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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 20 2015 Board Meeting MinutesNew Hanover County ABC Board Meeting Minutes January 20, 2015 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 January 20, 2015 at the General Office, 6009 Market Street, 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 William A. Kopp, Jr., Member Augustus C. Everett, Jr., Member Others in attendance were: Dan Sykes, Chief Executive Officer Gary Cain, Retail and LBD Operations Manager Carol Martin, Board Secretary Maj. M. J. Adams, NHC Sheriff's Department Taylor B. Simms, LS3P Associates, LTD Senior Associate & Project Manager Charles Boney, LS3P Associates, LTD Principal Det. Joe Jewell, NHC Sheriff's Department Det. Dean Olinger, NHC Sheriffs Department Allen Robbins, Assistant LBD Store 107 Manager Absent with notice were: Wanda Copley, Legal Counsel Avril Pinder, Ex- Officio Member 11I.Approval of minutes from last meeting Mr. Dickerson presented the minutes from the last Regular Meeting (both the open and closed session minutes) of December 16, 2014. Mr. Wolfe made the motion to approve the minutes as written, with the omission of one word, "substitute ". Mr. Martenis seconded, and all approved. 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 undueparticipation in theparticular matter involved. " 11 Page Let it be recorded that no conflicts were identified by any Board member regarding this Board meeting. V. Approval of proposed agenda Mr. Martenis made the motion to accept the proposed meeting agenda as written with one (1) addition, inclusion in the closed session portion of today's meeting discussion of real estate (per NC GS 143- 318.11(a)(5). Mr. Everett seconded the motion, and all approved. VI.EmIloyee Recognition Mr. Sykes introduced Mr. Robbins to the Board, and thanked him for his interest in the ABC Board and its activities —as Mr. Robbins made a request to attend the meeting. Mr. Sykes stated that Mr. Robbins has been with the Board since May of 2005 and consistently receives "Exceeds Expectations" performance review ratings from his supervisors. VII. Administrative_Renorts A. ABC Law Enforcement Officer's Unit Monthly (ALE) Report for December was presented by Det. Jewell. Officers performed the following activities for the month of December, 2014: *632 Store Visits *338 Bank Deposits * 16 Change Deposits * 17 Video Investigations * 8 Charges *7Arrests *4 Searches (Consent or Probable Cause) *Cited 7 "Underage Possession" ABC Law Violations *Cited 9 "Unauthorized Possession" ABC Law Violations *Cited 2 "Other Alcohol" ABC Law Violations *Cited 3 "DWI & Implied" Other Offenses *Cited 26'Traffic" Other Offenses *Cited 11 "Criminal" Other Offenses *Cited 9 "Weapons /Assaults" Other Offenses *Noted 1 "Seller /Server" Alcohol Education *Assisted 27 ABC Law Agencies *Assisted 5 Controlled Substance Agencies *Assisted 7 Other Agencies *Performed 46 Business Inspections *Performed 3 4 Business Compliance Checks *Completed 40 Training Hours Det. Jewell introduced Det. Olinger to the Board. Det. Olinger is replacing Det. Jay Davis as a Board ABC Officer. Det. Jewell apprised the Board that its ABC officers, beginning in February, will work from noon until midnight on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. He stated that these later hours on these evenings are when underage drinking and sales to minors [wine, beer, and liquor] historically happen, and that this issue is the department's priority. B. Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Financial Statements for December, 2014. Mr. Sykes reported for December, the Actual -to- Budget comparison showed Gross Sales greater than projected by $156k (4.16 %), Operating Expenses less than budget by $68k (15.53 %), and Income 21 Page from Operations better than budget by $105k (21.66 %). Year to date, Gross Profits were more than projected by about $375k (7.77 1/o), and "Change in Net Position before Profit Distributions" had a positive variance of $684k (63.73 %). Mr. Sykes noted that in the Actual -to- Actual comparison, year to date sales are up over $1.2 million (6.5 %), and Income from Operations was up $113k (3.89 %) from last fiscal year to date. C. Mr. Sykes presented the Board with his Financial Pro sections thru Year -End as of 1213112014 for discussion purposes. Actual financial figures are shown for the Board's FY2014 -15 first half, and budgeted financial figures are shown for the second half. Based on the current year -end projections it appears that the projected "Change in Net Position" will be greater than originally budgeted, by over $850k. Mr. Kopp requested that the Board be copied on the actual quarterly Profit Distributions in the future, for its decision making purposes. D. Mr. Sykes presented the Board with one update: The ABC Commission's next Kickoff "Talk It Out NC" Presentation will be held at the Minnie Evans Arts Center, Murray Middle School at 10:00am Tuesday, February 3, 2015. "Talk It Out NC" is a statewide multi -media campaign designed to create awareness among parents and students about the dangers of underage drinking. Murray Middle School 8"' grade students and parents will be at the presentation. Mr. Jewell said that at least two of the Board's ABC officers plan to attend this event, as will some Board members and staff. E. Mr. Sykes provided the Board with his annual Recurring Board Meeting Activities —a list of Proposed Activities for calendar year 2015. The Board normally meets at 8:30am in the ABC main office on the third Tuesday of each month. Mr. Wolfe made the motion to change the May, 2015 Board meeting to the second Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Mr. Kopp seconded the motion and all approved. F. Mr. Sykes presented the Board with the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control 2014 Annual Report. The report is informative and includes data provided by the N.C. Beer & Wine Wholesalers, (based on monthly reports from the N.C. Department of Revenue) in addition to detailed reporting on each of the 166 Active Local ABC Boards. VIII. New Business A. Mr. Sykes apprised the Board that he and Mr. Cain had recently met with LS3P Associates, LTD to discuss the 17a' Street /Castle Street Facility renovation, and that Mr. TJ Land was on conference call for the entire meeting. Mr. Boney presented the Board with the "Whole Cost Preliminary Estimate " — originally dated January 14, 2015 and revised January 19, 2015 - -- keeping the Construction Costs and Soft Costs under $2 million. Baker Roofing's report and roof plan with seven (7) core cut findings revealed that most of the existing insulation could be saved — representing a savings of over $150k from the first quote. Following Board discussion, Mr. Martenis made the motion to add two of the alternatives (including fees) Mr. Boney proposed: 1) Additional brick on fagade quoted at $116,500 and 2) Larger LBD canopy quoted at $15,000 Mr. Everett seconded the motion, and all approved. Mr. Boney suggested that it would take two 31Page months to get the project out to public bid. B. Mr. Martenis proposed the need for a Board retreat to allow for several hours to discuss Board business uninterrupted. Mr. Kopp suggested planning the retreat prior to the FY2015 -I6 annual budget being adopted. The Board agreed to have the retreat beginning at 10:00am Thursday, April 2, 2015 at the ILM airport Executive Conference Room. The meeting room has been reserved for this purpose and date, and a light lunch will be served C. Mr. Sykes presented his annual New Hanover County ABC Board Employee Diversity Report for 2014. The report provides July, 2014 (most recent) raw numbers and breakdown by percentage the races and genders of New Hanover County's entire population. The report also provides the Board's race and gender breakdown, as well as its 41112010 - 11112015 related progress toward a more diversified workplace. Mr. Wolfe made the motion to accept the Employee Diversity Report for Calendar Year 2014 as prepared. Mr. Martenis seconded the motion, and all approved. D. Mr. Sykes presented his annual 2014 Employee Turnover Report. For the Calendar Year 2014 the Employee Turn -over Percentage was 5.21% compared to Calendar Year 2013's 11.07 %. Mr. Sykes noted that the percentage is a metric which indicates how the human resources side of the system is functioning from year -to -year. Excess turnover can be problematic if it has an adverse impact on the performance of the organization. The Turnover Ratio is calculated as "# Employees Departing" divided by "Average # of Full Time Equivalents" and Mr. Sykes showed the ratio for each of the last five years. The authorized full -time headcount was increased from 43 to 45 during the calendar year. Mr. Martenis made the motion to accept,the History of Employee Turnover Report as of I1112015. Mr. Kopp seconded the motion, and all approved. E. Mr. Sykes apprised the Board that the initial one year Landscape Maintenance Contract with "Lawn Sharks" is due to expire February 28, 2015. The contractor has satisfactorily performed over the last year, and verbally offered to perform the same services for the next two years for the current annual amount, $17,244. Mr. Wolfe made the motion to authorize the Chair/Vice Chair to execute the necessary documents to enter into a lawn maintenance contract effective March 1, 2015 for two years for an annual amount of $17, 244. Mr. Wolfe noted that this contract omits landscaping services at the new ABC Complex -- currently maintained within its first year by the install landscaper. Mr. Martenis seconded the motion, and all approved. F. Mr. Sykes asked the Board to consider the approval of the revised Property and Equipment Policy. The revisions were to increase the capitalization threshold from $1,000 to $2,000, and to change the lives of several fixed asset categories to be more in line with comparable local government units and asset usage. Subject to approval of the NC ABC Commission, Mr. Martenis made the motion to approve the revised Property and Equipment Policy as written. Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion, and all approved. (Approval from the commission has since been attained.) G. Mr. Sykes recommended to the Board the purchase of a Fixed Asset Accounting License. The licensed software is an add -on product to the Board's current accounting system, Open Systems' TRAVERSE, and integrates directly with its general ledger — assuring accurate, time - saving entries for the Board's depreciable assets. As a result, the independent auditors will not have to duplicate staff accounting efforts to complete the annual audit, Mr. Wolfe made the motion to authorize the ChairNice Chair to purchase a Fixed Asset Accounting license as discussed not to exceed $3,000, including applicable State sales taxes. Mr. Martenis seconded the motion, and all approved. 4 j Page III. Closed Session Mr. Martenis trade the motion to go into Closed Session. Mr. Kopp seconded the motion and all approved, The purpose of the Closed Session meeting was to both discuss personnel issue(s) in accordance with NC GS 143-318, 1 1(a)(6), and to discuss potential real estate acquisition in accordance with NC GS 143.318.11(a)(5). Mr, Martenis made the motion to return to Open Session; Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion, and all approved. The Chair asked that Mr. Sykes review the recent Employee Survey to formulate his executive plan and to report back on its progress at the next meeting. Mr. Wolfe noted that the Board is not interested in "micromanaging" the staff or the CEOs decisions. No action was made on any land acquisition. IV. Ad'ournment Mr. Martenis made the motion to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Wolfe seconded, and all approved. Minutes submitted by: &R'� or g-1., Carol E. Martin, Secretary AMinutes approved by:, � .4 Cedric Dickerson, Chairman 5 1Page