Minutes 07/15/2011 PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE
IN-SOURCING/OUT-SOURCING SUBCOMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
July 15, 2010 AT 9:00 A.M.
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Members in Attendance: Gina Downs and Rich Federman. Joe Wall was excused.
Staff Present: Norman Feder, Administrator- Growth Development; Tom Chmelik, Director
Public Utilities Engineering; George Yilmaz, Administrator— Public Utilities; Barbetta
Hutchinson, Office of Budget and Management; Mike Sheffield, County Manager's Office.
Others Present: None.
The meeting was called to order by Gina Downs at 9:04 A.M.
The approvals of the minutes from the last two subcommittee meetings were tabled until the
next full meeting of the Productivity Committee being held on July 20, 2011.
Norman Feder passed out a manual to the members on the maintenance rating program.
Norman explained how to read the information in the document and how to interpret the charts.
Gina and Rich agreed that it is a very comprehensive report. Tom Chmelik told the group that
saving money, keeping balance and maintaining flexibility are the criteria for deciding whether or
not to out-source. He said that out-sourced items currently include landscaping, pump & meter
maintenance, breaker testing, sludge hauling, well maintenance and painting. Utility billing out-
sources the generation and mailing of invoices, inventory control and design. Tom also
explained the cost containment quarterly analysis that is performed using the eleven top cost
areas. Tom will furnish Gina with a white paper or two regarding this process.
Gina suggested that the name "job bankers" be changed. She said it doesn't sound
professional and gives the illusion of unqualified people when the truth is that the staff is very
qualified. Rich suggested that a list of"best practices" be given in their final report so that each
department may benefit from the best of each department.
In wastewater, the maintenance of generators, pumps and motors is out-sourced, but anything
to do with HVAC is taken care of by our own facilities team. Gina suggested that the storm
water department be reclassified under Utilities.
County generation of bleach was discussed. Through the generation of a white paper, the
equipment was found to be too expensive for the county to produce their own bleach
economically. Gina asked if a regional co-op was discussed? George said that the process of
making compost out of sludge is currently being reviewed. This process could be a benefit to
the entire county. Rich said that this could be a profit center if we could sell it. It would cut
transportation costs, condition the soil and save water. Tom will e-mail the white paper on this
to Mike for the committee members to review. George said that the county does not want to
invent techniques and patent them. They do, however want to use the best proven technologies
available.
George also told the group that water plants throughout the country are being approached by
private companies that want to take over. Lee County went private, but had to take it back after
the private company had water issues. In addition, the private company let the machinery go
out of compliance, making Lee have to borrow money to repair the plant. George told the group
that Collier County has never been approached to privatize because everyone knows that the
county is solid and stable, having an AA+ Fitch rating. Tom was asked to send a copy of the
letter from Fitch to Mike for distribution.
Debt was discussed and George referenced an article regarding $221 million of debt in New
Mexico and the comparison between that system and the Collier County system. George said
that our system has the just right amount of capacity for now and the next 5 years. He also said
that connections to the water/sewer system are going up. He assured the group that the
Finance Committee constantly reviews the debt and looks for refinancing opportunities that
make sense.
Gina Downs adjourned the meeting at 10:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by Barbetta Hutchinson.