2011-11-15 4
New Hanover County ABC Board
Meeting Minutes
November 15, 2011
I. Call to order
Chairman Thomas Wolfe called to order the regular meeting of the New Hanover
County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at 8:30am on November 15, 2011 in
the General Office at 523 S. 17` Street, Wilmington, NC.
11. Roll call
Ms. Martin, Board Secretary conducted a roll call. The following Members of the
Board were present:
Thomas Wolfe, Chairman
Cedric Dickerson, Vice Chairman
David Matthews, Member
Augustus C. Everett, Jr. Member
Robert W. Martenis, Member
Avril Pinder, Ex- Officio Member
Others in attendance were:
Daniel Sykes, Chief Executive Officer
Carol Martin, Board Secretary
Gary Cain, ABC Retail and LBD Operations Manager
Colonel Arch Jones, NHC Sheriff's Department
Mimi Windham, ABC Sales Associate
Kemp P. Burpeau, Deputy County Attorney
III. Approval of minutes from last meeting
Ms. Martin presented the minutes from the last Regular Meeting of October 18,
2011, and the minutes from the Closed Session portion of the same meeting. Mr.
Martenis made the motion to approve the minutes from the last regular meeting as
written, Mr. Everett seconded, all approved. Mr. Matthews made the motion to
approve the minutes from the Closed Session portion of the last regular meeting
as written, Mr. Martens seconded, all approved.
IV. Approval of proposed agenda
Motion to adopt the prepared agenda with one addition, the Phase I
Environmental Site Assessment, was made by Mr. Dickerson, seconded by Mr.
Martenis, all approved.
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V. New business
a) ABC Law Enforcement Office's Unit Monthly (ALE) Report for October was
presented by Colonel Jones. Officers performed the following activities for the
month of October, 2011:
*677 Store Visits
*315 Bank Deposits
* 4 Video Investigations
* 3 Consent Searches
*Cited 13 Underage Possession ABC Law Violations
*Cited 2 "Other Alcohol" ABC Law Violations
*Cited 3 Traffic and 8 Criminal "Other Offenses"
*Assisted 2 ABC Law Agencies
*Assisted 3 Controlled Substance Agencies
*Assisted 9 "Other" Agencies
*Performed 36 Inspections
*Performed 26 Compliance Checks
*Completed 86 Training Hours
Mr. Jones apprised the Board that downtown Wilmington now has ten (10)
officers in a concentrated nine -by -four block area.
b) Mr. Sykes presented the October 2011 and Rolling 12 -Month Comparison. For
October, Retail sales were relatively flat with an increase of only .35% ($6.lk).
LBD sales had a 2.21% ($16.9k) decrease. Total Sales were down .43%
($10.8k). Mr. Sykes noted that October 2010 had five Fridays and five Saturdays,
and that Halloween in 2010 fell on a Saturday. For the 12 -Month Rolling
Comparison, Retail stores showed a 5.46% ($1.15 million) increase in sales, LBD
sales were up .91% ($87.3k) and Total sales were up 4.04% (about $1.2milIion).
c) Mr. Sykes presented the Statewide Sales for October, 2011. This information is
for spirituous beverages only (no wines /mixers are included):
Retail: We had a.33% increase compared to a 1.99 % increase Statewide
LBD: We had a 2.21% decrease compared to a .84% increase Statewide
Overall: We had a .44% decrease in spirituous beverages compared to a
1.76% increase Statewide.
d) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Financial Statements for October and YTD—
both compare Actual 2011 to Actual 2010 figures and Actual 2011 to Budget
2011 figures. Mr. Sykes noted that Net Income before Distributions exceeded
budget by almost $208k. Mr. Sykes also noted that charge card fees year -to -date
are almost $50k less than those of FY2010 -11, and that Utilities are down $6k
over the prior year with more focus on energy conservation.
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e) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with an Architectural Services update on the
Castle Street/17`" Street Project. He noted that a draft agreement with LS3P
Associates was prepared by the County Attorney's office, and that the "Not to
Exceed Amount" for architect services was comprised of three factors, 1.)
Feasibility and zoning studies, 2.) Design and Construction Administration,
Additions ($.5 %), and 3.) Design and Construction Administration, Renovations
(11 %a). Mr. Sykes recommended that all major decisions be brought to the
Board; however, the Board may consider authorizing the Chair to make smaller
decisions on their behalf. It was agreed that the other Board members would be
apprised via e -mail of any decisions to be made during construction regarding
small change orders. Mr. Martenis made the motion to accept LS3P Associates
Agreement contingent that verbiage regarding change orders that are initiated by
the architects would be at the S.5% fee rather than the 11% fee be added to the
contract. Mr. Everett seconded, all approved.
f) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with the McGladrey & Pullen, LLC Audit
Contract. Mr. Sykes noted that this would be the third year the Board has used
McGladrey for its required annual independent audit of its operations.
McGladrey reduced the contract amount from $17,250 to $16,750 because the
Board did not require compilations for the I" and Y quarters of the current year,
rather one six month one. Mr. Martenis made the motion to accept the $16,750
audit quote, Mr. Dickerson seconded, all approved.
g) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with a Summary of Actuary Proposals. Mr. Sykes
apprised the Board that because the Board has made a promise to pay for health
insurance for certain retirees, pertinent disclosures are required in the audit report.
The calculations for these "Other Post Employment Benefits" (OPEB) are
prepared by an actuary, and the last valuation was as of 06130/09. Mr. Dickerson
made the motion to authorize the Finance Officer to accept a proposal for actuary
services in an amount not to exceed $3,000 for OPEB. Mr. Martenis seconded, all
agreed.
h) When discussing the OPEB topic, the board discussed the need to review the
Retiree Health Care Policy to assure that the current and future retirees are getting
the best protection. The board discussed perhaps retaining a consultant to advise
the retirees on their Medicare plan choices as well.
i) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Profitability Analysis. He noted that the NC
ABC Commission published comparative information for all NC ABC Boards for
the year ended 6/30/11. He pointed out several financial indicators that were
favorable to our Board, including: Profit Percent to Sales, Inventory Cost
Analysis, Liquidity, Profitability/Efficiency, and Operating Performance. Mr.
Sykes noted that our Board, on average does about 42% more business per retail
ABC store than Boards with comparable sales. He further noted that our "buy -
ins" (or special purchase allowances) reduce our Board's cost -of -sales
significantly.
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j) Mr. Wolfe suggested that Mr. Sykes should send a copy of the "Financial
Dashboard" he presented at the meeting to the New Hanover County
Commissioners. The "Dashboard" compares our board to NC ABC Boards with
Comparable Sales in four measurements. These include Inventory Turnover Rate,
Current Ratio, Operating Profit as a % of Net Sales, and Retail Sales Per Store.
k) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
(ESA) information. LS3P Associates recommended this assessment for the
properties at 17' Streets prior to construction. The assessment is to ensure
that there are no environmental issues from past or present uses. Mr. Martems
made the motion to ratify the decision to authorize Mr. Wolfe to consent to the
$2,500 assessment by Withers & Ravenel. Mr. Wolfe had executed the necessary
documents to begin the assessment, upon an email to the Board members of the
need. Mr. Matthews seconded the motion, all agreed.
VI. Adjournment
Mr. Matthews made the motion to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Martenis seconded,
all approved.
Minutes submitted by: Z
a: y
Minutes approved b D te: 1 2 - �, O
Thomas Wolfe, Chair
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