Productivity Committee Minutes 08/27/2008 COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT
PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE
Minutes — August 27, 2008, 2 p.m.
Members Present: Larry Baytos, John Barlow, Syd Blum, Brad Boaz, Gina Downs,
Doug Fee, Jim Gibson, Michele Harrison, Steve Harrison, Joe Swaja, Janet Vasey and
Jim VanFleet.
Members Absent: There were no members absent.
BCC Liaison: Commissioner Fiala was not in attendance.
Staff Present: Crystal Kinzel, Clerk's Finance; Carol Golightly, Sheriff's Office; Len
Price, Administrative Services; Dan Croft, Director Fleet Management; Amy Patterson,
Impact Fee Manager; Paula Fleishman, Impact Fee Coordinator; Kim Grant, Senior
Management Consultant; Michael Sheffield, Assistant to the County Manager; Barbetta
Hutchinson, Office of Management and Budget.
Others Present:
Larry Baytos called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m.
Approval of the June 18, 2008 Productivity Committee Meeting minutes. Janet Vasey
made a change to the minutes to replace "EMSAC" with "Productivity Committee" in the
first paragraph. Joe Swaja motioned to accept with the change, Janet seconded and
the group voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the meeting of June 18.
New Business:
Biodiesel Discussion. Jim Van Fleet reviewed his research proposal with the group.
He feels that a great deal of taxpayer dollars could be saved on fuel if alternative
methods of fuel production would be implemented. The schools alone use 750,000
gallons of fuel a year and this could result in a big savings to the county. The research
would include biodiesel fuel and ethanol production. Dan Croft from Fleet added that
there are three municipalities in Florida producing biodiesel fuel from restaurants and
soy oil. Starting costs for a small production would be around $200,000. John Barlow
said that he could connect the group with an expert in this area. Jim motioned to form a
subcommittee, Joe Swaja seconded and the vote was 9 to 1 approving the formation of
the subcommittee. The subcommittee will consist of Jim VanFleet, Joe Swaja, Syd
Blum and Doug Fee.
Old Business:
Impact Fees. Larry Baytos spoke to the group regarding impact fees and the fact that
impact fee indexing will begin in October. The Board of County Commissioners has
voted that growth will pay for growth. John Barlow said that after some analysis he
found that impact fees for last year were between 40-50% of total revenue. Discussion
was made about tax dollars not coming in as expected and how we need to look at
level of service as a way of reducing costs. Janet asked everyone to give thought to
what happens if impact fees are cut. Where does the money come from to pay for
debt? Do we cut the level of service? Cutting impact fees does not seem to be a good
idea if there is no other source of revenue. Discussion was made about sending a letter
to the BCC with several different recommendation options regarding impact fees:
1 . Recommend no changes and keep indexing policy as it is now.
Vote — 5 for (John, Gina, Janet, Doug, Brad)
2. Maintain current impact fees and implement no new increases.
Vote — 5 for (Syd, Steve, Larry, Jim, Joe)
3. Roll back to the 2007 level.
Vote - 0
4. Restate the recommendation from last year— none except roads.
Vote — 1 (Michele)
Due to the lack of a majority for any of the options, the group agreed to wait and see
what the indexing shows before any recommendation be sent. Amy reviewed the
status of the impact fee indexing. She will be back to the committee on October 15th to
review the numbers with the group before the AUIR process begins.
Lean Government. Steve Harrison recapped the Cape Coral presentation and their
Kaizen method to streamline processes and get buy-in from their workers. Kim Grant
said that her CBPE group has been looking for pockets of improvements since January
and has had some successes. The CBPE could possibly do the kaizen training. Steve
Harrison motioned that a letter be written to the County Manager that recommends the
kaizen process be considered for those departments that have significant reduction in
staff or where the administrator wants to try the program. Gina seconded and the group
unanimously approved. Steve will compose the letter and forward to Mike Sheffield.
Update from EMS Committee. Janet said the draft report will be out tomorrow. She
motioned that the committee not get involved in the fire department consolidation unless
they are asked. Gina Downs seconded and the group unanimously approved.
Sunshine Seminar— Mike Sheffield reminded members that the Sunshine Seminar is
being held on September 15th
Adjournment: Doug Fee motioned to adjourn the meeting, Joe Swaja seconded and the
group unanimously approved. The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.
Next Meeting: The next regular meeting of the Productivity Committee Meeting will be
held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17, 2008. This meeting will be held in the
County Manager's Conference Room on the 2nd floor of the W. Harmon Turner Building
(Administration Building F).
Approved by "ro•uctivity ' hair, Larry Baytos