New Co-Chair Elected During Fall Meeting

From left to right: Co-chairs Laura Dresen (Indiana) and Kelly Horn (Illinois) with co-chair elect Teri Engelhart (Wisconsin) in Des Moines

Thank you to those who attended the Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee's (MRMTC) F all 2015 Meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, on November 17-18. The two-day meeting covered a mix of committee business, presentations from representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and private industry, and an off-site demo on transportation modes.

The highlight of the committee's business session was the election of Teri Engelhart (Wisconsin) to be committee co-chair in 2016-2017. Laura Dresen (Indiana) will complete her two-year term at the end of this month. As captured in the photo above, the gavel was quite literally passed to Kelly Horn (Illinois), who will assume the duties of senior co-chair in 2016. Congratulations to Teri and Kelly on their new roles, and a big thank you to Laura Dresen for her hard work and guidance while leading the MRMTC!

The committee welcomed three new faces during the Fall Meeting, including newly-appointed member David Whitfill with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management. David takes the place of Jonathan York as Governor Brownback's appointee. We welcome David and thank Jonathan for his work on the committee!

New committee members Sen. Mike Petersen (R) and David Whitfill (L), both from Kansas, participate in the committee's Fall Meeting

Also in attendance at the committee's Des Moines meeting were two new legislative appointees, Kansas Senator Mike Petersen and Illinois Representative Pat Verschoore. An up-to-date MRMTC roster is available on the committee's web page.

Lt. Carla Schreiber (Nebraska)

Committee members bade farewell to Lt. Carla Schreiber (Nebraska), a member of the West's regional groups, but also a familiar face at Midwest and National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) meetings. The Des Moines meeting was Carla's last, as she will be retiring from the Nebraska State Patrol at the end of the year. We wish her all the best!

A more detailed meeting recap can be read in the newsletter's third article. The final agenda, final attendance list, action items, speaker presentations, and other materials and links are now available on the meeting website. A complete meeting summary will be posted by the end of the year. Photos taken during both days of the meeting have been placed in a Dropbox folder at this link: RMT Fall Meeting 2015, Des Moines, Iowa. If anyone has photos they would like to add to the folder, please contact Katelyn Tye.

A few reminders for committee members: First, please update your state-specific information from the Planning Guide for Shipments of Radioactive Materials through the Midwestern States and return to Katelyn by this Friday, December 4, so it can be included in the online version of the guide. Second, remember to complete the brief committee priorities survey that Lisa Janairo sent earlier today. The survey will close at the end of the day on December 8 so please submit your responses by then. Other action items are now posted on the meeting website, so please take a look and complete any that are assigned to you.

Finally, please remember to mark your calendars for June 8, 2016, the date of the committee's Spring Meeting, which is being held in conjunction with the 2016 NTSF Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. Check your inboxes for a save-the-date email that was sent by next year's regional co-host, the Southern States Energy Board, earlier this week.