AGENDA ITEMS 1) Call to Order by Mayor Bruce Hosier (Board Chair) at 3:00 PM

Transcription

1 MINUTES ENERGIZE- ECI REGIONAL PLANNING DISTRICT BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 3:00 P.M. COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER, 118 South Meridian Street, PORTLAND, IN AGENDA ITEMS 1) Call to Order by Mayor Bruce Hosier (Board Chair) at 3:00 PM 2) Roll Call by Sheila Cannon Blackford County (4 of 7 members present) Bob O Rourke Absent Rob Cleveland Present Bill Hess Present Missy Shrock Absent Tom Armstrong Present Mayor Whitesell Present Mayor McPherson Absent Delaware County (7 of 12 members present) Todd Donati Present Don Dunnuck Present Kevin Nemyer Present John Kelly Absent Kathie Onieal Absent Brad Razor Present Rick Glaub Present Michael Murphy Absent Joe Hardwick Present Randy Dunnuck Absent Gloria Wells Absent Tim D. Smith Present Grant County (6 of 10 members present) Mark Bardsley Present Tresa Baker Present Lisa Crandall Present Mayor Seybold Present Mayor Leach Present Roubert Couse Absent Melba Root Absent Brian Hall Absent Bruce Long Absent Tony Manry Present Jay County (3 of 7 members present) Milo Miller, Jr. Absent Gerald Kirby Absent Mayor Hosier Present Mayor Hunt Absent Jason Meinerding Absent Ralph Frazee Present Doug Stanley Present Governor s Appointee Not yet appointed Quorum 20 members present 19 needed for a quorum, so meeting had a quorum. Also in Attendance: Roy Budd E- ECI RPD Sheila Cannon E- ECI RPD Tom Farris E- ECI RPD Marlene Pulley E- ECI RPD Tracy Hartman - guest Bill Bradley - guest Lee Shirey EDA Page 1 of 5

2 3) Welcome / Introductions by Mayor Hosier and Roy Budd. Two New Board Members: Mayor Hosier introduced Brian Hall of Swayzee (Grant County) and Tim Smith of Selma (Delaware County). 4) Guest Speaker - Lee Shirey, Economic Development Administration / Department of Commerce. Lee is our EDA contact, and serves the states of Indiana and Ohio. He was introduced by Board Chairman Mayor Hosier. Shirey presented an overview of the EDA and upcoming plans. The EDA is known for public works and economic development projects, focusing on job creation and retention, with private sector investment required. Special consideration is given to affected communities, and to communities with job losses due to the automotive industry demise and foreign competition. The EDA also has a focus on green projects. Incubators are of interest to the EDA, as are University Centers. The EDA provides local technical assistance. 5) Approval of Minutes from April 27, 2010 Meeting and Approval of Minutes from Sept Meeting Todd Donati, Board Secretary, suggested that we review and move to accept both sets of minutes (4/27/10 and 9/28/10) as a unit. No discussion. Motion: by Brad Razor to approve April 27 and September 28 Board minutes Second: by Bill Hess 6) Executive Board Reports of Action Taken on Sept. 15 & Nov. 30, 2010 Copies of Reports presented to Board by Mark Bardsley and Sheila Cannon. No action required. 7) Formation/Operation of Regional Planning District - Roy Budd advised that the District Financial Officer received advice from legal counsel that the District should be operated as a separate entity, away from Energize- ECI, Inc. In recent weeks, steps to achieve this have been pursued, including establishing separate EIN, DUNS and CCR numbers, along with separate insurance and payroll functions. The District has been incorporated and is operating as a 509(a)1 non- profit entity. Roy Budd will continue to serve as Executive Director, and there will be no changes to the Board for the remainder of Discussion: Mark Bardsley indicated that the Executive Board recommended such action. Motion: Made by Brad Razor to ratify all prior actions taken to establish the District as a separate entity and continue with completion of the process. Second: by Mayor Seybold 8) Financials through Nov. 22, 2010 Roy Budd and Marlene Pulley reviewed the financials which were included in the Board packets. For information only no motion required. 9) Budget, Increased Expenses / Insurance presented by Roy Budd and Marlene Pulley. Roy reviewed the unplanned additional expenses incurred by separating the District from Energize- ECI, Inc. Money is available in the budget to cover the additional expenses. Mark Bardsley mentioned that the Executive Board recommended the approval of the budget. Mr. Budd discussed the need for Directors & Officers liability insurance coverage (D&O) for the District. Costs would be just under $2,000 for this. It was decided that the District not obtain Errors and Omissions insurance (E&O). Motion: Brad Razor moved that the budget be accepted with the increases and to assign authority to adjust budget items within the total to the Executive Director. Second: by Rick Glaub Page 2 of 5

3 10) Bylaws: Approval & Adoption Tom Farris reviewed the additions to the Bylaws to specify more defined attendance requirements Bylaws Section 4.07 Attendance Policies. The Section was written, following the September 28 Board meeting, at the request of Board Members concerned about not achieving quorum at prior meetings. Much discussion followed, focusing on the 100% attendance requirement wording and the limits on the use of proxies. The consensus was that the entities should have 100% participation, but that may be possible to achieve via electronic participation and/or proxies. Recommendation was to rewrite the policy to permit proxy voting. With advance announcement of 2011 meeting dates, entities will be able to determine the availability of their appointees to attend in 2011 and if they cannot attend at least 3 of the 4 scheduled regular Board meetings, another appointee should be selected. The Board emphasized the importance of having quorums at the meetings. Farris was asked to revisit wording of Section 4.07 based on discussions and present prior to next Board meeting. Motion: Todd Donati moved the acceptance and adoption of the Bylaws as presented without Section 4.07 (red copy), and to ratify all actions taken by the Board acting under the March 1, 2010 Bylaws. Second: by Brad Razor 11) Conflict of Interest Policy and Conflict of Interest Statement Roy Budd mentioned that, due to the organizational changes of the Regional Planning District, this Policy should be adopted and the Conflict of Interest Statement signed by all Board Members. Motion: by Brad Razor to accept the Conflict of Interest Policy and sign the Conflict of Interest Statement. Second: by Mark Bardsley 12) 2010 CEDS Update Status Report Tom Farris advised the 2010 CEDS Update has been completed and all Board Members have received a copy for review. It was revised to better fit the CEDS format requirements of the EDA. The Executive Board recommended approval of the 2010 CEDS Report / Plan update and submission to the EDA. Farris and Cannon also reviewed the top CEDS priority project from each county: Blackford Re- paving roads and streets serving local industries in Hartford City & Montpelier Delaware Roads and utility infrastructure expansions in Park One Business Park Grant County Town of Upland storm water project Jay County Develop rail spur for St. Gobain plant in Dunkirk Motion: Mark Bardsley made a motion to accept and approve the 2010 CEDS update and to submit to the EDA. Second: by Bill Hess 13) EDA Planning District Grant ($50K) Status & Updates 2010 & Tom Farris advised that the Regional Planning District has received $25,000 of our 2010 Planning Grant and will receive two more $12,500 installments one after the end of December and the final installment after the March 2011 filing. Farris advised that the Planning District is working with Lee Shirey regarding the submission and amount of the 2011 EDA Planning Grant. 14) Other Grants Update (OCRA; EPA; SRTS; Sign Replacement, etc.) Sheila Cannon provided a summary of active grants in the works. The $609,000 EPA Brownfields Coalition Assessment Grant was submitted Page 3 of 5

4 in October. The EPA will announce award recipients in April, with work to begin several months following. Cannon is working on a sewage plant grant and street sign update grant for Eaton, to meet the upcoming federal signage mandate. Work on the Safe Routes to Schools project/grant is underway for Blackford County. 15) 2011 Board Appointees - Sheila Cannon stated that a letter will be sent to all appointing entities to remind them that the 2010 terms end December 31 st, and entities need to appointment new members or reappoint and certify their current appointee. Entities will be advised regarding the importance of their appointee being able to attend Board meetings. The 2011 Board meeting calendar will be included so all entities may review the availability of their appointee to attend these dates. 16) 2011 Full Board Meetings Schedule Mayor Hosier announced the 2011 Board meeting dates: February 15 Tuesday 3 PM City Hall, 700 North Walnut Street, Harford City, IN May 17 Tuesday 3 PM Delaware County (location to be announced) August 16 Tuesday 3 PM Grant County (location to be announced) November 15 Tuesday 3 PM Jay County (location to be announced) Motion: by Mayor Seybold to accept the calendar as presented. Second: by Todd Donati 17) Executive Board Meetings Schedule - Mayor Hosier announced that Executive Board meetings will be held at 1:30 PM on the dates and prior to the full Board meetings at the same location. Mark Bardsley advised that this was the same recommendation of the Executive Board. Motion: Todd Donati made a motion to hold the Executive Board meetings at 1:30 on the dates of the full Board meetings. Second: by Ralph Frazee Old Business Roy Budd announced that: - Sheila Cannon completed the OCRA Grant Administrators Course, and is now an Accredited OCRA Grant Administrator. Tom Farris is also OCRA accredited. - Cannon will be attending the IEDC Economic Development 101 Course in January 18) New Business none was presented 19) Roundtable Discussion by Board Members - Roy Budd indicated that Rush, Fayette and Randolph Counties had presented an interest in joining the Energize- ECI Regional Planning District subject to Statue Statute and Regional Planning District Bylaws. Randolph would be eligible, as it is a contiguous county. However, Rush and Fayette could not join at the time due to their geographic location (not contiguous to the District). Roy stated, if interested, the District could perform services for a fee for non- member counties. Page 4 of 5

5 20) Adjournment With no further business before the Board, a motion to adjourn was made by Bill Hess. Second: by Mayor Whitesell Mayor Hosier adjourned the meeting at 4:25 PM Minutes prepared by Tom Farris Date Minutes Accepted and Approved: By: Todd Donati, Secretary Date 2011 SCHEDULE OF BOARD MEETINGS: 3:00 p.m. - 3rd Tuesday of Feb., May, Aug. & Nov. February 15, 2011 : City Hall, 700 North Walnut Street, Hartford City IN May 17, 2011 : Delaware County August 16, 2011 : Grant County November 15, 2011 : Jay County NOTE: Executive Board meetings scheduled for 1:30 p.m. just prior to full Board meetings. Page 5 of 5