Next General Meeting TheSkimmer Mission Valley Resort 875 .

General Meeting MinutesGeneral Meeting July 16, 2008Call to order 7:05 PMWelcome by Mark CurranPledge of allegiance-Mike GreggSecretary’s report- James Morketter.Board meeting minutes were approved.Treasurer’s report- Jim Bauer. Weare in good shape financially.Bill Peck gave a presentationregarding the phosphate “flash test”. Heshowed how the flash test can result in afalse positive if the water has high TA.It is always best to use the appropriatetest kit whenever possible.Prospective members were brought tothe front of the room. Present included:Frank Hutter and Adrian Donnely.Chapter supporters current andprospective were brought to the front ofthe room. Present included:Rebecca Quintal- AfflacAlejandro Pinnick- Hybrid pumpsMatt Castillo - SCP San DiegoTravis Guevarra- Superior San DiegoLisa Helm- First InvestorsBrendon Chase- Sun Chaser SolarMarc Dunn- PEPPeter Gozdeck- 3 Step BillingPhil Grider- The Pool DentistDerek Meere- Lifesaver Pool FenceDon Wall- The Pool DoctorDavid Courey- PS2000Eric Svensson- Alternative Pool SystemsMary Ann Downing-Pool SafetySolutionsJohn Moss- Pool SafeSick Leave- Rick Rowe thankedeveryone for covering his poolsContinuing Education- Ladd Carlsonreceived a check for educationreimbursement.Robert Venter and Steve Spence fromSan Diego Department of EnvironmentalHealth gave a presentation. A Q and Asession followed.Paul Grimes announced that acommercial pool has opened for bids inHarbor Island.Austin Gardiner addressed themeeting. He feels that the Skimmernewsletter is going in a negativedirection morally.Raffle:Dee Eakright won 150 and a 50 GasCard from SCP.Mike Nelson won 25Baron Ortiz won 50# in Tabs fromSuperior San DiegoRichard Hayes and Paul Grimes eachwon a Bosch grinderMarc Stewart won Padre Ticketsmandatory October meeting.Paul Grimes reminded everyone thataccording to the R7 newsletter, ournominations for the 2008 BK Tayloraward are due by the September R7meeting. We will print the nominationform in the August Skimmer.We discussed the issue ofcontroversy regarding recentlypublished articles in the Skimmer.Mark stated that the intent of thesearticles was not to offend, but topromote discussion and encouragemembers to submit their own articles.We discussed how difficult it hasbeen to get members to submit articlesto the Skimmer.A motion was made to reimbursePaul Grimes 1000 for work heperformed on the member directory.Motion passes unanimously. GoodJob Paul!We decided not to have a generalmeeting in August 2008.Meeting Adjourned 8:55 PM.Meeting adjourned 8:20 PM.Board Meeting MinutesBoard Meeting August 6, 2008.James Morketter, Mark Curran, PaulGrimes, Mike Gregg, Jim Bauer, PhilGardinerCall To Order 7:35 PMWe discussed issues regarding sickleave. Revisions to our current sickleave policy will be voted on at theNew Member Report–Bill PeckWe have four prospective members inprocess. Aaron Ryan, Pool Time, willbe ready for a chapter vote at theSeptember meeting. Frank Hutter,Hutter's Pool Service, still needs topass the Water Chemistry test and thenwill be ready for a vote. AdrianDonnelly, Neverwinter Pools, hasattended one meeting. Bill Lewis,Crown Pool Service, attended onemeeting, paid, then disappeared.CONTINUING EDUCATION FUND APPLICATIONMember Name: DateCompany Name:Address:City: Zip:Course/Seminar/Program:Course/Seminar/Program Date: Cost: Note: The Education Committee Chairperson (ECC) must receive Application within 30 days of courseCompletion. Receipt or proof of attendance must be submitted to ECC before reimbursement will be made.Give/mail to Education Committee Chairs: Stephen Heyer 4434 34th St San Diego, CA 92116-3389Brian Davis 8070 La Jolla Shores Dr. #421 La Jolla, CA 92037

IPSSA REGION 7B. K. TAYLOR MEMORIAL AWARDNomination FormHistory:In 1995 IPSSA Region 7 initiated the Pool Technician of the Year Award. This honor has beenawarded every year since to the Region 7 IPSSA member who best meets the criteria outlined below.In 1997, the award was renamed the B. K. Taylor Memorial Award in honor of B. K. Taylor, a longtime outstanding member of the San Diego Chapter who passed away on May 19, 1997.Award:The award consists of an inscribed plaque, complimentary dinner tickets and hotelaccommodations for the recipient and a guest to attend the next annual IPSSA, Inc. InstallationDinner. The award is presented at the Region 7 Table Top Show prior to the Installation Dinner.Procedure: Each Region 7 chapter and/or member is eligible to nominate a member for this award.Nominations should be received on this form by the incumbent Region 7 Director not later thanOctober of the year under consideration. The incumbent Region Board shall make theelection of that year's recipient at their October/November meeting.Personal Information:Nominees Name: Year joined IPSSA:Chapter(s)Criteria:The member being nominated shall have contributed to the improvement of IPSSA and/or the poolservice industry by any or all of the following. Describe nominee's significant contributions below.1.Demonstrates professionalism (known to be an excellent technician, pursues course work to improveskills, conducts business in an ethical and professional manner)2.Contributes to IPSSA (willingly does sick route when called upon, serves as chapter, regionor other officer or chairman within the organization, etc.)3.Assists other service industry members (helps chapter members or other pool service professionalswith chemical problems, difficult repairs: either through hands-on assistance or sharing information)4.Contributes to his/her community (participates in church, charitable, or other community activities)Additional comments to support this nomination may be added on additional pages, if needed.Submitted by: Phone No.( )

Excerpts from Region 7ReviewDirector’s Notes –IPSSA, Inc.B.O.R.D. MeetingAugust 2, 2008San Jose, CA Terry Cowles Award deadlinemoved to Oct. 20 to accommodatethe BORD having a chance to reviewat the November meeting. Dealt with grievance against R8 andthe R8 Director, found a couple ofminor errors of commission andomission, self corrected by the R8director prior to committee report onthe matter. No need for sanctions,etc. I will explain fully at the nextRegion 7 meeting if anyone isinterested. Please use Hayward coupons, as theyprovide a benefit to IPSSA Inc. NSF fees may now be paid bycashiers check, money order or creditcard. Added E-Z Products; Spring BoardPool Route Brokers, Inc.; TradeYour Accounts LLC to our AssociateMembers.MagicIndustriesadded conditionally;awaitingresolution of License question. Go to Arrow Insurance’s new site,towww.ipssainsurance.com,instantly receive multiple quotes forhealth insurance. Lengthyreport/discussiononVirginia Graham Baker Act and howand when it will affect our industryin California. At this time there areno acceptable replacement draincovers. Any acceptable cover mustbe marked that it conforms toASME/ANSI A112.19.8 AmericanNational Standard. West Nile Virus – IPSSA has beenasked to report all green pools to theVector Control central number. Title 20 issue still pending furtherreview by the CEC. A vote was taken on acceptingFlorida into IPSSA as Region 11.Due to a procedural error, the votewas rescinded and the issue tableduntil the November BORD meeting.IPSSA, INC. 7/23/08IPSSA, Inc. – R7 MeetingSCP Conf. Rm, San DiegoAttendeesFull Region 7 ws.pdfChuck Gough, R7 Director, Carlsbad; DougHausman, Carlsbad Pres.; John Hackett,Escondido Pres.; Sean Byron, Escondido;Jordan Nelson, N. Cty Coastal Pres.; BrianLindlar, N. Cty Coastal VP; Lance Clifton,RDM Treas.; Mark T. Curran, SD Pres.;Bill Peck, SD; Dick Allen, SD East CountyPres.; Steve Elbik, SD Metro VP; NancyGillespie, Recording Sec’y.Approval of MinutesApproved minutes of the April 14, 2008meeting with the following change: 2)Reminder: As per the bylaws, every chapteris required to have at least two votingmembers in attendance at the R7 meetings.Treasurer’s ReportChuck Gough reported:1) Although he had missed several R7meetings, Loyal Johnson wishes to remainR7 Treasurer through the end of the term inFebruary. 2) Current balances approximately 1,500 for General Fund with nothing outstanding, Emergency Fund 2,000, PicnicAccount 2,600, and CD 2,000. 3) Chapterbilling had not been current, but Johnson justsent out the billing for three quarters. Itmight be tough on some chapters to pay threequarters at once. 4) R7 Picnic was not heldthis year because of lack of volunteers for thePicnic Committee. Picnic seed money, whichcomes from a 10 per R7 memberassessment, remains in the Picnic Account.Motion carried to move all Picnic money to asix-month CD until R7 can determine if theR7 Annual Picnic will happen next year. 5)Johnson had suggested raising dues 25 permember to increase cash flow to bring anadditional 891into R7; however, oncechapter quarterly dues are paid, the budgetmight be in good shape.R7 Director’s Report1) Census – Gough reported the latestmembershipfigures,notincludingemployees and supporters, for each chapter:Carlsbad, 33; Escondido, 38; N County, 25;Rancho Del Mar, 20; San Diego, 110; SDEast County, 45; and SD Metro, 26; for atotal of 297. 2) R7 meeting dates – R7 Boardmeetings were scheduled to be held quarterlythe fourth Wednesday of the month, which isa week and a half before the quarterlyB.O.R.D. meetings. However, agendas getmailed out two weeks before the B.O.R.D.meetings, which is not enough time to getcurrent R7 meeting minutes in the B.O.R.D.meeting packets. Motion approved to changequarterly R7 meetings from the fourthWednesday of the month previous to theB.O.R.D. meeting to the Wednesday twomonths before the quarterly B.O.R.D.meeting. Therefore, the next R7 meetingsare: Sept. 24 and Dec. 17 (one week earlybecause of the holiday).B.O.R.D.1) Administration – The B.O.R.D. has anew task force that will review possiblepolicies regarding centralized processingof membership applications and uniformminimum membership criteria. He pointedout that IPSSA is technically a confederation, not an association, becausemembers do not necessarily havecommonality, i.e., no two chapters havethe same membership requirements. TheB.O.R.D. is trying to standardize that andcentralize processing. Gough will beinvolvedinmakingmembershiprequirements uniform. 2)Grievanceagainst R8. R8’s Table Top was held at theLas Vegas Convention Center. As chair ofthe Table Top committee, a member putthe event in her name. IPSSA Legal saidcease and desist and won. Now she isfiling suit against R8, claiming they didnot have two reps at Region meetings anddid not have proper minutes. This will bediscussed at the upcoming B.O.R.D.meeting and dealt with. Good minutes andproperly signed contracts are veryimportant. If you have legal questions, runthem by Mark Alcorn, IPSSA Legal.Open CommentsOver the last several months, Bill Pecksent two detailed e-mails to Goughcommenting on R7 issues. He addressedsome of them tonight: 1) Treasurer–suggested having a treasurer’s assistant; atthe end of the treasurer’s term, that personwould step into the Treasurer position.Gough outlined the treasurer’s duties:sending quarterly bills to each of the sevenchapters in the region, paying a few bills,and at the change of Board officers visitingthe bank to sign new signature cards. It isnot difficult work but needs to be doneconsistently. To qualify to be regiontreasurer, one must be a region boardmember but not a member of the samechapter as the region director. MarkCurran suggested that if the Region wasinterested in hiring someone to handletreasurer duties, Peter Gozdeck, 3 StepBilling, is listed in the back of TheIPSSAN as an Associate Member. Goughsuggested that would be like the positionof Region Secretary; now that NancyGillespie is here, she takes care ofeverything. Kudos, Nancy. 2)Picnicfinances – said some San Diego chaptermembers asked for an accounting of picnicexpenses in 2005 and never got it. R7needs an accounting. Gough said Johnsonknows the balance in the account buthadn’t yet prepared a report.

Letter from Tom Richardson on Sick LeaveIn the beginning there were a few poolmen who knew each other through mutual friendsor from rubbing shoulders at suppliers’ warehouses. These were sole proprietor poolservicemen. If they got hurt and couldn’t work, it hurt not to work. There was nounemployment, they had no workman’s compensation.So, when someone couldn’t work they chipped in to cover his accounts so he wouldn’tlose his business or worse.They formed an association to allow for more affordable liability insurance and institutedthe sickleave program.They called their association The Independent Pool Service Association, IPSA. The“Independent” was to differentiate themselves from pool stores or businesses that hademployees to service-their routes.We were all in the same boat, and sometimes needed one another.Some members, inclined to do more than independently service their pools, hired peopleto “sub” their pools. At the time you had to have two years experience doing pools tobecome a member. Some members used this as an apprenticeship program. They becamelike pool stores. I remember when a vote was taken as to whether more than one or twoemployees would be allowed per member. It passed.Now we have members who have employees that can cover pools if another employee isout. Also they have (or should have) workmans compensation benefits. Good for them. Iapplaud their ingenuity and business acumen.However, what about us INDEPENDENT pool servicemen?I would hate to see our sickleave program reduced to subbing the sick members’ poolsfor a per-pool price plus chemicals.You members who haven’t had to use the sickleave program are fortunate. But, morethan likely it will happen, sooner or later. And I don’t care how good your healthinsurance is, it’s going to hurt financially.I, like the rest of you have covered lots of sickleave pools. I, like the majority of younever charged a dime. I, like many of you have done repairs for sick members and notcharged the member for it, knowing he needed that income.I hear too much whining about HAViNG to cover a fellow members’ pool. Whathappened to feeling good about helping a fellow Independent Pool Serviceman? There isno debating that costs have gone up. I remember gas at a buck nine, and a gallon ofchlorine at 85 cents, of course I was doing twice a week residentials in La Jolla for 50 to65 a month. We all get a lot more for once a week now.I think the main problem with our sickleave program is members pools are all over thecity. We haven’t been selective enough when accepting new members relating to wheretheir routes are. We should have directed prospective members to a chapter located wheretheir pools are, instead we grew to encompass the whole city. That is what we should beaddressing, the geographic boundaries of our sickleave coverage.This institution of ours, this sickleave program is so unique! It has always been atestament to the nature and spirit of the Poolmen that are part of our association! To see itreduced to a pool sub program would be a shameful disgrace.And yes, the sickleave program has helped me immensely on four occasions. Thanks toall who helped! I will gladly do the same.Tom Richardson, thirty year poolman. Member and Vice President of original chapter,IPSA San Diego.

Phosphate DiscussionAt the July meeting I tried to demonstratethat the white cloud which forms whenphosphate remover is added to pool wateris not phosphates falling out of solution.After I finished I realized I had not beenvery clear about some of this. Especiallywhy I added bicarb to the water sample.So here is a review of the presentationwhich will hopefully be a little clearer.In my early days of exploring the use ofphosphate (PO4) removers I used the PO4"flash test" where I would put a few dropsof PO4 remover in the pool and if itclouded then I knew there were stillphosphates to be removed. Perhaps someof you use the same "test". Well one day Idid it in a pool which should have had NOPO4 left and it clouded! So I questionedmy assumptions about the "test" anddecided to do an experiment. This is theexperiment I demonstrated. First I added alittle PO4 remover to a sample of poolwater with a PO4 level over 1,000 ppb.The water clouded as we would expect.Then I added a little PO4 remover to asample of deionized water (TDS 20, noalkalinity) and no cloudiness formed. Ithen took another sample of deionizedwater and added a bit of baking soda(bicarb, alkalinity increaser). This was tocreate some alkalinity in the water just likepool water. Since no PO4 was added weshould not expect any clouding, right?Well surprise, when the PO4 remover wasadded the water clouded, just like the firstsample of pool water. So what happened?The active ingredient in PO4 remover isLanthanum ion. In most PO4 removers itis in solution as Lanthanum chloride*.When it hits the water it immediatelyforms Lanthanum carbonate. This isbecause it sees 200 or 500 or 1,000carbonates for each phosphate. It’s anumbers game at this point. This is whatforms the white cloud. So the “flash” testdoes not work. And if someone tells youthe white cloud in the pool is phosphatesfalling out that is also inaccurate. Now theLanthanum prefers phosphates overcarbonates but since there are so fewphosphates compared to carbonates it takesTIME for the Lanthanum to pull out thephosphates. This is why the instructionson the bottle say to let the water circulatefor 24 to 48 hours. It takes time for theLanthanum to do it’s work. If you plug thefilter and backwash too soon you lose yourPO4 remover. Now that’s a waste.So how can you reduce the chances ofplugging the filter? I add filter aid to thePO4 remover (along with clarifier) when Idump it in the pool. For DE filters I useDE or Aqua Perl, for sand or cartridge Iuse cellulose fiber. Sure it adds to thecloudiness but hey cloudy is cloudy, right?This way when the PO4 remover hits thefilter it is mixed with filter aid and it is farless likely to plug the filter. How much?Usually twice the volume of the PO4remover. I have had great success with thismethod. If you add PO4 remover andmanually vacuum a week later it would bebest to wait another day or two to backwashso the remover can do it's job.* If you buy a bottle of Natural ChemistryPO4 remover it is a white solid material.This is because it is sold in the carbonateform, not the chloride form.Any questions?-Bill PeckResponse to Tom Richardsonletter at June meeting.At the June meeting Tom Richardsonpassed out a letter to the gathered members.His primary point, as I understand it, is thatthe problem with the Sick Leave Program isthat we cover too much territory. He says"We haven't been selective enough whenaccepting new members relating to wheretheir routes are." He says we should beaddressing the boundaries of sick leavecoverage, that is, making the coverage area alot smaller.When I joined the San Diego Chapter over 20years ago it was just before the merger whichis now known as IPSSA. The sick leaveboundaries at that time were almost the sameas they are today. A few years ago we had abig deal about the boundaries and in the endwe agreed on the present boundaries. This isbecause so many members, especially newerones, servic

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