Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees
Minutes of Board Meeting on November 21, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
Oak Ridge Senior Center
Present:
Mike Bradshaw, Sandy Dean, Judy Kibbe, Keith Kibbe, Charlie Kuykendall,
Pete Lemons, Pete Lotts, Dave Mason, Ed Mee, Pete Peterson, Fred
Postma, Dave Reichle, Mary Helen Rose, Troy Trotter, Dub Shults, Don
Wood, Bob Worrell, Paula Wright.
1. Opening Remarks.
President Dave Reichle reported that he is following up with County
Executives of Roane and Anderson Counties and is providing them a draft
of a letter they will send to Senator Alexander. He has learned
that Congressman Wamp will speak at Breakfast Rotary in Oak Ridge on
November 28, and has requested a meeting with Congressman Wamp to bring
him up to date. Pete Peterson and Dub Shults will be attending
the breakfast, which Reichle will also attend, and hopefully a meeting
with Wamp can be scheduled following breakfast.
Reichle said he understands that Bechtel Jacobs has made a change in
the medical premium cost to retirees who are under 65. He asked
Pete Peterson to get facts on this change and report back to us at our
next meeting.
2. Treasurer’s Report.
Paula Wright highlighted her report, copies of which had been
distributed. There were 90 new Active Members in October, and
balance on hand at end of October was $39,574.23.
3. Communications.
Sandy Dean referred to the recent visit by Senator Alexander to
Farragut Town Hall, and said the reporter for Farragut News did an
outstanding job of presenting our cause, and she called to express our
appreciation. She said she had a call from folks at BWXT Retiree
News saying that they would send out a special issue, and CORRE got the
re-cap of the Annual Meeting and the need for new members included in
that issue. There was discussion about Frank Munger’s new
blog. Reichle and Joe Setaro will respond to comments presently
on the blog from a retiree. Dave Mason agreed to monitor the
Munger blog, along with the CORRE blog, and seek help from various
Board members in responding to articles or questions.
4. Review and Approval of Revised Bylaws.
Notice and copy of the proposed revision had been sent a week earlier
to all Board members. There were minor wording changes suggested
in a couple of places. Motion passed unanimously to approve the
revised Bylaws with the minor wording changes discussed.
Pete Lotts had distributed to Board members his suggestion for Changing
Article XI, D, Political Limitations. Motion passed to refer his
suggestion to the Bylaws Committee for consideration and possible
action at our December meeting.
5. Meeting with Director of ORNL.
Dave Reichle reported that he, Charlie Kuykendall, and Dub Shults met
with Thom Mason, Director of ORNL, on October 31. They found
Mason to be very pleasant and very familiar with retiree issues.
6. Meetings at BWXT Y-12 and ORNL with Benefits Office Staff.
Bob Worrell reported that he, Dave Reichle, and Joe Setaro meet with
Benefits heads at BWXT on November 7, and at ORNL on November 14.
He said our estimate of costs for funding CORRE’s two proposals
differed from estimates provided to Tom Craig (of Senator
Alexander’s office) by Contractor Benefits people, and our
meetings were held to attempt to clarify and reconcile our numbers and
theirs. We asked them to go back to Towers Perrin and ask what
assumptions were used, but we don’t as yet know what they are
going to do with respect to the re-calculation. Worrell attempted
to call Mark Keck today, and will try again Monday to reach him.
7. Government Relations Committee.
Pete Lotts advised the Board that letters similar to the one recently
given to Senator Alexander will be sent to Senator Corker and to
Congressmen Davis, Duncan, and Wamp. He said the Committee has
been having steady conversations with Tom Craig of Alexander’s
staff in D. C. As mentioned earlier, Dave Reichle is providing
drafts of letters for Anderson and Roane County Executives to send to
Alexander.
Lotts reported that Oak Ridge City Councilman Charlie Hensley had met
with the Committee earlier, and suggested that City Council might be
willing to have the City’s lobbyist work to assist
retirees. Motion passed to authorize cooperation with Oak Ridge
City Council by furnishing information needed by them or the lobbyist
in order to make a decision.
8. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
Mary Helen Rose, CORRE Secretary
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