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Present: Dale Bewley, Ken Cowser, Sandy Dean, Joe Dykstra, John Roy Gray, Jackie Holloway, Ben Johnson, Kaye Johnson, John Jones, Bob Keil, Charlie Kuykendall, Tom Lemons, Dave Reichle, Mary Helen Rose, Joe Setaro, Don Wood, Bob Worrell

Opening Remarks. President Dave Reichle noted that we are still getting questions by e-mail as to whether or not we are getting a pension adjustment. He has contacted the UT Business Center about evaluating what our proposed increase might mean in terms of jobs locally. There is a cost for such an evaluation, and Reichle will try to get more information as to just what that might be. He distributed information on number of recipients and amounts received by retirees in surrounding counties.

Secretary & Treasurer’s Report. Mary Helen Rose highlighted her Treasurer’s report, copies of which had been distributed to board members. Balance on hand January 31, 2004, was $44,196.64, with a total of about 2,272 Active Members. Rose reported that we have 4,755 signatures on the petition (several more sheets were received at meeting).

Communications. Sandy Dean reported that she, Reichle, and Kuykendall had a meeting with Frank Munger (News Sentinel), which was set up by Kuykendall. She said he received them very cordially, and that a very good article was in today’s paper. She felt that Munger is very knowledgeable about our efforts and all the problems involved.

Website. John Roy Gray reported that the Website is up to date. He asked board members to let him know if they found anything out of date or missing. Gray made a motion, seconded by Tom Lemons, that CORRE spend money to purchase a Microsoft Access program for use by Lemons in developing a CORRE data base from those who have registered on the web site. Lemons estimated the cost to be about $200. The motion passed to approve spending the money.

Organizational Contacts. Joe Setaro reported that he and Reichle met with the heads of Human Resources and Benefit Plans at ORNL, and thanked them for their help in obtaining minimum pensions. Setaro and Reichle asked what has happened with the Benefits Advisory Committee and were told that the committee will consist of several people throughout ORNL and will include a retiree. They will meet monthly or every other month to start. They talked about an initial meeting in April. Setaro and Reichle suggested that ORNL management talk to BWXT people about putting information in Retiree News about benefits. They have a meeting scheduled on March 10 with Jeff Smith at ORNL (meeting postponed from earlier date).

Bob Worrell reported that he talked further with Dan Wilkins (ORO), who said that DOE does not have data on contractor pension adjustments. Worrell felt that Wilkins made a sincere effort to obtain the information, but we will have to go another route. It was pointed out that we have information on Sandia and PNNL. Setaro is working to obtain information from Savannah River.

Kuykendall reported that a meeting was held at Y-12 on Tuesday, Feb. 12, with Robert J. Vaughn of TVA, who talked about TVA’s benefits program and the TVA retiree organization. Present were Kuykendall, Norm Sparks (BWXT Y-12), Mark Wagner (ORNL), Dave Reichle, Joe Setaro, and Bob Worrell. Vaughn reported that a retiree was elected to their Pension Benefits

Board, and they have no worries about fiduciary liability as they are self-insured. He said having a retiree on their board has been a very useful arrangement for them.

Legislative Committee (Pete Lotts, Chairman; Ken Cowser, Kaye Johnson, John Jones, and Bob Keil; Dave Reichle and Joe Setaro, ex officio). The Legislative Committee met prior to the CORRE Board Meeting. Lotts could not attend due to illness. Joe Setaro was going to report for the committee, but had to leave the board meeting before doing so. He later furnished this report.

Kaye Johnson is working with the Committee to obtain information from DOE and others. A list of items and data to be collected had been furnished by Lotts. ACTION: Kaye Johnson to continue to work on this list. Setaro to assist as needed.

Setaro reported on a local call-in show (2/18/04) in which Senator Frist was asked about the problem of unequal treatment of Oak Ridge retirees. Senator Frist claimed to know nothing of this situation and would have to check on it. This was very disappointing, since Lotts and Setaro had met with his Tennessee staff person several times to discuss this issue. ACTION: Lotts and Setaro to meet again with Frist's staff and obtain the name of the person in Washington to contact.

Setaro is compiling a list of the Tennessee delegation's committee assignments. We have several that are on influential committees who are not from the second or third district. Setaro is also obtaining a list of congressional contacts that Savannah River uses.

2004 CORRE Position Paper. John Jones distributed copies of a draft position paper. He highlighted parts of the paper that have been updated or changed since the last position paper (2002-2003). There was quite a bit of discussion about what our goals should be, but several people felt strongly that we should focus on one goal only in 2004 (the ad hoc increase averaging 15 percent). Jones asked board members to send him their input, so that the paper may be finalized for approval at the March board meeting.

Strategy Discussion – Goals. Discussed under 2004 Position Paper above. Tom Lemons suggested that Reichle appoint a committee to develop an action plan. Reichle felt that part of the action plan had to be coordinated with that of the Legislative Committee. (He will corrdinate with Lotts.)

Development of Computerized Database of Retiree Contact Information. Tom Lemons distributed copies of his draft action plan for developing a retiree database.

Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Mary Helen Rose, Board Secretary