Main Menu

GMD Public Information

Public Menu -  2006 Minutes - 2007 Minutes

Commission Minutes

GREENWOOD METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

MINUTES OF THE July 25, 2007

Regular Meeting

The regular meeting of the Greenwood Metropolitan District Commission was held Wednesday, July 25, 2007, at 3:30 p.m., in the Board Room of CPW/Greenwood Metropolitan District Administrative Building, 121 West Court Avenue.

In attendance:

Commissioner Byron Smith, Vice Chairman      Richard Coleman          Paige Holley

Commissioner Gene Hancock, Secretary          George Martin              Michael Nix

Commissioner Michael G. Monaghan                Doug Bell                     Danny Ware

Commissioner Henry Watts                              Richard Gentry

Commissioner Tim Burke                                  Gayle Grogan

1. Vice Chairman Smith called the meeting to order and Mr. Martin gave the invocation.

2. Vice Chairman Smith gave the statement of compliance with the notification provision of the Freedom of Information Act.

3. Wilson Creek Update
   1. Mr. Ware shared information with the Commission concerning the monthly progress meeting held last week.  Currently the contractor is about four weeks from placing the secondary clarifiers into operations.  There are no new change orders since the last meeting.  The contractor is grouting the secondary clarifier now.  Mr. Ware stated in regards to phase 1B, Davis and Floyd plans to plot out a review set of drawings on Monday.  They hope to deliver the drawings to Metro either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.  The plan is to bid phase 1B as soon as phase 1A is finished.  Manager Coleman noted that installing the clarifiers is not the end of phase 1A because there is still more work to be done.  Completion date is when the clarifiers are operating.  The contractor has an additional sixty days to finish dressing up the site and to close out the two existing clarifiers.  Commissioner Monaghan asked when Metro will bid out the next phase.  Mr. Ware responded the plan is to advertise the project around the middle of September and open the bids at the October 24^th meeting.  Right now the Corp permit is still outstanding.  Commissioner Monaghan asked why Metro wanted to wait until September.  Mr. Ware responded Davis and Floyd wants to make sure they give Metro enough time to review the plans.  Commissioner Monaghan asked when is the review scheduled.  Mr. Ware responded the documents will be printed next Monday or Tuesday.  Commissioner Monaghan said; and then Metro will contact CDM.  Manager Coleman said Metro has already informed CDM the plans will be ready around the first of August.  In the past, Metro sends CDM the plans and they review them in house before coming to Metro.  Tentatively the meeting is scheduled for mid August.  This will allow Davis and Floyd to make any changes before the bid is advertised.  Mr. Ware said they are allowing the contractors over a month to complete their bids. 

4. Commissioner Hancock made a motion that the minutes from the May 23, 2007 Regular Meeting be approved as mailed and Commissioner Watts seconded.  The motion was unanimously approved.

5. Financial Report
   1. Mr. Michael Nix of Greenwood Capital gave a report on the District’s portfolio.  The 1081 account represents the general reserve account.  Mr. Nix pointed out that the first page shows which bonds have been matured, sold or called; note this is for the full fiscal year (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007).  All of the bonds on this page were called or matured during the period.  Page three is a current appraisal of the bonds that Metro still owns.  Commissioner Monaghan asked if under the net gain on page 4 if it includes the amount on page 2.  Mr. Nix responded it does not.  The difference between the two is on page 2; reconciling the issues that have been called, matured, or sold during the period.  Commissioner Monaghan noted the amount is $488,681.24 for the bonds that are no longer in the account.  Manager Coleman stated that is for the period on those bonds; it could include more than one fiscal year.  Mr. Nix stated it is for the full period the bonds are held.  He noted the same stands true on page four for the assets that are currently in the account.  Commissioner Monaghan asked if some of the bonds on page 2 would have to be added to the total on page 4.  Mr. Nix responded not necessarily.  The first two pages are showing the life of the bonds and how the bonds performed.  Page three and four are bonds Metro still owns.  They will continue to add interest as they are held.  Commissioner Monaghan said he understands that.  What he does not understand is if you look at the last two bonds and the close date is June 2007.  Commissioner Monaghan would like to know if these two bonds earned anything this year.  Mr. Nix responded yes.  Commissioner Monaghan asked if whatever they earned from June, 2006 to June, 2007 is included in the $1,080,036.48.  Mr. Nix responded no.  Commissioner Monaghan said something would have to be added in order to get the total.  Mr. Nix said if Metro wanted to see just what they received for the fiscal year Greenwood Capital would need to run a different report.  Mr. Nix further explained that page five gives the performance report for fiscal year to date.  In summary the 1081 account, has $717,870 in cash flow for the fiscal year.  The performance of the account was plus 5.39%.  All numbers are net of fees.  Mr. Nix directed the Commission to the next account which is the 1082 (Capacity) account.  Page 6 shows which bonds have matured, been sold or called during the fiscal year.  Pages 7 and 8 show the assets that are currently in the account and page nine is the performance report.  In summary the 1082 account, generated $136,830 in interest income and the performance was plus 5.36%.  Commissioner Monaghan said he did not see the $136,830 listed.  Mr. Nix responded he was looking at a separate report than what is shown.  The last set of reports is the 1852 account.  Mr. Nix said the bonds that have come due during the period were designed to come due to make the draw down schedule.  Currently Metro has more cash than what Greenwood Capital would like for them to have.  Greenwood Capital would like to invest around $800,000 back into some bills.  More than likely Greenwood Capital would invest in some Treasury Bills (very short, very liquid).  Manager Coleman stated at the start of the Wilson Creek Project Phase 1A, Metro received a projected schedule of payments.  Whether the contractor sends the pay request as estimated or not is dependent on the contractor’s performance.  If each pay request amount is a little shorter than the projected amount, over time the difference adds up.  Manager Coleman noted on the past pay request the contractor requested a deduction in the retainage.  Mr. Ware said he believed there is around $800,000 left to pay for the job.  Mr. Nix said he would want to keep $1 million in cash and that will leave roughly a balance of $800,000.  Commissioner Monaghan said that Metro should be able to provide Greenwood Capital a payment schedule.  Mr. Nix responded that he has one.  Commissioner Monaghan said typically in construction meetings for other projects that is one item that is talked about.  Mr. Ware responded that was requested and was received from the contractor.  What has happened on this project is the pay request is lower than the amount that was projected.  The contractor always asked for less and it is moving more of the money towards the final payment.  Commissioner Monaghan commented that Metro may want to look at how the payments were projected.  Manager Coleman said maybe the contractor could update the projections as they go.  Mr. Nix said this account opened October 25, 2006 and the generated cash flow is $213,000 and the performance is 3.41%.  There has been a lot of activity in the market.  A lot will depend on what happens in the overall sub-prime environment. 

2. Vice Chairman Smith asked for questions from the Board on the Financial Report.  Manager Coleman noted the revenue is still under budget.  He received information from the water department looking at their sales compared to previous years.  The residential is about the same, but the industrial is down.  Metro does not have 100% of the same customers as CPW.  Some of the industrial customers are billed through CPW and some are billed by Metro.  Commissioner Watts inquired if Metro had lost customers.  Manager Coleman responded no.  He is talking about total consumption which is down an estimated 2%.  Metro will continue to watch the revenue amount.  As part of the Long Range Financial Plan it was projected for residential and commercial growth to be around 1.7% per year and the industrial to be zero percent growth.  Commissioner Monaghan would like to use “Net Revenue over Expenditures” instead of “Excess of Revenue over Expenditures”.  He would like for Mrs. Grogan to add a net revenue line after the depreciation.  Commissioner Monaghan inquired when new construction projects (for example lines) are added to depreciation.  He said Metro installed a new line in the previous fiscal year and then the next fiscal year Metro will start adding the depreciation.  Manager Coleman responded yes.  Commissioner Monaghan said Metro only added $63,000.  Manager Coleman said that is a net number.  Some items depreciated during that time and you have a lower number.  Manager Coleman said some items depreciate to zero or some depreciate to their salvage value.  Commissioner Monaghan asked if the depreciation on any capital cost remains constant until Metro depreciates it out.  Mrs. Grogan said she thought Mrs. Lauri Smith explained at the last meeting some things do not fully depreciate.  Those items depreciate to their salvage value.  Mr. Martin said Mrs. Grogan calls monthly or quarterly to ask if there are any new lines added to the system.  Those could be new construction.  New construction is added to the depreciation schedule after the final payment is made.  Mrs. Grogan said right now when she receives that information she needs to know if it has been deeded over to Metro.  She said new constructions that are Metro projects and are closed out during that quarter are added.  If the final payment has been made, the project is closed out and is added on the books.  Commissioner Monaghan asked what does closed out mean.  Mrs. Grogan responded if Metro has made the final payment that means it has been accepted and added on the books.  Commissioner Monaghan asked in the depreciation column.  Mrs. Grogan said yes it goes into the depreciation.  Commissioner Monaghan noted that with all of the construction going on the depreciation increased only $146,000 more than last year.  Commissioner Burke said none of the new construction has been added.  He noted the new construction cannot be added until the line goes into service.  Mrs. Grogan noted there are several projects that have not been closed out.  Mr. Martin said it is not put in until the final payment is made because Metro feels like they do not accept the line until the final payment is made.  Commissioner Monaghan said he understands all of that.  Commissioner Burke noted it is a low number with all of the projects going on.  Mr. Martin noted Metro is accounting for everything.  Commissioner Smith inquired if Metro believes a lot of these projects will be closed around the same time.  Mr. Martin responded in a period of months Metro should have three or four to close out.  One of them is the Cokesbury Project.  Commissioner Burke said Cokesbury, Wilson Creek, and Bailey Circle should all be within the next quarter.  Mrs. Grogan noted Metro has not paid the final payment for Maxwell.  Mr. Martin said the work is completed on Maxwell, but Metro has not made the final payment.  The Shrine Club Road Project should be closed out at the end of August.  Commissioner Hancock inquired if the Lakeshores Phase III will be closed out also.  Mrs. Grogan said that Metro had not paid the final payment.  Mr. Martin explained the reason why that payment has not been paid is because there were some issues in the wet well of the pump station.  The contractor has corrected the issue, but Metro has not received the final invoice.  Manager Coleman noted the Wilson Creek Phase 1A is not expected to be finished until September and Metro may not receive the final pay request until October.  There is a chance the check will not be issued for that project until November.  Commissioner Watts inquired about the status of Bailey Circle.  Mr. Martin responded that right now Mr. Hemphill is writing them letters.  He shared that the contractor had written a letter to Metro justifying everything they had done and would like to settle the project.  The contractor would like for Metro to pay them plus an additional $50,000.  Metro has refused that offer.  Commissioner Monaghan inquired as to why Metro had not been billed for Lander.  Mr. Martin responded the job has been completed for about two years.  Mrs. Grogan said Metro has not been billed for Lander yet.  She thought Metro would have paid it during the last fiscal year.  Commissioner Monaghan inquired about the schedule for the Hunter’s Creek Gravity.  Mr. Martin responded that was a project that Metro was going to suggest to do, but when Metro looked at the priority list the project dropped lower on the list.  Commissioner Monaghan asked when will the Shrine Club Road Project be finished.  Mr. Martin responded the contractor said August 31^st.  The contractor started installing grinder pumps today.  The contractor cannot connect anything until the lines in the street are tested.  The road bore has to be done before the lines in the street can be tested.  Commissioner Monaghan said he would like to understand the different accounts (operating and maintenance funds, and reserve funds).  He thought the excess O&M went into the Reserve Funds.  He does not understand why it is shown differently.  Mrs. Grogan responded those are the accounts which the projects are being paid out of.  Commissioner Monaghan inquired if Mrs. Grogan means what is taken out of bond funds.  Mrs. Grogan responded no; Reserve Funds are the monies at Greenwood Capital.  Commissioner Monaghan stated the money does not automatically go into the reserve.  Manager Coleman stated Metro would pay it out of the current O&M fund; if there is not enough money in O&M the money would come from the reserves.  Commissioner Monaghan asked if Metro keeps a big cash amount on hand.  Manager Coleman responded not a large amount.  The target amount is two months worth of O&M expense.  Some capital is paid out of O&M.  Technically Metro could transfer money out of O&M into reserves and then pay out of reserves.  Commissioner Monaghan stated he thought that is what Metro was doing because it would earn more interest.  He commented at one time CPW had a large amount of cash that was not in the investments and he hopes that Metro does not do that.  Commissioner Monaghan said if Metro has more money than what it needs to pay the bills; that amount should be transferred to the reserves.  He is not saying it is wrong, but he is wondering why Metro keeps it separate.  Commissioner Monaghan asked if Metro keeps extra cash not earning interest.  Manager Coleman responded the O&M does earn some interest.  In general the O&M is going to be about 10% of the total reserves.  Commissioner Monaghan asked if that was around $2 million.  Manager Coleman responded no about $1.4 million.  Commissioner Monaghan said the total reserve is around $20 million.  Manager Coleman commented Metro receives one big check from CPW, but payments are made every week.  The Reserve Funds are typically invested for months at a time.  Commissioner Monaghan said the Reserve Fund could have two to three month T-bills that would earn a better interest than the money market account.  Commissioner Watts inquired on how often Metro receives a check from CPW.  Manager Coleman responded once a month.  Commissioner Burke said he thinks Commissioner Monaghan is asking to establish a benchmark within the Reserve Fund.  Manager Coleman said the benchmark for the O&M Funds is two months of O&M.  Metro does not transfer in and out of that account on a daily basis.  It is reviewed every few months.  If the account is building up, Metro will transfer some money.  If the account is not building up, Metro will keep it the same.  The O&M Account does go into a Sweep Account every night.  Manager Coleman asked if Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know how much money is paid out of O&M, Reserves and from bond money.  Commissioner Monaghan said he wanted to know how much was paid out of Reserves rather than bond money.  Mrs. Grogan responded at the beginning of the year there were some projects that the Commission decided to pay out of the Reserve Funds, so that is why you are seeing the Reserves.  When a voucher is being sent to the Reserves Funds, Mrs. Grogan checks to make sure enough funds are available.  Commissioner Monaghan said that money would come out of the O&M.  Mrs. Grogan responded that it would come out of the Investment Account.  Manager Coleman said some of the Investment Account is cash and some is invested.  Commissioner Monaghan said if Metro has an account that says this is revenue that Metro is holding from bonds, Metro has to keep track of it.  He would rather pay capital expenditures out of that account instead of the O&M or other investment accounts.  Commissioner Monaghan would like to know on some projects if the money was paid from bond funds or was it paid out of the Reserve.  He would like to be able to track on any given project whether the money is spent from Revenue Bond Proceeds or other things.  Mrs. Grogan responded that information is provided each month on the far right side of the monthly project update which is on page 29 of the packet.

6. Action Items
   1. Rice Size Lime

Mr. Martin said one bid was received which came from the current supplier Chemical Lime.  The bid was sent out to sixteen different chemical suppliers.  Staff is recommending the low bid be accepted and the rice size lime contract be awarded to Chemical Lime at 0.073940 per pound.  The previous rice size lime bid was awarded to Chemical Lime at 0.06304 per pound. 

Commissioner Hancock made a motion to award the rice size lime bid to Chemical Lime; Commissioner Burke seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.

VII.            Miscellaneous Administrative Matters

1. Report on Partnership. 

Commissioner Monaghan said the Partnership is going to hire Jay West.  Mr. Martin explained to the Commission the situation with Orde’s of London.  The restaurant encroached on the easement.  Their grease trap was set two feet from Metro’s sewer line.  The Partnership (John Lowery) sent out an email saying for Metro to meet Monday to resolve this issue.  The whole time Metro has been working with Orde’s to resolve the issue.  Metro did not attend the meeting.  Mr. Martin shared the email with Commissioner Monaghan since Commissioner Monaghan was on the Alliance Board.  Commissioner Monaghan sent an email to the chairman of the partnership saying before the Partnership would intervene with an issue that involved another partner they (Partnership) should tell the other partner first then learn the facts second.  Commissioner Monaghan received an email back saying the Partnership would not do this again.  Commissioner Burke and Commissioner Monaghan both said they did not receive an email from Mr. Lowery.  Mr. Martin responded the email was only sent to him and Manager Coleman.  Commissioner Smith thanked Commissioner Monaghan for his response to the Partnership.  Commissioner Burke inquired on the status of the Orde’s situation.  Mr. Martin responded the contractor is to move the grease trap.  Commissioner Monaghan said the Partnership still held the meeting and Senator Drummond attended.  CPW was asked to attend the meeting.  Mr. Reeves said at the meeting everything is what they said it would be.  Orde’s had an issue with CPW over fire hydrants.  Mr. Martin informed the Commission of Metro’s issue.  It was Orde’s who encroached on the easement and Metro had shown them where the easement was in 2005.  Orde’s was to get back with Metro, but they never did.  The building encroaches on the easement by four feet and the grease trap by eight feet.  Orde’s could leave the grease trap and move the sewer line at their expense or they could reline the sewer line at their expense.  Metro said if they move the grease trap and give us four feet of easement on the other side of the building; Metro could live with that.  Metro did TV the line to make sure there was no damage to the line before the offer was made.  Manager Coleman also stated that in the agreement Orde’s would not blame any future building problems on the sewer line.  Commissioner Monaghan informed the Commission there would be another audit of the Partnership.

2. Grants

Mr. Gentry informed the Commission that on July 30, 2007 Senator Graham’s office in Columbia is doing a seminar on grants.  He along with Ken Barnett and George are to attend the seminar.  Commissioner Monaghan said Metro needs to start looking for the next block grant.  Mr. Martin responded that Metro is already working on it.  Commissioner Monaghan commented that the Commission appreciates Mr. Gentry’s efforts to obtain bonds. 

3. Commissioner Monaghan said that the Commission needs to have a regular election of officers every year.  Commissioner Burke inquired if there is any proper step of protocol that needs to be followed.  Commissioner Monaghan said the Commission has adopted a set of working rules and that was one item included in the working rules.  He has been asking for this to be added to the agenda and it has not been added.  Commissioner Monaghan believed it should be automatically added to the agenda at the end of the fiscal year.  Commissioner Burke inquired about what formed this commission.  Mr. Martin responded Act 441.  Commissioner Burke asked if it was addressed in Act 441 on how the election of officers is to take place.  Mr. Martin responded it says there will be officers elected.  The election of officers will be added to the meeting agenda for next month to take care of this year. 

Commissioner Monaghan made a motion that the manager place on the agenda at the end of the fiscal year an election of officers; Commissioner Watts seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.

VIII.   Commissioner Watts made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss a contractual matter and a personnel matter; Commissioner Monaghan seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved. 

9. The meeting returned to open session.  No action was taken during executive session.

X.           Commissioner Monaghan made a motion that the pay recommendation by Management be approved; Commissioner Burke seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved. 

11. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.