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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 09-27-2010 GREEN CDFI: SOLAR & ENERGY LOAN FUND OF ST. LUCIE COUNTY, INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Minutes of Meeting September 27, 2010 Convened: 1:35 P.M. Adjourned: 3:40 P.M. The meeting of the Green CDFI: Solar & Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie Co., Inc., Board of Directors meeting was held on Monday, September 27, 2010 in Conference Room 3 of the St. Lucie County Administration Building Annex, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, Florida. Board Members Present: President Chris Dzadovsky, Commissioner District 1 Aileen Pruitt, PNC Bank Larry Pelton, Economic Development Director Kyle Abney, USGBC & Abney Green Solutions Tom Cooper, AIA Treasure Coast Al Roberts, Indian River State College Bob Ludlum, Aqua Dimensions and TCBA Julian Nazario, Program Director for the Green Collar Task Force Board Member(s) Absent: No members were absent Other Sub-Committee Members, Staff and Guests that were present: Commissioner Doug Coward, District Two Faye Outlaw, St. Lucie County Administrator Lee Ann Lowery, St. Lucie County Assistant County Administrator Charline Burgess, Ex. Aide to Commissioner Coward Terri Palumbo, Ex. Aide to Commissioner Dzadovsky Glenn Henderson, St. Lucie County Grants Camille Yates, St. Lucie County Grants Laura Hetherington, IBM SE FCU (via teleconference) John Wakefield, Eco2Asset Solutions (via teleconference) Randi Whiddon, Eco2Asset Solutions (via teleconference) Lia Gaines, Center for Enterprise Opportunity (via teleconference) Katherine McKenzie-Smith, Assistant St. Lucie County Attorney Dan Kurek, Consultant for St. Lucie County Frank Slifka, Climatic Solar Roy Swenson, Solar Energy Solutions Larry Jennings, Solar Energy Systems Marty Laven, Energy Structures & Systems Green CDFI: Solar & Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County Board of Directors Meeting September 27, 2010 Page 1 Gary Olson, Smart Power Tech Craig Olson, Smart Power Tech Dan Haywood, Fla. Power & Light Co. Bob Lacerda, Fla. Power & Light Co. John Daly, Innovative Energy Products James Pruitt, J. Pruitt Construction Amber Franklin, Solar Energy Systems Roz Gatewood, Seed Development Julia Carter, ZipToGreen Justin Hoysradt, Abundant energy Reed Wilson, Fla. SE/Green Team Ryan Coughlin, TD Bank Kevin Cooper, Indian River State College David V., Indian River State College Duncan Moran, Smart Power Tech ITEM 1 ~ CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 1:35 p.m. by President Dzadovsky. ITEM 2 ~ ROLL CALL: Charline Burgess called the roll, all eight members were present. ITEM 3 ~ SELF INTRODUCTIONS: President Dzadovsky and those in attendance gave self-introductions. It was also noted that Ms. Laura Hetherington, Ms. Randi Whiddon and Mr. John Wakefield were joining the meeting via teleconference. ITEM 4 ~ APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 10, 2010 MINUTES: A motion was made by Mr. Cooper and seconded by Mr. Abney to approve the September 10, 2010 minutes. The motion was approved by voice vote. ITEM 5 ~UPDATE FROM THE ENERGY EFFIECIENCY SUB-COMMITTEE – (DAN KUREK) Mr. Kurek restated the report he put together for the Energy Efficiency Sub-Committee. (Please double-click on icon to open attachment.) He said that they were going to contact someone from Tallahassee to join in the next Energy Efficiency Sub-Committee meeting. Solar and Energy Loan Fund Energy Assessment1 - 9-27-10.pdf Green CDFI: Solar & Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County Board of Directors Meeting September 27, 2010 Page 2 Commissioner Coward said we need to determine the type of assessments and minimum standards and balance between those two. President Dzadovsky said that as we work with these steps, we will need Commissioner Coward’s knowledge. ITEM 6 ~ : UPDATE ON GRANTS (GLENN HENDERSON) Mr. Henderson provided the board with a memo outlining the EECBG grant requirements. (Please double-click on icon to access the memo as summarized by Mr. Henderson.) EECBG Grant Reporting Requirements.pdf Mr. Henderson provided information on the $500,000.00 grant that the county was to hear about today. He said those funds can be used for energy audits and weatherization. There is another CDFI grant available that we can apply for in November, but we need to consider the complications of the grant and possibly ask Marsha Krassner (President of MDK Consulting Group in San Antonio, Texas) to help write the grant. President Dzadovsky asked for a motion to hire Ms. Krassner. Ms. Aileen Pruitt asked whether or not we should go out for an RFP. Mr. Henderson said that we have already subcontracted with Ms. Krassner on creating this CDFI, so we know her level of expertise. After input from Ms. Outlaw about her conversations with Ms. Krassner, she said she wanted to make sure that if we subcontracted with the county on another CDFI grant, that there would be no conflict with the National CDFI. After a brief discussion, it was the consensus of the board to direct Ms. Outlaw to call Ms. Krassner. Commissioner Coward asked Mr. Henderson if we have the DOE check yet. Mr. Henderson stated “no sir” you have to submit the paperwork first and then you get the money. Mr. Justin Hoystradt brought up disclosing projects as being in the Davis-Bacon Act Program. Ms. Outlaw stated that she had worked for eighteen years with the Davis-Bacon program and if there is any way we can stay away from that, we need to, because working with Davis-Bacon is not an easy task. Green CDFI: Solar & Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County Board of Directors Meeting September 27, 2010 Page 3 Mr. Julian Nazario stated that for the Green Collar Task Force Apprenticeship program, the language has to be clear. Discussion ensued regarding the Davis-Bacon program. ITEM 7 and 7a ~ BUDGET & FINANCIALS (GLENN HENDERSON & AILEEN PRUITT:) Mr. Henderson and Mr. Kurek presented the proposed three year budget to the board. (Please double-click on the icon to access the budget.) Scan_Doc0012.pdf Item 7b ~ Year To Date Expenditures (Ms. Lee Ann Lowery) Ms. Lee Ann Lowery presented the board with the expenditures to date by the county. She noted the charges that could be refunded by the grant, but staff time could not. She also restated that there needs to be a contract between the county and the SELF. She said that we can request a month’s worth of operating expenses in advance on the fund. (Please double-click on the icon to access the expenditures.) PO SELF.pdf President Dzadovsky stated that is a good thing, then we will request funds up front. Discussion ensued regarding how the requests would be handled along with the loans. Commissioner Coward stated that the contracts between the county and the SELF; and the contracts with SELF and the vendors could be brought back for a broader discussion. President Dzadovsky asked for a motion to approve the budget as submitted. Mr. Pelton made a motion to approve the budget as submitted. Mr. Roberts seconded the motion and the motion was approved by voice vote. Mr. Henderson stated that the charges can be back-dated to May 19, 2010 to the grant. President Dzadovsky asked for a motion to approve the expenditures of $18,522.63 to date and send them to DOE for reimbursement back to the county. Mr. Cooper made the motion as stated by President Dzadovsky, and the motion was seconded by another member. The motion was approved by voice vote. Green CDFI: Solar & Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County Board of Directors Meeting September 27, 2010 Page 4 Ms. Pruitt reminded staff, that as SELF Treasurer, she would need to review the previous contracts with Marsha Krassner and our outside counsel. Item 7c ~ Set Fiscal Year (Dan Kurek:) Mr. Kurek stated that the Board of Directors would need to set their fiscal year to lay out ststst quarterly reporting. He said it could either be January 1 through December 31, July 1 thstth through June 30 or October 1 through September 30. After a brief discussion among the board, Mr. Pelton made a motion to have the SELF fiscal stth year to be from October 1 through September 30. Mr. Cooper seconded the motion and the motion was approved by voice vote. Item 7d ~Board Insurance (Dan Kurek:) Mr. Kurek stated that he is still waiting on quotes for liability insurance; he said he would have to bring it back next month. President Dzadovsky said that this item would be tabled until next month’s meeting. ITEM 8 ~ ADMINISTRATION OF THE SELF PROGRAM ): Commissioner Coward said that we need to “staff up” but outsourcing may be an option. He said the Loan Fund Program of Palm Beach County could help. Do we need to hire a director now, or mid-level? He said he was just throwing out some ideas. Mr. Pelton asked that this be brought back for discussion. Ms. Lowery stated that the county needs to contract with SELF as soon as possible. She said that we need someone on board for SELF now. She said there is a lot to learn, and to administrator an agreement with the county. President Dzadovsky said that in regard to the Palm Beach Loan Fund letter, shouldn’t there be an RFQ or RFP? (Please double click on icon below to open the letter from Ms. Gaines.) Ltr from Lia Gaines PB Loan Fund.pdf Ms. Pruitt stated that we need to hire an Executive Director now and a put together a Scope of Work. Mr. Pelton asked if we could continue our agreement with Mr. Kurek. Green CDFI: Solar & Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County Board of Directors Meeting September 27, 2010 Page 5 Ms. Lowery stated that the county could put together a job description for the Executive Director. Mr. Roberts stated that we could use the guidelines from the Tallahassee Loan Handbook. President Dzadovsky called for a motion on hiring the consultants. Ms. Pruitt made a motion to continue the contract agreement with all three consultants on retainer for thirty days. The consultants are Dan Kurek, Marsha Krassner and attorney(s) at Bryant, Miller, Olive, then make a formal recommendation after Oct. 31st. The motion was seconded, and after a voice vote the motion passed. President Dzadovsky stated that on the next agenda we could have three presentations for software packages. Commissioner Coward stated there are lots of exciting packages out there. Ms. Pruitt stated that we should wait until the Executive Director is hired, right now there is not much time left to listen to presentations. President Dzadovsky stated that Mr. Kurek could bring back several proposals. He also said that the county attorney has agendaed the Special Assessment Improvement Funding and th Reimbursement Agreements for the Energy Financing Program for the October 5 county commission meeting. President Dzadovsky said that we should move for an RFP on loan servicing. Ms. Pruitt stated that the loans still need to be defined. After a lengthy discussion and suggestions on this topic, President Dzadovsky stated that they may have to reconvene the sub-committee to work on these issues and bring them back to this Board. ITEM 9 ~UPDATE ON SUNSHINE LAW – OPINION FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (KATHERINE McKENZIE-SMITH, ASSISTANT COUNTY ATTORNEY:) Ms. McKenzie-Smith stated that she wrote the Attorney General, a copy of it was in their packet, for an opinion on whether or not this Board of Directors would be subject to the Florida Sunshine Law. She said she has not received a response yet. ITEM 10 ~ PUBLIC COMMENT: President Dzadovsky asked if there was anyone from the public that would like to speak. Green CDFI: Solar & Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County Board of Directors Meeting September 27, 2010 Page 6 Ms. Julia Carter said that she wanted to mention the Pilot Program Proposal for ZiptoGreen for the county; at no charge and that she would leave the proposal with the President. She said if anyone wanted to check out the program, the website is www.ZiptoGreen.com. She thanked President Dzadovsky for letting her speak. ITEM 11 ~ ADJOURN: President Dzadovsky asked if any of the members had anything else they wanted to add, including Ms. Hetherington, Mr. Wakefield and Ms. Whiddon (via telephone). There were no further comments or questions. President Dzadovsky thanked everyone for attending the meeting today. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Charline Burgess, Aide to Commissioner Doug Coward. Green CDFI: Solar & Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County Board of Directors Meeting September 27, 2010 Page 7