Human Resources & Safety Committee Meeting Minutes – June 1, 2017
For your consideration please review the minutes from the Human Resources & Safety Committee Meeting held on Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 10:00 am in the Commission Meeting Room.
Human Resources & Safety Committee Minutes 6-1-2017 with Attachments
To read the minutes please open or download the pdf from the link above or you may see more below:
Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission
1703 Gloucester Street, Brunswick, GA 31520
Commission Meeting Room
Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 10:00 AM
HUMAN RESOURCES & SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES
PRESENT:
Cornell Harvey, Chairman
Cliff Adams, Commissioner
Donald Elliott, Chairman of Commission
David Ford, Commissioner
Jimmy Junkin, Executive Director
ALSO PRESENT:
John Donaghy, Chief Financial Officer
Pam Crosby, Director of Procurement
Todd Kline, Senior Engineer
Jay Sellers, Public Information Officer
Cindy Barnhart, TSI
Chairman Harvey called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
There being no citizens that wished to address the Committee, Chairman Harvey closed the Public Comment Period.
APPROVAL:
- Minutes From May 4, 2017 Human Resources & Safety Committee Meeting
Commissioner Ford made a motion seconded by Commissioner Elliott to approve the Human Resources & Safety Committee Meeting from May 4, 2017. Motion carried 3-0-1. (Commissioner Adams was delayed and absent at the time of vote.)
DISCUSSION:
- Position Changes for FY2017-18 – J. Donaghy
John Donaghy presented the recommended personnel changes to the Committee, and referenced the document provided for their review of those positions proposed to be added and deleted for the upcoming budgeted Fiscal Year. He also noted that the job description and the costs for those positions were included on the document. The costs provided are the fully burdened costs, which include the base salary, social security (FICA), Medicare, worker’s compensation, and group insurance premiums at the maximum costs. For budgeting purposes, the position costs noted were all for an annual amount, except for the Director of Operations, which was only budgeted for the fourth quarter of the upcoming Fiscal Year. It was noted that the Director of Operations position was not approved as of yet, however that position has been included in the budget in the case that all approvals are given and the position is hired. Mr. Donaghy continued to explain the footnote on page 2 of the document indicating that the proposed positions for the Planning & Construction Division will be funded by developers’ fees that will be charged, or they will be capitalized against construction projects (and not from the operating budget or rate payers’ fees). An example provided was that the Project Manager position would be funded by developers’ fees when they want this person to manage a project or provide services for them, but when this person is providing in-house services and managing an in-house project, then the monies for this salary come from the project funding. Another position mentioned by Mr. Junkin was the Hydraulic Modeling Tech, and that this position is needed for JWSC to have a means of verifying the impacts of new developments on the infrastructure and systems. There was added discussion by the Committee regarding the modeling software and training that was originally purchased and paid for. The training was never developed to the needs as they are now. It was noted that this training was intended to have been a part of the Master Plan and provided by Four Waters Engineering. There was further discussion regarding the funding for the 3 new positions for the Planning & Construction Division, as well as notations of the other positions proposed. Chairman Harvey asked Mr. Junkin to provide some information as to the need for the position of Director of Operations. Mr. Junkin explained that there are plans to bring the operations together into a consolidated location with the benefit of looking at opportunities for finding efficiencies and better effectiveness to share resources and utilize them in a more effective way including all of the support services and equipment, and to provide a consolidated outlook there. This position would provide better asset management and help JWSC to become more proactive while looking at the big picture of the operations, with the intent of increasing productivity and reduce overtime required by operations personnel. This is intended to be a decision making, hands on operations position for coordination of personnel, inventory, equipment and requirements. After continued discussion, it was agreed that the 3 Planning & Construction positions (funded by developers’ fees) along with the 2 Finance positions and the 2 Systems Pumping & Maintenance positions would be approved with the budget approval. The discussion of the position of Director of Operations will be continued by the Committee at the next meeting.
- Recruiting and Termination Statistics – C. Barnhart
Cindy Barnhart discussed the Recruiting and Termination Statistics report with the Committee. She noted that currently, there were 7 positions advertised as of May 30th. Year to Date, the total number of job applicants and resumes received is 615. Ms. Barnhart continued and gave the breakdown of that total number. For the position of Deputy Executive Director there has been 43 candidates, Waste Water Maintenance Mechanic received 13, Manhole Rehab Technician received 26, Water Treatment Plant Operator III received 23, Utility Service Worker I received 61 (this position has been open the longest), Equipment Operator received 36, Accounts Payable Coordinator received 19 responses, and for Water Distribution Crew Leader received 7. She also noted that all open positions are advertised on the BGJWSC website, Teamwork Services Inc. website, and as per policy in the Golden Isles News, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (online and in print). Year to Date Employee Referrals from current employees are listed at 77. Since the last meeting there have been no new terminations. Ms. Barnhart then noted that an employment offer has been made to the Accounts Payable Coordinator. Out of the 19 candidates, 6 were interviewed, and the new hire is to start on June 5th. There was further discussion regarding the timeframes of receiving applications, forwarding them to the hiring managers, and then responses being returned to Teamwork Services for the hiring process.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S UPDATE
Mr. Junkin advised that he has been searching for the right candidate for the Deputy Director’s position. There are about 10 candidates that he is reviewing at the time, with hopes of being able to have in-person interviews and get that person on-board soon. There was some additional discussion regarding this open position and why it has been a challenge locating the right candidate.
Chairman Harvey mentioned that he would like to have the Education Policy on the agenda for the next meeting for close review, and that he also wanted to discuss the benefits package further with Teamwork Services, regarding what is being offered to the employees.
Final discussion returned to the subject of the Hydraulic Modeling and training. Mr. Junkin asked Todd Kline if JWSC has utilized training on the Gems Hydraulic Software package, and if there has been any training by Four Waters. Mr. Kline responded that there has been no full training yet. He was asked how long the contract would last. He indicated that until all services are rendered, but that he would review the agreement to see if there was a final date. Jay Sellers added that 2 of the engineers from Four Waters did do some basic training with himself and 2 other staff members, but that it was not the complete training regarding how to do a whole analysis. He further indicated that there was intent for Four Waters to return when the system was ready to use on a daily basis for a full training session.
Meeting was adjourned at 11:07 am.