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,
August 9, 2005 at 4:03 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:
Ed
Goscicki Severn
Trent Services
Dana
Kaas Severn
Trent Services
Jean
Rugg Severn
Trent Services
Dennis
Lyles Attorney
The
following is a summary of the discussions from the August 9, 2005 workshop relating to management services.
Mr. Fennell called the meeting to
order and Mr. Goscicki called the roll.
Mr. Eissler inquired about the
procedures for audience input and Mr. Lyles outlined the procedures. Mr. Eissler also addressed the following
items:
·
Identified
what CSID needs from a management company.
Mr. Hanks suggested identifying functions CSID needs to provide to the
citizens.
·
Suggested
obtaining bids from Severn Trent and Wrathell & Associates.
·
Suggested
hiring a district manager employed by Severn Trent and a district engineer to
work solely for CSID.
·
Identified
CSID pays $100,000 for employees to come and go as they please and $428,000 in
salaries for three employees.
·
Identified
an altercation between two employees, resulting in one employee quitting and
the other employee being suspended for three days.
·
Reported
Mr. Doug Hyche supposedly received a raise in salary from $75,000 a year to
$92,000 a year. Mr. Goscicki explained
when he spoke to Mr. Hyche, he expressed an interest in the position. The position is currently advertised.
·
Reported
the Accounts Payable employee cleans the building. Mr. Goscicki explained the Accounts Payable Clerk
cleans for NSID and the Billing Manager cleans the CSID facility.
·
Reported
$223,000 is paid to Severn Trent. One
Supervisor makes $75,000 to supervise four people and reads his newspaper most
of the day. Mr. Goscicki explained it is
clearly understood by Severn Trent there is a significant opportunity for
savings. Mr. Fennell expressed if an
employee was receiving a salary of $120,000 (paid by three entities), he should
be a director or Vice President.
·
Reported
Ms. Joni Hayworth was an employee of Severn Trent, CSID and NSID and received
overtime.
·
Reported
$473,000 was paid to Severn Trent for computer time charges yet the District
does not own the computer or license ownership of the software. For this same amount, new computers could be
purchased. Mr. Fennell felt only $20,000
a year was being spent for computer time.
Mr. Goscicki explained CSID is only paying Severn Trent $200,000 a year
in total.
·
Reported
Mr. Moore was paid over and above what was budgeted. Mr. Goscicki explained Mr. Moore is an
employee of Severn Trent. Mr. Eissler
opined CSID is billed for Mr. Moore’s salary along with NSID.
·
Reported
the health insurance for the employees was almost cancelled because Accounts
Payable did not pay the bill. Home Depot
cancelled the District account 12 times in the past 14 months due to unpaid
bills. A $6,800 golf cart was purchased
without going out for bid. By state law,
anything over $4,000 has to be bid. Mr.
Lyles reported it was not a matter of State Law but a law of the Special Act. Mr. Goscicki reported the mistake was caught
after the golf cart arrived. Mr. Lyles
explained Mr. Keller brought the mistake to his attention but other purchases
Mr. Moore authorized were discussed regarding cancellation and going out for
bid.
·
Expressed
due to invoices for approval not being paid on time, CSID needs a full time
general manager and not an engineer to run day-to-day operations.
·
Reported
many people were leaving Severn Trent and were unhappy. Mr. Goscicki explained some employees were in
fear of their continued employment due to managers in the marketplace earning
$120,000 a year while employees were making $60,000. Furthermore, Severn Trent has no control over
the employees because they are not Severn Trent employees and are being employed
by multiple districts.
Mr. Hanks addressed the following
items:
·
Reported
he met with staff and identified issues with personnel and management.
·
Reported
at the end of July during the altercation, 71 invoices were waiting to be
processed when one employee went on vacation and subsequently was suspended for
three days. Mr. Kaas reported Mr. Hans
and Mr. Keller had no knowledge of operating a municipal and water and
wastewater treatment system while Severn Trent has experience with other
municipal clients. Mr. Goscicki has
experience exclusively in the water and wastewater field. Issues regarding how employees are supervised
will be improved. Mr. Eissler suggested
contracting out some items and threatening employees for altercations. Mr. Goscicki pointed out no employees have
ever been threatened by him or any other managers from Severn Trent and said to
Mr. Zilmer:
“I supervise you and you report to me and
if I give you direction as the manager, I expect you to carry it out. If you refuse to carry out my directions, we
are going to take further action. If you
do it again, I am going to recommend your termination. Until the Board changes this contract saying
I no longer have this responsibility, I am going to take the responsibility the
Board gave me and exercise this responsibility on your behalf”.
·
Expressed
concern with the life span of the pumps with replacing motors after seven
years. Mr. Hanks reported in his
research he discovered with the proper maintenance these pumps should last 50 years
and there was an issue with whether Severn Trent was doing what needed to be
done.
Mr. Fennell addressed the following
items:
·
Reported
he received complaint letters regarding Ms. Rhonda Archer and Ms.
·
Reported
some of the CSID employees used to work for Severn Trent for a period of time
and were not familiar with the organization they work for. Employees discovered they could make more
money working for three different districts.
Mr. Kaas reported Severn Trent performed a salary survey for operating
services. Mr. Goscicki explained the
average raise for Supervisors is 5% to 6% per year based on performance with no
salary caps.
·
Identified a moral issue with employees going
back and forth and affecting the morale of the current full-time
employees. Mr. Goscicki reported he met
with the managers and stressed the need to be competitive and recommended a 20%
potential savings in salaries but not a reduction in staff or cutting salaries,
which the Managers were receptive to as they wanted to be part of the
solution. Mr. Fennell expressed concern
about employee reassurance. Mr. Goscicki
explained the employees were reassured with his honesty but there was an
efficiency issue.
Mr. Fennell identified the following
options for the management structure:
·
Retain
current structure and retain Severn Trent.
·
Bring
management in-house.
·
Combination
of above.
Issues:
·
Management problems.
·
Severe morale problem with employees being
terminated through Severn
Trent and
managers leaving every six months.
·
Sharing of employees.
·
Services needed from Severn Trent.
·
Managers not being trained for their positions.
·
Handling of accounting system, oversight of
employees and accountability.
Solutions:
·
Hiring manager to report directly to the Board.
·
Severn
Trent providing
the people needed to accomplish the job and give full attention to district.
·
Clearly establish Severn Trent responsibilities and demonstrate what CSID is
paying and receiving value for.
·
Purchasing the computer instead of leasing from Severn Trent.
Mr. Eissler expressed the need for a
CSID district manager and engineer to oversee a $17,000,000 project. Mr. Hanks expressed the need for someone who
has contacts at DEP, the city engineer and SFWMD and make the hard
decisions. Mr. Goscicki reported he
spoke individually with the Board members and the Board did not want to reduce
salaries or staff.
Mr. Fennell stated he requested a
report from Severn Trent one
year ago, which reflected the company, stopped growing and recommended review
of costs and savings in a logical fashion and felt we had to spend money to get
money. He requested Severn Trent give
a report to the Board. The solutions
posed to the Board was to look at the operations and trade off on water
quality. Mr. Goscicki explained the end
of the report discussed the personnel issues.
Mr. Fennel opined one year ago there were no personnel issues and suggested
elimination and consolidation of jobs as employees retired. The issue with discipline came about last
December when employees were upset due to Ms. Holiday and Ms. Archer leaving. He suggested having an open door policy and
requested a copy of the current policy from Mr. Goscicki.
Mr. Goscicki expressed the Board’s
need for having a manager sensitive to the needs of the Board who clearly
understood managing government entities, i.e. financial, legal and public
responsibilities; day-to-day operations with a strong background in utilities;
safety and environmental compliance programs; regulatory issues associated with
water, wastewater and stormwater management; laboratory monitoring issues and
provide oversight to engineer for capital improvement.
Mr. Fennell suggested the engineer,
manager and a secondary engineer provide oversight to the capital improvement
program. Mr. Hanks suggested oversight
by the engineer designing improvement for review, monitoring of construction
and acceptance of improvement. Mr.
Goscicki reported there is a current check and balance system with the
engineer. Mr. Eissler opined in his
experience engineers made terrible general managers. Mr. Fennell expressed the opinion the Severn
Trent managers were covering too many Districts and not handling enough
authority and CSID did not get its money’s worth. Mr. Kaas explained in the case of CSID, the
manager has the responsibility for not only providing management services but
was also responsible for the operation of the utility. Mr. Fennell reported he wanted a manager to
review the budget and come up with ideas on reducing costs.
Mr. Kaas reported Severn Trent was
performing safety audit to identify risks within the facility; performing
fiscal audits on monies spent; bringing in a Tech Services Group to review
environmental compliance relating to the plant and state regulations and
initiating proper procedures for HR issues.
It was concluded the altercation was the fault of both parties but Mr.
Zilmer was asked to obtain statements of witness to determine what actions
needed to be taken for those individuals.
Mr. Goscicki reported Mr. Zilmer recused himself from the process due to
being too close to the situation and the HR manager recommended both employees
receive a three day suspension. He
further reported Severn Trent instituted processes and procedures with checks
within the procedures for work completion.
Current
Breakdown of Services:
·
$25,000 for General Fund accounting and finance.
·
$25,000 for Enterprise Fund accounting and
finance.
·
$220,000 for EDP.
·
$4,800 for rental of building.
·
$25,600 for project management of Enterprise
Fund
·
$20,000 for computer services
Mr. Eissler reported five trucks
were leased but did not go through a bid process. Mr. Lyles explained he reviewed the special
act and determined bidding was not required.
Solutions
for accounting issues:
·
Taking accounting functions outside.
·
Bringing it in-house.
·
Changing personnel.
Mr. Goscicki recommended having the
manager responsible for all accounting functions and providing more
accountability. Mr. Hanks opined it
would cost $140,000 to $150,000 to purchase a new AS400 computer and
software. Mr. Fennell expressed he wanted
a relationship between the accounting firm and a local bookkeeper.
Mr. Kaas will provide salary
information to the Board for regional and general managers in the local area as
well as a copy of the trade book for the Water Partnership Counsel of public
and private partnerships.
Goals
participants would like to see:
·
Open door policy.
·
Working relationship with Severn Trent to bring
in employees.
·
Training existing accountants or replacing them.
·
Understanding of Severn Trent Services.
Mr. Hanks inquired about the
replacement for Mr. Moore and Mr. Keller’s positions. Mr. Goscicki reported advertisements were
placed but there needs to be an understanding of whether the Board will hire an
individual or Severn Trent will. Mr.
Fennell requested a guarantee for a percentage of time spent at CSID as a hands
on, full time manager. Mr. Hanks
expressed concern over Mr. Moore’s resignation at the June meeting and no
effort being made to fill his position.
Mr. Goscicki reassured Mr. Hanks he was actively recruiting but not
ready to make a final offer until there was further input from the Board.
Possible
candidates:
·
Two candidates recommended by Severn Trent.
·
Thomas Good with the City of Miramar.
·
Tim Walsh, Civil Engineer with the City of Fort
Lauderdale.
Mr. Fennell stated to hire an
experienced engineer, both positions will need to be combined or shared with
NSID. Furthermore the talent and
affordability should be co
Mr. Kaas suggested hiring through a
Public Private Partnership.
Benefits
to contracting out operations versus in-house:
·
If a golf cart is needed, the contractor will be
responsible for the lease and the bidding requirements do not apply.
·
Employee does not report to the district and if
there is a compliance problem, the contractor is liable, not the district.
·
Will bring in technical resources.
·
District will not be involved in day-to-day
operations or make difficult decisions.
·
District is in control of management of full
time staff.
Mr. Goscicki reported on Severn
Trent’s expertise in utility operations and willingness to bring expertise to
the operation at no cost.
Benefits
to employees working for Severn Trent:
·
Employee has opportunity to grow salary wise and
within the company.
·
Rewards program where employee receives a bonus
plus raise in salary upon obtaining level of certification.
·
Large company benefit package.
·
Employees working for Severn Trent districts but
not employed by Severn Trent receive a comparable benefit package to those of
Severn Trent employees.
Mr. Fennell inquired whether Board
members could apply for district positions.
Mr. Lyles replied the Code of Ethics for Public Officials prohibits
Board members from being hired and receiving compensation from the government
entity they serve as a supervisor. A
Board member would have to resign from the Board.
Mr. Hanks inquired about the proper
procedures for hiring a manager and/or engineer. Mr. Lyles explained to hire a manager, a
notice would need to be placed in a trade journal describing the scope,
responsibilities and salary/benefit range.
Once the proposals are received, a short list would be compiled of three
to seven candidates for the Board’s interview.
In order to hire an engineering firm, the District would go through a
Consultants Competitive Negotiation Act process where a notice would be placed
in the newspaper, proposals would be received and the top three firms would be
ranked on the basis of experience and qualifications, without regards to price
and a contract would be negotiated with the top ranked firm. The same process as hiring the manager would
be followed for hiring an engineer not associated with a firm.
Mr. Goscicki stated one of our
districts, Sun-N-Lake decided to hire a full time manager and Severn Trent is
serving as assistant manager providing management services 20% of the time
performing accounting and utility billing, overseeing the operation of public
works and capital improvement program.
Additional discussions related to
grandfathered in employees, management responsibility, scope of current
management agreement, adjusting salaries of current employees, process for
replacing Board members, options for hiring a full time versus part time
manager and responsibilities of Gee & Jenson.
Board
recommendations:
·
Explore hiring own manager and engineer based on
affordability.
·
Explore the feasibility of entering into a joint
agreement with NSID to hire the manager and engineer. Mr. Lyles suggested putting an item on the
agenda for next NSID meeting for discussion.
Mr. Goscicki recommended approaching the matter with NSID in November
due to bond issues they are currently undertaking.
·
Explore District Counsel’s recommendation to
direct Severn Trent who is under contract to bring manager/engineer candidates
before the Board as part of the management contract.
·
Develop management structure.
·
Direct Severn Trent to develop screening process
through search company.
·
Explore changing Board structure.
·
Explore the feasibility of hiring Jan Zilmer,
Dan Daly and Susan Walker to work solely for CSID.
Mr. Goscicki offered to provide
resumes to the Board on acceptable candidates and recommendations.
Mr. Fennell will contact Mr. Thomas
Good and invite him to the next meeting.
The workshop was adjourned at 7:19
p.m.
Glen Hanks Robert
Fennell
Secretary President