February 15, 2018 Meeting

February 15, 2018 Spoke
Today’s Program:
ShelterBox, David Adler
 
February 8, 2018
Meeting Summary
Presiding: Tim Eisenhauer
Meeting Room setup/takedown and general problem solving: Tom Mangan & Ron Van Ekeren
Inspiration: Esther McGann
Professor’s Quote:
Guests: Todd Pearson introduced prospective members Tim Snowbarger and Jamie Terry; Amelia Kelso introduced prospective member Christina Greenamyre
Exchange Students: Barb Fukova
Visiting Rotarians:
Junior Rotarians:
Rotaract Students: Saul Alvarado and Juan Vintimilla
Humor: Terry Roark
Foundation Drawing: Annette Mello won $10, with 41 cards in the deck.
O’Dwyers Drawing: Terry Roark won a $20 gift card from ODwyer’s.
 
Announcements:
  • Tim Eisenhauer announced that RLI training will be held in Laramie Feb. 16-17.
  • Tim Eisenhauer told the club that the board has approved Ivan Gaetz and Christina Greenamyre for membership. There is a one-week comment period.
  • Annette Mello noted that board elections are coming up. There will be a couple weeks where you can cross your name off if you do not want to be on the board. There are two open positions. One is currently being filled by Steve Morgan, who could continue his service if voted in by the club.
  • Tim Eisenhauer asked the club to consider reading at Open School every other week. There will be a sign up soon.
  • Tim Eisenhauer passed around a thank you from Healthy Kids RX.
 
Rotarian of the Week: Tony Hoch nominated Shaun Bullock for his hard work as program chair the last several months and for putting the Spoke up on the Rotary website; Larry Struempf nominated Talisha Mottinger for her work with Leadership Laramie; Tim Sullivan nominated Dan Furphy for the work he is heading to do soon in the Legislature.  
 
Special Presentation: President Tim Eisenhauer inducted new member Paul Boyd. Congrats Paul!
 
Introduction of Program: Aimee Binning
 
Rotarian Tony Hoch presented on the North Cedar Refinery Cleanup. The project was at 917 N. Cedar. This is the final report.
 
The project started six years ago. It took place in West Laramie. Tony provided an overview of the property. It is 5.6 acres. Before the project, it was a major eyesore, unfenced, and crime ridden. It had been abandoned for more than 20 years. The area was established in 1928, so it has gone through 100 years of change.
 
The issues with the property included: barrels of oil on site, metals in the groundwater, unsafe concrete and rebar, and lack of general safety. There was some good news. Asbestos and lead-based paint were not major problems.
 
In 2014, the buildings were removed. The project also conducted an environmental evaluation, which was $150,000 in consulting. The reports from this evaluation reported what was there, looked at the soils, and confirmed that there were not tunnels running everywhere on the property.
 
The groundwater issues were a major part of the project. The property has 12 wells. To date, there are still metals in the groundwater. There is about 6 inches to the water table at the location. The project was unable to do a full cleanup of this issue because of the water flow, but the problem will continue to be monitored in the future.
 
The concrete removed from the property did not contain lead, so it could be mostly recycled for road base. The buildings were mostly constructed of concrete and rebar.
 
For the final cleanup, the soil was excavated to meet industrial standards. The land was backfilled with clay to create a cap and then clean topsoil was brought in to allow for planting.
 
WYDOT purchased a portion of the land near where the new viaduct is going in.
 
Tony told the club that the building demolition cost around $400,000 and then another $400,000 was used for the cleanup. One hundred nineteen truckloads of soil and debris were removed from the property, and 123 truckloads of clean fill were brought in.
 
The final cleanup report will be available at the Albany County Public Library in the Wyoming Room.
 
Responding for the Club: Klaus Hanson
 
Response: The Rotary Club of Laramie will make a donation to the public library children’s book fund in the speaker’s name.
NOTE: We Do Not Donate a Book!
 
Rotary 4-way Test:
Of the things we think, say, or do
  • Is it the Truth?
  • Is it Fair?
  • Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships?
  • Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?
 
Special Announcement from John & Joyce Vandel: John & Joyce Vandel encouraged all members of the club to become part of the Paul Harris Society. They will match everyone’s monetary donation up to 500 points. Members should turn their donations in to Nicole Nelson.
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Spoke Editor: Caitlin White