News & Notes January 2005

Bylaws Committee to Recommended Revisions to PACD Bylaws

The PACD Bylaws Committee has been meeting to review the PACD Bylaws. The Committee will be making a number of recommendations to the PACD Executive Council to improve the working of the PACD through changes to its Bylaws.

The Committee staff is working to prepare a draft document to present to the PACD Executive Council at its March meeting. Any changes to the PACD Bylaws must be approved by the PACD Executive Council at its annual meeting which will take place in Erie in July.

Some of the revisions that the committee will be recommending include:

• General updates at the beginning of the Bylaws such as removing the old preamble and replacing it with table of contents, definitions, and updated information for the corporate seal and purpose;
  
• Including district staff and associate directors as part of the definition of membership;
  
• Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the officers (President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and NACD Director);
  
• Clarifying the terms for officers;
  
• Adding the PACD Region Directors as part of the PACD Executive Board along with the officers;
  
• Clarifying the duties of the Executive Board;
  
• Adding seven district staff representatives as voting delegates to the PACD Executive Council;
  
• Describing the election process and duties of the seven regional staff representatives;
  
• Clarifying the definition of the Executive Council;
  
• Adding an order of business for meetings;
  
• Clarifying the language for annual meetings and Executive Council meetings;
  
• Clarifying voting at Executive Council and committee meetings to those members in "good standing" which are those members whose district dues were paid in full during the previous year;
  
• Defining committee membership to be a minimum of three and a maximum of seven directors and a minimum of three and a maximum of seven district staff;
  
• Allowing only committee members to vote at committee meetings;
  
• Revising and combining old PACD committees into a fewer number of new committees including Operations, Education and Outreach, Legislative, Conservation, Ways and Means, and District Employees;
  
• Adding a section to protect directors from liability;
  
• Revising the section describing the dissolution of the association;
  
• Moving the endowment fund responsibilities to the new Ways and Means Committee;
  
• Revising the non-discrimination section to include current laws and regulations.

Specific language for these revisions will be presented to the Executive Council at its March meeting in Harrisburg. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding any of these recommendations, please call your regional representative on the Committee, Larry Kehl, Chairman or Susan Marquart, PACD Executive Director.

Chairman - Larry Kehl, Berks CD
North East - Bob Robinson, Wyoming CD
South East - Malcolm Crooks, Bucks CD
South Central - Bruce Holbrook, York CD
Central - Bob Ritchey, Cambria CD
South West - Bob DeVenny, Allegheny CD
North West - Robert Beatty, Jefferson CD
North Central - Commissioner John Torok, Potter CD
District Staff Representative - Larry Martick, Adams CD
PACD Staff - Susan Marquart, Executive Director

Transportation Coalition Update

For over a year, PACD has been working for an increase in funding for the Dirt and Gravel Road Program to control sediment and dust pollution in waterways. Since the gas tax was not addressed during the last legislative session, the Transportation Coalition, of which PACD is a member, is still actively meeting to seek action by the legislature to address transportation issues in the new legislative session that begins January 1. PACD will continue to provide districts with updates as information becomes available.