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Commission Minutes
GREENWOOD METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
MINUTES OF THE
January 23, 2008
Regular meeting
The regular meeting of the
Greenwood Metropolitan District Commission was held
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 3:00 p.m., in the Training
Room of Greenwood Metropolitan District Technical Service
Facility, 110 Metro Drive.
In attendance:
Commissioner Bob Haynie,
Chairman Richard Coleman Paige
Holley
Commissioner Byron Smith,
Vice Chairman George Martin Bill
Moore
Commissioner Gene Hancock,
Secretary Marion Boone Michael Nix
Commissioner Michael G.
Monaghan
Richard Gentry Jay Reynolds
Commissioner Henry
Watts Gayle Grogan
Danny Ware
Commissioner Tim Burke
Roy Hemphill
I.
Chairman Haynie called the meeting to order and Mr.
Martin gave the invocation.
II.
Chairman Haynie gave the statement of compliance with
the notification provision of the Freedom
of Information Act.
III.
Report on Wilson Creek Plant Upgrade
Mr. Ware reported there are
cracks in the cement of the RAS/WAS pump station building.
The concrete specialist has been out to look at the
situation to help determine the cause. The report said it
appears to be shrinkage. Mr. Ware said they have been
monitoring it to make sure it is not getting worse. Davis
and Floyd will have a meeting with the Phase 1A contractor
and reach a resolution to resolve this problem.
Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know if the cracks are under
the pumps. Mr. Ware replied the cracks are in the floor
slabs. Commissioner Watts inquired if these were small
cracks. Mr. Ware said they are small, but since the
building is in a high ground water situation area some water
did seep through the cracks. There are no structural issues
associated with the cracks. Commissioner Monaghan inquired
on what caused the problem. Mr. Ware responded there are a
number of things that could have caused it. It could be
something with the concrete, or the curing of the concrete.
Mr. Ware said normally an issue like this would have showed
up before now. The slabs were poured in a checked-board
style at various times to allow shrinkage to occur before
hand. Commissioner Watts wanted to know how thick the slabs
were. Mr. Ware replied they are 8” thick, 4000 PSI.
Commissioner Watts wanted to know if there is a way to
repair it without tearing up the concrete. Mr. Ware said
they are going to meet with the contractor to discuss this,
but right now they are considering pressure injections of
some type of epoxy along with an epoxy covering to
completely cover the cracks. Mr. Ware noted there will be a
new contractor coming to that pump station soon to place and
install equipment. Mr. Ware said all of the contracts for
Phase 1B have been executed. The pre-construction
conference will be Thursday, January 24th at 2:00
pm at Technical Service Facility (TSF). Whaton-Smith has
mobilized some equipment to the site. A pre-construction
meeting with DHEC was held the first week of January. A
submittal schedule, schedule for construction, etc. will be
received at the pre-construction meeting. Mr. Ware inquired
if the third Thursday of the month at 8:30 am will work for
monthly progress meetings. The meeting will be at Wilson
Creek.
IV.
Commissioner Hancock made a motion to approve the
November 28, 2007 minutes as mailed;
Commissioner Burke seconded,
and the motion was unanimously approved.
V.
Financial Report
a.
Mr. Michael Nix of Greenwood Capital gave a report on
the District’s portfolio. The 1081 account represents the
Reserve Account. Mr. Nix pointed out that the first page
shows which bonds have matured or called during the fiscal
year. Page 2 of the report provides details of the
portfolio to date. Currently Metro has a mixture of
treasure and agency securities in the account. There is
roughly 2 – 2.5% in cash/money market. Page four is the
performance report on the account as of December 31, 2007.
Mr. Nix said for the first six months the account is up
4.28%. For calendar year 2007 the account was up 6.62%.
The actual yield on the portfolio is around 4.85%. The
difference between the 6.62% and 4.85% is the appreciation
of the bonds. Mr. Nix directed the Commission to the next
account which is the 1082 (Capacity) Account. On page five
it shows the bonds have matured or came due during the
period. Page six and seven have the holdings that are
currently in the account. Page eight has the performance
report for the Capacity Account. The performance in the
calendar year is 6.5% and the first six months of the fiscal
year was 4.06%. The yield on the account is 4.85%. The
Revenue Bond Proceeds Account information starts on page
nine. Metro has a fair amount of cash in anticipation of
some draw downs. Mr. Nix said the assets in this account
have been held longer than anticipated which is good because
Metro is generating excess cash flow on returns of those
assets. The account is up a little more than 5% on a
calendar year and it is up about 2.5% year-to-date. Mr. Nix
said this is a good environment if Metro is running bond
proceed assets where draw downs are scheduled. It is a good
time to have an actively managed account versus a money
market account. Mr. Nix showed the Board a chart with the
yield curve on June 30, 2007 and Metro had an inverted yield
curve that became flat. Since that period yields have came
down, Mr. Nix said they are going to continue to look at
agency bonds versus treasury. Commissioner Monaghan asked
if he was talking about the 2008 Revenue Bond and what it
would consist of. Mr. Nix said they will need to look at
the draw schedule and try to maximize the yield.
Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know the sell date for the
2008 Revenue Bond. Manager Coleman replied the money would
be here on Thursday, January 24, 2008. Mr. Nix said the
municipal yields have been fairly stable; they have not seen
the decline like treasury. He said it is a difficult
environment right now and it will continue to be.
Commissioner Burke asked if the speculation on government
bailouts is realistic. Mr. Nix said there are programs in
place where the government provides lending to individual at
a 1% rate. The government would take the loan and sell it
to investors by making up the difference on the rate. Mr.
Nix said for the new account they will match the draw down
schedule with available funds; just like what they did for
the last bond. Manager Coleman said the draw schedule is
equal payments, but Metro already knows it will not be like
that. Mr. Ware said they have asked the contractor to bring
an anticipated draw schedule to the pre-construction meeting
tomorrow.
b.
Manager Coleman said Metro is still running about the
same amount short as previous months. Chairman Haynie said
the February financials should have the information on the
rate increase. Manager Coleman said Metro bills the rate
increase in January, CPW collects the money in February and
Metro receives the money from CPW in March. Commissioner
Monaghan stated if the Board was to look at net operating
income; it exceeds the last fiscal year and it is only
within $145,552 of meeting the targeted budget. He said if
it were not for County Council removing the tax income,
Metro would be exceeding the budget. Commissioner Monaghan
noted as the report explanation sheet points out for the
month of December, Metro had an extra pay period and an
increase in medical insurance. He said if Metro was to add
back depreciation, the net revenue would be $1,849,000.
Commissioner Monaghan wondered if the rate increase was too
high. He noted Metro will have higher debt from the 2008
Revenue Bond, but Metro should also have higher net revenues
from the interest. Commissioner Burke wanted to know if the
bond rate has already been set and if the interest rate
would be substantially lower. Manger Coleman replied it was
about a tenth of a percentage lower than what was projected
in the forecast. Commissioner Burke said the interest
income is going to be lower. Manager Coleman said where
Metro has been balanced on interest income and interest
expense, the additional debt will offset the balance. Metro
should have more interest expense than interest income.
Commissioner Monaghan said Metro deposited $31 million
dollars. Manager Coleman noted the contract is $33
million. He said Metro is counting on earning interest from
the money to make up the difference in the contract amount.
Commissioner Watts noted Metro will not be earning as much
because the interest rate is lower. Commissioner Monaghan
said Metro should receive $1 million from taxes. Manager
Coleman replied that money can only go to debt retirement of
GO Bonds. Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know if the
budgeted number included the income from County taxes that
Metro will receive in June. Manager Coleman said the
property tax income is shown on the other revenue line. He
said the money Metro receives from property taxes goes
toward the GO Bond debt retirement. Commissioner Monaghan
inquired about the audit entry on page 12. Mrs. Grogan
responded she has asked the auditors and the response she
received was it was May and June taxes that were not
reported on the monthly reports from the County to Metro.
Chairman Haynie asked if it is an accrual number. Mrs.
Grogan replied, yes it is. Commissioner Monaghan asked
where the tax income money comes from if the County is not
collecting taxes. Mrs. Grogan said she has asked Ken Spate,
but she has not received an answer as to why the number was
so large. Commissioner Monaghan asked how much of the
$879,988 exceeds what Metro needs for debt payments. He
wanted to know if Metro has a scheduled pay off against the
$879,988 and how much will be left. Mrs. Grogan said at the
bottom of page 12 it lists the due dates for the principal
and interest payments for the GO Bonds. Commissioner
Monaghan asked how much of the $879,988 would be left after
the principal and interest payments. Mrs. Grogan said she
will need to look at the bonds to see, and she will provide
Commissioner Monaghan with the information. Chairman Haynie
said Metro knows they are already accumulating money. He
said the conclusion the Board reached was not to do anything
with the money. Chairman Haynie suggested for Metro to
determine the 8% debt limit and max the millage amount.
Commissioner Monaghan asked if Metro has a plan in place for
that. Chairman Haynie responded Metro has not done the next
GO Bond yet, but they are already accumulating the millage.
Commissioner Monaghan said the County will cut the tax
money. Chairman Haynie said that Metro needs to anticipate
their debt limit and plan to borrow that money. Manager
Coleman said he looked at it with the theory of Metro
reaching the 8% limit, borrow that amount of money and pay
down the principal amount each year. He said Metro could
fund about a $1 million project about every other year.
Manager Coleman said the asset value is down from previous
years. Commissioner Monaghan asked if that was due to some
plant closings. Manager Coleman said yes some if it is due
to the closings. Manager Coleman said it is not something
that Metro can count on to have the same amount every year.
Chairman Haynie said Metro does not borrow it every year.
Manager Coleman said in the past, Metro will wait until they
have reached 98% of the amount (in order to keep a
cushion). Chairman Haynie said the down size is Metro has
to pay the issuance cost. Manager Coleman said Metro would
only want to do that about every other year. Commissioner
Monaghan asked what would cause the County to readjust the
tax millage. Manager Coleman said in the past Metro
provides them with the current debt amount and the projected
debt amount for the upcoming year. Chairman Haynie wanted
to know when was the last long-term GO Bond issued. Mrs.
Grogan replied in 2004. Chairman Haynie wanted to know what
was the rate for the 2004 GO Bond. Manager Coleman is to
provide him with the rate. Manager Coleman said the Long
Range Plan shows Metro issuing a GO Bond every two years.
He said in general the GO Bond money is used for trunkline
items not normal operation and maintenance items.
Commissioner Hancock suggested for Metro to watch the amount
of money in the County’s tax account. Commissioner Monaghan
asked if Metro has maxed out their eligibility for State
Revolving Loans. Manager Coleman said the interest rate for
that loan is set annually. He believes it was 3.5% last
year. Chairman Haynie asked how the borrowing limit was
determined. Manager Coleman replied he did not know the
specifics. Commissioner Monaghan suggested for Metro to
look at obtaining some State Revolving Loans. Chairman
Haynie noted the conveyor belt was replaced at the Biosolids
Facility. He inquired if this was unusual. Manager Coleman
said he did not think so. He said the conveyor is used
every day. Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know where the
money from the timber sales at Wilson Creek was recorded.
Mrs. Grogan said it is in other income.
VI.
Action Items
a.
Consideration of CASS View Implementation Service
Chairman Haynie referred the
Board to a letter submitted by RJN for their cost of the
CASS View Implementation Service.
Commissioner Monaghan made a
motion to approve the expenditure for CASS View
Implementation Service for $11,400; Commissioner Hancock
seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.
VII.
Miscellaneous Administration Matter
a.
Partnership / Economic Alliance
Chairman Haynie said there
are some announcements coming, but he could not provide
specifics.
b.
Grants
Mr. Gentry requested
permission to apply for competitive grants on the behalf of
Metro. He said it is for the Panola Mill Area. The
estimated cost for the project is $1.4 million. Metro is
applying for $750,000.
Commissioner Monaghan made a
motion to allow Mr. Richard Gentry to apply for competitive
grants on behalf of Metro; Commissioner Hancock seconded,
and the motion was unanimously approved.
VIII.
Old Business
a.
Expansion to Technical Service Facility
Commissioner Hancock
inquired if Mr. Ware had any information on the expansion.
Mr. Ware said that Mr. Bill Moore is on his way and would be
able to answer questions. Mr. Moore stated the plans for
the expansion have been submitted to DHEC. He will be
taking plans and specifications to the County’s Engineering
Department in the morning for their review. Currently
everything is running a month behind. Commissioner Hancock
inquired if there are plans to catch up. Mr. Moore said the
provisional schedule was to be finished by December, 2008.
Right now the current plan is about 30 days behind. Mr.
Moore said they would like to receive the permits from DHEC
and the County before advertising for bids. Mr. Martin
informed Mr. Moore that the permit for land disturbance had
been received.
b.
City Pond
Commissioner Watts asked for
an update on the City Pond Project. Mr. Martin said Mr.
Swofford is working on obtaining the rights-of-way
documents.
c.
East Cambridge
Commissioner Hancock
commented the contractor must have run into something on
East Cambridge. He noted that they had the road blocked.
Mr. Martin said the contractor had run into a water line.
Chairman Haynie noted this was discussed at the last
meeting. Mr. Boone said all of the service lines are in
worse shape than expected. The contractor had to do more
digging than anticipated. Commissioner Monaghan inquired if
Metro might know why Mr. Marvin Boatwright wanted to talk to
him. Manager Coleman responded he knew Mr. Boatwright came
to the office asking for Metro to pay a bill for repairs to
his service line. Mr. Boatwright was told that Metro would
not pay for the repairs. Mr. Boatwright said that he was
going to talk to the Commissioners. Mr. Boone wanted to
know what was the address for Mr. Boatwright. He said he
had not heard anything regarding property owned by Mr.
Boatwright. Mr. Boone said if it was a problem with the
East Cambridge Avenue Project he should have been made aware
of it. Mr. Boone explained a water line problem was found
on East Cambridge but he did not know who owned the
property. Commissioner Watts asked if the water line issue
that was presented at the last meeting was resolved. Mr.
Boone replied the line is being laid today. CPW is
furnishing the pipe. Commissioner Watts asked who is laying
the water line. Commissioner Hancock replied Chandler
Construction is laying the water line. Commissioner Watts
said that he understood that CPW was laying the pipe. Mr.
Boone said Metro is paying Chandler $3,000 to lay the pipe.
Commissioner Watts asked if there are any other water line
issues. Mr. Boone said there are other conflicts, but they
are trying to work through them.
d.
Krah
Commissioner Monaghan asked
for an update on the pipe from Krah. Mr. Martin replied
Metro has sent the final comments to Design South. Metro is
waiting on Design South to correct the drawings.
Commissioner Monaghan asked for an estimated time frame for
when Krah will start manufacturing the pipe. Mr. Martin
said he thinks Design South will be finished in 3 weeks.
Metro is working on the contract documents.
e.
Physical Inventory
Commissioner Monaghan
inquired if Metro had plans for scheduling a full physical
inventory. Mr. Martin responded Metro is working on the
policy. He said copies of the policy have been distributed
to the appropriate personnel. Mrs. Grogan said that she had
not received a copy of the policy. Mr. Martin said that he
had written his part of the policy. Mrs. Meyer is changing
some of the forms. Mr. Martin said he was under the
impression that it was given to Mrs. Grogan. Commissioner
Monaghan asked if there will be a certain date to take the
physical inventory. Mr. Martin replied, yes that is in the
policy. Commissioner Monaghan inquired if Metro has the
procedures in place for when a vehicle is sold. Mrs. Grogan
replied that has never been a problem. Commissioner
Monaghan asked about all other equipment. Mr. Martin said
to his knowledge Metro has never sold any equipment. Mrs.
Grogan said Metro has sold a copier and a camera. Mr.
Martin said the Board approved Metro selling the camera.
Mrs. Grogan said those two items did come off depreciation.
Commissioner Monaghan noted that Commissioner Burke brought
it to the Board’s attention that sometimes developers add
assets and Metro had no way of accounting for the added
value. Mrs. Grogan asked if Commissioner Monaghan was
referring to donations. Commissioner Monaghan replied yes.
Mrs. Grogan said donations are normally given to her. She
said that information normally comes from Mr. Martin. Mrs.
Grogan emails Mr. Martin on a quarterly basis to see if
there are any assets to be added or removed. Commissioner
Monaghan suggested for Metro to have a list of items that
have not been added so they could follow up on them. Mrs.
Grogan said they already have a list. Mr. Martin said the
new capacity fee letter gives a list of everything that
Metro will need before the Letter of Acceptance is written.
Commissioner Monaghan asked if this will all be included in
the policy. Mr. Martin responded, yes it will.
Commissioner Burke said the deeding procedure is on the
physical pump station only; everything else is in
acceptance. Mr. Martin said Metro accepts the collection
systems. Commissioner Burke said the acceptance of the
collection system is also making sure the asset is properly
accounted for in the accumulation of assets within Metro.
Mr. Martin said the letter includes the actual number of
feet and the price.
f.
Eagles Harbor
Chairman Haynie asked if any
new information had been received regarding the contribution
toward the Eagles Harbor sewer system. Manager Coleman said
he had not heard anything new since the last meeting. Metro
is not going to accept the money, but there may be a photo
made of a check presentation. Commissioner Burke asked if
it would be a picture of the delegation giving the money to
Metro. He asked if it was in the best interest for Metro to
accept the money for an area that is not within their
service district. Manager Coleman said the money that is
being given is not for customers in Metro’s current
district. Currently Eagles Harbor is in the process of
receiving the ballot back from the residents to see if they
are interested in annexing into Metro’s District.
Commissioner Monaghan said the money will not pay for the
cost of the entire project. Commissioner Burke said it is
only one third of the money needed. Commissioner Monaghan
suggested having the delegation present the money to the
County.
IX.
Commissioner Hancock made a motion to go into
Executive Session to receive legal advice;
Commissioner Smith seconded,
and the motion was unanimously approved.
X.
The meeting returned to open session. No action was
taken during executive session.
XI.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
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