Bruce Wieser, President 

 WPCA Members:

 Hope everyone is having a good spring.  When you read this newsletter the 2 sessions of WPCA crane  training and testing should be completed.  A big thank you goes out to Wieser Concrete and Crest    Precast for hosting these events.  I attended the session that was at Wieser Concrete.  All in all it went   well and I think most if not all in attendance passed the tests.  I learned some new things and so did  the other attendees.  There were some last minute issues that came up but thanks to Andy Winkler and Wieser Concrete those issues were resolved.        

Another item that I want to bring to everyone’s attention is how association management of WPCA will be handled from now on.  MDS has been in charge of our association management since April 1, 2015.  Their contract is until March 21, 2018.  Before April 2015 KPAS was taking care of association management, executive director, and lobbying.  As some of you may know Alison Huber resigned from MDS in late December 2016 for a position with another company.  Alison along with Heather Dyer were our association management team from MDS.  After Alison’s resignation, MDS decided to exercise its 90 day contract termination clause in their contract with WPCA.  They also exercised this clause with WOWRA and WLWCA contracts.  The WPCA board of directors had a number of conference calls to discuss our options moving forward in regards to association management.  It was decided by the board that the WPCA would return to the 2012-2015 format where KPAS handles Executive Directorship, Association Management and Government Relations Services duties.  MDS’s last day was March 21, 2017.  I feel very confident that George and KPAS will perform to our association’s expectations like they have in the past.  Feel free to call or e-mail me on any questions about this transition.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the summer conference in Racine, July 21-22. 

George Klaetsch, Government Affairs, WPCA Director:

 Wisconsin Biennial Budget Debate Includes POWTS Items:

 With the introduction of the 2017-19 biennial budget, the WPCA has kept a watchful eye on items that affect its  membership and POWTS-related items that affect industry stakeholders.  In late-Winter it came as no surprise  there were items included in the budget that could have an impact on our industry and stakeholders – primarily  as it relates to the WI POWTS Fund Grant Program.

 While in years past, Governor Walker’s would include both the defunding and elimination of the WI POWTS  Fund Grant Program; that did not happen this year.  In his budget, Governor Walker proposed funding $1.68  million for the POWTS Fund Grant Program (which results in $840,000 for each year of the biennium).  This is  the same amount that was passed into law for the 2015-17 biennium.

As in all things government – the proposed funding comes with some strings attached.  The Governor’s proposal for the $1.68 million shifted it from an on-going appropriation to a one-time appropriation.  This would mean that the POWTS Fund Grant Program would no longer be funded following the 2017-19 biennium.  Please know that the WPCA is working with other interested stakeholders (i.e. Wisconsin County Code Administrators and Wisconsin Counties Association) to convince targeted members of the legislative Joint Finance Committee to delete the Governor’s proposed switch from ongoing to one-time.  The response has been encouraging that we will receive approval of this change to the legislative version of the budget. 

I will update WPCA members as this issue continues to be debated and will be voted on sometime in May.

Legislative Joint Finance Committee Removes Policy Items from Governor’s Budget:

There are a few budget items of interest that the WPCA has been engaged on since its introduction.  Those items are specific to the DSPS budget and could have an impact on our industry and stakeholders.  Those DSPS budget items are:

·      Create an Occupational License Review Council

·      Eliminate Certain DSPS Boards and Councils

·      Eliminate Mandatory Meeting Requirements

On April 6, the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee (JFC), Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) and Sen. Alberta Darling (R- River Hills) issued a memo outlining JFC budget process and starting point.

The memo included 83 non-fiscal policy items that will be removed from the budget. All three of the items mentioned above were removed.  Please note, any of the 83 items removed, may be placed back into the budget at any time, or can be introduced as separate legislation.

Attention WPCA Members! We have recently restocked our supply of Warning and Grease Labels! Order forms can be found on the upper-right hand corner of the home page, or you can download it by clicking right HERE. 

• Forms can be submitted by fax, mail, or e-mail if you fill out the form, scan it and send it back to us. Our intern is becoming quite skilled in packing labels so feel free to put her skills to the test!

• WPCA Members receive an AMAZING deal on the labels:

-$2/Grease Label (Available May 17)

OSHA is in the process of implementing requirement 1926.1427 which means all personnel who operate booms over 2,000 pounds must become certified by November 17, 2017.  The prior requirement stated you needed to be “qualified”.   National Precast Concrete Association (NPCA) partnered with Crane Institute Certification (CIC) to come up with the precast industry’s own certification process called Precast Crane Delivery Certification, under 21 ton certification.   NPCA and its members felt the need to have a certification that was more applicable to our industry.

Wisconsin Precast Concrete Association wanted to be proactive, so its members organized two classes with the first being held at Wieser Concrete’s Maiden Rock location.  This was the first class to take the new PCDC under 21 ton certification in the US. WPCA also offered articulating knuckle boom certification to cover all the cranes used in the industry.  

In April, the WPCA held crane operator certification training sessions and testing for a total of 38 people in Maiden Rock in the northwestern part of the state on April 10-14 and Barneveld in the southcentral part of the state on April 17-21.  Twenty-two attended the classroom training and testing in Maiden Rock and 16 people attended the training in Barneveld.  An instructor from RISC, LLC provided training on general crane knowledge, cranes under 21 tons and articulating boom cranes – also known as “knuckleboom” cranes – at both locations.

The first three days were all classroom lectures and workbook exercises. Day four was testing.  The fifth day was training and testing for articulating cranes.   During this course, the operators had to operate their boom with a weighted object hung from their rigging through an obstacle course without any safety infractions while being timed. Another portion of the testing included hand signals.

While we are still awaiting results from the exams taken in Barneveld as this is written, 18 of the 22 Maiden Rock training attendees passed their exams – an 82 percent success rate! 

WPCA would like to thank Wieser Concrete in Maiden Rock for hosting the locations for the classroom training, written exams and the practical exams.  The WPCA would also like to personally thank Andy Winkler for his time and effort to ensure the entire crane certification was conducted in a professional manner that accommodated all registrants who completed the certification courses.

Also, WPCA would like to thank Crest Precast Concrete in Barneveld for providing the practical exam location.  Classroom training and written exams took place at the Deer Valley Lodge in Barneveld. 

Be sure to check out a few pictures from the certifications on the home page! Click here to be redirected to the home page.

2017 WPCA Summer Conference

July 21-22, 2017

DoubleTree Hotel Racine Harbourwalk

Racine, Wisconsin

Registration Opens in Mid-May

HOPE TO SEE ALL OF YOU THERE!