HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 19 2014 Board Meeting Minutes New Hanover County ABC Board
Meeting Minutes
August 19, 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 August 19,2014 at the
General Office, 523 S. 17"' 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
William Kopp, Upcoming Board Member
Carol Martin, Board Secretary
Wanda Copley, Legal Counsel
Avril Pinder, Ex-Officio Member
Major M.J. "Marty" Adams, NHC Sheriffs Department
Detective Joe Jewell, NHC Sheriff's Department
Charles Hill, Acting Retail & LBD Operations Manager
James Southerland, ABC Board Assistant Manager at Store 101
Charles Blanton, Carolina Place/Ardmore Neighborhood Association President
Taylor B. Simms, LS3P Associates, LTD Senior Associate & Project Manager
Charles Boney, LS3P Associates, LTD Principal
TJ Land, Architect and Board Project Construction Manager
III. Approval of minutes from last meeting
Mr. Dickerson presented the minutes from the last Regular Meeting of July 15,2014.
Mr. Martenis made the motion to approve the minutes as written—with one exception,
the need for a formal motion regarding the Board one-year term renewal of both Mr.
Martenis as Vice Chairman and Ms. Martin as Board Secretary. Mr. Matthews made
this ratified motion, Mr. Wolfe seconded, and all approved; Mr. Wolfe seconded, and
all approved. Ms. Martin did make said correction, and the meeting minutes were
signed by the Chair and Board Secretary after the meeting.
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IV. 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 refrainfrom 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.
V. Approval ofproposed agenda
One change was suggested—the sequence of two agenda items—but this change did
not materialize. Mr. Marten's made the motion to accept the proposed meeting
agenda with the change, Mr. Everett seconded, and all approved.
VI. Employee Recognition & Service Awards
Mr. Sykes introduced Mr. Southerland to the Board. Mr. Southerland has served the
Board since August 1, 1994, and currently serves as the Assistant Manager of the
17th Street retail store. Mr. Dickerson and Mr. Sykes presented Mr. Southerland
with the Boards' first service award of its kind, an arch desk clock with an engraved
brass plate commemorating Mr. Southerland's 20 plus years of service.
Sheriff Det. Jewell introduced Sheriff Maj. Marty Adams, who now leads the Board's ABC
Law Enforcement following Col. Jones' retirement.
VII. Administrative Reports
a) ABC Law Enforcement Officer's Unit Monthly (ALE) Report for July was presented
by Det. Jewell. Officers performed the following activities for the month of July,
2014:
*550 Store Visits
*296 Bank Deposits
*14 Change Deposits
*7 Video Investigations
*44 Charges
*24 Arrests
*9 Searches (Consent or Probable Cause)
*Cited 8 "Underage Possession" ABC Law Violations
*Cited 10 "Unauthorized Possession" ABC Law Violations
*Cited 16 "Other Alcohol" ABC Law Violations
*Cited 4 "Manufacture/Sell/Deliver/Trafficking/etc." ABC Law Violations
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*Cited 6 "Possession" Controlled-Substance Violations
*Cited 5 "Paraphernalia" Controlled-Substance Violation
*Cited 1 "DWI & Implied" Other Offenses
*Cited 48"Traffic" Other Offenses
*Cited 17 "Criminal" Other Offenses
*Cited 3 "Weapons/Assaults" Other Offense
*Reported 1 "Other Presentations"Alcohol Education
*Assisted 16 ABC Law Agencies
*Assisted 10 Controlled Substance Agencies
*Assisted 9 Other Agencies
*Performed 58 Business Inspections
*Noted 6 Miscellaneous Violations Submitted
*Performed 49 Business Compliance Checks
*Completed 18 Training Hours
b) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Financial Statements for July, 2014. Mr. Sykes
reported for July, the Actual-to-Budget comparison showed Gross Sales greater
than projected by$156k(4.49%), Operating Expenses less than budget by $111k
(24.37%), and Income from Operations better than budget by$180k (43.39%). The
"Restricted Net Position Analysis" details the New ABC Complex'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 July 31, 2014 was $1.2m.
c) The Board was apprised of five (5) updates:
1) Mr. Cain provided a brief summary of the New ABC Complex progress (as of
08/04/14):
• Bordeaux Construction reports that the project is above 90% complete (as of
8/04/14). Mr. Ben Warren, the Vice President of Operations for Bordeaux
Builders, reported that we may begin to install furniture on September 15,
2014.
• Owner Supplied Items remain on schedule:
o Carton Flow System will be installed by Carolina Material Handling,
Inc. The installation will be coordinated with Bordeaux and should
begin August 20, 2014.
o The Board will retain EarthLink for the phone and data service needs.
o Low Voltage Cabling will be installed by Peerless Communications.
o Security and Surveillance will be installed by Hooks Alarm Co.
o Office Furniture-New furniture will be received and installed by
Professional Systems in September.
o Furniture Moving Proposal-The Board has budgeted $6k for moving
existing furniture and three moving companies have submitted
proposals.
o Management has met to discuss ideas related to our moving project,
and the focus is to make the most effective sequence to move each
department. Follow up meetings are scheduled
o TJ Land reports that change orders remain within budget.
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o Ms. Simms, LS3P Project Manager, reports to Mr. Cain that the
"project is on schedule/budget at this time".
2) Mr. Sykes apprised the Board that the 80th anniversary of the May 11, 1935
creation of the New Hanover County ABC Board is coming up if they would like
something special planned in observance.
3) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with an ABC Complex Open House agenda item for
discussion purposes. It was generally agreed to wait until staff and customers had
settled into the new space, and to plan a Thursday or Friday in late November—perhaps
directly following a Board meeting. More discussion will follow.
4) Mr. Sykes apprised the Board that unlike most NC ABC Boards,the New Hanover
County ABC Board is not obligated by law to comply with NC G.S. 18B-805, excerpted
as: The local board shall spend, or pay to the county commissioners to spend,for the
purposes stated in subsection (h), an amount set by the board which shall be at least
seven percent(7%) of the gross receipts remaining after the distribution required by
subdivision "Expenditure of Alcoholism Funds. Funds distributed under subdivisions
(b)(4) and(c)(3) of this section shall be spent for the treatment of alcoholism or
substance abuse, or for research or education on alcohol or substance abuse. "
In fact, Mr. Sykes stated, our Board is prohibited from distributing for that purpose
unless they have the permission of our appointing authority to do so. The Board
discussed several options, and no action was taken.
5) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with local ALE agent, James Casteen's request for
temporary office space in the new complex for the two remaining Wilmington ALE
agents, as their permanent office will be relocating to Jacksonville,NC. He stated that
ALE will be a division of the State Bureau of Investigation, and these changes will be
effective 10/01/14. The Board asked Mr. Sykes to have a contract drafted by the County
legal office, and agreed to charge ALE a nominal $1/month for this temporary,
necessary lease. Mr. Martenis made the motion to have the lease drawn and to charge
ALE the $1/month, Mr. Matthews seconded the motion and all approved.
VIII. New Business
a) Mr. Sykes apprised the Board that the Building Committee met with LS3P on August
18th to discuss the 17th & Castle Renovation Project. He stated and that currently
about 34% of the Board's total sales occur within the building. After renovation, it is
estimated that about 25% of the Board's sales will occur within the building. Ms.
Simms provided the general layout of the committee's proposed floor plan and exterior
elevations. The floor plan proposes 7,000 square feet for LBD Store #103, and 6,900
square feet for retail Store 4101, and is estimated to take nine months to complete. For
the most part, the remaining area of the building will be a holding area for buy-
in/discount products. Mr. Blanton asked the Board to consider the area neighbors as it
plans the exterior and plantings. Mr. Land agreed to personally inspect the existing
roof and would present his assessment to Mr. Sykes. Mr. Martenis made the motion to
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proceed with the project, have the County legal office change the contract as needed,
for a fee not to exceed the high-end estimate of$2,435,533.00. Mr. Matthews seconded
the motion, and all approved.
b) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Evergreen Solutions, LLC's compensation study
Chapter 5—Recommendations. He provided the Board with his CEO
Recommendations for Employee Compensation Modifications dated 8/19/14, his
Proposed Pay Plan, and his "Improvements Made to Employee Pay and Benefits",
which details betterments to the employee compensation package since FY2010-11.
Mr. Sykes asked the Board to consider a one-time productivity bonus to eligible
employees for the successful and efficient fiscal year 2013-2014. Mr. Martenis made
the motion to accept Mr. Sykes' revised Proposed Pay Plan, and to make the changes
regarding the Purchasing & Logistics Operations Manager and the Retail & LBD
Operations Manager, effective immediately. Mr. Everett seconded the motion, and all
approved. Mr. Wolfe made the motion to approve the one-time productivity bonus as
Mr. Sykes had prepared, Mr. Everett seconded the motion, and all approved.
c) Mr. Wolfe discussed the need to meet before the County Commissioners as early as
October to have a CEO raise on its consent agenda,and to make the increase retroactive
as needed. Mr. Everett seconded the motion and all approved.
d) Mr. Sykes suggested that upon Board approval, the Board Chair and Board Secretary
should sign and submit to the NC Department of Cultural Resources its "Records
Retention and Disposition Schedule for North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control
(ABC) Boards dated February 2, 2009". Mr. Sykes stated that numerous documents
need to be reviewed before the move, and that this document needs Board approval to
be in effect. Mr. Martenis made the motion to approve the schedule as written, Mr.
Matthews seconded the motion, and all approved. This signed form was submitted to
the NC Department of Cultural Resources after the meeting.
IX. Adjournment
Mr. Martenis made the motion to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Wolfe seconded, and all
approved.
Minutes submitted by: � �
Carol E. Martin, Secretary
Minutes approved by: Cam - l 001----�
Cedric Dickerson, Chairman
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