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Commission Minutes
GREENWOOD METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
MINUTES OF THE
February 25, 2009
Regular meeting
The regular meeting of the
Greenwood Metropolitan District Commission was held
Wednesday, February 25, 2008 at 3:00 p.m., in the Training
Room of Greenwood Metropolitan District’s Technical Service
Facility, 110 Metro Drive, Greenwood, SC 29646.
In attendance:
Commissioner Bob Haynie,
Chairman
Richard Coleman Bill Moore
Commissioner Byron Smith,
Vice Chairman Doug Bell Jamie
Peeler
Commissioner Gene Hancock,
Secretary
Gayle Grogan Brian Waldrep
Commissioner Michael G.
Monaghan
Paige Holley Danny Ware
Commissioner Henry Watts
Marsha Meyer Mark Warner
Commissioner Tim Burke
I.
Chairman Haynie called the meeting to order and gave
the statement of compliance with the notification
provision of the Freedom of
Information Act.
II.
Manager Coleman gave the invocation.
III.
Wilson Creek Upgrade
Mr. Danny Ware of Davis and
Floyd, Inc (D&F) noted the monthly report was emailed to all
Commissioners. He distributed a change order summary
sheet. The UV system was placed into operation on Friday,
Feb 13th. The operators have not noticed any
problems with the UV system. The work on the main
electrical building and the generator facilities has been
completed. The concrete work on the BNR, grit removal and
clarifier #4 has been completed. The contractor is busy
installing equipment. They are preparing for start-up of
the influent pump station and grit removal. The target date
for the start-up is April 6th for the influent
pump station to receive flow. The overall project schedule
is showing the finish date to be in June, 2010. Mr. Ware
presented change order #16 for the Commission’s approval.
The change order is for additional electrical receptacles to
BNR, Grit and IPS for maintenance. Commissioner Burke asked
if the leaking at the influent pump station has stopped.
Mr. Ware replied the contractor believes the leak situation
is resolved. He said they have cut the water off and have
stopped the pumping of the ground water and are observing.
The contractor observed it for a week and during the walk
through inspection of the 72” line there was some moisture
on the top of the pipe and Krah was coming to repair it.
The new repair will be watched for a short period of time to
make sure it was stopped. The flange is going to be removed
once the leak is stopped. Mr. Peeler said as of today the
flange has not been removed.
Commissioner Monaghan made a
motion to approve change order #16 for $7,436.10; Commission
Hancock seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.
IV.
TSF Expansion
Mr. Bill Moore of D&F handed
out the progress report. There was a meeting yesterday with
the contractor to stress the lack of manpower and to see how
close everything is to being finished. Mr. Moore said if
everything was already finished it will still take three to
four days to clean up the area. The furniture is to be
delivered on March 18th. There are a lot of
little things that still need to be done. The doors are
being hung and the carpet is being laid. The contractor is
developing his punch list. Most of all the cabinets, chair
rails and kitchen equipment are in place. Mr. Martin said
regarding the exterior the EIFS system is completed. It
will be painted to blend. All of the spoiled areas of dirt
have been moved and site grading has started. The
contractor will sod the front and grass the other areas.
The contractor is replacing the sidewalk on the south end to
make sure everything looks uniformed. The schedule for the
following weeks is to do any touch up painting, install the
remaining light fixtures, testing and balancing the HVAC
system. Mr. Moore presented three change orders (#6, #7, &
#8) for the Commissioner’s approval. Change Order #6 is for
a ceiling mount HVAC unit. The plans had a wall mounted
unit. The cost for this change order is $5,031. The
ceiling mount unit is a one ton unit. The wall mounted unit
was to be a ¾ ton unit. Change order #7 is a credit of
$5,000 for the signage allowance. Mrs. Meyers has done most
of the work regarding the sign so it makes sense to take
that amount out of the contract. Change order #8 is for
installation of smoke detectors. The cost for that change
order is $535.35. The smoke detector was shown on the
drawings that Metro was dealing with Blue Ridge Security as
far as the fire alarm system is concerned. When the work
was divided between the contractor and Blue Ridge this was
one piece of equipment that was left out. The total for all
change orders (#1 - #8) is $30,977.15. Commissioner
Monaghan wanted to know why the small conference room needs
a separate HVAC unit. Mr. Moore said staff was afraid that
is the room was full it would be very stuffy in there.
Commissioner Monaghan asked if the unit for the entire
building would not be big enough to handle the conference
room. Mr. Moore said staff was afraid the room would be too
hot or too cold depending on the register from the central
system and wanted something inside the room that they could
use to adjust. Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know how big
the conference room is going to be. Mrs. Meyer replied it
is designed to sit eight people. Mr. Moore said the unit is
on order. Mrs. Meyer said there has always been a unit in
the plans from day one. Commissioner Monaghan asked if the
wall unit is one that will stick outside a window.
Commissioner Burke said it is like the units in hotel
rooms. Chairman Haynie said the net is $566.35.
Commissioner Burke said it is not because the $5,000 signage
credit will still be spent.
Commissioner Monaghan made a
motion to approve the change orders (#6 - #8) as submitted;
Commissioner Hancock seconded, and the motion was
unanimously approved.
V.
Commissioner Watts made a motion to approve the
January 28th meeting minutes; Commissioner Smith
seconded,
and the motion was
unanimously approved.
VI.
Financial Reports
Manager Coleman said on the
January income statement the operating revenue is
approximately $400,000 below budget and the operating
expenses is approximately $400,000 below budget. He said
under the interest income account is $525,000 above budget.
Attachment A in the financial report is the total of
interest dividends and investment gain/loss of
$1,090,872.19. About $400,000 of that money is from the
bond deposits. The bond money is depleting. Manager
Coleman said the reason Metro is currently over budget is
primarily from the interest income account. Commissioner
Monaghan said most of the interest Metro receives is from
bond revenue that is in the Reserve Account. Manager
Coleman said the summary is a total of everything.
Commissioner Monaghan said he understands that. He said
Metro takes the money from the bonds which is put in the
restricted reserves and a lot of the bond money goes into
the investment account and then Metro makes interest off the
money. Manager Coleman said that is correct. Chairman
Haynie said the interest money will decrease as the bond
money is spent. Manager Coleman said the bond money was not
budgeted for during the budget process therefore it looks
like Metro is way over budget in the interest income
account. He said as Metro spends the money in the bond fund
the interest income amount will decrease and once the bond
funds are spent there will not be any interest income from
the bond. Commissioner Monaghan said he did not understand
the note on the bottom of the attachment A. Manager Coleman
said the 2006 Revenue Bond was closed out by June, 2008.
Commissioner Monaghan said the 2006 Revenue Bond has an
ending balance of $13,105,000. Manager Coleman said that is
the amount of money that is owed on the bond. Manager
Coleman said he expects the sewer service revenue number to
be a larger negative number by the end of the fiscal year.
He expects the operating expenses to be a smaller negative
number by the end of the fiscal year. Commissioner Monaghan
asked for more explanation. Manager Coleman said Metro will
still be under budget but by a smaller amount than the
current amount. He said the combination of those two items
will be offset by the $525,000 (interest income).
Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know why Manager Coleman
thinks the revenue will be less than what it currently is.
Manager Coleman explained that at the end of January, 2008
Metro was $330,000 under budget and ended the year $606,000
under budget. He said at the end of January, 2009; Metro is
$424,776 under budget and he has projected that out to be by
the end of the year $778,000. Commissioner Monaghan said
currently the operating revenue is 4.2% higher than last
year. Manager Coleman reminded the Commission that Metro
had a 9% rate increase. Commissioner Monaghan said the net
income is $58,547 better than budget. He said if you
include the $525,000 from the interest income it looks like
Metro is in good financial shape. Manager Coleman said he
does not think these numbers will hold up through the end of
the year and certainly not next year. Commissioner Monaghan
wanted to know what empirical evidence Manager Coleman has.
Manager Coleman replied if Metro is about 7% under budget on
collections so far this year and Metro already knows of one
industry to close and that represents about 5% of the total
revenue and is not expected to recover by the end of the
year. Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know what drove the
budget number. He said it could be that the budget numbers
were not right. Manager Coleman explained how he and Mrs.
Grogan came up with the budget numbers. Commissioner
Hancock said he thought Solutia added some employees back to
the south plant. Mr. Warner said Solutia did add some
employees to the south plant, but the north plant is still
closed. Commissioner Hancock said the flow in the south
plant should increase with the additional employees back.
Manager Coleman said in general the collections are slower
than in the past. He said as far as expenses, Metro will
have more expenses in the last six months than the first six
months of the year. Chairman Haynie reminded the
Commissioners the rate increase was effective January 1,
2009. He said January is under the first six month average
by $51,000 with a rate increase. Commissioner Hancock said
Metro would not collect January until February.
Commissioner Monaghan said Metro should compare January,
2009 to January, 2008. Commissioner Burke said the budget
was based on last year’s flow. Commissioner Watts asked if
Manager Coleman is saying the billable flow has decreased
over the last few years. Manager Coleman said the billable
flow has declined. Manager Coleman has been working with
the rate consultant (Mr. Daryl Parker) especially over the
last few weeks. They are going back to analysis the
billable flow and looking to see if CPW’s water billable
flow is going down about the same percentage as Metro’s.
Chairman Haynie suggested any opportunity they have to
tighten up they should. Manager Coleman said the big
expenses like the debt are fixed amount. Commissioner Burke
asked if the operating expense for benefits is from a
billing cycle and Metro has not saved $87,750 in medical
expenses. Manager Coleman replied it’s just due to the
billing cycle. Manager Coleman reported the money that
Metro budgeted for GASB 45 requirement has not been
accounted for. Commissioner Burke said Metro does not know
the answer for that yet. Manager Coleman said that is being
worked on. Commissioner Hancock said the GASB 45
requirement has been delayed. Chairman Haynie said he
thought Metro had budgeted $200,000. Manager Coleman said
the money is in the budget, but it has not been expensed.
Commissioner Monaghan said he does not understand why Metro
did that. Commissioner Burke responded because at the time
Metro was working on the budget they were told that they had
to account for GASB 45. Manager Coleman said that Metro has
not been able to confirm that it has been delayed.
Commissioner Monaghan suggested for Metro to check with Mrs.
Denise Ogletree at CPW to make sure. Mrs. Grogan said that
she spoke to Mrs. Ogletree yesterday and she was going to
see if it has been delayed. Commissioner Monaghan wanted to
know if Metro has a plan to transfer the money from the 1082
account to the reserve account. Manager Coleman said Metro
will transfer $2.7 million from the 1082 account on February
27th. Commissioner Monaghan would like for the
Commissioners to look at lowering the minimum balance for
the 1082 account. Chairman Haynie said if the Commissioners
made the policy they can change the policy. Manager Coleman
said there is not a statutory requirement. Commissioner
Hancock said the Commission can change the policy and tell
staff to lower the balance. Commissioner Burke said he does
not know the legal ramifications of the way this account was
set-up in Metro’s rules and regulations. He asked if there
would need to be some sort of public notification.
Commissioner Monaghan said he has never seen anything in
writing that says the minimum balance in the 1082 account
has to be $500,000. Chairman Haynie asked if that minimum
balance for the 1082 account is a written policy. Manager
Coleman said the policy was adopted in 2003. Commissioner
Monaghan asked if there is a policy book. Manager Coleman
said the policy was included in the cost recovery policy
that was adopted in 2003. Commissioner Burke wanted to know
what the procedure is to change the minimum balance in the
1082 account. Commissioner Monaghan said he has asked for
Metro’s attorney to look at this. Mr. Bell replied that he
does not know if Mr. Hemphill has looked at this, but he
(Mr. Bell) thinks it would just be a matter of adopting a
resolution. Chairman Haynie said this should be an agenda
item. He directed staff to add this to the agenda for the
meeting on March 11th. Commissioner Monaghan
asked if Metro is close to any arbitrage deadlines. Manager
Coleman replied none that he is aware of. He said there is
no arbitrage on the 1082 account; it is only on borrowed
money. Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know the dollar
value for the points on the credit card statements.
Commissioner Burke said most credit card points are worth
$.10 per point. Commissioner Monaghan asked for Metro to
turn in the credit card points for money. Commissioner
Monaghan wanted to know where is the money from CPW for the
City Pond Project. Mrs. Grogan said the money was received
in February and will be in the reserve funds. Commissioner
Monaghan wanted to know if the money will show up on the O&M
income statement. Manager Coleman said the money was spent
out of reserves for that project. Commissioner Monaghan
said Metro has not spent the money yet. Manager Coleman
said Metro has spent twice as much as what CPW was invoiced
for. Metro invoiced CPW for 50% of the cost for the first
six months. Commissioner Smith wanted to know if there are
many accounts that are past seven years for the statue for
bad debt. Manager Coleman said this is CPW’s policy to go
to the bad debt collection agency. Metro received a list
from CPW. Commissioner Hancock said the debt is written off
the books, but it is still there. He said if the customer
was to come back and apply for service, they would need to
pay the bad debt. Commissioner Monaghan said there are two
ways CPW is trying to collect bad debt; the first is through
the state income tax rebate and the other is through a
collection agency.
VII.
Action Items
a.
Vehicles Bids
Chairman Haynie asked if
Mrs. Meyer was able to get any feedback on why Metro
received such few bids. Mrs. Meyer said she made some
random calls the next day. Vehicles have always been a hard
item to bid. Mrs. Meyer pointed out to the Commissioners
that for the utility tractor Metro received nine different
bids. Some of the response Mrs. Meyer received from the
phones calls range from lack of care to the sale
representative not doing their job. Commissioner Monaghan
said CPW just requested bids and they received 5 or 6 bids
for vehicles. Commissioner Burke asked if the state
contractor does not have an obligation to submit a bid.
Chairman Haynie said when he was employed with the County
and they purchased from the state contract price the County
would waive all of their bidding requirements because the
bidding was already done. Mrs. Meyer noted the state
contract price for the cab and chassis was $42,400 and the
low bid Metro received was $38,451. The state contract is
not always the lowest bid. Commissioner Monaghan said he
asked for the service reports for both vehicles. He said he
has a problem with some of the justification in stating the
vehicle/equipment is not safe for what it is being used
for. Mr. Peeler said the current truck for the biosolids
was purchased prior to spreading the biosolids. The truck
for the biosolids was looked at more for the safety factor.
The old biosolids truck will be used by the operations
supervisor who currently does not have a Metro vehicle.
Metro will be keeping the truck so the Wilson Creek
operations supervisor can use it. Mrs. Meyer noted the
truck Mr. Peeler is talking about is the cab and chassis
truck and the compact pick-up truck is for the Engineering
Department. Commissioner Monaghan asked if the compact
pick-up is a replacement vehicle. Mrs. Meyer responded
yes. She said in the maintenance records Metro has already
spent over $3,000 during March 2007 – November 2007.
Commissioner Monaghan made a
motion to award the Compact Pick-up Truck bid to Ballentine
Ford in the amount of $15,835; Commissioner Hancock
seconded, and the motion was approved. Chairman Haynie
abstained for voting due to his close relationship with the
owners of Ballentine Ford.
Commissioner Hancock made a
motion to award the Cab and Chassis Truck bid to Ballentine
Ford in the amount of $38,451; Commissioner Burke seconded,
and the motion was approved. Chairman Haynie abstained for
voting due to his close relationship with the owners of
Ballentine Ford.
b.
Utility Tractor with Front Loader
Chairman Haynie noted Metro
did receive numerous bids for this item including some
alternative bids. Mrs. Meyer said staff did review all
bids. Commissioner Watts wanted to know what brand of
tractor Greenwood Equipment bid. Mrs. Meyer said the brand
they bid was Kubota. Commissioner Monaghan asked for a
maintenance report for the utility tractor. Mrs. Meyer
responded Metro does not have one for the tractor. Mr.
Peeler said in January he inherited this part of Metro. He
was asked to review the vehicle and tractor acquisition.
Some items that were added in the management letter were
issues that Mr. Peeler raised after January. The current
tractor is not heavy enough and is just worn out.
Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know what would happen to
the old tractor. Mrs. Meyer said it will be auctioned.
Commissioner Watts stated Metro need to buy equipment that
is heavy enough and safe.
Commissioner Hancock made a
motion to award the utility tractor with front loader to
Greenwood Equipment and Repair in the amount of $42,871;
Commissioner Smith seconded, and the motion was unanimously
approved.
c.
Consideration of legal ownership transfer of Gatewood
sewer system
Chairman Haynie said he
would like to hear back from the attorney before action is
taken. Commissioner Monaghan said the fact that Metro did
something pre 2000 (testing, video, etc.) does not mean that
Metro cannot now. Manager Coleman said Gatewood did not
connect to the Metro system until 2002. Chairman Haynie
said Metro has a specific agreement detailing what Gatewood
will provide Metro. Manager Coleman said the agreement
addressed the trunk line but not the collection system. He
wants the staff to have the agreement worked out with Town
and County before it is brought to the Commissioners for
their consideration. Commissioner Burke would like for the
lengths of line segments to be included in the list of
right-of-way encroachments, the proximity to the resident
and staff concerns.
VIII.
Miscellaneous Administrative Matters
a.
Report from Partnership
Mr. Warner provided the
Commission with an update on the City Pond Project. A
meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday (March 4th)
with Duke Energy and CPW. Duke has agreed to nominate that
piece of land for their site assessment program. Mr. Warner
said the project activity has picked up but no new
announcements are expected anytime soon. Mr. Warner
reminded the Commissioners of a meeting tomorrow morning
February 26th at the Federal Building. The
meeting will be regarding the upstate reality check exercise
in Greenville. This is similar to the envision Greenwood
exercise the planning department did.
IX.
Old/Other Business
a.
Lander University
Commissioner Burke asked for
an update on the Lander University/Centennial Hall Project.
Mr. Moore replied that he and Mr. Marion Boone have met and
verified all quantities. He said everything is
satisfactory. The waive agreement has been signed by Lander
to satisfy Metro’s requirements. Mr. Moore sent a letter to
Mr. Martin stating he recommends for Metro to pay Lander for
the project. Mrs. Grogan said the check has already been
mailed to Lander. The one year warranty starts from the
date of the check.
b.
Silo
Commissioner Monaghan wanted
to know the status of removing the silo that is currently on
the farm. Mr. Peeler said he will be talking to contractors
in the next few weeks about removing it.
c.
Commissioner Monaghan invited all Commissioners and
Managers to a meeting Friday, February 27th at
8:15 am with the legislation delegation at the Federal
Center.
d.
Emergency numbers
Commissioner Monaghan asked
if staff has reviewed the emergency number system. Mrs.
Meyer said staff will discuss this at the next staff meeting
on March 3rd. Commissioner Monaghan would like
to add voice mail to the emergency phones. Chairman Haynie
said he understood that the phones kept rolling over until
someone answered the call.
e.
Lobbyist Information
Commissioner Monaghan said
he sent information concerning a Washington lobbyist to
Manager Coleman, Mr. Martin and Chairman Haynie. He wanted
to know if they had reviewed the information. Manager
Coleman said he has looked at it. Commissioner Monaghan
asked if they had any recommendations. Chairman Haynie said
he does not have any recommendations. Manager Coleman said
he thought the consensus of the Commission was not to act on
it. Commissioner Monaghan said that was under different
conditions. Chairman Haynie asked for Commissioner Monaghan
to send the information to all Commissioners.
f.
Stimulus money
Commissioner Monaghan wanted
to know if Metro has any plans to obtain some of the
stimulus money. Manager Coleman said Metro has submitted
$12.1 million worth of projects to the State Revolving Loan
Fund. He said since the last commission meeting he found
out the State is getting slightly over $40 million. From
everything Manager Coleman can tell most likely the pay back
will be 50% of the principle. Mr. Williamson has gone back
to the State Revolving Fund with extra information to try
and get the points increased on the projects Metro
submitted. Commissioner Monaghan asked if that was the only
avenue. Manager Coleman said Metro has some CDBG projects
and there is more money come into that. Commissioner
Monaghan wonders if Metro should look at developing an
overall plan to obtain money. He said Metro should be
constantly looking for grant money. Manager Coleman said
Metro does have a plan in the Long Range Financial Plan.
Commissioner Monaghan would like to have a separate plan for
grants. Commissioner Burke listed all potential grant
projects that Metro has currently planned. Manager Coleman
said Metro cannot have more than two CDBG at one time.
g.
Commissioner Monaghan asked that emails be sent to
all Commissioners pertaining to job vacancies, hiring of new
employees, conferences that the Commissioners might want to
attend, etc. so they are constantly aware of what is going
on. Manager Coleman informed the Commissioners of the South
Carolina Environmental Conference to be held in Myrtle Beach
on March 21st – March 25th.
h.
Krah Line
Commissioner Monaghan asked
about the walk through on the 72” line. Manager Coleman
said a punch list is being developed.
i.
Commissioner Monaghan asked if there has been any
more development on the LMI customers who refused to pay
their CPW bill and were disconnected from the sewer. Mrs.
Holley said all four customers are still disconnected.
Commissioner Hancock said there is nothing that DHEC can do
about it either.
j.
Commissioner Hancock gave all Commissioners
information he found from Western Carolina regarding fees
associated with disconnecting the sewer.
X.
Commissioner Smith made a motion to go into Executive
Session to discuss a personnel matter;
Commissioner Hancock
seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.
XI.
The meeting returned to open session. No action was
taken following the executive session.
XII.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
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