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Home My WebLink AboutABC Minutes June 18 2013 New Hanover County ABC Board Meeting Minutes June 18, 2013 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 June 18, 2013 in Finance Conference Room#500, New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, NC. 11. Roll call Mr. Dickerson, Board Chairman noted that all 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: Kathy Clark, Acting Board Secretary Gary Cain, Retail and LBD Operations Manager Wanda Copley, Legal Counsel Avril Pinder, Ex-Officio Member Danny Meeks, Purchasing &Logistics Manager Colonel Arch Jones, NHC Sheriff's Department Eleanor Snell Johnston, ABC Educator Officer Robert Gilbert, Wilmington Police Department Officer Brandon Reece, Wilmington Police Department Charles Blanton, President, Carolina Place/Ardmore Neighborhood Association Jonathan Spiers, News Reporter with PortCityDaily.com Ben David, New Hanover County District Attorney III. Call meetim to order Mr. Dickerson verbally confirmed that the Board members had read the following ethics reminder: "In accordance with General Statute 18B-201, it is the duty of every Board member to avoid bath conflicts of interest and appearances of conflicts. Does any member have any known conflict of interest or appearance of conflict with respect to any matters coming before the Board today? If so, please identify the conflict or appearance of conflict and refrain from any undue participation in the particular matter involved." Let it be recorded that no conflicts were identified by any Board member regarding this Board meeting. 1 IV. Approval of minutes from last meeting Mr. Dickerson presented the minutes (from both the open and closed sessions) from the last Regular Meeting of May 21, 2013. Mr. Martenis made the motion to approve the minutes as written, Mr. Everett seconded, all approved. V. Approval of proposed agenda Motion to adopt the prepared agenda as written, was made by Mr. Martenis seconded by Mr. Everett, all approved. VI. Service Awards & Other Recognitions a) The Board recognized ABC employees Mr. Meeks and Mr. Cain both with 15 years of dedicated service. b) [This presentation was not given in the same sequence as the printed agenda.] Mr. Dickerson presented a check in the amount of$950.00 for funds collected through by donations from both ABC customers picking up cardboard boxes and pallet recycling to Coastal Care specifically to be used for alcohol rehabilitation and education. Ms. Pinder is a Coastal Care Area Board Member. VII. New business a) ABC Law Enforcement Officer's Unit Monthly (ALE) Report for May was presented by Col. Jones. Officers performed the following activities for the month of May, 2013: *665 Store Visits *333 Bank Deposits *12 Change Deposits *2 Consent Searches *Cited 2 "Sell to Underage" ABC Law Violations *Cited 9 "Underage Possession" ABC Law Violations *Cited 1 "Unauthorized Possession" ABC Law Violation *Cited 17 "Other Alcohol" ABC Law Violations *Cited 3 "Traffic" Other Offense *Cited 5 "Criminal" Other Offenses *Performed 1 Seller/Server "Alcohol Education" *Assisted 3 ABC Law Agencies *Assisted 3 Controlled Substance Agencies *Assisted 1 "Other" Agencies *Performed 26 Business Inspections *Submitted 1 Violations *Performed 14 Business Compliance Checks 2 Col. Jones informed the Board that he had met with the new ALE Officer for this area; who assured Col. Jones that there would be three ALE Officers dedicated to work New Hanover County. Col. Jones informed the Board, with the upcoming July 4th holiday, there will be seven additional officers placed in the stores on July P, for additional security. Furthermore, there will be more officers on Masonboro Island for the holiday. Col. Jones introduced two of the Wilmington Police Department Officers, Officer Robert Gilbert and Officer Brandon Reece, who are on the downtown taskforce that the Board funds. Additional training has been arranged for July 2013. b) Mr. Cain presented the Board with Financial Statements for May 2013. He reported that the retail sales were slightly below the state average for the month but LBD sales were up. Sales for the month of May 2013 were up by 6.93%, with a rolling year up by 5.51%. c) Mr. Cain presented the Board with the Financial Proeections thru Year-End actual thru 513012013)for discussion purposes. Mr. Cain advised the Board that the year-end sales projections are well ahead of expected, with a positive variance of$1.5 million or 4.55%. Profits are also better than budgeted. d) Mr. David introduced himself to the Board and stated the difficulties of handling cases of underage drinking. Mr. David is proposing that a special unit be setup to handle difficulties from inception thru prosecution. From his prospective, a full time dedicated prosecutor and a full time victim/witness coordinator is needed. He is proposing a one-time grant of$106k from the Board by October 1, 2013, which will fund these two positions. The funds would be used in the twelve month term, from September 1, 2013 thru August 31, 2014. Mr. David explained that this is a draft proposal which needs to be approved by the Administrative Office of the Courts. No action was taken at this time but was approved later in this meeting. e) Ms. Johnston introduced herself to the Board. She worked for the NC ABC Commission training alcohol sellers and servers on the lawful way to sell/serve alcoholic beverages for seven years, until May 15, 2013; on that date the Commission reduced the training staff from seven to one. She explained that six positions had been added to as ABC Compliance Officers; however, those persons will not be providing alcohol seller/server training. She reported that New Hanover County is third in the state with mixed beverage sales. Ms. Johnston offered her services to the Board, proposed that the Board create a position, and proposed that she be hired to fill the position. She did not propose a salary amount. The Board generally decided that more research was needed before taking further action. f) Mr. Dickerson received a request from the Habitat for Humanity to utilize the residential property located near the 17` Street location. He explained that Mr. Sykes had provided research of N.C. G.S. 1813-805 which restricts dispositions of real estate. Mr. Dickerson 3 will respond to the Habitat for Humanity request; no further action was taken concerning this matter. g) Mr. Cain requested authorization to add another full-time employee for the Castle Hayne store. He stated that sales were growing and hours should be adjusted to 9,00arn to 9:00 pm. Discussion was made regarding the impact of changing the store hours. The Board requested that staff conduct a study for a few of months to warrant the adding of another full-time position. h) An Employee Pay&Benefits study was discussed back in April but no additional information has been received. In his prior communications with the Board,Mr. Sykes had suggested a Board Compensation Committee be formed to review the Board's compensation package to determine if the current program is in-line with the County and/or other ABC Boards of similar sales volume. Mr. Wolfe stated that the County recently approved an independent third-party to study the County's compensation plan. Ms. Pinder stated that the legal notice advertisement for bids, would go out today. She also informed the Board that firm selection would not be concluded for at least four weeks. Ms. Pinder indicated that even though the ABC Board would be piggybacking on the County's contract with this third-party, they would do an ABC Board evaluation, comparing our Board to other ABC Boards. The Board directed the staff to coordinate with the County. i) Mr. Martenis gave an update on the ABC Campus Project. There are two abandoned houses on the property that have asbestos that will be abated prior to the demolition. The demolition of the houses will be done as soon as possible. Mr. Martenis also informed the Board that no trespassing signs have been placed on the houses and that the houses have been boarded up. Mr. Dickerson stated that the insurance representative has communicated to Mr. Sykes that the houses are covered, even though they are vacant. On a separate note, Mr. Cain informed the Board, that the security company that the Board currently uses has met with staff and LS3P, to discuss the building security, gates and exterior security for the new project. Mr. Martenis also informed the Board that the next meeting with LS3P is set for July 9, 2013. j) Mr. Dickerson asked for discussion on the Proposed Budget for FY 13/14. Ms. Pinder advised the Board the addition of another full-time employee had been tabled in this meeting. Motion was made by Mr. Martenis, to approve the funding of the full-time position that is already in the budget, seconded by Mr. Mathews, all approved. Discussion was made by Ms. Copley that the contract for the one-time D.A. grant would need to be added to the budget prior to final approval. Mr. Martenis made motion to approve the budget with the addition of the one-time $106k grant requested by Mr. David being moved from the Miscellaneous/Contingency account to the Alcohol Law Enforcement Distribution, Mr. Everett seconded, all approved. k) As a public comment, Charles Blanton, President of Carolina Place/Ardmore Neighborhood Association, accepted the Board's earlier invitation to speak to their Association to provide details of the ABC Board's plans for the property located around the 17th Street location. The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 6:OOpm at 4 Temple Baptist Church, 1901 Market Street. Mr. Dickerson directed Mr. Cain to email him with the time and date of this meeting, Mr. Sykes, Mr. Cain and Mr. Dickerson all plan to attend. 1) It was mentioned by Mr. Wolfe, that Mr. Everett, Mr. Martenis and Mr. Wolfe had been reappointed by the County Commissioners to the ABC Board. Each was reappointed for a three year term expiring on June 30, 2016. Mr. Dickerson was also appointed as the Chair. VIIL Adiournment Mr. Everett made the motion t adjourn the meeting; Mr. Martenis seconded, all approved. Minutes submitted by Kathy C. Clark, Secretary Minutes approved byj!::::;'r � Date: —?—/ l3 Cedric Dickerson, Chair 5