STATE BOARD OF PLUMBING



STATE BOARD OF PLUMBING

BUSINESS MEETING

MINUTES

DATE: October 19, 2006

TIME: 10:30 a.m.

PLACE: 500 North Calvert Street

Room 302

Baltimore, Maryland 21202

PRESENT: Charles Morgan, Jr. Chairman

Nicole J.C. Daniels, Board Member

Jon Garner, Board Member

Vernon Gauss, Board Member

Michael Kastner, Board Member

Joseph Radtka, Board Member

ABSENT: Keith Horton, Vice Chairman

Charles Lenderking, Board Member

OTHERS PRESENT: Slaone Kinstler, Assistant Attorney General

Harry Loleas, Deputy Commissioner

Sharon Kraus, Administrative Officer

CALL TO ORDER:

Charles Morgan, Chairman, called the business meeting of the State Board of Plumbing to Order at 10:35 a.m.

EXECITIVE SESSION

A Motion was made by Mr. Radtka, Seconded by Mr. Gauss and unanimously carried by the members of the State Board of Plumbing in attendance to go into Executive Session at 10:35 a.m. in the 3rd Floor Conference Room, 500 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. The purpose of the meeting was to consult with Counsel. Upon completion of this session, the Board convened to the public meeting at 10:50 a.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes of the Business Meeting and Executive Session held on September 21, 2006 were reviewed by the members of the Board. Mr. Garner indicated a change need on the last page of the Executive Session minutes to correct the name of the person who made the motion to return to regular session. The correct name should read Mr. Radtka. A Motion was made by Mr. Radtka, Seconded by Mr. Gauss and unanimously carried to approve the minutes as amended.

A Motion was made by Mr. Radtka, Seconded by Mr. Gauss and unanimously carried to approve the decisions made during Executive Session. Five (5) applicants with prior convictions were approved for a license. Two applicants were tabled for more information before making a final decision on the application.

COMPLAINT REPORT

Mr. Radtka presented the report of the complaint committee to the Board:

Investigation

06-PL-93

07-PL-10

07-PL-26

CLOSE

06-PL-04 07-PL-29

07-PL-13 07-PL-30

07-PL-25 07-PL-31

07-PL-27 07-PL-34

07-PL-28 07-PL-37

A Motion was made by Mr. Radtka, Seconded by Mr. Gauss and unanimously carried to approve the report of the complaint committee.

OLD BUSINESS

A. FOLLOW UP REGARDING PROPANE GAS FITTER CERTIFICATE APPLICATIONS FOR HERITAGE PROPANE – Mr. Loleas reported to the Board that Heritage Propane had submitted a copy of a Qualified Proctor Card for their instructor who teaches their training program as their proof of qualifications of their instructor, as requested by the Board. Mr. Loleas indicated he will be in further contact with the representative from Heritage Propane as he feels this card is not adequate proof that the instructor is a certified instructor. The Board concurred and the matter was tabled.

B. LICENSE STATISTICS

A copy of the license statistics report was presented to the Board members for their review.

C. EXAMINATION STATISTICS

The monthly examinations statistics report was unavailable and will be presented to the Board at the next meeting.

NEW BUSINES

A. REVIEW OF REQUEST FROM THE WASHINGTON SUBURBAN MASTER PLUMBER’S ASSOCIATION TO BE RECOGNIZED AS AN APPROVED BACKFLOW CERTIFICATE COURSE PROVIDER – The Board reviewed documentation for the Washington Suburban Master Plumber’s Association requesting to be recognized as an approved course provider for the 32-Hour Backflow Prevention Course, which a prerequisite for taking the Journey and Master Examination. The materials presented indicate Daryl White will be the instructor of the course for the Washington Suburban Master Plumber’s Association and a copy of a certificate authorizing Mr. White as a Backflow Prevention Assembly Instructor from the University of Florida was submitted with their request. Ms. Kastner, a member of the public, addressed the board on the topic of backflow certification instructor qualifications, and asked the Board if the Board would intervene in making sure backflow certification instructors are keeping the credentials up to date. She indicated that some backflow course providers are not keeping their credentials up to date by attending the required continuing education courses. The Board asked staff to send a letter to all approved backflow course providers and request the names of the backflow prevention instructors along with a request to verify their credentials are up to date. A Motion was made by Mr. Radtka, Seconded by Mr. Gauss to approve Mr. Daryl White as an instructor for the 32 Hour Backflow Prevention Course under the Washington Suburban Master Plumber’s Association as the course provider.

B. - Mr. Radtka presented information to the board he obtained at the Maryland Plumber and Mechanical Inspector’s Association meeting that he recently attended. He indicated that a request was made that the Board update the Board’s web page with the up to date Minutes of Meetings. Mr. Loleas indicated that there had been a technical difficulty with the program to post the minutes and he will look into resolving the matter as soon as possible. Mr. Radtka also reported that he received information that inspectors are now more frequently checking for valid licenses on jobsites. He was also asked as to the timeline for the board to update and adopt the updated plumbing code. The Board has already formed a committee that will be reviewing the 2006 code to move towards adopting the updated code.

C. - Mr. Loleas addressed the Board and asked Assistant Attorney General Fried Kinstler to request that in cases of formal hearings involving code violations to request that the attorney presenting case have the citation numbers included in the recorded record of hearing. He also suggested that it would be helpful for the complaint committee to gather this important information prior to sending the file to precharge for charges to be filed. Assistant Attorney General Fried Kinstler further added to Mr. Loleas’s suggestion recommending that the complaint committee discuss and verify the jurisdiction of the complaint in the charging document as far as the location of the job, since the board has no jurisdiction over matters in Baltimore County or areas under the jurisdiction of Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. She indicated she would also speak to Susan Cherry on the matter.

D. - Mr. Kastner recommended the Board discuss on next month’s agenda a previous complaint involving inspectors who passed bad work during an inspection and personally corrected the work they had passed. Mr. Loleas suggested checking on the status of the complaint as to not discuss an open complaint during the regular meeting.

E. - Mr. Loleas recommended that the Board should routinely notify Baltimore County and Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission of license suspensions and ask both jurisdictions to do the same in an effort to be aware of the actions taken by the Boards.

CORRESPONDENCE

ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL’S REPORT – Assistant Attorney General Fried Kinstler informed the Board that she had contacted the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) concerning her previous discussions with them concerning their recent interpretation to impose a residency requirement for persons seeking a reciprocal license. She was informed by WSSC that they approved the proposal to strike the residency requirement from their law, however, other legislation was proposed as well. Assistant Attorney General Fried Kinstler asked the Board about an old Board regulation which allows the Board to reciprocate with persons living in WSSC or Baltimore County. Mr. Morgan explained the background of that regulation which was due to a previous Baltimore County requirement and believes it is no longer necessary to have this regulation to reciprocate. It was suggested to verify this information with Baltimore County and the matter was tabled for next month.

ADJOURNMENT

A Motion was made by Mr. Gauss, Seconded by Mr. Garner and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting at 12:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

_______________________________

Charles J. Morgan, Jr., Chairman

_____________ Without Corrections

_____________ With Corrections

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