Greenwood CPW
http://www.greenwoodcpw.com/PublicInfoCustomer ServiceContact UsRatesJob OpeningsPay Your CPW Bill OnlineBoard Meeting MinutesCPW CommissionersActive BidsLinks

COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC WORKS
Minutes of November 12, 2009

A regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Public Works was held on Thursday, November 12, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., in the Boardroom at 121 West Court Avenue.

 Meeting attendees are listed in the Print Friendly PDF version above.

                                                                                                                  

  1. Chairman Hancock called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Ken Barnett.        
  1. Chairman Hancock gave the statement of compliance with the notification provision of the Freedom of Information Act. 

 

  1. Business:
    1. Mr. Mark Warner with the Greenwood County Economic Alliance reported on the following: a Workforce 2029 Summit held in late September where 35 business, education, and community leaders participated in a half-day summit to provide feedback on the next steps for workforce development in Greenwood County; a task force identified to begin moving forward with connecting the Uptown to the Self Regional Healthcare and Greenwood Genetic Center Campuses, with Steve Reeves, General Manager of CPW, Charlie Barrineau, City Manager, Vic Carpenter, County Manager, and Ruth LaForge with US CoG;  a recent trip to the SEUS Japan Conference and to Queensland, Australia with the Department of Commerce and elected state officials representing South Carolina; and a Branding Task Force with Arnett Muldrow who conducted a three-day workshop with focus groups from a cross section of the community.   

 

    1. Manager Reeves presented a recommendation from Sheree Brown with Utility Advisors’ Network to amend the wording in the Purchased Power Cost Adjustment Clause to reflect not only fuel charges and move toward a total energy adjustment clause since the new contract with Duke Energy.  He explained that it would now involve all energy costs so that as costs fluctuate, those can be passed along to customers. He defined energy costs as being everything in the cost of service from Duke Energy that encompasses energy, demand, and transmission charges, etc. Commissioner Monaghan inquired about a fuel adjustment clause or charge when the cost of coal of natural gas goes up. Manager Reeves noted that would be included. 

A motion was made by Commissioner Monaghan to approve the revision to the Purchased Power Cost Adjustment Clause; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Watts, and unanimously approved.

    1. Chairman Hancock presented a request to consider renewal of an agreement with Family Traditions to provide books to elementary schools entitled Eight Keys to a Better Me.  He noted that the cost remains the same at around $1,200 per year for the two-year agreement.

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Monaghan and seconded by Commissioner Watts. Chairman Hancock noted that the books are furnished to Springfield, Lakeview, Matthews, Oakland, Pinecrest, Woodfields, and Merrywood Elementary Schools. He pointed out that other elementary schools such as Ware Shoals, Hodges, and Ninety six are also on the system and suggested providing books there as well. Manager Reeves responded that they are providing them now to Greenwood School District 50 schools within the city. Commissioner Monaghan suggested looking at the total cost to include those other schools. Manager Reeves stated that he would talk with the representative, adding that someone else may be providing books to those schools. Commissioner Monaghan amended the motion to include Hodges, Ware Shoals, and Ninety Six Elementary Schools; Commissioner Watts seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.

    1. Chairman Hancock stated that pay raises were not provided to employees this year and presented a recommendation to consider service awards for employees. He noted that the same thing was being recommended for each employee this year as was done last year, along with $60 food certificates.

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Monaghan to provide service awards as recommended, and to purchase the food certificates from BiLo; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Watts, and unanimously approved.

    1. Manager Reeves informed the Commissioners of notification from the South Carolina Municipal Insurance Trust (SCMIT) who administers Workers’ Compensation coverage of a substantial increase in premiums for next year. He explained that the main reason goes back to 2006 that was not a good year because of quite a number of claims. He continued that the program is on a three-year rolling basis and 2006 claims should not impact the premium after this year. Manager Reeves referred to a spreadsheet provided by Ms. Ogletree showing that the increase can be offset by raising the deductible from the current level of $2,500 to a level of $15,000. Manager Reeves recommended increasing the deductible in order to offset the increase in premiums for this year, adding that it can always be changed back next year after the 2006 claims come out of the formula. He noted that much better years were experienced in 2007 and 2008. Commissioner Monaghan recalled a request some time ago that the Commissioners be notified of any lost time accidents; Manager Reeves responded that there had been no recent lost time accidents. Commissioner Monaghan asked how raising the deductible would help. Manager Reeves responded that it was simply a matter of the premiums going up based on the formula used by SCMIT to calculate premiums. They were trying to come up with a way to offset that premium increase and keep a level playing field for this year; that can be accomplished by increasing the deductible. Commissioner Monaghan noted only one and a half months remaining in 2009; Manager Reeves responded that this increase would be for 2010. Mr. Patrick noted that future claims are based on an estimate of claims based on past history. Commissioner Monaghan asked about revisiting for 2011; Ms. Ogletree noted that it is reviewed every year. 

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Monaghan to approve the increase in deductible for Workers’ Compensation as recommended; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Watts, and unanimously approved.

IV.       Other Business:
                          

  1. Manager Reeves requested a date to hold a budget work session. The Commissioners agreed on Wednesday, December 2, at 8:30 a.m., at the COC.     
  1. Commissioner Monaghan requested a ten-year plan for the IT Department. He noted that he was not comfortable with buying more computers without first seeing an overall plan. Mr. Auman responded that this was the exact recommendation made by the consultant group when they had evaluated the IT department earlier this year. He reminded the Commissioners that an annual replacement plan was put into place several years ago in order to replace the oldest computers before those failed. The recommendation to replace this particular group of PC’s also came from the consultant firm. Commissioner Monaghan clarified that he was not asking for anything elaborate, just a plan showing the number of PC’s, their ages, and a replacement timeframe. Commissioner Monaghan expressed the need to better understand the whole picture with a plan of where we are going, adding that he was not opposed to replacing PC’s. Mr. Auman responded that something would be put together.

 

  1. Commissioner Watts inquired about the status with H1N1 vaccines. Manager Reeves responded that Ms. Knott was at a conference today, but as of last week, they were told it would be here on this past Friday. He added that notification had not been received yet. Commissioner Monaghan stated that we should not wait for them since it appears they do not have our interest at heart; Manager Reeves noted that they did change the requirement for us. He stated that someone would check today. Commissioner Monaghan stated that someone should check daily until the vaccine becomes available.   
  1. Mr. Gentry reported on the next possible CDBG project identified by the water department to replace about 17,000 feet of water line all over the city. He added that it would affect over 300 customers.

 

  1. Commissioner Monaghan referred to monthly departmental reports and asked about maintenance of the rights-of-way. Mr. Meredith responded that Green Thumb does bush hogging on rights-of-way for the entire company. He added that Mr. Elliott had identified several other locations and had requested some additional clearing due to SCDOT stopping some maintenance. Commissioner Monaghan noted that Mr. Gentry had reported on working on a prospective customer list. Mr. Gentry responded that was a list taken from GIS of customers within a certain distance of our gas lines that do not currently have gas. Rather than to ride around to the various locations and waste a lot of time, they pull them up individually to identify whether it is commercial, residential, or just a vacant lot. Commissioner Monaghan noted that it sounded like a lot of work, but would be well worth the effort if it brings in more customers.  
  1. Commissioner Monaghan expressed appreciation for the audit reports and the amount of time that goes into preparing those reports. He requested that they minimize the use of acronyms to make them easier to understand.

 

  1. Commissioner Watts asked about the status of the propane plant property. Manager Reeves responded that it would be put up for sale eventually; they are still working on the railroad right-of-way.
  1. Commissioner Monaghan asked about the status of the airport industrial park; Manager Reeves responded that nothing had been heard in quite some time. The last heard was that Duke was supposed to respond with a pledge for funding to help with water and sewer infrastructure.

 

  1. Commissioner Watts inquired as to whether all payments had been made to Metro for the city pond property; Ms. Ogletree responded that it was paid.

           

  1.       Executive Session:

A motion was made by Commissioner Watts and seconded by Commissioner Monaghan to go into Executive Session to discuss a contractual matter pertaining to a customer; the motion was unanimously approved.

  1.       With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

           

 

                                                                                 

    Return To Top