2011-05-17 New Hanover County ABC Board
Meeting Minutes
May 17, 2011
I. Call to order
Chairman Thomas Wolfe called to order the regular meeting of the New Hanover
County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at 8:30am on May 17, 2011 in the
General Office at 523 S. 17 I Street, Wilmington, NC.
II. Roll call
Ms. Martin, Board Secretary conducted a roll call. The following Members of the
Board were present:
Thomas Wolfe, Chairman
Cedric Dickerson, Vice Chairman
David Matthews, Member
Augustus C. Everett, Jr. Member
Robert W. Martenis, Member
Wanda Copley, Legal Counsel
Others in attendance were:
Daniel Sykes, Chief Executive Officer
Carol Martin, Board Secretary
Jimmy Hearn, Recently Retired Store Clerk, Store 105
Gary Cain, ABC Retail and LBD Manager
Colonel Jones, NHC Sheriff's Department
Kevin Maurer, Star News Reporter
III. Approval of minutes from last meeting
Ms. Martin presented the minutes from the last regular meeting of April 26, 2011.
Mr. Matthews motioned to approve the minutes as written; Mr. Martens
seconded; all approved.
IV. Approval of proposed a e nda
Motion to adopt the proposed agenda was approved as written by Mr. Martenis,
seconded by Mr. Dickerson, all approved.
V. New business
a) Mr. Hearn was presented a retirement plaque for his five plus years of service to
the ABC Board. Mr. Matthews asked Jimmy if he had any suggestions on how
the present board could do a better job and Jimmy had nothing but praise on how
everything had improved in the last year.
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b) ABC Law Enforcement Office's Unit Monthly (ALE) Report for April was
presented by Colonel Jones, NHC Sheriff's Department. Officers performed or
cited the following activities for the month of April, 2011:
*680 Store Visits
*305 Bank Deposits
* 12 Bank Change Deposits/Trips
* 1 Burglar Alarm
* 13 Assist Other Agencies
(ALE, Wrightsville and Carolina Beach)
* 182 Change in Tax Stamps (New Owner Change)
* 5 Video Investigations
* 31 Compliance Checks (Underage)
* 22 Arrests
* 44 Charges
* 34 Formal Inspections
Mr. Jones apprised the board of several recent club permit revocations and the
opening of a new motorcycle gang bar on Carolina Beach, Hollister 47 was
visited on opening day of business by the ABC, ALE and Gang Task Force to
explain complete compliance in New Hanover County.
Mr. Sykes presented the board with comparative summaries of ABC law
enforcement reports for March and April. The information is transmitted to the
NC ABC Commission by the respective law enforcement agencies and is posted
on the Commission's website. The April comparative summary shows that
although New Hanover County ABC's percentage of Statewide Sales for the
month of April was 4.34 %, our ABC Law Enforcement Violations Reported were
5.71% of those of the state. Our Law Enforcement officers have a strong local
presence in our stores and bars.
c) Mr. Sykes apprised the Board of three updates:
1.) The Board's Travel Policy Update from the April 26, 2011 board meeting
was approved by the County Commissioners on May 16, 2011.
2.) Mark Boyer advised on the Power Point presentation discussed at the
April 26, 2011 board meeting and would continue to provide input.
3.) ABC Chairman John Williams will be in Wilmington for the Rotary
meeting on May 31, 2011 for those board members that are able to attend.
d) Mr. Sykes presented the April 2011 and Rolling 12 -Month Comparison. For
April, Retail stores showed a 9.47% ($161k) increase in sales. All stores showed
an increase, and Store #104 had a double -digit percentage increase. LBD sales
were down with a 3.76% ($34.6k) decrease, and Total Sales were up 4.83%
($126.4k). For the 12 -Month Rolling Comparison, Retail stores showed a 5.54%
($1.146 million) increase in sales, LBD was down 2.94% ($287k) and Total sales
were up 2.82% ($859k).
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e) Mr. Sykes presented the Statewide Sales for April, 2011. This information is for
spirituous beverages only (no wines /mixers are included):
Retail: We had a 9.26% increase compared to 7.11% increase Statewide
LBD: We had a 3.76% decrease compared to 1.03% decrease Statewide
Overall: We had a 4.69% increase in spirituous beverages compared to a
5.37% increase Statewide. Our overall sales figure was short of the State
average by $17.9k.
Mr. Sykes surmised that LBD sales are being affected by bars closing and empty
storefronts downtown.
f) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with Financial Statements for April and YTD—
both compare actual to budget figures. Mr. Sykes noted that shortly after April
30, 2011 "Investments" were transferred to "Cash in Bank" because interest rates
were substantially better at our local First Bank. Mr. Sykes noted that even with
sales being slightly less than projected, YTD Gross Profit was up .59% ($38.2k).
g) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with a proposed modification of the current HRA
Policy that was put into place in August, 2010. When the new health insurance
policy goes into effect June 1, 2011 the higher deductible ($1,000) and the higher
out -of- pocket ($2,500) transfer a greater risk to the employees. The HRA
provides the Board reimbursement if the employee actually has to pay out medical
expenses. The modification states, "if an eligible employee pays the "Out -of-
Pocket" maximum during the plan year the Board will reimburse the last $250.
Mr. Martenis made the motion to accept the proposed modification, Mr. Everett
seconded, all approved.
h) Mr. Sykes presented the Board with a Comparison of Proposals for Alarm
Services. The comparison considered three alarm service providers to provide
burglar, fire, UL fire and annual fire alarm inspections — requirements that differ
from store to store. Mr. Sykes recommended our continued 12 year service with
Security Plus Electrical (SPE), the company that installed all of the alarm
systems. Mr. Martenis made the motion to accept the Security Plus estimated
$4,025 annual contract. Mr. Dickerson seconded, and all approved.
i) Mr. Sykes presented the board with the New Hanover County ABC Board
Proposed Budget Ordinance for Fiscal Year 2011 -2012 and the Budget Message.
Mr. Sykes' budget message included "The ABC Board determines, through
adoption of an annual budget, the level of customer service that the ABC system
will provide and the resources available for operations and capital projects" that
"In addition to providing for operating expenses and distributions, the Board must
retain a level sufficient to "seed" future capital improvements and expansion
costs ", and "The Board does not have any debt at this time; there is no
anticipation of incurring debt during the budget year ". Mr. Sykes stated that the
proposed budget ordinance will be released to the public today and that a public
hearing needs to be scheduled. The board set the public hearing date and time for
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Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 10:30am in the General Office at 523 S. 17` Street,
Wilmington, NC. Mr. Sykes stated that the final approval of the budget must be
made no later than June 30, 2011. The Board discussed reducing Liquor- by -the-
drink sales by $300,00 (compared to projected sales through year -end). The
reason for the reduction was because several clubs with high - volume sales were
now closed. There was a general agreement among the Board members, so Mr.
Sykes will make that adjustment; and he will also adjust other accounts affected
by the reduction in sales.
VI. Closed Session
The Board entered into Closed Session to discuss the CEO's Annual Evaluation,
applicable to paragraph NC GS 143- 318.11(a)(6)). Mr. Matthews made the
motion to enter into closed session, Mr. Martenis seconded, all approved. After
several minutes in private closed discussion, the general session began again. Mr.
Martenis made the motion to restart the open session, Mr. Matthews seconded, all
approved. It was stated that the Closed Session resulted in no action, contingent
on the New Hanover County Commissioner's next meeting, expected to be held at
9am Monday, June 20, 2011.
VIL Ad.iournment
Mr. Martenis made the motion to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Dickerson seconded,
all approved.
Minutes submitted by:
Caro E. Martin, Secretary
Minutes approved bya l Date: �V1z o r J
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Thomas Wolfe, Chair
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