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Home My WebLink AboutDecember 17 2013 Regular Minutes New Hanover County ABC Board Meeting Minutes December 17, 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 December 17, 2013 in the Lucie Harrell Conference Room, Room 601 of the Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive,Wilmington, NC. II. 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 Carol Martin, Board Secretary Wanda Copley, Legal Counsel Colonel Arch Jones, NHC Sheriff's Department Ashley Withers, Star News Reporter Charles Hill, Acting Retail & LBD Operations Manager Al Richardson, ABC Store#101 Manager Jeff Karnes, Karnes Lawn Care and Landscape Owner Tardy with Notice: Avril Pinder, Ex-Officio Member III. Conflict of Interest Reminder 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 both 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. IV. Approval of minutes from last meeting Mr. Dickerson presented the minutes from the last Regular Meeting of November 19, 2013. Mr. Martenis made the motion to approve the minutes as written, Mr. Wolfe seconded, all approved. V. Approval of proposed agenda One order change, Public Comments on Non-Agenda Items was moved within the prepared agenda as written, to be heard just prior to Administrative Reports. Mr. Martenis made the motion to accept the revised meeting agenda, Mr. Matthews seconded, and all approved. 1 VI. Service Awards & Other Recognitions and Public Comments on Non-Agenda Items Mr. Sykes introduced Mr. Richardson to the Board. Mr. Richardson has served the Board for over five years, and has been in store management since 2010. Mr. Sykes noted that Mr. Richardson is a dedicated, conscientious employee and handles his job extremely well. Mr. Sykes introduced the Board's current-landscape-contractor,Mr. Karnes to the Board. Mr. Karnes presented handouts and business cards to the Board and stated that his company has served the Board for over three years, and that they would like to continue to do so. Mr. Karnes said that his company services many commercial accounts, but that ABC stores are given priority over other clients when there is an immediate need. Mr. Sykes noted that the landscaping contract has recently been put out for bids by the County Purchasing Office for a March 1, 2014 renewal. VII. Administrative Reports a) ABC Law Enforcement Officer's Unit Monthly (ALE) Report for November was presented by Col. Jones. Officers performed the following activities for the month of November, 2013: *439 Store Visits *239 Bank Deposits *7 Change Deposits *3 Video Investigations *28 Charges *3 Arrests *Cited 5 "Underage Possession" ABC Law Violations *Cited 17 "Unauthorized Possession"ABC Law Violations *Cited 17 "Other Alcohol" ABC Law Violations *Cited 8 "Manufacture/Sell/Deliver/Trafficking" Controlled-Substance Violations *Cited 4 "Possession" Controlled-Substance Violations *Cited 3 "Paraphernalia" Controlled-Substance Violations *Cited 1 "DWI& Implied" Other Offense *Cited 32 "Traffic" Other Offenses *Cited 24 "Criminal" Other Offenses *Assisted 3 ABC Law Agency *Performed 13 Business Inspections *Submitted 1 Violation *Performed 38 Business Compliance Checks *Completed 88 Training Hours Col. Jones reiterated that his ABC officers' concentration in November and December will be on store security and safety, rather than on operations. He also noted that as a result of the State's reduced funding and manpower for its' ALE division, his ABC sheriffs' emphasis is criminal alcohol enforcement, so that the local ALE officers' emphasis can be alcohol permit enforcement. b) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Financial Statements for November, 2013. He noted that the amount restricted for Capital Improvements had been increased to $4.5m, as approved by the Board of County Commissioners. Mr. Sykes reported that for the month, the Actual-to-Budget comparison showed Gross Sales were less than projected by $32.2k (1.08%); however, Income from Operations was better than budget by $52.1k (13.52%). For the year, Income from Operations exceeded budget by $279k (13.55%), and Change in Net Position before Distributions exceeded budget by $282k(13.66%). 2 c) Mr. Sykes briefed the Board on a few updates: 1) Regarding the ABC Complex link to a sewer main noted in a November 19, 2013 meeting update, the Board was successful at securing possession of a necessary easement, so the issue has been resolved. 2) Regarding the Board's Employee Classification and Compensation Study, supervisors and reporting subordinates have submitted their job duties/responsibilities surveys. Evergreen, LLC has attained approval to obtain pay and benefit information from other ABC Boards (those top ten in sales), and the due date for the study report remains 2/28114. 3) The Board's lawn maintenance contract is up for renewal March 1, 2014, and the County Purchasing Office has put it out for bids for a January 6, 2014 bid opening. 4) The Board's IT provider, Carolina Data, Inc., recently presented office staff with a necessary upgrade to the Traverse 11.0 (accounting package) software. The current 10.5 version's payroll module will no longer be supported. Mr. Sykes noted too that the office server and computer hardware have not been upgraded since January, 2010, and that the Carolina Data, Inc. proposal should be available for the January meeting. VIII. New Business a) As Mr. Wolfe requested at the November Board meeting, Mr. Sykes presented the Board with an "ABC Comparison of Counties with Similar Populations" summary. The summary compares our Board to seven North Carolina ABC Boards in several relevant areas: Demographics Income, Housing, Poverty and Education General Manager Pay, Financial Ratios and Board Member Compensation Financial Statement Summary, which compares the average sales per retail store Mr. Sykes notes that"Based on the information analyzed,ABC Boards are very unique and are difficult to compare". b) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with his "Control States' Sales Information" spreadsheet. The spreadsheet ranks the seventeen (17) Control States': Gross Sales Population Per Capita Gross Sales Although North Carolina was near the top in Gross Sales, it was relatively low in the "Per Capita Sales" which suggests that it may be losing a significant amount of gross sales to other states. c) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with the North Carolina ABC Commission's North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control 2013 Annual Report. Chairman Jim Gardner points out that a featured article, The Commission Commits to the Creation of the North Carolina Initiative to Reduce Underage Drinking provides a preview of the initiative and its goals. As an aside, Mr. Wolfe remarked that Mr. Gardner came to Wilmington to meet with the County Commissioners and the District Attorney. He said that Mr. Gardner was pleased with the relationship that local law enforcement has with UNC-Wilmington, whereby the university is apprised when students are charged with alcohol offenses off campus. Mr. Wolfe believes that UNC-W is the only one of the sixteen university systems to have such a relationship. Mr. Wolfe relayed that Mr. Gardner's attitude is 3 "these students are young;-let's not crush them, but rather educate them and get them on the right path" regarding infractions. Ms. Martin will mail a copy of the Annual Report to each Board beneficiary's leader. d) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with his annual, "Recurring Board Meeting Activities"handout. The handout lists each scheduled meeting for the next twelve months and summarizes typical annual activities by month that the Board needs to remain abreast of. IX. Adjournment Mr. Martenis made the motion to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Wolfe seconded, and all approved. Immediately following the Board meeting, those present were encouraged to meet at 10:00am for the ABC Complex Ground Breaking Ceremony at 6009 Market Street. Minutes submitted by: &4 Carol E. Martin, Secretary Minutes approved byag--"4 Date: J 1 Cedric Dickerson, Chairman 4