As with any organization, the North Dakota Building Officials Association was born of an idea; and, the idea was born in 1973 at the first organizational meeting of buildings officials and other interested persons from around the state. The minutes of that first meeting have been lost to us during the intervening years. But it is accurate to say that those attending shared common concerns. Those concerns centered around providing the best possible living and working environments for the people of North Dakota. During the course of that meeting and subsequent organizational meetings, rough-edged objectives began to emerge to accomplish that basic goal. Minutes of these early meetings reflect the identified objectives of professionalism and uniformity.

The second organizational meeting, held February 19, 1974, saw the election of the first officers of this organization and the adoption of a name. The first elected officers were: Ed Karsky of Dickinson - president, Neil Berquist of Fargo - vice president, and Alan Clark of Devils Lake - secretary/treasurer. Elected as regional representatives to the executive committee were: Jack Hegedus of Bismarck - southwest, Ed Dreyer of Minot - northwest, Leonard Aalgard of Grand Forks - northeast, and Adolf Tryba of Wahpeton - southeast. At this meeting the first and only name of the organization became the North Dakota Building Officials Association. During the later discussions of the meeting, the idea of a state-adopted model building code was discussed. This was to become a longstanding goal of the Association which eventually fostered a dialogue with, and understanding of, several other individuals and state organizations. Later these interrelationships would pay significant dividends in statewide cooperation and credibility for the Association.

At the Associations fall meeting in 1974 another of its principal goals was begun, the education of its membership. The decision at that meeting was to sponsor a seminar on the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code. Members of the Association also committed to beginning active support of proposed legislative bills that might effect construction and code enforcement in the state.

NDBOA PRESIDENTS

74 - Ed Karsky, Dickinson 75 – Ed Karsky, Dickinson

76 - Ed Karsky, Dickinson 77 – Neil Berquist, Fargo

78 - Neil Berquist, Fargo 79 – Neil Berquist, Fargo

80 - Ron Strand, Devils Lake 81 – Ron Strand, Devils Lake

82 - Len Boyeff, Minot 83 – Bob Brungardt, Wahpeton

84 – James Weight, Jamestown 85 – Dave Haas, Dickinson

86 – Greg Dusek, Grafton 87 – Ron Strand, Fargo

88 – Richard Barta, Mandan 89 – Larry Farris, Williston

90-91 Gary Martinson, Devils Lake 92-93 Jerome Miller, Fargo

94-95 Richard Barta, Mandan 96-97 Roland C. Belgarde, Minot

98 – John Tofte 99-01 Jerry Ratzlaff, Devils Lake

  Membership in the early Association was small (see Figure 2). Modest growth took place during the three years between 1974 and 1977. In 1977 ambitious plans began to be laid to dramatically expand the membership. There was a pervasive feeling among the members that the Association had somehow gone adrift and now sat in stagnant waters. The perception was that new membership and a revitalized programming effort would jointly be needed to reawaken the spirit that had founded and sustained the Association during it earliest years. It was the wish of the members as well that increased time be allowed for discussion of mutual concerns that members may have experienced in their localities which would also foster a more uniform application of the pertinent requirements by each jurisdiction.

MEMBERSHIP

  By 1979 the plans for membership expansion and revitalized programming had been only partly realized. Concerns continued to be expressed that the smaller communities, those which could most directly benefit from Association membership, were not being reached. The consensus of the membership agreed that better and more timely programming was a necessary prerequisite to expanding membership to reach these individuals. In addition, it was thought that an expanded mailing of announcements of meetings and programs should be done in attempt to make these other jurisdictions aware of the availability and locations of these meetings. Several attempts followed over the course of the next few years to mail to all of those persons listed as building inspectors on a list provided by the Secretary of State's office. To a degree this approach proved successful. A hand full of the states smaller jurisdictions discovered some of the benefits of attending the Association meetings and seminars.

During 1979 the Association began to place additional emphasis on its image. The idea of press releases on seminar availability and meeting results became popular. Along with the advent of Association press releases came increased awareness of the Association, its objectives, and activities. Also in 1979, the Association began to supply prospective members with preprinted application forms to simplify the application and recordkeeping process for the secretary/treasurer. New members were given wallet-sized membership cards to further emphasize the commonality of the Associations membership and objectives.

  The Association of the 1980 saw many firsts:

  At the fall meeting of 1983 the Building Official of the Year was inaugurated. The first recipient of this award was Ron Strand of Devils Lake.

NDBOA BUILDING OFFICIALS OF THE YEAR

1983 Ron Strand - Devils Lake

1984 Not awarded

1985 Paul Thorson - Grand Forks

1986 Gregory Dusek - Grafton

1987 Ron Strand - Fargo

1988 Not awarded

1989 Larry Farris - Williston

1990 Not awarded

In April of 1984, the Association commissioned the first minting of pins symbolizing membership in the North Dakota Building Officials Association. This pins were to proved to be extremely popular at national meetings for not only their appearance and class but also their relative rarity.At the September meeting of 1984 saw the first instance of a city mayor presenting a presidential service plaque to President James Weight of Jamestown. The procedure of presidential plaque presentation to outgoing Association presidents was also begun just shortly before 1980.

The first informational brochure about, and published by, the North Dakota Building Officials Association was printed. Soon its distribution included not only prospective members; but, also state colleges and information desks at such conventions as the League of Cities and the Association of Counties.

1986 became a watershed year on the issue of credibility, rather than being ignored for the most part, the Association was asked by the North Dakota Association of Builders to supply a group of its members for participation in a task force studying the issues of contractor licensing and code enforcement in the state. The Association was beginning to "arrive." In recognition of the increasing demands on the Associations treasury due to its increased involvement in several areas of interest, dues were increased in the fall of 1986 from $15.00 to $25.00.

Due in a large part to the efforts of the Association, Governor George Sinner signed the first North Dakota Building Safety Week Proclamation on January 29, 1987. Once again awareness of the benefits of quality building inspection service was on the increase and the Association stood squarely in the forefront of this effort. Prior to 1987 little recognition had been given formally to its members by the Association. One honorary membership had been awarded to Leonard Aalgard of Grand Forks on the occasion of his retirement. In March of 1987 the Association voted to reaffirm its appreciation of the efforts of its members who had persevered through years of public anonymity.

Plaques were awarded to Neil Berquist of Fargo and Richard Chyles of Mandan at their retirements. At its meeting in the fall of 1987 the Association made preliminary moves to secure a tax exempt number. At this same meeting the idea of incorporation as a non, or not for, profit organization was temporarily set aside for further study. By 1989 great strides had been taken to insure continuity of effort in membership retention and education to foster a continuation of these efforts the Association voted to extended the terms of its officers from one year to two.