Executive Committee Meeting Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Transcription

1 Executive Committee Meeting Wednesday, November 28, 2012 Members Staff James Thomas Cameron County Eric Bridges William Bogart Cameron County Susan Snelick John Shimko Clearfield County Cheryl DePanfilis Daniel Freeburg Elk County Julie Kasmierski June Sorg Elk County Amy Kessler Sam MacDonald Elk County Christine Perneski James McIntyre Jefferson County James Chorney Joseph DeMott McKean County James Swanson Patricia Brennen Mary Lou Jessop Guests Joseph Bell JoAnn Seltzer Ridgway Record/Kane Republican Courier Express Eric stated that Doug Morley was unable to be at the meeting due to conflicting meetings and that Jim Thomas would be conducting the meeting. Vice-Chairman Thomas called the meeting to order at 9: 30 AM with the pledge to the flag. QUORUM/INTRODUCTIONS There was a quorum for the meeting. It was noted that Jim McIntyre was in attendance serving as proxy for Jeff Pisarcik. MINUTES With no corrections, additions or amendments to the October 24 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, John Shimko moved to approve the minutes as presented, seconded by Sam MacDonald. Motion unanimously passed. OLD BUSINESS

2 There was no Old Business to be discussed. NEW BUSINESS Financial Reports The Financial Reports for the month of October were presented. With no other questions, Dan Freeburg moved to accept the Financial Reports as presented, seconded by Joe DeMott. Motion unanimously passed. Purchases There were no Purchases for the month. Resolutions Resolution # authorizing the Executive Director of North Central to sign all routine contracts, continuations and amendments on behalf of the Commission was presented. We have been using an authorization from 1982 and recently a situation arose and we figured it was time to update the authorization. John Shimko moved to approve Resolution , seconded by Sam MacDonald. Motion unanimously passed. Resolution reads as follows: WHEREAS, the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission can enter into contracts with the Commonwealth of PA, Federal Government and other agencies, entities as required, and WHEREAS, the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission does this on a regular basis, and WHEREAS, all such contracts are authorized and executed by the Board, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, this Commission hereby authorizes the Executive Director to sign all routine contracts, continuations and amendments on its behalf. APPROVED AND ADOPTED BY: The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission on this the 28 th day of November, June H. Sorg Douglas C. Morley Secretary-Treasurer Board Chairman 2

3 A95s A was reviewed. Bill Bogart acknowledged receipt of the A95 as presented, seconded by John Shimko. Recommendation to complete review process was unanimously passed. Correspondence There was no Correspondence for the month. LOANS Alternative Fuel Solutions of Pennsylvania LLC, Mahaffey, Clearfield County, has requested a loan in the amount of $77,000 from the Small Business First Fund for 10 years at the rate of 2.75%. This money is for building acquisition. North Central s collateral will be second mortgage on real estate, second lien on business assets and the personal guarantee of the owner. Three new jobs will be created. The projected annual average hourly rate will be $12.00/hour plus 30% benefits. John Shimko moved to approve the loan to Alternative Fuel Solutions of Pennsylvania LLC, seconded by Jim McIntyre. Motion unanimously passed. Luigi s Pizza LLC, Punxsutawney, Jefferson County, has requested a loan in the amount of $75,000 from the First Industries Fund Tourism for 10 years at the rate of 2.75%. This money is for building construction and purchase of equipment. North Central s collateral will be first mortgage on real estate, first lien on business assets and the personal guarantee of the owner. Three new jobs will be created. The projected annual average hourly rate will be $8.00/hour plus 25% benefits. Jim McIntyre moved to approve the loan to Luigi s Pizza LLC, seconded by Joe DeMott. Motion unanimously passed. DISCUSSION Executive Director s Remarks Eric reported that several of the Commissioners recently attended the CCAP Meeting and asked them to give a brief accounting of that meeting. Several of the sessions they attended were on 911, Veterans Affairs, Bridge Repairs, Natural Gas Fleet Program and Marcellus Shale. June Sorg stated that there are over 300,000 abandoned shallow wells in the state and DEP is trying to locate all of these. So far they know of 200,000 wells. And with the Marcellus Well drilling going on, they are trying to find these wells so big wells aren t drilled close to an abandoned one and cause seepage and other dangers. 3

4 Governor Corbett spoke at one of the sessions and talked about controlling taxes, he state pension problem which is about a $41 billion unfunded liability, as well as the privatization of liquor stores. Amy reported that U.S. Congressman Bill Shuster is a leading candidate to be named as the Chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. If named, he would be the highest ranking PA Representative in Congress. With regard to the Fiscal Cliff, Eric reported that there is starting to be a little movement by Congress. Hopefully a compromise will be reached by December 31, There is very little we can do but wait to see what happens. Partnership with PA on Broadband Jim Swanson gave a brief update on the last mile link we are providing for people. We currently have a pilot project in place with Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) located in Warren. In the last two weeks we have received five more requests for similar projects. With this partnership, the State can fulfill their stimulus grant report, in which they needed last mile customers. Jim will keep the committee updated as more requests are received. Eric stated that perhaps at some point it might be of interest to bring some of these people, as well as people from the state, in to talk about this. Miscellaneous Eric stated that Katie Krise started in the Accounting Department on November 27 and will be a valuable asset to that Department. Jim Chorney reported that he has received a copy of the draft audit and they are in the process of checking it now and then will be getting back to the auditors and the Audit/Finance Committee. Cheryl stated that the RFP on our 403 Pension Plan went out. She has been contacted by four companies and has ed the RFP to them. The date for submission is December 14. A copy of the RFP was sent to the Audit/Finance Committee for their feedback as well. When RFPs are received a meeting of the Audit/Finance Committee will convene to work on the review and selection process. The conclusion of that process will coincide with the beginning of a similar process for our comprehensive audit as we are in the final year in our agreement with ParenteBeard, so we will need to work with the Audit/Finance Committee and ultimately the Executive Committee on starting that process. FISCAL Local Revenue/Local Match Discussion Eric and Amy presented a Power Point and explained how North Central distributes the local matching dollars provided by the six counties in our region. The current per capita rate of $.14 per capita hasn t been adjusted for more than 20 years. 4

5 Right now, the only source of non-federal/non-state cash that we have available to match programs or use for discretionary purposes is the $31,469 we receive via our county per capita contributions. Current allocation of these per capita dollars is as follows: $15,107 to the RPO $14,500 to our State Association $1,862 to agency-wide incidentals (fees, etc.) Come July 1, 2013, the $31,469 we receive will be insufficient to meet anticipated need. Local cash match obligations linked to the RPO are expected to increase from $15,107 currently to $45,000 on July 1, 2013 and up to $56,000 on July 1, Our (NCP) annual dues to our state Association is expected to decrease from $14,500 to $10,000 by January 1, Total projected local, cash needed $67,500. Based on current formula, total local cash shortfall come July 1, 2013 is $36,031. Several Scenarios were presented and discussed as possible ways to secure additional dollars. Scenario 1: Based on increasing the per capita formula to $.25. This would provide an extra $24,726 and allow us to match anticipated RPO funding for the foreseeable future. This scenario would not provide any resources for our State Association and any other unanticipated needs. Scenario 2: Based on increasing the per capita formula to $.30. This would provide an extra $35,965 and enable us to match anticipated RPO funding for the foreseeable future. This scenario would also provide some room to address any unanticipated needs, as well as support for our State Association at a reduced amount. The next two scenarios presented were put together showing what would happen if we did nothing and funding levels stayed as they are. Scenario 3: If we were to stay as we are right now matching with local funds to the RPO at $15,000 we re expected to receive $319,321 of federal resources to plan which would be a reduction of $163,000 in federal funds that we would receive if we stayed at that match and state funds would be about $11,000. The region would lose approximately $175,000 of federal and state resources to do transportation activities for the six-county region. Scenario 4: Again if we were to do nothing but utilize 100% of the existing match, the current $31,469 amount, this would take us back to the levels and we would lose about $50,000 of federal and state resources. This would allow us to continue to do some transportation activities but not all. Joe DeMott asked if Act 13, the Marcellus Impact Fee Funds, could be used for this. 5

6 Amy stated she will reach out to PennDOT to see if this is an eligible expense under Act 13 and get back to the committee. At the conclusion of today s discussion, a non-binding straw poll of members signaled a go-ahead for us to proceed with a scenario(s) that would allow us to meet our projected $67,500 local cash obligation in its entirety. No decision was made regarding the best methodology to get there (appropriately so at this juncture), there was consensus that the $67,500 target was the one to shoot for. There were a couple of things we were asked to follow up on relative to distribution of Act 13 dollars which Amy and Eric are looking into and they will let everyone know what they find out. The next Executive Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 19, 2012, in the Conference Room. ADJOURN With no additional items to be discussed, John Shimko moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Sam MacDonald. Motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 11:00 AM. Respectfully submitted, June H. Sorg Secretary/Treasurer 6