Archives for September 2023

WTBA of Tomorrow Board gets the scoop on Lannon Stone’s history

September 14, 2023 by Lane Kimble

LANNON, Wis. — There’s no way to see everything that goes on within a 500-acre quarry during an hour-long tour.

That said, Lannon Stone employees got pretty close.

Wednesday, the aggregate producer hosted the WTBA of Tomorrow Board for their bi-monthly meeting. Owner Hans Dawson led a fascinating tour of the Good Hope Road site, detailing new maintenance and repair buildings, crushing operations, and even company and geologic history.

“This is our best quarry, in terms of quality,” Dawson said of Lannon’s founding property, which opened in 1967.

“This site is in really good shape.”

Lannon taps into quality limestone that was compacted and enriched millions of years ago by Cenozoic Era deep seas. The top 60 feet of the quarry provides stone for high performance concrete.

Lannon’s research shows the quarry should last another 60 to 100 years, with an additional 100 years of product still underground.

After the tour, the WTBA of Tomorrow Board talked through topic and speaker options for the WTBA Contractor-Engineer Conference, set for January 18-19, 2024 in Wisconsin Dells.

The two-day conference is WTBA’s largest event in terms of attendance and is presented in conjunction with WisDOT.

Leadership gained, lessons learned at ARTBA’s National Convention

September 13, 2023 by Lane Kimble

LA JOLLA, Calif. — Making a 2,000-mile trip west is a big commitment. WTBA found that commitment to be well worthwhile this week.

At the American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) National Convention in California, former WTBA president and Parisi Construction CEO Jeff Parisi took the gavel as the new head of ARTBA’s Contractor Division. He replaces the outgoing Tony Boals of Wright Brothers Construction from Charleston, Tennessee.

Meanwhile, WTBA Executive Director Steve Baas gained valuable insights from several of the convention’s panels.

Notably, a discussion on retaining and growing our members’ workforces hit home.

“The panel made it clear: From coast to coast, from operators to engineers, attracting and retaining workforce is an increasingly challenging Job One for the industry,” Baas said.

READ MORE ABOUT ARTBA’s CONVENTION HERE

Baas and Parisi also had the unique opportunity to play the scenic Torrey Pines Golf Course. Parisi eagled the 18th hole while Baas narrowly missed winning closest to the pin on hole 3. (You know what they say: Horseshoes, hand grenades, and golf outings…)

Parisi’s ownership company, The Walbec Group, served as a sponsor for the PAC fundraiser golf outing, which also raised money for the Navy SEALs.

Former Packer named special guest for WTBA 2024 Annual Convention

September 8, 2023 by Lane Kimble

Of course, you watched him at Camp Randall and Lambeau Field on weekends.

Sure, you can hear him on sports talk radio and during Badgers football games.

Now, you have the chance to see, hear and meet Mark Tauscher in person.

This week, WTBA President JR Ramthun announced Tauscher will be a VIP guest and speaker, sharing some of his unique perspectives and great personality at the 2024 Annual Convention in February.

Tauscher played 11 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, winning a Super Bowl ring with the 2010 team. He’s a graduate of Auburndale High School and UW-Madison, where he walked on with the Badgers before becoming a starting tackle.

The Packers inducted Tauscher into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2018, an honor he talked about with TMJ4’sLance Allen.

In addition to speaking, Tauscher will join WTBA for various events during the Convention.

The 2024 Annual Convention runs Feb. 15-18 at the brand-new Sunseeker Resort in Port Charlotte, FL.

Studies: Sooner better than later to research VMTs for gas tax replacement

September 8, 2023 by Lane Kimble

Can state governments fairly and safely track how many miles you drive in an effort to supplement – and, eventually, replace – the gas tax?

It’s a question we can’t wait too long to answer, according to several reports out this summer.

“The one thing you don’t want to do is spring this on people at the very end of the process,” MIT transportation policy lecturer and study leader Jim Aloisi said.

Aloisi and his team released a report in July, looking at the realities of reliance on a 70-year-old gas tax system to pay for roads and infrastructure when cars are getting superior miles-per-gallon or going fully electric.

Oregon was the first state to run a pilot “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT) program in 2006. It’s now a permanent fixture, where drivers opt in to pay 1.8 cents per mile.

Oregonians receive a credit against gas taxes paid.

A handful of other states have permanent VMT programs. Minnesota is Wisconsin’s only neighbor with an active pilot program. Michigan is researching how people would feel about a potential pilot program.

“Nearly the entire transportation community has concluded that charing per mile is the best way to ensure robust highway funding,” Reason Foundation Director of Transportation Policy Bob Poole wrote in the Washington Post this week. “Everyone agrees that protecting privacy is critically important in designing a new system.”

That’s why Poole’s study in Michigan proposed piloting programs on interstates and freeways, many of which already feature transponders for tolling.

Aloisi’s team said states and the federal government must consider ways to make VMT programs “easy to administer, tough for drivers to evade, stable and fair.”

“It really looks like a patchwork of revenue mechanisms are going to be needed and there’s not going to be one clear solution,” Eno Center for Transportation lead study author Garrett Shrode said of his group’s report. “So states, in order to set themselves up for success now, should really be exploring multiple potential avenues.”