January 21, 2006

Letter from the President;

It has been quite a while since I reported to the membership as to what has been happening with our organization.  First I must inform you, that we have elections coming up at our next meeting on February 24th   I have charged the Board of Directors as the nominating committee.  I have received their nominations and will be sending out a ballot to the membership for your votes, in the past, participation in this matter was not very well attended.  This time we will use ballots so that every one has a chance to have their say.  We will use e-mail.  There is a few that do not have e-mail so I will send them a ballot by slow mail.  In February, we will count ballots, if you do not respond; your choice will not be counted.

Now, we must get down to the important stuff.  The Spring Training Conference is still being planned.  Due to some personal issues, I have asked Pete Wilt, your Vice-President to take over operations and coordination.  Manny Marquez is in charge of the classes that will be offered.  I will still be involved in coordinating the local operations.  The agenda for classes should be out with in the next week or so.  As soon as this is completed you will receive a Sponsorship Form and Exhibitor Registration Form.  I am asking you to please get as many sponsors as possible.  The amount does not matter.  These will be suggested amounts.  If you have any companies in you area that would be interested in exhibiting their products, please make them aware of this.  We have room for about forty booths.  The more sponsors and exhibitors we can get, the less our registration cost will be.

Also this year we have added to our group, the northern chapter, New Mexico Conference of Building Officials.  This will increase our coverage, state wide.  It will help decrease the work load and give us more leverage.  Carmine Raia from Albuquerque is their President.

ICC President, Henry Green and CEO James Witt will be here to install our new Officers at the Installation Banquet.  Adolph Zubia, Las Cruces Fire Chief and ICC Board of Directors, Dave Nichols, ICC Manager will also be attending our conference.  I am in the process of inviting Past ICC President Anne R. VonWeller to our conference. I have not received confirmation as yet.

If there is any question or suggestion you might have please contact me.

Thanks for your support.  Fred Knapp

Friday, September 02, 2005

To all SNMBOA board members.  I just attended a meeting with the Fire Chiefs and Fire Marshals Association in Roswell.  It was a good meeting.  Mike Puckett a member of the SNMBOA who is retiring next month from the Roswell Fire Department was honored at both meetings.

The Fire Marshals Association  has already picked 8 or 10 different training classes that will benefit the fire marshals.  Some of these classes can benefit Building Officials as well.  I am requesting that each of you select some classes that will benefit our cause so maybe we can combine and no have any repeats.  If you go to (www.iccsafe.org/training) there is a number of training blocks we can chose from.  I would like to have this list by September 20, so I can coordinate with Hack Conder, President of the Fire Marshals Assoc. before we go to Detroit on the 24th.  This way we can negotiate with ICC on the classes we need.

The Homebuilders Assoc. has not committed  as yet, but well give us an answer after their next meeting, October 4^th.  We have commitment from Emergency Management to offer some training.

Even though The Conference is not until April of next year, there is a lot of planning and coordinating to do.  This really take a lot of time, so your help is of utmost importance.

August 22, 2005

Letter from the President;

As the first year of my office as President of the Southern New Mexico Building Officials Association comes to an end and the second term as prescribed by our by-laws begins, I have a great deal of thanks to give to our membership for all the accomplishments of the past year.

At the June chapter meeting, I was elected president of this fine organization, along with your Vice-President and Board.

On August 20^th, we had installation of officers.  It was a grand occasion.  We had the President of ICC, Anne VonWaller, the Director of CID, Lisa Martinez, and Adolph Zubia, who now serves on the ICC Board of Directors.   They each gave their speeches and support to our organization.  There were about eighty people present.

In September, I was fortunate to go to the ICC convention in Salt Lake City.  Adolph Zubia, liaison for our chapter and Las Cruces Fire Chief, was reelected to the ICC Board of Directors at that time. We are fortunate to have him represent us.  The six members from our organization able to attend were the only ones to represent the state of New Mexico.

In October, we started an I-code training program for our inspectors and anybody that was interested.

On December 10^th, I called an SNMBOA Board meeting in Alamogordo.  The need for a code conference was born.  After several meetings with other members the plans were made.

In February, our regular training was offered at the meetings and we sponsored SWPPP seminars for contractors and the home builders association.  About this same time, I traveled to Hobbs and, together with Manny Marquez, Past President, we contacted the President of the New Mexico Fire Marshall Association and made the offer of a joint code conference.

Our regular April meeting was canceled—instead we made history. We had our first joint training conference with the New Mexico Fire Marshall Association.  It was a four day conference with ICC President Frank Hodges, ICC CEO James Witt, and several ICC board members present.  Ruidoso Mayor, Leon Eggleston, Village Manager, Lorri McNight, and several village department directors were present at the awards banquet.  Pat Vandergriff, an SNMBOA past president, was given an award by James Witt and Frank Hodges for the work he has done in promoting the International Code Council. Pat is retiring from his duties as Code Enforcement Supervisor in Alamogordo.  All in all, our “First Annual Spring Training Seminar” was a very successful program.  Many hours of work and planning were involved.  We were lauded by Frank Hodges for having the first joint conference.  He also wants to use our conference as a model for the rest of the country.

In June we returned to our regular meeting and training program. At that time we also started making plans for next year’s Spring Training Seminar.  We plan to again do a joint conference with the fire marshals and we are looking to have other organizations join us. 

I was recently notified by ICC that SNMBOA has won the Chapter Merit Award.  There is a Chapter of the Year award and four Chapter Merit Awards, world wide.  It will be presented in September in Detroit at the annual ICC conference.  I will be very proud to accept it on behalf of all our members. Five or six members from our organization will also be present. 

This last year has been a whirlwind.  And I have enjoyed every bit.  I am also very proud of being a member of such an elite group.  I hope the next year of my tenure is just as exciting and rewarding as the last.  For this, I thank every one of you for your support.  With out it we would not have been so successful.

Thanks, Fred

April 27, 2005

Letter from the President:

We have made history !!   April Spring Training Conference was a great success.  Thanks to all that helped and supported us.  It took four months of hard work and many phone calls.  Manny Marquez, Hack Conder and Cecelia Trujillo were most instrumental in this endeavor.  Starting with the December, board meeting and many in between, many decisions were made and changed.

Starting with the Golf Tournament on Sunday and finishing up with Fire works and Plan Review on Wednesday.  There were many things happening.  Tuesday luncheon was attended by members of the Fire Marshals and Building Officials Associations.  Mayor of Ruidoso, Leon Eggelston, Village Manager Lorri McKnight and Planning Director Charles Renic.  James Lee Witt, CEO of ICC, and Frank Hodges, President of ICC were guest speakers.

Hospitality Room was handled by Ron LeClair and Bill Heineken.  There was plenty to drink and eat.  Everyone who attended was very pleased.  There were many complements on the gift bags that were given out to registrants.  Attendance was about  half Fire Marshals and half Inspectors.  Classes picked by vote were Mixed Occupancy, Plan Review and Fire Works Law. 

Our thanks to Fire Chief Adolph Zubia, and ICC Board Director, for being instrumental in getting the President and CEO of ICC to come to our Conference.  During the luncheon, Adolph recognized Pat Vandergriff who retired from Alamogordo.  Pat is a charter and founding member of the SNMBOA.  He was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation. 

On June 3rd , David Clarke and I are meeting with the president of  the New Mexico Fire Marshals Association and Staff to finalize our accounts and see how well we did.  At the same time we will start making plans for next years conference.   At  the June 17th  meeting, I will have a complete report for you.  Hope to see you there.

Fred Knapp , SNMBOA President