MINUTES OF
WORKSHOP MEETING
CORAL SPRINGS
IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICT
A workshop meeting of the Board of
Supervisors of the Coral Springs Improvement District was held on Thursday,
April 14, 2005 at 1:05 p.m. at the District Office, 10300 NW 11th
Manor, Coral Springs, Florida.
Present were
and constituting a quorum:
Robert Fennell President
Bill Eissler Vice
President
Glen Hanks Secretary
Also present
were:
George R.
Keller, Jr. Manager
Dennis Lyles Attorney
John McKune Engineer
Dan Daly Utility
Billing
Ed Goscicki Severn
Trent Services
Roy Kroker Seven
Trent Services
Roger Moore Severn
Trent Services
Jean Rugg Severn
Trent Services
Joni Hayworth District
Staff
Jan Zilmer District
Staff
Randy Frederick District
Staff
Doug Hyche District
Staff
Jim Aversa District
Staff
Herb Marlowe Facilitator
The
following is a summary of the discussions from the April 14, 2005 workshop
relating to Strategic
Planning for the District.
Mr. Fennell called the meeting to
order and Mr. Keller called the roll.
Mr. Fennell made opening statements
regarding some of the issues that have arisen, and the forum of the workshop to
give us the time to look at where we are at in the District, the changes that
have occurred, and where to go in the future.
Mr. Eissler brought up the fact the
District is embarking on a $17 million improvement/replacement program, and the
need to have the right management and engineering firm in place.
Mr. Marlowe presented a list of
agenda items from the discussions between himself and the Board members [copy
of which is attached hereto and made a part of the public record], and
requested the Board pick three items of priority. Goals of the meeting is to discuss these
priority items, get a sense of direction, and come up with an action plan for a
future decision.
Mr. Fennell picked define the
problem with morale, the organizational structure and organizational
practices.
Mr. Eissler picked #3, 4 & 6
[Organizational Structure Issues, Organizational Process Issues & Organizational
Practices to re-examine].
Mr. Hanks picked relationships and
role of management company, consulting engineer and payment for the expansion
program.
Factors
for Low Morale Issues:
·
Underlying problem and
fundamental issues need to be defined
·
Job responsibility confusion
and insecurity of employees
·
Roles of employees of CSID and
management [management style]
·
Policies and procedures
·
Number of changes in management
over the last five years
·
Perceptions of STS taking over
the operations
Mr. Zilmer brought forth the fact
that the employees present need to feel secure that they can discuss these
issues openly, without retribution.
Mr. Keller stated the reason for
this workshop is to get things out in the open, and for the suggestion to have
the workshop.
STS concern is to resolve the
confusion, have all individuals on the same playing field and working toward a
common set of goals.
Mr. Fennell stated caveats are you
cannot become personal, and we need to come up with suggestions for improvements.
Suggested
Improvements for Morale, Structural Organization and Procedures:
·
Factual information circulated
to avoid rumors
·
Acknowledge culture changes in
management and moving to a structured management
·
Renegotiate verbal agreements
and document the agreements
·
Clear goals as to who is
working for/ Reporting relationships
·
Incorporation of existing
employees into the new process
·
Corporate environment/ not an
entitlement program/ culture framework
·
Assurance policies and
practices are even-handily applied to all
·
Efficiency of the organization
as a whole [management/staff/operations]
·
Focus on management, financial
and the $17 million program and remove conflicting goals and quantify issues
·
Better communication among
staff and management
·
Encouragement by management and
staff of its employees
·
Prioritizing of issues
·
Possibility of hiring a senior
manager who is directly employed by the District and not STS
Mr. Hanks commented on the Board not
being up on the operational issues and looking to the management firms for
guidance. District has a fixed revenue
stream, looking to replace its facilities and we [both management and district]
need to figure out a way to handle this.
Mr. Eissler opined that the District
has to be run as a corporation; money is a critical issue to keep this
Districts operations going; the need to look to management for guidance;
employees need to know they are secure in their jobs, unless of course there is
wrong doing; the possibility of running the District by all CSID employees; and
evaluation of employees.
Mr. Fennell stated management and
employees dealing with issues that do not directly relate to CSID. People did not specifically work for CSID;
they worked for Gary Moyer, Rhonda Archer, and
Mr. Kroker stated there is a need
for some type of process to meld this into one culture, either by training
sessions or focus groups to come up with a common method to do things and view
the way they are doing things.
Mr. Marlowe stated there is a need
to create a CSID culture and build an organizational structure.
Alternatives
presented to build the organization structure:
·
CSID being an independent
organization
·
All STS and let them run the
organization
·
Status Quo
·
Shared responsibilities with
shared CSID and STS employees with clear delineation of roles
·
Additional contracted
functions, such as accounting, human resources, billing
·
Merging with other districts
·
Being bought out by the city
·
A single person being the
District manager directly reporting to the Board, and STS also reporting to the
District manager; i.e., certain clear functions with STS
The
record will reflect there was a 15 minute break.
Mr. Daly stated in fairness, many of
these problems were inherited by Mr. Keller and is not a reflection of Mr.
Keller.
Ms. Hayworth stated I see where the
different positions within our own organization need to be defined as to who
reports to whom. Originally it was Mr.
Zilmer, Mr. Daly, Ms. Walker and me. Now
STS has 192 districts. It went from mom
and pop to this major organization.
Mr. Marlowe asked each individual to
write down three goals they would like to see for this organization over the
next three years.
Identification
of Processes to be worked on:
·
Formal process of review of
management and consultants every two years
·
Written job descriptions and
yearly reviews; and open door policy
·
Manager of the District being a
CSID employee who reports to the Board
·
Services scope and provision
process
·
Incorporation of two sets of
policies into one; clear grievance policies
·
Meetings with management;
Performance feedback
·
Finalization of five-year
capital improvement plan
·
Define roles and
responsibilities
·
One corporate mentality
·
Through collective budget
development process
·
The breaking out of costs
between the districts because CSID was the first district and needs to ensure
they are getting reimbursed correctly; and CSID is getting a good deal
·
Define expectations in services
[management, operations, records, financial and fiscal]
·
Define functions and core
processes [financial, operations, business planning, records administration,
capital planning, engineering, personnel, legal, customer services, general
management]
Current
Function Oversight and by Whom:
·
Financial mgt split
[oversight by Board, audit, internal oversight]
·
Operations STS oversight;
CSID actual operations
·
Planning and development STS;
CH2MHill
·
Records administration STS
·
Engineering CH2MHill
·
Personnel CSID
·
Legal Dennis Lyles, Esq.
·
Customer services Shared
·
General mgt Media Contact
STS mgr.
Concerns were voiced relating to the
financial oversight, signatories on the accounts, closeness versus expertise of
accounting relationship between STS and the District, internal review of
invoices, shared employee functions, and the employee relationships with
multiple agencies.
Additional discussions related to
employees being CSID only with formal lease agreements for services, the hiring
of an on-site manager, the new accounting system being implemented by STS, the
benefit of contracted services, the salary structure and adjustments to
salaries due to what the marketplace will bear, the change in roles of the
District and its internal organization.
Goals
participants would like to see:
·
Management restructuring or
reorganization and succession
·
Finalize capital improvement
plan
·
Cost reduction with incentives
·
Create a mission statement
·
Establish checks and balances
for outsourced roles
·
Differences between STS and
CSID be ironed out
·
Update of computer system
·
Accountability in staffing
·
Analysis of rate structure
·
Analyzing the security system
·
Balancing of budgets and
resources with all districts
·
Uniform policy and procedures
Mr. Fennell suggested the need for
Mr. Adair to perform an analysis on an ad hoc basis due to his past experience
with the District and his profession as a CPA, and its possible co
At this time, groups were formed to
come up with a mission statement for the District.
Mr. Marlowe polled the Board and participates
on the issues discussed.
A brief discussion took place as to
the best way to proceed based on the findings and input brought forth.
The workshop was adjourned at 5:11
p.m.
Glen Hanks Robert
Fennell
Secretary President