Embassy Suite Hotel, Outdoor World, Grapevine, Texas The meeting was called to order at 8:00 AM by President Michael Kramer. Invocation was given by Kelly Reich. It was asked that every person there sign in on the sign in sheet that was being passed around or they would not be considered present at the meeting. Treasurers Report Kelly Reich The NTHECC is in very good financial condition. There was a profit that was made on the roaster as well as a profit made on the Albuquerque meeting. All of this information is available to any and all members however it is not published in the minutes. Any Member can contact Treasurer Kelly Reich directly and he will be more than happy to show them the financial condition of the NTHECC and answer any questions. Scholarship Committee Report Kelly Reich It was reported that NTHECC scholarship fund was a great thing for our organization to do. It was noted that we have awarded over $150,000.00 in scholarships and actually paid over $140,000.00 as of this date. Matt Evans added to the report stating that we have $25,000.00 in reserves and there are three (3) new applicants. Any one who has an applicant should get it to Matt Evans as quickly as possible so that he can begin processing the applications. Consideration of the Minutes - Michael Kinder The minutes had already been distributed 30 days prior to the meeting with a note that they would not be read at our General Meeting however, the members can read the minutes and any corrections or changes were to be prepared for discussion at this meeting and Michael Kinder asked if there were any corrections or changes. There were none presented therefore, a motion was made by Richard McDonald and seconded by Mike England to accept the minutes as presented. The motion passed. Education Committee Report - Ed Williams The Orlando meeting was getting all set up and we are waiting on outlines to be provided so that these outlines can get to Jean Gardner to be presented to the various states for continuing education credit. Sonny White, an Education Committee member explained that everything is set up for the meeting. There will be frame repair education. There will bus repair education presented. As well, there will be a presentation on the preservation of evidence. At that point in time we were not holding to the exact agenda that was laid out by our President therefore; a motion was made by Richard McDonald and seconded by Champ
Page 2 Coddington to let us continue through the rest of the meeting out of order. The motion passed. Bylaws Committee Report - Champ Coddington The Bylaws Committee had been very busy and there will be discussion and votes this afternoon regarding the new By Laws. Public Relations Committee Report Richard Bruce Thanks to ABC Bus Company, the Public Relations Committee was able to make brochures to send out explaining the NTHECC. Richard Bruce asked that anyone who wanted to have something put into a trade publication please advise him and he would see about the ability to do that. There are many manufactures and trucking companies ready to become members of our organization. Nominating Committee Report - David Serifini The Committee assured us that there would be two (2) names for each position on the ballot and that the ballots will be out to each member 30 days before our Fall Meeting so that we can comply with the By Laws. Membership Committee Report - Ed Williams: Thanks to all of the people involved with the testing and preparation for the testing for this meeting. There were six Adjuster applicants; three of which passed the test and will be voted on. Applicant Jeff Wright; although passing the test, it has been discovered that there was a oversight in reviewing his application as it relates to the By Laws and even though he passed the testing, we will be unable to vote on him. Bill Leointti and Wendell Rabon will be voted on as Adjuster Members. MCI, Prevost, Volvo and Mac Trailers are all to be voted on as Associate Members. Progressive Insurance Company is to be voted on as a Company Member. SEA and Adam Brand are to be voted on as Allied Member s. Discussion was held about voting on any applicant who was not present. A motion was made by Chuck Herbert and seconded by Michael Kneer that an Applicant representative is required to be present in order to be voted on or they will be tabled until the next meeting.
Page 3 An amendment was made to the motion by Chuck Herbert that this should only take effect if these applicants were notified that they were required to be present. The amended motion was seconded by Russ Hodges and the amended motion was voted on and passed. Breakout Meetings Adjuster Members Meeting There was much discussion over the By Laws. Adjuster Member Ray Cody advised that he did not feel the Breakout Meetings were cohesive and of good use to the NTHECC as it created animosities. There was a discussion over new membership. A discussion about the direction of the NTHECC followed which was incorporated with Ray Cody s statement. At the end of the meeting there was a motion made by Ed William s and seconded by Larry Runyan to end the Breakout Meetings and by doing that within this Breakout Meeting it would then be presented in front of the entire Membership when we all got back together. The Adjusters had discussion over Dan Harvey being the liaison between the Adjusters and the Board and how we like the forum that was being presented. Company Members Meeting The Company Members also discussed the cohesiveness of the NTHECC and the changes of the By Laws. They discussed the applicants and their qualifications. They also need more Adjuster Members. There was a discussion in their meeting about the towing website; did they or did they not want to continue with it. The Company s made a statement that they do not support the TPA By Law amendment. Allied Members They discussed the diversity of the membership of the Claims Council. They discussed the By Laws and membership and a checklist for the membership of the NTHECC. They discussed future meetings location, cost, and travel.
Page 4 A motion was made to eliminate the Breakout Meetings by Chuck Herbert and seconded by Richard McDonald. It passed. Therefore in the future, there will be no Breakout Meetings. Adjuster Member Larry Runyan was asked to give the general membership an update on Adjuster Member Craig Bindert. Craig has gone through very hard times in his battling cancer and is having good days and bad days. The cancer will always be with him however it is the hope that the cancer can be controlled. Craig and his family need the continued prayers and support of all members of our Council. Voting We took a count of voters that allowed 62 eligible voters with 46 needed to pass any vote. The first to be balloted on was Adjuster applicant Bill Leonetti who passed and is now an Adjuster Member of the NTHECC. The second Adjuster applicant, Wendell Rabon was voted on and passed, and is now an Adjuster Member of the NTHECC. Allied applicant Adam Brand of Brand & Associates was voted on and did not pass. Allied applicant SEA s vote was tabled because they did not have a representative present. Allied applicant H & M Bay was tabled because they did not have a representative. A motion was made to verify that H & M Bay can be a member of the NTHECC before a future vote. A motion was made by Kelly Reich and seconded by John Huot. The motion passed. Associate applicant MCI Bus s vote was tabled. Michael Kramer made a motion to table it and Chuck Herbert seconded it because there was not a representative present. Associate applicant Mac Trailers vote was tabled. Michael Kramer made a motion to table it and it was seconded by Richard McDonald because there was not a representative present. Associate applicant Prevost s representative Lonnie Mackeprang was present. The vote was taken and Prevost is now an Associate Member of the NTHECC. Associate applicant Volvo s representative Dwight Mc Alexander was present and they were voted on. They are now an Associated Member of the NTHECC.
Page 5 Company Member applicant Progressive Commercial Auto was voted on as they had three representatives attending the meeting. They did not get the required number of votes to be a member of the NTHECC. Roster There were discussions on the roster and the changes in the roster took place while the ballots were being counted. Tom Everette will be sending out change forms. They will come through the Administrator and everyone in the Claims Council will have the opportunity to make those changes. Voting A motion to destroy the ballots was made by Michael Kinder and seconded by Larry Runyan and passed. The ballots were destroyed. Spring Meetings A discussion took place over Spring Meetings. Meeting Committee member John Orr explained that we are under contract in the current hotel, Embassy Suites, Grapevine, Texas until 2007. He explained that he has contacted the hotel who would be willing to have us in 2008, 2009, and 2010 at rates respectively $139.00, $144.00, and $149.00. A motion was made to continue the use of the current hotel for a variety of reasons by Chuck Herbert, seconded by John Mininger and passed. Website - Dan Harvey An overview of what is going on with the web site was given. Everyone agreed Mr. Harvey should go ahead with the changes he discussed in order to continue to improve our web-site. Board of Directors President Michael Kramer The President advised that the Board of Directors have decided to continue the inside cover of the NTHECC roster in the memory of Jim Bing as this was his pet project and his endeavor. *Announcement It was announced by Chuck Herbert and Judd Leonard that the wife of adjuster Jim Leonard, Ann Leonard, has cancer and that the family is going through some hard times however fully expects to win this battle. Our thoughts and prayers were asked to be with the Leonard family. By Laws The new By Law changes came up for a vote. The first vote was the selfinsureds. A motion was made by Chuck Herbert to accept the By Laws on the selfinsureds, seconded by Ron Speraneo. A discussion took place and the self-insured trucking companies now have a provision within the By Laws to become a member of the NTHECC. Chuck Herbert and Ron Speraneo made a motion to destroy the ballots and it passed. The TPA By Law came up. A motion was made by Bill Fisher and seconded by Champ Coddington however it did not come up for a vote. A motion was made by John Huot to send the By Laws back to the Committee until such time as that By Law could be further
Page 6 examined and tuned up more to the correct way it should read. It was seconded by George Patrick and the By Law for the TPA is now being sent back to the By Laws Committee for further review. Two more Members will be placed on the By Laws Committee, John Huot and Jeri Looney to work on this By Law. There are two applicants for Honorary Member; John Mursu and Ray Serafini. They have been brought before the General Membership and they will become eligible for vote at our Fall Meeting in 2006 in Orlando, Florida. Meeting Committee Dan Harvey Dan Harvey was very thankful for all the help given to them for the Fall Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico and reported that long time friend of the Council and Company Member Jerry Young is assisting with the Meeting Committee. The Orlando, Florida meeting is set. The rate for the hotel is $109.00 per night, the date is October 5, through October 8, 2006. The golf course will be Eagle Creek and the cost will be determined with the goal of keeping the cost reasonable. The San Antonio, Texas meeting is very close to being set at the Hyatt October 4 through October 7, 2007 with a rate for the hotel at $169.00. The Colorado Springs meeting has been set for 2008 at the Antlers Hilton in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The room rate will be $139.00 to $149.00 and the By Laws have been set aside at our Albuquerque meeting in order that we can establish our meeting in Colorado Springs from September25, through September 28, 2008. As discussion took place over our 2009 meeting. The cities that were available through solicitation of our Members was; St. Louis, Missouri, Seattle, Washington, Salt Lake City, Utah, Casper, Wyoming, and Lake Tahoe. After tremendous amount of discussion a hand vote was taken and St. Louis, Missouri was elected to be our city for 2009. New Business L. Daniel Ford of Canal Insurance Company expressed his displeasure that Jeff Wright did not get elected and that the committees who should have taken care of this did not do their job. It was explained that it was simply an oversight and a motion was made by David Holder and seconded by Leon Brownlee to suspend the By Laws of the membership for Jeff Wright only because he is well qualified and passed all of the tests; it was a simple failure on the part of the NTHECC to comply with a small portion of the By Law. That motion overwhelmingly passed to suspend that portion of the By Law just for Jeff Wright and it passed. A motion was then made by Gene Horton and seconded by John Mininger to take a vote for the election of Jeff Wright for adjuster membership for the NTHECC. A recount of eligible voters was made and a vote was
Page 7 taken on Mr. Wright. By overwhelming numbers, Mr. Wright is now an Adjuster Member of the NTHECC. A motion was made by President Michael Kramer to adjourn, seconded by Champ Coddington and was adjourned. These minutes will not be read in their entirety at the Fall Meeting, so the Membership must review them individually and be prepared at the Fall Meeting with additions and corrections. Prepared by Michael Kinder, Secretary NTHECC.