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Present:  Ken Cowser, Sandy Dean, Tom Douglass, Joe Dykstra, Chuck Fleischer, Ben Gaylor,  Jackie Holloway, Ben Johnson, John Jones, Bob Keil,  Marigrace Kirstowsky, Charlie Kuykendall, Chuck Landguth, Tom Lemons, Dave Reichle, Mary Helen Rose, Joe Setaro, Troy Trotter, Don Wood, Bob Worrell 

1.      Opening Remarks.   Charlie Kuykendall welcomed Bob Keil, newly elected board member who was present for the first time.  He also welcomed back Chuck Landguth and his guest, Chuck Fleischer.  He recognized the union representatives that we have serving on the board, emphasizing that we wish to be inclusive.   Kuykendall said he perceives that contractor personnel now seem to be more open and cooperative when board members visit for information.  Norm Sparks recently provided a sheet showing the value of the pension fund, which is now about $2.6 billion. Total liabilities are now about $2 billion.  The $600 million surplus is more than three times enough to pay for what CORRE has been asking. There is hope that we will have a response from DOE and the contractors on minimum pensions before our next board meeting. 

2.      Secretary & Treasurer’s Report.  Mary Helen Rose highlighted her Treasurer’s report, copies of which had been distributed to board members.  Balance on hand October 31, 2003, was $41,461.56, with a total of about 2,126 Active Members.  There were 258 new Active Members in October, who signed up at the Annual Meeting or sent checks later.   

3.   Communications.  Sandy Dean reported that, in addition to the article in CORRE Corner in the last issue of Retiree News, she issued a news release prepared by Pete Lotts about the petition.  The article appeared in three area newspapers, though not yet in the Knoxville paper.   She and Kuykendall will get with Frank Munger (News Sentinel) for lunch soon.  An article has been submitted for CORRE Corner in the January issue of Retiree News.  She has also submitted an article to Retiree News on insurance benefits (not to be in CORRE Corner).   

4.      Website.  John Roy Gray was absent due to health problems.  An e-mail message reported that the Website is now fully up to date.  Kuykendall mentioned Gray’s reservations about trying to develop an e-mail list of Active Members.  Board members agreed that it would be a complex job, due to the fact that e-mail addresses are so hard to get exact and change so often.  The consensus was that CORRE should not be expected to do that job.  

5.      Audit.  Ben Johnson stated that he plans to do an audit of the Treasurer’s books at end of December (end of FY).   

6.      Meeting at ORNL.  Joe Setaro reported on a meeting he and Kuykendall had recently at ORNL (at ORNL’s request).  The purpose was for ORNL to supply information CORRE has previously requested.  The meeting was with Daryl Boykins, Director of Human Resources; and Mark Wagner, Director of Benefit Plans.  They provided a summary of pension ad hoc adjustments that have been made at other Battelle facilities.  Some of their sites review again three years after increases.  Setaro stated that a survey of retirees is to be made by BWXT to determine interest in a dental insurance program.  He said BNL has a retiree organization, formed at the time that   Battelle took over the laboratory.  The organization is interested in cooperating with other retiree organizations.   

7.      Legislative Committee.   Pete Lotts was absent due to health problems.  Reichle stated that Lotts has been keeping the ball rolling, with two meetings last week with Linda Ponce of Rep. Wamp’s office.  The main focus was on minimum pensions, but a BWXT benefits advisory committee was also discussed.  The committee is not yet established, and it is not clear what the nature of it would be.   Reichle said they asked Ponce for advice on the 15 percent increase and a process for periodic review.  Setaro stated that he and Lotts met with Carolyn Jenson of Sen. Frist’s office and asked about the minimum pension issue.  Jenson told them that Sen. Frist has a very crowded schedule and that a lot of his time is taken up with being leader of the senate.  She gave them the name of a contact in Frist’s Washington office, and Lotts plans to pursue that contact next.  Lotts is also going to work with Sen. Alexander.   

8.      Strategy Discussion – Goals.  Discussed earlier.

9.      Adjournment.  The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m. 

Mary Helen Rose, Board Secretary