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. Donna Holiday leaving Severn Trent.  Mr. Hanks expressed there was an association between CSID and Severn Trent versus CSID and Gary Moyer & Associates.  Mr. Kaas explained Ms. Holiday left because she was unhappy with her job and Ms. Archer moved to Tennessee.  Mr. Fennell explained there was a conflict of interest with Ms. Archer’s husband.  Mr. Kaas reported Ms. Archer had a non-complete clause in her contract and he spoke with her attorney regarding the issues of why she wanted to leave.  Her husband is in a business that is in competition with Severn Trent and there is no issue with Ms. Archer due to her contract being separate from her husband’s.

 

·                    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 considered.

            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