speaker Topic Survey he conducted.  The most requested topics are Professional Service Contracting, Use of Electronic Signatures, Performance Based Contracts and Contract Basics.  With the exception of Electronic Signatures, all would be presented by Peter Rigterink, CPPO, CPPB, Delaware Chapter.

Mary Ann Ramey and Renee Carpenter gave a report on the recent Region I Conference.  Anti-trust Laws of New Jersey were highlighted by one speaker, noting territorial distribution is an illegal activity and subject to penalty.  Janet Hagan, Deputy Procurement Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia was an attendee and suggested she would be able to bring in 15 to 20 new members in 2003 if her budget will allow her to do so.  Mary Ann suggested our future conferences be scheduled for two days with the second day ending at noon to better facilitate members traveling long distances.  The 2003 Region I Conference will be in Maryland. Bill suggested our Chapter hold a conference instead of the Region to better serve all areas of Pennsylvania. 

Mary Ann Ramey updated and distributed the PAPPA brochure.  As it will be changing again in January 2003; George Nader will update the brochure quarterly in 2003 and e-mail or fax to all members.

NEW BUSINESS:

NIGP is offering chapters the opportunity to meet NIGP President, Jean Clark.  Mary Ann Ramey will complete the request form if approved by the Board.

Bill Irish explained the advanced certification program LEAP that is being developed.  LEAP, Learning and Education to Advance Procurement, will take subject material from the current textbooks and identify 8 critical core areas and expand on these into a new textbook for advanced procurement.  In essence, LEAP will be a college level course for the next generation of procurement officials, or a BA level achievement.  Corporate sponsors are being sought; Office Depot has already signed on.

Mary Ann Ramey noted NIGP is requesting Presentations for the 2003 Forum and is also funding two Practitioners to attend the International Public Sector Purchasing and Supply Research Workshop in Budapest, Hungary in April of 2003.

Barry Hitchcock suggested the Chapter purchase review tapes for both the CPPB and CPPO.  The Board will address this request.

Renee Carpenter asked if PAPPA carry bags and padfolios are available for purchase.  George Nader has the stock of bags at $12 and padfolios at $8.  These promotional items will be offered on the website and in the newsletters.  Scott Brodt noted if we are sales tax exempt in Pennsylvania on the basis of being non-profit, we will need to advertise the cost of these two items as a donation.  Also, according to Scott, if someone requests either item and is not willing to pay, we would be required as a non-profit group to give them the item in question at no charge.

With no additional topics to be discussed, a motion to adjourn was approved.