February 18 2014 Regular Minutes New Hanover County ABC Board
Meeting Minutes
February 18, 2014
I. Call to order
Chairman Cedric Dickerson called to order the regular meeting of the New Hanover County Alcoholic
Beverage Control Board at 8:30am on February 18,2014 at the General Office; 523 S. 17th Street,
Wilmington, NC.
IL Roll call
Carol Martin, Board Secretary, conducted a roll call. The following Members of the Board were present:
Cedric Dickerson, Chairman
Robert W. Martenis, Vice Chairman
Thomas Wolfe, Member
Augustus C. Everett, Jr., Member
David Matthews, Member
Others in attendance were:
Dan Sykes, Chief Executive Officer
Gary Cain, Acting Assistant Chief Executive Officer
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Carol Martin, Board Secretary
Wanda Copley, Legal Counsel
Aril finder, Ex-Officio Member
Colonel Arch Jones, NHC Sheriffs Department
Ashley Withers, Star News Reporter •
Jonathan Spiers, Port City Daily News Reporter
Charles Hill, Acting Retail &LBD Operations Manager
Earl Ward, ABC Assistant Manager—Store 106
III. Conflict of interest Reminder
Mr. Dickerson verbally confirmed that the Board members had read the following ethics reminder:
"In accordance with General Statute J BB-201, it is the duty of every Board member o avoid both
conflicts f interest and appearances a f conflicts. Does any member have any known conflict of
interest or appearance of conflict with respect n, matters corning before the Board today? If
so,please e i,:, conflict or e cr r ce of c fli and e,f ain* o m any undue participation
in theparticular matter er involved. "
Let it be recorded that no conflicts were identified by any Board member regarding this Board meeting.
Iv Approval of minutes from last meeting
Mr. Dickerson presented the minutes from the last Regular Meeting of January 21,2014. Mr. Martenis
made the motion to approve the minutes as written, Mr. Everett seconded, all approved.
V. Approval of proposed agenda
No changes were made to the prepared agenda as written. Mr. Martenis made the motion to accept the
proposed meeting agenda, Mr. Everett seconded, and all approved.
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VI. Service Aw t Other Recognitions
Mr. Sykes introduced Mr. Earl Ward to the Board. Mr. Ward has served the Board for fifteen years. Mr.
Sykes noted that Mr. Ward has consistently "Exceeded Expectations" on his annual performance evaluations,
and presented him with a framed fifteen-year service certificate.
VII, ,Ad i j i e Reports
a) ABC Law Enforcement Officer's er's Unit Monthly (ALE) Report for January was presented by Col. Jones.
Officers performed the following activities for the month of January, 2014:
*486 Store Visits
*266 Bank Deposits
*8 Change Deposits
*7 Video Investigations
*28 Charges
19 Arrests
*9 Searches
*Cited 7"Underage Possession" ABC Law Violations
*Cited 3 "Unauthorized Possession" ABC Law Violations
*Cited 7 "Other Alcohol" ABC Law Violations
*Cited I "Possession" Controlled-Substance Violation
*Cited I "Paraphernalia" Controlled-Substance Violation
*Cited 4 'Traffic" Other Offenses
*Cited 5 "Criminal" Other Offenses
*Noted I Seller/Server Alcohol Education
*Assisted 15 ABC Law Agencies
*Assisted 6 Controlled Substance Agencies
`Performed 50 Business Inspections
*Noted 3 Miscellaneous Violations Submitted
*Performed 64 Business Compliance Checks
Col. Jones explained the difference between Business Inspections and Business Compliance Checks. He
stated that Busin _ ns sections check for violations of ABC Codes and ABC Regulations. No criminal
charges are involved. Business Inspection violation examples include: having more than one bottle of the
same liquor opened at the same time, serving ladies drinks at a different price or hour, refilling bottles and
having bottles with the wrong permit number stamped. Business Compliance Checks look for criminal
law violations. Compliance violation examples include: serving intoxicated patrons, employees imbibing
on premises,use of false identification, and serving alcohol to minors.
b) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Financial Statements for January, 2014. Mr. Sykes reported that for
the month, the Actual-to-Buslg comparison showed Gross Sales were less than projected by $107k
(4.30%); and Income from Operations was less than budget by $39.2k (13.06%). For the year, Income
from Operations exceeded budget by $350k (12.41%), and Change in Net Position before Distributions
exceeded budget by almost $500k (38.17%). The "Restricted Net.Position Analysis" details the New ABC
Com ilex's contractually committed dollars set aside in the approved $4.5m Restricted Net Position,the
amounts paid to date, and the balance due on each contract as of the Net Position date. The rounded balance of
Restricted Net Position at January 31,2014 was $3.4m.
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c) The Board was apprised of three (3) updates:
1) Mr. Sykes stated that the 2015 Freightliner Truck is expected to be delivered to the Triple T dealership
on March 7, 2014. Triple T will perform the pre-delivery inspection and necessary DOT work, and the
Board will take possession soon after.
2) Mr. Cain made a brief summary of the New ABC Complex progress for the past 30 days:
• Bordeaux Construction reports that the project is 26% complete
• Another piping issue has been di
Federal's proposal states a minimum interest rate—currently 0.05%, and no fees and/or service charges
(per item and/or flat rate). Mr. Matthews asked Ms. Martin to check First Federal's three local
government banking references,with which to predicate a Board motion. Mr.Martenis made the motion
to authorize the Chair ice Chair to execute a Banking Services Contract with First Federal for the -
month period,April 1, 2014 through March 31, 2017 upon favorable results of th reference checks. Mr.
Everett seconded the motion, and all approved.
c) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with h i s multipage Building Committee recap outlining four
(4) options for the Board property at 17th Street& Castle Street, along with various assumptions,pros
and cons associated with each.
The four options considered were:
• Renovate Current Building and Upgrade Grounds
S Re-Develop Entire 17th Street Site, Including Construction of a Smaller Building
• Acquire Raw Land in the Vicinity and Build a Smaller Building
• Acquire Land with Existing Building Suitable for Renovating in the Vicinity
Mr. Sykes provided rough estimates for each option, calculating Total Construction/Soft Costs/Owner
Responsible Costs—these ranged from $107-$23 1 per square foot. The Board generally agreed to stay
with the first option,to renovate the current building and upgrade grounds. However,the Board does
not want to go beyond the design/planning stage until the New ABC Complex is at least 90% complete.
Mr.M art nis made the motion to formally engage LS3P Associates LTD to serve as the project
architects. Mr. Everett seconded the motion and all approved.
Mr. Sykes handed out two sets of signed Building Committee minutes from their meetings of February
4th and February 11th, 2014.
d) Mr. Sykes apprised the Board that the Building Committee met with LS3P Associates LTD
Principal Mr. Charles Boney on February 4, 2014. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss an
adjustment to the architect fee because the construction contract bids came in lower than anticipated.
Mr. Boney wrote that his firm agreed to a reduction of their fee of$66,187, accompanied by the addition
of$24,832 to cover their added expenses associated with CFPUA's extensive permit requirements. Mr.
Wolfe made the motion to accept LS3 's fee adjustment as stated in their letter dated February 10, 2014
with its related attachment. Mr. M artenis seconded the motion,and all approved.
Ix. A r L
Mr. Martenis made the motion to adjourn the meeting;Mr. Everett seconded, and all approved.
Minutes submitted by: �k
Carol E Martin, Secretary
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Minutes approved by:
Cedric Dickerson, Chairman