CIPWO

2026 CIPWO Spring Officer's Meeting Report

By; Dave Collard

Of those members that could be in attendance we gathered at the Legend's Corner Restaurant for this meeting. This was a new location and the restaurant served very good meals and in large servings with a good atmosphere. The comments on the venue should lend to the idea that this location will likely be used in the future. Especially as it is in a central location for most of the Officers.

CIPWO 2026 Spring Officer's Meeting Report:

(Note: Meeting minutes submitted by Dave Collard)

The CIPWO 2026 Spring Officer’s Meeting was held last Thursday, May 21st, 2026 at Legend's Corner in Monticello, IL. Present for the meeting was, President Cody McLaughlin (via remote call-in), Vice-President Justin Profancik, Secretary Treasurer Dave Miller, Coordinators Tim Gorden and Dave Hermes, Information Coordinator Dave Collard. This attendance met the quorum requirements.

The meeting was called to order by Justin Profancik (presiding on behalf of Cody M) at 12:21 pm. The items on the agenda were as follows:

Budget Review by Dave Miller

Item 1. Dave Miller reported that the funds are maintaining an acceptable level and currently sit at $1321.11. Dave explained as well that the old bank we had used previously was recently bought out and that he has set up a the account with the new owner, Fountain Trust Bank, including getting the new account set up on Square. He further spoke on the topic of the organization would likely add to the door prizes at the Summer Meeting with the current status of the funds.

Old Business

There were no items for Old Business.

New Business

Item 1. Based on the affirmative vote during the Winter 2026 Meeting to allow the group to adjust the number of meeting each year, the board discussed and voted on making the necessary changes to accommodate that for this up-coming Summer Meeting to include three hour long presentations, a slightly earlier starting time, and other changes that would allow CIPWO to move a one annual meeting. Dave M. made the motion, seconded by Tim G., the vote passed with "All Ayes".

Item 2. It was also discussed and agreed that if possible we will have the Vendors facilitate one of the presentation time slots with pre-planned hands-on training of specific equipment and/or processes. The time to be split between the various Vendors that are present. Dave M. said he would take the lead of coordinating this with the Vendors himself, as he has all of their recent contact info etc.

Item 3. The group discussed potential locations for the Meeting and Dave C. said he would look into a possibility on the matter.

There were no other topics discussed for New Business.

There also were no other comments or concerns for the group to discuss and the meeting was therefore adjourned. Motioned by Tim G., seconded by Dave M., and the motioned passed with "All Ayes". Meeting adjourned at 12:41 pm.

End Report

So, as soon as information becomes available I'll be posting it up here on the website and sending notices of that via email as usual. What we do know is that the Meeting will take place on July 29th, 2026. It is likely that the meeting will start at 9:30 am. Beyond this I don't have a lot more information so I'll close now and post updates as mentioned.

CIPWO 2026 Winter Meeting Report

By: Dave Collard

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Location: Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District (U-CSD)

The CIPWO Winter Meeting was held on January 28, 2026, at the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District. The morning began with a registration and networking hour at 9:00 am, followed by the official call to order at 10:00 am to conduct our annual organizational business and technical training. The attendance was about normal for a Winter Meeting of about 25-30 people including Vendor reps etc.

Once the meeting was called to order by Dave Hermes, our current President, he took the meeting directly into the Business Meeting portion of the day.

Business Meeting & Elections Items Addressed:

The business meeting items discussed and acted upon are as follows.

Election of Officers: The Board nominated Justin Profancik to assume the position of Vice President. This nomination was presented to the membership and passed by a unanimous vote.
Recognitions: The organization extended a sincere thank you to Bruce Pride, our outgoing Coordinator, for his years of service and dedication to the group. And Dave offered a thank you to all members who had served on the Board in the past.
Financial Report: Treasurer Dave Miller presented the annual finance report. The accounts were found to be in good order, providing the necessary stability for the organization to continue its mission of operator education through 2026.

Constitutional Amendments

The Board presented three proposed changes to the CIPWO Constitution. After discussion, the membership voted on each item individually. All motions passed unanimously.

Article 3, Section 4: Updated the determination of Officer terms to run from July to July, rather than beginning in January.
Article 4, Sections 1 & 2: Adjusted the minimum meeting requirements for both the General Membership and the Board of Directors from two meetings per year to one.
Article 4, Section 3: Modernized the "Special Meetings" protocol, allowing for digital notification (such as email) with a minimum of two days' notice.

Following these votes, the floor was opened for any additional items. With no other new or old business matters raised, the business meeting was officially adjourned at 10:15 am.

Please note that the first two meeting requirement changes empowers the Board to adjust the CIPWO meetings to better accommodate the needs of the group and it’s members. The Board is looking into dropping the Winter Meetings for a myriad of reasons. And adjusting the content etc. of the Summer Meetings to fulfill the CEU needs of the membership, vendors, etc. in a more efficient manner. These changes to the Articles only allow the meeting to be changed, if it is determined that the two meetings per year format is better this new language does not prevent the Board from holding two meetings each year.

The meeting then moved on to the Presentations as follows.

Technical Presentations

Topic #1: St. Joseph WW Expansion – Technical Overview

Speaker: Andrea Bretl, P.E., Clark Dietz, Inc.

Andrea provided a detailed look at the ongoing expansion at the St. Joseph facility. Her presentation highlighted the engineering complexities involved in increasing capacity while meeting stringent regulatory requirements, offering valuable insights for operators facing similar growth challenges.

An added note here is that St. Joseph WWTP would likely be on the “short list” of possible Summer Meeting Location in the near future.

Topic #2: Fundamentals of Biological Treatment

Speaker: Lawrence Quick, EJ Water Coop

Lawrence delivered a high-quality "back-to-basics" session on biological treatment. This presentation covered the essential microbial processes that drive our systems and provided practical troubleshooting tips for maintaining optimal plant performance.

I'd like to thank both of the presenters for their attendance and assistance to the Group. An extra thanks also to Lawrence who drove 2 hours each way in poor weather conditions to make the meeting.

After the two presentations the members broke for lunch which was catered by Hickory River Restaurant. The meal consisted of choices of very good barbecue with the sides, deserts etc. and included a vegetarian option as well.

I’d like to take an opportunity here to speak of our vendors (aka Associate Members)

Our meetings are made possible by the continued support of our industry partners. We would like to thank the following vendors for their participation and support of this event:

Grunloh Construction (who very generously paid for the Lunch for this meeting)
Metropolitan Industries Inc. featuring MetroCloud
Peterson & Matz Inc.
Drydon Equipment Inc. (A special thank you to Drydon for their support; although they were unable to stay for the duration of the meeting, they contributed their booth fee to support the organization's efforts.)

A note here as well. I intend to begin adding the contact links to our Vendors/Assoc. Members to the CIPWO.org website. I envision that this information will be located in a new section on the “Wastewater Organization Links” page.

The day concluded with vendor networking, and the traditional drawing for door prizes. We thank the U-CSD for hosting and all our members for their active participation in the voting process.

This concludes the 2026 Winter Meeting Report I look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming Summer Meeting which will be held on the 3rd Wednesday of July (the 29th) 2026. (And I did get pictures this time around.)

See Larger Pictures in the Gallery Page!

CIPWO 2026 Winter Meeting Information:

Location: U-CSD, 1100 E. University Ave., Urbana IL 61802

Date: January 28, 2026

Time: Registration 9-10 am, Meeting 10-3:00,

Fee: $30/person attending

CIPWO Business Meeting, Election of Officers, etc.

1st Speaker: Andrea Bretl P.E., ClarkDietz Inc.

Topic: St. Joseph WW Expansion - Technical Overview

2nd Speaker: Lawrence Quick, EJ Water Coop.

Topic: Fundamentals of Biological Treatment

Lunch: Noon to 1 pm

Following Lunch: Visit with Vendors, etc.

Note: Training sessions will be submitted to the IEPA for CEU approvals.

Please remember to RSVP Dave Miller as soon as possible with your attendance numbers.

email:dlm285@aol.com or use the link below

Thank you.

CIPWO 2026 Winter Meeting RSVP!

2025 CIPWO Fall Officer's Meeting Report

By; Dave Collard

(Note: Meeting minutes submitted by Dave Collard on behalf of Secretary Dave Miller)

The CIPWO 2025 Fall Officer’s Meeting was held today on Thursday, Nov. 13trh, 2025 at Pop’s Place in Decatur, IL. Present for the meeting was, President Dave Hermes, Vice-President Cody McLaughlin, Secretary Treasurer Dave Miller, Coordinator Tim Gorden, Information Coordinator Dave Collard, Aux. Info Coordinator Ashley Bailey, and Past-President Wade Lagle.

The meeting was called by Dave Hermes at 12:09 pm. The items on the agenda were as follows:

Budget Review by Dave Miller

Item 1. Dave Miller reported that the funds are maintaining an acceptable level of $688.13 and that there was one recent expense of $134.40 for reimbursement of website expenses to Dave Collard for the Yolasite website fee and the Square Space redirect fee.

Old Business

Item 1. Dave Collard enumerated the rise in costs of the website and redirect fees as there was a significant increase from previous years although the prices have gone up in several of the recent past years. It was noted that these costs are still significantly lower than when the organization sent out paper newsletters by mail and that the current method was more responsive to the needs or the group as well.

This concluded the discussions under Old Business.

New Business

Item 1. The Board Members were presented with and discussed the merits of suggested changes to the Constitution to accommodate potential changes in future CIPWO Member meetings.

Item 2. The changes to the Constitution would permit the number of meetings to be reduced to one per year. The Board and all present discussed at length the possible necessity and desire to make changes to better accommodate the changing times and considerations for meeting the membership needs. If the number of meetings would be reduced to one the Annual Meeting would take place in July after the changes to the Constitution. And some general house-keeping for Special Meetings.

2a. Description/paraphrase of the open discussion(s) regrading the matter(s) at hand where;

DM & DC- It has been noted that attendance has dropped over the past few years especially for the Winter Meeting. The reasons for this are potentially many but some that were noted was the cost of that event to the members.

DM, DC, & WL - The potential for poor weather conditions that sometime restricted travel in January played a part, and the fact that CEUs should be kept as affordable as possible because there are many online venues that groups like CIPWO are now competing with today.

DM – that he had discussed some potential changes with the vendors and that they seemed receptive to the concept and willing to stay and support the group in any ways that they can.

AB – Several typographical errors needed to be addressed to the language itself (noted and changed prior to votes).

DC- Explained when asked the necessity to hold the 2026 Winter Meeting to allow the membership a chance to vote on and choose to accept or reject the amendments as submitted.

2b. Following this discussion a vote was taken to accept each of the two Article change amendments in turn.

2.b.i. First amendment vote regarded Article 3 Section 4 of the Constitution. (Note that type in red are for deletions and type in blue are for additions to the existing language of the Constitution.)

ARTICLE 3 - Board Officers

Section 4 - The Annual Meeting held each January July will determine the beginning and end of each Officer's term unless otherwise stated.

Motioned by: Dave Collard, 2nd by: Ashley Bailey Vote: All “Ayes”

2.b.ii. Second amendment vote regarded Article 4 Sections 1, 2, & 3 of the Constitution.

ARTICLE 4 - Meetings

Section 1 - There shall be a minimum of two one meetings per year of all members of the Organization at a time and place selected by the Board of Directors.

Section 2 - The Board of Directors shall have a minimum of two one meetings per year in addition to the requirements of Section 1.

Section 3 - Special Meetings: A special Meeting of the Board of Directors may be called by the President or a quorum of the Board of Directors by written notice of the Secretary-Treasurer or the President. The written notice shall be given with a minimum of two days notification of the meeting and may be sent via a digital method such as email to satisfy this requirement.

Motioned by: Dave Hermes, 2nd by: Ashley Bailey Vote: All “Ayes”

Item 3.

The Board then discussed briefly the potential location for the Winter Meeting, if anyone had suggestions for presenters and/or topics for the meeting. No one had specifics to suggest but it was agreed that several would look into the matter and we could make those decisions remotely as possible answers were found. Dave Miller noted the date for the Winter Meeting would fall on January 28, 2026.

This concluded the items discussed under New Business.

With no further business at hand Dave Hermes called for a motion to adjourn.

Motioned by: Cody McLaughlin, 2nd by: Tim Gorden Vote: All “Ayes”.

The meeting ended at approximately 12:52 pm.

This concludes the minutes of the Fall Officer’s Meeting held on Nov 13, 2025.

--------------------------

Information Coordinator’s Notes:

The CIPWO 2026 Winter Meeting is scheduled for January 28th, 2028. As soon as I confirm all of the particulars mentioned above and get specific information related to speaker topics I will add that information to this website.

This was a great time meeting with everyone. The food was good and the company was great! I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the upcoming Winter Meeting in January.

Dave C.

2025 CIPWO Summer Meeting Report

by: Ashley Bailey

The 2025 CIPWO Summer Meeting was hosted by Brad Duncan in Pontiac, IL at the
Pontiac Wastewater Treatment Plant on July 30th , 2025.

Registration took place between 9:00 and 10:00 am as usual. The officers in attendance
were Past President Tim Gordon, Secretary Treasurer Dave Miller and Coordinator
Ashley Bailey. In the absence of Information Coordinator Dave Collard and President
Dave Hermes, Ashley Bailey was designated to conduct the meeting.

The meeting was brought to order shortly after 10:00 am. We began with the standard
business meeting prior to the presentations. An inquiry was made to the members about
any old business to discuss, having none, Treasurer Dave Miller went on to present his
financial report. He reported that the accounts for the organization were in good order,
and the group can meet our financial obligations as necessary. As for new business, the
members voted unanimously to make the following two changes to the CIPWO
constitution:

Change to the constitution #1 (Language change) – To align CIPWO with IEPA certification
Section 380 regulations.
Art 3, Sec 1, Para D
Old: Exceptions to Section 1 Para. C of this Article may be allowed for the Illinois Wastewater Operator Certification requirement as follows; the candidate for nomination must be actively employed within the wastewater treatment field at the commencement of their term and be approved by a majority vote of the Board of Directors prior to the election.

New: Exceptions to Section 1 Para. C of this Article may be allowed for the Illinois Wastewater Operator Certification requirement as follows; 1. the candidate for nomination should be actively employed within wastewater treatment operations at the commencement of their term, or 2. may be any active member in good standing including Honorary members who's certification has lapsed, and be approved by a majority vote of the Board of Directors prior to the election.

Change to the constitution #2 (New Amendment) – To allow for a backup of the CIPWO
communications and website operations.

Amendment 5: - New Amendment
The Board may appoint any one member as an “Auxiliary Information Coordinator” to assist the Information Coordinator in the maintenance of the website and/or internet presence of the organization as needed. This Officer position shall be a non-voting associate member of the Board. The term of this position shall be the same as that of the Information Coordinator. This Officer shall assume the duties of the Information Coordinator at the direction of the Board or the Information Coordinator and have access to the tools and/or online facilities in the performance of these duties. This Officer shall assume the role and duties in-full of the Information Coordinator in the absence until their return or replacement.

After voting on the changes to the constitution and having no further new business, the
business portion of the meeting was concluded.

At this time, the first presenter, Wade Lagle of Donohue & Associates, presented on the
USEPA’s ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance History Online) site. He gave a detailed
presentation on how to use and interact with the site for facility reports and more. Due to
rainy weather moving into the area, the group decided to procced to a plant tour before
the second presentation. Following the plant tour, the second presenter, Cora Fickinger
with Teklab Inc., presented on the topic of PFOS/PFAS history, sampling and testing.

After the presentations and the tour were completed, our group broke for lunch. Many
thanks to the Chef, Dean Miller who once again did a wonderful job cooking the burgers
and brats for the group. While waiting for lunch to have its final preparation we drew
several door prizes supplied by presenting vendors. Again, thank you to Dean, Donohue
& Associates and Teklab Inc.

This concludes the report for the CIPWO 2025 Summer Meeting. I look forward to
seeing everyone in January the Winter Meeting.

Report of Emergency Officer's Meeting

On August 4th 2025, 8:20am. An emergency Officer's meeting was called to address the lack of a Vice President being installed at either regular meeting this year as has been the practice in the past.

The meeting was held via group phone call and present for the meeting were Tim Gorden - President, Dave Miller - Secretary-Treasurer, Dave Collard - Information Coordinator, and Ashley Bailey - Member-at-large (non-voting). To relieve this deficit in the position of Vice President a vote was taking to install a person who had previously volunteered, this person was Cody McLaughlin. The vote was unanimous for installing Cody as the new VP for CIPWO.

This action was taken in accordance with Article 3, Section 6 of the CIPWO Constitution.

CIPWO 2025 Summer Meeting Information:

Location: Pontiac IL WWTP - 301 Old Rte. 66, Pontiac, IL 61764

Date: July 30, 2025

Time: Registration 9-10am, Meeting 10-3:00,

1st Speaker: Wade Lagle, Donohue & Associates, Inc.

Topic: USEPA ECHO Review

2nd Speaker: Cora Fickinger, Teklab Inc.

Topic: PFAS what it Is and how to Sample

Lunch: Noon to 1pm

Following Lunch: WWTP Tour

Note: Training sessions will be submitted to the IEPA for CEU approvals.

Please remember to RSVP Dave Miller as soon as possible with your attendance numbers.

email:dlm285@aol.com or use the link below

Thank you.

2025 CIPWO Spring Officer's Meeting Report

By; Dave Collard

(Note: Meeting minutes submitted by Dave Collard on behalf of Secretary Dave Miller)

The CIPWO 2025 Spring Officer’s Meeting was held today on Thursday, May 22nd, at Pop’s Place in Decatur, IL. Present for the meeting was, President Dave Hermes, Secretary Treasurer Dave Miller, Coordinator Tim Gorden, Information Coordinator Dave Collard, and (at the Officer’s request) Member-at-large Ashley Bailey.

The meeting was called by Dave Hermes at 12:11pm. The items on the agenda were as follows:

Old Business

1. It was over-looked at the Winter Meeting for the Board to submit a candidate for VP, nor did anyone offer at that time. Since then Cody McLaughlin has volunteered to become the next VP and the Board unanimously accepts his offer, therefore this matter will be brought to a vote to the membership at the 2025 Summer Meeting Business Meeting.

Budget Review by Dave Miller

1. Dave Miller reported that the funds are still maintaining an acceptable level of approximately $1100 and that there are no expected impact forthcoming to that circumstance.

New Business

1. Summer Meeting items. Dave Collard reported that Brad Duncan at Pontiac WW had volunteered to host the Summer Meeting. All members agreed to accept this offer and set it as the location.

2. Dave Collard also informed the Board that two speakers had already offered to present at the Summer Meeting and was granted permission to secure these speakers for that purpose.

3. The Board discussed and approved new language for the constitution concerning adding a auxiliary officer to assist with the Information business of the organization. This will require a vote at the 2025 Summer Meeting by the membership for approval.

4. The Board discussed and approved additional new language for the constitution concerning requirements for officers that need to be addressed to align with the new IEPA operator certification requirements. This will also be presented to the membership for approval at the 2025 Summer Meeting.

5. All current appointed officers were renewed for another year in their current roles.

With no further business at hand Dave Hermes called for a motion to adjourn which was made by Dave Collard, seconded by Ashley Baily and was accepted by all present.

The meeting ended at 12:22pm.

This concludes the minutes of the Officer’s Meeting for May 22, 2025.

Coordinator’s Notes:

The CIPWO 2025 Summer Meeting is scheduled for July 30th, 2025. As soon as I confirm all of the particulars mentioned above and get specific information related to speaker topics I will add that information to this website.

I enjoyed very much getting together with the other officers and the lunch was very good as is the norm with Pop's Place. I'd like to offer a reminder that if/when you as a member might be inclined to help the organization in the capacity of an officer please feel free to contact the sitting officers at the Winter Meetings. That is the normal time at which new officers are voted in. All will be welcome!

Dave C.

2025 CIPWO Winter Meeting Report

By: David Collard

On January 29th 2025 the CIPWO Winter Meeting was held at the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District. Which as of this meeting has became one of two facility (the other will be the SDD in Decatur) that will be dedicated to hosting the Winter Meetings for the foreseeable future. The Officers and Members of the organization wish to offer U-CSD and it's staff thank you for your generosity.

Registration was between 9:00 and 10:00. Coffee and donuts were supplied by the organization and this time allowed for everyone visit and catch up with each other. The attendance was similar to the Summer Meeting with approximately two dozen present for the meeting.

We had several venders showed up with their usual dedication to support our group, they were in no particular order Drydon, Metropolitan Industries. Gasvoda & Associates, and Stewart Spreading. I cannot go far enough to express our thanks to these folks. Without them it might be very questionable that our group could maintain itself, or even remain in operation. Thank you to all our venders!

At 10:07am the meeting was called to order by President Tim Gorden, who was assisted by Coordinator Ashley Bailey to conduct the business meeting portion of the day's activities. Items of business included an update from Ashley on the progress at the Sanitary District of Decatur construction of their new Admin building where our alternating Winter Meeting will take place. She reports that nothing has changed in that they may not be able to host us next year but she would be able to say for sure by the time of the Fall Officer's Meeting when the next Winter Meeting will be planned. The other topic of note was that Dave Miller reported that CIPWO's balance was approximately $1300 and therefore in good order. With no other topics in new or old business the meeting was adjourned and we moved on to introductions of our presenters.

Our first presenter was Adrienne Nemura, P.E., of Geosyntec Consultants who spoke on the topic of “Integrated Planning for Wastewater and Stormwater”. Adrienne explained the concept of not just looking at compliance through individual issues rather to have communities look at their systems as a whole and find through collaborative means the best way to spend capitol and energy in the ways that will best address environmental issues as a whole. I will admit that I was not aware that there is, and has been for some time, official support for this method of addressing compliance issues with the USEPA and IEPA. The abilities this affords communities to address and meet compliance goals via spending their resources in the most effective ways will bring a paradigm shift to the industry of wastewater treatment and stormwater management. Her presentation was packed with information on how to look at new ways to solve old problems. On behalf of CIPWO, thank you Adrienne for your presentation.

Next following a short break our second presenters were Andy Hanfland P.E. and Mokammel Sanju of the Farnsworth Group, Inc. spoke on the topic of Small WWTP Operations. Andy and Sanju's presentation highlighted the specific demands and issues related to operations of small treatment system. Some of the points raised were staffing issues, the unique circumstances related to the facilities such as how high flows cause potentially higher impact to operations, the limits of the smaller systems such as that they are much less likely to be able to address nutrient issues, etc. They juxtaposed the differences by comparing their work as engineers on projects like that at Atwood versus their work related to BNWRD's facilities as just two of their examples. This information was informative and useful, and again on behalf of CIPWO a big thank you to Andy and Sanju for your presentation.

Following the presentation the meeting broke for lunch that was cateredt by Hickory River smokehouse. Consisting of BBQ pulled pork, beef brisket, with sides and deserts. Also available were vegetarian meals for those so inclinded. Thanks you Dave Miller for coordinating the meal again.

Following luch some time was made to allow for the members to again visit with the venders, again thank you for your support!

Finally, the door prizes were drawn and the meeting was then concluded. And that concludes this report. I hope to see everyone at the next Summer Meeting to be held on July, 30, 2025. Location TBD.

Coordinator's Note: I apologize that I was remiss in attending to the taking of photos as I have done in the past. I was giving all my attention to the presentations themselves and not enough on taking pictures during them. I do have some of the venders tables, visiting, and door prize drawing. I'll post them with this report and do better next time.

CIPWO 2025 Winter Meeting Information:

Location: Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District, 1100 E University Ave, Urbana, IL 61802

Date: January 29, 2025

Time: Registration 9-10am, Meeting 10-3:00,

1st Speaker: Andy Hanfland P.E., Farnsworth Group, Inc.

Topic: WWT - Small WWTP Operations

2nd Speaker: Adrienne Nemura, P.E., Geosyntec Consultants

Topic: WWT - Integrated Planning for Wastewater and Stormwater

Lunch: Noon to 1pm

Note: Both training sessions have been approved by the IEPA for CEUs (Wastewater Credit Only)

Please remember to RSVP Dave Miller as soon as possible with your attendance numbers.

email:dlm285@aol.com or use the link below

Thank you.

NOTE that beginning this year the RSVPs will ask members to indicate if vegetarian meals are requested.

2024 CIPWO Fall Officer's Meeting Report

By: Dave Collard

The CIPWO Fall Officer's Meeting took place on Wednesday, October 30 at Pop's Place in Decatur IL. Present for the meeting were Pres. Tim Gorden, VP Dave Hermes, Sec. Dave Miller, Coordinator Ashley Bailey, and Info Coordinator Dave Collard. (Note: Coordinator Bruce Pride was planning on attending remotely however, attempts to contact him were unsuccessful prior to the meeting.)

The meeting was scheduled for 12:00pm, however due to late arrivals and attempts to reach Bruce Pride the meeting was not called to order by Tim Gorden until 12:26pm. Several items for discussion were covered during the meeting and those topics were as follows:

1. Old Business:

A discussion regarding the status of availability of Sanitary District of Decatur (SDD) facilities to be utilized as alternating locations for all future Winter Meeting sites along with the facilities at Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District (U-CSD). Tim and Ashley reported that the availability is still there as soon as the new Administration & Operations facility construction was completed at SDD. They were not sure if it would be ready for the 2026 Winter Meeting but were relatively certain it would be ready for 2027.

No other topics were brought up for Old Business.

2. Budget:

Dave Miller reported that the accounts for the organization were in good order and we are able to meet our financial obligations as necessary. He further reported an approximate balance of around $800.

Dave Collard reported another increase of the costs for the CIPWO.org website of 17.5% to $83.40/year this year this cost does not include the $12/year fee for webhosting of the “cipwo.org” url which we currently use. (Note: This is also a 40% increase over the 2021 cost for the same website services utilized in 2021.)

There were no further discussions on the Budget.

3. 2025 Winter Meeting Planning:

Dave Miller reported that the venue has already been set for the facilities at U-CSD this coming year. He also reported that he has secured Hickory River to cater the event again. This left the only other item to discuss of the Presenters/Presentations. There were three potential presenters and topics submitted to the meeting. Specific officers will be reaching to see if these can be secured for the meeting to then report back to the other Officers on the outcome of their research.

The topic of assuring that vegetarian meel options are available for the membership was then discussed, and Dave miller assured the group that there would be an option available. Dave then requested the Dave Collard makes sure to get the info out to the membership and he said he would add this items to the RSVPs for this and all future meetings.

There were no other topic related to the Winter Meeting to discuss at that point.

4. New Business:

There were no new items brought to the officer's attention regarding New Business.

The 2024 Fall Officer's Meeting was adjourned at the request of a motion by Tim Gorden. Motioned by Dave Miller and Seconded by Dave Hermes with all members in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 1:10pm.

This concludes the minutes of the Officer’s Meeting for Oct. 30, 2024.

Information Coordinator’s Notes:

The 2025 CIPWO Winter Meeting is scheduled for Jan. 29th, 2025 to be held at U-CSD in Urbana, IL. As information related to the presenters, topics, etc. becomes available, I will post that information on the organization’s website. And send out email notifications to the membership as well. Please see the meeting information below.

I look forward to seeing everyone there in January.

CIPWO 2024 Summer Meeting Report

by: Dave Collard

The 2024 CIPWO Summer Meeting was held July 31st in Atwood Illinois and was hosted there by Jeff Mercer the operator of the Atwood facility. The meeting and lunch portions of the activities took place at the American Legion Hall in Atwood, and was followed by a tour of the wastewater facilities a few blocks away.

Registration took place between 9:00 and 10:00 as usual, with coffee and donuts supplied by the organization and time for meet and greet before the start of the meeting. The attendance was lighter than normal though we still had approximately two dozen present for the meeting.

During registration we found out that one of the original scheduled presenters would be unable to make the meeting so before the start of the meeting it was decided by the officers and some of the attendees that we would fill that time slot with an Operator’s Roundtable Discussion. More on that later in this report.

The meeting was started promptly at 10:00 a.m. I was requested by President Tim Gorden to MC the meeting in his stead. We began with the standard business meeting prior to the presentations. The primary business topics discussed were to reiterate what was reported from the officers meeting earlier this year, that future winter meetings would start being held alternatively between Sanitary District of Decatur and the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District facilities. It was reported to the members present that this new plan would help the organization maintain costs at reasonable levels since the facilities for the winter meeting would no longer have fees attached to them as our previous locations had. The next topic that was discussed was Dave Miller went over the financial statement for the group. And he reports that there is a slightly over $800 currently in the account. And finally, the organization offered thanks to Ashley Bailey for stepping in as a Coordinator, and the mention and thanks to Mike Ellsbury for his years of service as an officer.

With those items covered we turned to the presentations part of the meeting. Our first presenter was Wei Zhang from Chemscan/In-situ. Mr. Zhang presented on the topic of inline analyzers disinfection products and their control processes. While he addressed the idea that there are several companies that are involved in producing these items, he was able to give substantial details in the Chemscan product line as well. Some of the main points I took away from Mr. Zhang's presentation was the reinforcement that these types of devices reduce the workload on me operators and improve reliability and control of the process in a way that manual process control sampling and testing can never do.

On a side note, Wei mention to me during the registration period that his retiring after this year. And that this was likely his last presentation. We appreciate again his time and interest in our group and wish him the best of a long happy retirement.

The second presentation portion of the meeting was there's previously mentioned an Operators Roundtable Discussion, officiated by Doug Armstrong of IAWPCO, with Wei Zhang and Hunter Hardesty lending their expertise on general industry subject matter.

The topics cover were varied and covered such specifics as potential upcoming changes in regulations, how regulatory agencies are going to cope with the changes related to the SCOTUS Dobbs Case, updated information shared by attendees regarding PHOS/PFAS, and several others. Obviously no known resolutions were reached for reported on any of these items. But the discussion did spotlight some of the hot topics going on in the treatment industry today which gave the operators, administrators, and members of the Illinois EPA that were present additional perspective/knowledge on these items from colleagues that they don't get the opportunity to speak with on a frequent basis.

(Editor's note: both of these presentations have been approved by the Illinois EPA for dual credit CEUs.)

This completed the presentation portion of our meeting in the group broke for a lunch break at this time. Many thanks to the Chef, Dean Miller who again did a wonderful job cooking the brats and hamburgers! I can't express enough how lucky we are to have him willing to donate his time to our group as he has done many times in the past. Again, thank you Dean.

Following the lunch break we had a drawing for several door prizes supplied by Municipal Equipment. Thank you Don Buerke & ME.

Then following a brief description of the facility, its current state, and potential changes coming down the road presented by Andy Handfland of Farnsworth Engineering who is the Engineer for the facility; the group loaded up in their vehicles and went out to inspect the facilities.

I would mention that the facilities were in good order, and that the group is very thankful to Jeff Mercer for hosting us that day. As well as thanks to the administration of the Village of Atwood for allowing us to meet there.

This concludes the report of the CIPWO 2024 Summer Meeting. I look forward to seeing everyone in January at the Winter Meeting.

CIPWO 2024 Summer Meeting Information:

Location: Atwood IL American Legion Hall, 323 N Missouri St, Atwood, IL 61913

Date: July 31, 2024

Time: Registration 9-10am, Meeting 10-3:00,

1st Speaker: Wei Zhang, Chemscan/In-Situ Topic: DCT-Wastewater Monitoring and Process Control Technologies

2nd Speaker: Doug Armstrong, Wei Zhang, Hunter Hardesty Topic: DCT-Operator's Roundtable Discussion

Lunch: Noon to 1pm

Note: Dual credit CEUs have been APPROVED for the both presentations.

Please remember to RSVP Dave Miller as soon as possible with your attendance numbers. dlm285@aol.com Thank you.

2024 CIPWO Spring Officer's Meeting Report

By; Dave Collard

(Note: Meeting minutes submitted by Dave Collard on behalf of Secretary Dave Miller)

The CIPWO Spring Officer’s Meeting was held today on Thursday, April 25th, at Pop’s Place in Decatur, IL. Present for the meeting was, President Tim Gordon, Vice President Dave Hermes, Secretary Treasurer Dave Miller, Information Coordinator Dave Collard, and (at the Officer’s request) Member Ashley Bailey.

The meeting began promptly at noon as scheduled then started out with some administrative business matters that needed to be dealt with by the Board. Those items were as follow:

1. In consideration of maintaining a quorum necessary to conduct business. The board has considered the replacement of a Coordinator who is no longer able to attend meetings. The coordinator is Jessi Baker who has been fortunate enough to find gainful employment with the University of Illinois. As many of you may know during her tenure with the board Jessi was very instrumental in assisting the organization to get in line with federal and state tax requirements. However, this new position does not afford her the ability to attend organizational meetings and Jessi has stepped aside for the betterment of the organization. A motion was offered by Dave Collard and seconded by Dave Hermes that Ashley Bailey be assigned the coordinator role to complete the final year of Jessi’s term. The motion passed unanimously.

2. Additionally, Jessi Baker also filled the role of Auxiliary Treasurer for the organization. Dave Hermes has volunteered to step in and take up that role for the organization. David Collard made a motion seconded by Dave Miller that Dave Hermes be assigned the duties of Auxiliary Treasurer and this motion passed unanimously.
3. The next item on the agenda was consideration for the next term of Secretary Treasurer position. Ashley Bailey made a motion that Dave Miller continue in this position for the next term, which was seconded by Tim Gordon, this motion also passed unanimously.
4. The final item on the business agenda was consideration for the next term for Information Coordinator, Dave Hermes made a motion that Dave Collard continue in this position for the next term, which was seconded by Tim Gordon, this motion also passed unanimously.

This completed the administrative business portion of the meeting and the board moved on to topics related to the upcoming summer meeting to be held in July.

While no one brought to the meeting any concrete suggestions for the topic of location several ideas were raised. It was noted that this should be a year where a smaller facility is designated for the location. And the board members agreed to begin reaching out to various facilities in our area to see who might be able to host.

Finally, the topic of presenters was raised and again no suggestions were brought to the meeting, however there are some ideas that the board will be looking into.

This concludes the minutes of the Officer’s Meeting for Apr. 25, 2024.

Coordinator’s Notes:

The 2024 CIPWO Summer Meeting is scheduled for July 31st, 2024. As information related to the location and presenters etc. becomes available, I will post that information on the organization’s website. And then send out notifications to the membership.

The Officers welcome the members to submit suggestions for presenters to give talks as the upcoming meeting. The board also welcomes any of our venders who would like to submit ideas for presentations from their organization regarding anything related to wastewater treatment (and water treatment if it applies) please let us know immediately. Likewise, if any of our operations members would like to host the meeting at your facility, or give a presentation please let us know as well.

Final note, we as a group owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jessi Baker. It cannot be understated that she put together everything that CIPWO needed to remain viable as an organization. The legalities involved in running a non-profit grows all the time. It even shows in the format of this officer’s report where we have to have more formal minutes of meetings to meet the financial requirements associated with officer duties (see Auxiliary Treasurer items above). And at one point we were on the brink of having to consider if the group could remain in operation, but Jessi walked us through all the necessary steps to become/remain legal. Jessi we wish you the best and offer a huge Thank You from all of CIPWO!

Everyone get ready for the Summer Meeting, mark you calendars. I’ll update the info here as it becomes available and I’ll see you all there.

2024 CIPWO Winter Meeting Report

By: David Collard

The 2024 Winter Meeting of the CIPWO group took place in Rantoul IL on January 31st. In attendance were approximately 30-35 individuals including CIPWO members and officers, Presenters, and representatives from seven different Vendors. The meeting took place at the facilities of Ruger’s Bowling Center at 1568 E Grove Ave., Rantoul IL.

Upon arrival guests were welcomed with an assortment of donuts and fresh coffee supplied by the CIPWO Group, and the meeting started promptly on schedule at 10 AM. The officers in attendance consisted of Dave Miller, David Collard, and Mike Elsberry. In the absence of Past President Bruce Pride and incoming President Tim Gordon, David Collard was designated to conduct the meeting.

The meeting began with a brief business meeting in which Treasurer Dave Miller gave a brief presentation regarding the financial information related to the group. Following this David Collard asked for volunteers or nominations for the position of vice president at which time Dave Hermes offered himself as volunteer and was supported by the officers present. A vote was taken and Dave was unanimously elected to the Office of Vice President. Mr. Collard then extended the thanks of the organization to the outgoing president Mr. Pride. And additionally thanked Coordinator Mike Elsberry for his services as an officer to the organization which in this case had extended to a five-year term with an extra year as a coordinator to fill a vacancy. An inquiry was then made of the membership for any new or old business remaining and having none offered the business portion of the meeting was concluded.

At this time the presentations portion of the meeting began. The first presenter being Nicholas Rademacher P.E. of Clark Dietz Engineering who presented on the topic of the St Joseph IL Wastewater Facility Upgrade Project. The second presenter was Cora Fickinger, Environmental Scientist for Teklab Inc. Who presented on the topic of PFOS/PFAS Sampling and Testing. Both of the presentations were excellent in quality and offered a great deal of information to the group assembled. Evidence of this was the fact that the meal portion of the meeting was a few minutes late to start due to the presentations running a bit long, such was the interest of the members assembled. It is also noted that both of these presentations have been approved for dual water and wastewater certification credit CEU‘s by the Illinois EPA.

Following the lunch hour which was catered by Hickory River Smokehouse the door prizes, which were supplied by the vendors were passed out by the means of a random ticket drawing conducted by Dave Miller.

The CIPWO officers and membership cannot thank the vendors enough for the their participation and attendance, and especially the ongoing support they continually offer to our group! Therefore, I would like to list by name the vendors which were present for this meeting, they were in no particular order;

Pace

Metropolitan Industries Inc.

Illinois electric works

Municipal Equipment Company Inc.

Peterson and Matz Inc.

Gasvoda and Associates Inc.

Teklab Inc.

This concludes the report of the 2024 CIPWO Winter Meeting. I hope to see you all present for the upcoming summer meeting which will take place on July 31st 2024