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Legislative Successes for ARM
ARM Executive Director Recognized for Public Leadership
Invitation to Public Forums on Statewide Conservation and Preservation Plan
ARM Award-Winning Project’s Architect Featured in Star Tribune Article
Upcoming ARM Board Meeting to Launch 1st Annual ROCK OPEN
ARM Unveils New Publication – “Concrete Chronicles”
ARM Develops Ads for Promotion of Residential Concrete
Concrete Open Scheduled for June 3rd
ARM Directory and 2007 Annual Report
ARM went into the 2008 Legislative Session with a very aggressive legislative agenda and it looks like all of the issues ARM worked on have passed the legislature and have either been signed into law or are waiting for the Governor’s expected signature. ARM Executive Director Fred Corrigan and ARM’s Lobbying firm, Ewald Consulting and their lead lobbyist for ARM, Becca Pryse, worked with many ARM members over the past two years in preparing for this very successful legislative session. ARM will be preparing a detailed summary of legislation impacting ARM members in the coming weeks. Following is an overview of the bills ARM worked on during the 2008 legislative session:
Transportation and Trucking:
- Chapter 152 (HF3201) - Transportation Funding Bill – increase gas tax, additional bonding for state highways and bridges, county and municipal state-aid roads, transit
- Chapter 287 (HF3486) – 2007 Omnibus Transportation Policy Bill
- Increase in length of straight trucks from 40’ to 45’ (effective 08/01/2008)
- include concrete pumper trucks as special mobile equipment (effective 08/01/08 -12/31/2010)
- added paved county-state aid and county roads as 10-ton roads unless posted down (effective 08/01/08)
- 80,000 lb trucks with 5 or less axles allowed on all trunk highways and paved nine-ton roads (effective 08/01/08)
- HF 3800 – 2008 Omnibus Transportation Policy Bill
- Designation of aggregate processing and conveyer equipment as “special mobile equipment” (effective 08/01/08)
- requires concrete pumper trucks to be registered at a rate of 15% of commercial trucks (effective 03/01/09)
Taxes:
- Chapter 154 (HF3201) – 2007 Omnibus Tax Bill
- sales tax on aggregate delivery eliminated for public road projects (effective July 1, 2008)
- Scambler Township aggregate tax authorized
- taconite aggregates subject to aggregate tax by IRRRA
- sales tax on aggregate delivery eliminated for public road projects (effective July 1, 2008)
- HF3149B – 2008 Omnibus Tax Bill
- new property tax classification (class 2e) on properties containing aggregate reserves for taxes levied in 2009
- and payable in 2010, registration of properties containing aggregate reserves, increase in aggregate tax and change in distribution of proceeds (effective January 1, 2009), ban on local community host community fees on aggregate production
Fred Corrigan, ARM Executive Director, was recognized on April 24, 2008 by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies as recipient of the 2008 Distinguished Public Leadership Award. The Distinguished Public Leadership Award recognizes public leaders who have influenced innovative transportation policy directions that benefit society through their vision, leadership and knowledge. Previous recipients include: Curt Johnson; Anne Beers; Elliot Perovich; Bernie L. Lieder; Colleen Landkamer; Mary Hill Smith; Peter McLaughlin; Carol Flynn; James Oberstar; Martin Sabo and Keith Langseth.
The University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment (IonE) seeks your input on draft recommendations for conservation and preservation of Minnesota’s environment and natural resources.
About the Statewide Conservation and Preservation Plan
In 2006 the Institute on the Environment was awarded a contract by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) to produce a Statewide Conservation and Preservation Plan (“Plan”) with funds from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The intent was to create an integrated inventory and assessment of Minnesota’s environment and natural resources that could guide decision-makers on future short and long term planning, policy, and funding investment.
The Plan consists of two parts: a Preliminary Plan (released July 2007) and a Final Plan (to be released July 2008). The Preliminary Plan was a preparatory document for the Final Plan that identified critical issues and trends having impacts or implications for Minnesota’s environment and natural resources. The Final Plan provides a series of recommendations for addressing the issues and trends identified. The recommendations included in the Final Plan will prove useful to a wide variety of public and private entities, but in particular, they will be used to help guide expenditures from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Public Forums
This series of Forums launches an effort to engage the public in helping to further refine the Final Plan recommendations and begin using them to inform and facilitate interaction and collaboration around the issues and trends they address. The Forums will be 2-3 hour working sessions to involve people in shaping draft recommendations before the Institute on the Environment finalizes the recommendations and delivers the Final Plan to the LCCMR in July. Participants will be introduced to the draft recommendations and asked to provide input on them!
The architect of the 2007 ARM Building Excellence Awards Small Commercial ICF winning entry was featured in a recent Star Tribune article on sustainable design and green building. Click Here to Read the Article.
ARM is pleased to announce that the 1st Annual ROCK Open will be held immediately following the ARM Board of Directors meeting on July 16th at Blackberry Ridge Golf Course in Sartell, MN. After quickly selling out the CONCRETE Open for five years running, ARM made the decision to add a second outing named in honor of its aggregate members.
ARM has been working on putting together profiles of exceptional concrete-related projects. The profiles have been dubbed the “Concrete Chronicles.” The first projects profiled are the 2007 ARM Building Excellence Award winners. “Concrete Chronicles” will be posted to the www.chooseconcrete.com website soon.
Click Here for the first in the series of “Concrete Chronicles.”
ARM has developed two ads to be used for the promotion of residential concrete applications. The full-page ads can be seen in the upcoming issues of Minnesota Builder and Builder’s Digest.
The Concrete Open is scheduled for June 3rd at The Legends Golf Course in Prior Lake. The sold-out event’s registration opens at 11:00 am. Lunch is included this year. Tee time is at 1:00 pm.
The 2008 ARM Directory has also just been mailed to the ARM membership. The new directory can be viewed in electronic format here. Contact the ARM office for additional print copies by calling 952.707.1250 or by e-mailing jcohen@armofmn.com.
(952) 707-1250