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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-12-2007 CAPE FEAR PUBLIC UTILITY AUTHORITY BOARD MEETING DECEMBER 12, 2007 MEMBERS PRESENT:MEMBERS ABSENT: Matt Hunter, Chairman Gene Renzaglia Burrows Smith Kathryn Johnston Rod Andrew Robert Greer Charles Wells Steve Thomas Bill Caster Jim Quinn Jason Thompson Guests: Chris Mazzolini, Star News Bill Lynch, Hogue Hill Jones Nash & Lynch, LLP David Hyder, Municipal & Financial Services Group (MFSG) Steve Kaii-Ziegler, Municipal & Financial Services Group (MFSG) Ed Donuhue, Municipal & Financial Services Group (MFSG) Lisa Zitomer, Municipal & Financial Services Group (MFSG) Chairman Hunter called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. 1. Opening Comments Chairman Matt Hunter a. Determination of Quorum: A total of 11 Authority members were in attendance. A quorum was present. b. Announcement & Re-Introduction of New General Manager: Chairman Hunter Re-introduced the new General Manager, Matt Jordan, to Authority members. Mr. Jordan thanked Authority members for selecting him as the General Manager and is looking forward to moving the consolidation in the right direction. His first goal will be to interview and hire a team of people (direct Î reports) which will aid him in the consolidation process. c. Adoption of the Agenda: Chairman Hunter asked Authority members if they had any agenda concerns, additions or subtractions they would like to make to the agenda. A motion was made by Gene Regzaglia to accept the agenda as written. The motion was seconded by Steve Thomas. Motion passed. d. Announcement: Vice-Chairman Will Be Issuing Discussion Summaries Via E-Mail Within 24 Hours of Each Regular Scheduled Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Meeting: Chairman Hunter The Vice-Chairman will be issuing discussion summaries via e-mail within 24 hours of each regular scheduled Cape Fear Public Utility Authority meeting. The summaries will not be the official approved minutes. Î There was concern in the community that the public is not receiving the Î minutes in a promptly manner. 2. Approval of Minutes a. Minutes Corrections and Approval: Steve Thomas Minutes were taken at the November 14, 2007, regular scheduled board meeting and it was requested that two portions (Inter-Local Agreement and Employee Benefits) of the minutes be verbatim resulting in a 29-page document. A provisional motion was made by Bill Caster to accept the 29-page Î document and he asked that Authority members review the minutes and if any corrections were necessary they could be stated at the January meeting. He also added to make the minutes an executive summary. The motion was seconded by Bill Quinn. A discussion followed. Motion passed. It was stated that the meetings are audio-taped and if Authority Î members have a need to listen verbatim to any portion of the meeting, the tapes are available. It was suggested that a summary be provided of what was stated at the Î meeting. Chairman Hunter suggested that any subjective motion should be in Î writing, so there would not be any confusion about who proposed it and what they met. 3. Progress Reports a. Update on Consolidation Schedule: Steve Thomas 2 Steve Thomas presented the Authority members with the current consolidation schedule. Several tasks are being worked on and all the tasks are on schedule. Î There are several financial tasks that will be discussed today. Î The Authority is on a tight schedule. Î The most critical items that are coming up pertain to the hiring of the direct reports because there are several key decisions and policy procedure issues that the direct reports will handle and be responsible for implementing and carrying through. One item that has been discussed and will need to be addressed will be those City and County employees who will be hired by the Authority and the translation period they will need to go through to become Authority employees. The interview committee will support and provide input for the General Î Manager in the interview process, but the General Manager will have the final input on who will fill his direct report positions. b. Human Resources Committee: Kathryn Johnston The Human Resource Committee has not official met since the last authority meeting. They have been briefed by MFSG on the areas that will fall under their Î review. The Committee has been very busy with the interviews and equipment Î process for the team. The Committee is working on the pay class and job description through Condry and Associates. Condry and Associates hope to have a work product available for the Î Human Resource Committee to review by mid-January. The benefits package that was approved has been distributed to the City and the County employees who will be moving over to the Authority. Employee benefit package meetings have been scheduled at various Î locations and times for employees to ask questions to better understand the benefit package. c. Inter-Local Agreements Committee: Rod Andrew No report was given. Rod Andrew suggested that the Inter-Local Committee be dropped, since its work has been completed and in its place let Bill Lynch report on the legal council happenings at each of the monthly meetings. Bill Lynch will take care of the exhibits. Î Rod Andrew made a motion to retire the Inter-Local Agreement Î Committee and put the responsibility back to legal council. The motion was seconded by Jason Thompson. Motion passed. 3 d. Facilities Committee: Burrows Smith It was suggested that a committee be formed to assist Burrows Smith. Site visits will be scheduled with the General Manager to find a suitable location for the Authority. Storage will be a major issue in securing a space, since the new Î departments will be generating items that will require a large amount of storage. There are several options available depending on what the Authority needs Î will be in the future. It was suggested that the Authority start off with a certain amount of area Î with the option to expand since each of the departments or divisions will have their own personnel to factor into the facility. Currently, the Authority is looking at 60 to 80 people to occupy the Î facility. Several functional decisions will need to be made before a square footage Î amount is decided upon. e. Information Technology Committee: Gene Renzaglia There was no formal meeting of the Information Technology Committee. Gene Renzaglia gave a quick update on the activities that are ongoing. The working group met with SunGard and they went through a risk Î assessment to identify the risks and implement a plan to resolve them if they should occur. The data conversion has slowed down. A temporary person will be clean up some of the data that Î currently exists within the County system; so that when the new system is implemented there will not be any duplication. The Committee will review the Information Technology section in the consolidation schedule with SunGard to make sure everything is on a current time frame. f. Hiring Process: Gene Renzaglia The General Manager has been hired and is currently working with the Authority. The Executive Committee is encouraging Authority members to Î participate in the interviewing process. All of the interviews for the direct reports should be completed this week. Î position. The executive secretary will report directly to the Authority Board. Î 4 MFSG has reviewed all the executive secretary applications and has Î provided the Executive Committee with approximately 15 potential candidates. Also in that pool of applications, there is the potential of someone who could be the assistant to the General Manager. The General Manager will have the final input in the hiring process. Matt Jordan has been working with MFSG and has gone through all the applications, so he is aware of the various situations that exist. g. City/Cou: Brent McAbee and Greg Thompson The City continues to work on the accumulation of the documents (contracts and agreements) that are needed for the final closing. There are sub-divisions of real property that the City will be surveying and some pieces that are actually going to be split between the Authority and the City. The City is working with MFSG on the rate study since it will affect the City and the County. Bill Lynch will work with MFSG on the ordinances. h. Projected Finance Issues: Charles Wells Instead of paying him his regular salary, his salary will be reduced to a Î comparable hourly salary and he will invoice MFSG (sub-contractor). The approved budget has the funds to reimburse him. Recess Authority members took a five minute break from 9:55 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 10:00 a.m. 4. OLD BUSINESS Chairman Hunter Chairman Hunter stated that if any one in the audience needed to speak to the Authority that they come forward and speak into the microphones, so that the records can reflect what was said. a. Scheduling: Retreat and Facilities Tour: Steve Thomas Possible The executive committee has had suggestions from MFSG, the City and the County staffs that there is a need to get together as a board and have a retreat to 5 discuss some of the major policy and procedures issues that have not been addressed at this time. Many of the items are time critical and will need to take place before the Î consolidation goes live in July. A plant tour will be incorporated as part of the lunch recess on the day of Î the retreat. Steve Thomas will work on an agenda for the retreat and e-mail it Î Authority members. Steve Thomas made a motion to schedule an all day retreat for the Î Authority board on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The location will be announced at a later date. The motion was seconded by Rod Andrew. After a discussion the motion was amended to have the retreat on Thursday, January 24, 2008. Motion passed. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Rate Structure, Billing Policies, and 2008 Budget: Charles Wells distributed a handout on the Rate/Fee/Billing Polices and a handout on the expenditure statement through December 5, 2007. Please refer to the handouts for more detail. The Finance Committee is working on capital projects that are underway, capital projects that are going to be upcoming, and how those projects are going to be funded. They are also working with MFSG on recommendations for rate structures, and billing policies. The rates used in the power point presentation are the current rates. Î David Hyder, MSFG, gave a power point presentation on CFPUA Finance Î Committee Policy Recommendations for Rates/Fees/Billing. All Authority members received a copy of the power point presentation. Î Please refer to the handout or contact David Hyder for more details. A lengthy discussion followed the presentation. b. Closed Session (Personnel and Legal): Matt Hunter Burrows Smith made a motion to go into closed session at 11:10 a.m. to discuss personnel and legal issues. The motion was seconded by Bill Caster. Motion passed. Chairman Hunter reconvened to open session at 11:50 a.m. and announced that no decision was taken and called for adjournment. The next regular scheduled meeting of the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority will be held on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in Conference Room 601, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. 6 ADJOURNMENT Bill Caster made a motion for adjournment. The motion was seconded by Robert Greer. Motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 11:53 a.m. 7