12-19-07  GNBWIB Quarterly Meeting
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1. Consent Agenda:
   The Minutes of the 10/18/07 Finance Committee meeting were approved unanimously on a motion by Bruce Morell, seconded by Susan Peterson
   
   
2. Fiscal Reports / Updates:
   
   1. WIB - Steve Grant noted that due to the early meeting date the financials had been reviewed very quickly, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. The budget numbers have been updated based on the changes for the modified integrated budget.
      
      Susan Peterson asked if there were any calendar year end issues that could impact the budget. There are none. Mention was made of pending health insurance increase for New Directions of up to 22%. Ed Dennehy explained that the increase was related to being under 50 employees in total and the age of several employees – moving from 40’s to 50, or 50’s to 60, etc. Susan asked about possibility of bundling coverage with another organization. Len Coriaty explained that option was investigated when DWDA merged with the WIB and that Blue Cross gave their legal opinion that it could not be done.
      
      
   2. DCS - Carl Waal mentioned that the state had not yet decided on when the effect of the shortfall in the Retirement Healthplan would impact the plan. He thought a decision might not come until spring. If it is made retroactive there could be a 9% adjustment to the FY ’08 fringe rate but if held until next year the adjustment could be 11%.
   
   A motion to accept the financial reports was made by Susan Peterson, seconded by Chuck Simpson, and carried unanimously.
   
   
3. Updates
   Quest Center Lease / Line of Credit:
   Len Coriaty began by saying a lot of work had been done in the past few weeks to iron out changes made by the city to the MOA and Lease Agreement and that the latest version was received shortly before this meeting began. It was explained that the city had to name the WIB as the tenant of the Quest Center; otherwise it would have to issue another RFP due to the rules of the State Procurement Laws 30B. The City can make the case that the WIB is a government agent or entity that would preclude from 30B rule in contracting with the city.
   
   A lengthy discussion followed on the potential repercussions of this arrangement. It was noted that one of the city’s terms was that there would be no obligation on the city’s part to repay the funds if the WIB terminated the lease. Since the only means of recovering the full $300,000 is by having New Directions or a successor as CC Lead Operator sublet the Quest space, there was a potential to “not recover” about $180K should NDSC not retain the charter.
   
   Norm Audette announced that the mayor decided that all previous lease payments could be considered payment of the obligation, eliminating about $51K from the potential loss. Norm also noted that New Directions was allowed to occupy the Quest Center rent free for a period of time.
   
   Len mentioned that he met with the Mayor and expressed concerns about the outcome of the vote in light of the differences from the original agreement with the Chair.
   
   Chuck Simpson said he understood the city’s point as restricted by 30B but he could not endorse the new version as a businessman or a banker.
   
   Sue Peterson asked if there was even a provision in the lease allowing the WIB to sublet. Ed Dennehy offered that there was such a provision. Susan asked about the payment process. Len explained that effectively NDSI would pay the WIB $7,266 per month and the WIB would pay the city $1,000. Chuck said that if New Directions was the lessee – they would pay the city $7,266 and the city would then have to pay $6,266 to the WIB, to which Norm added there would be a legal issue if the city was to pay the WIB.
   
   Steve Grant said that the actual payback would come through the budgeting process. Whereas we normally infuse most of the annual performance money into the budget we would now plan to use $79,000 less each year which would pay pack the reserve fund in a passive manner. This method was approved by Holly Hill-Batiste and Dave Manning of DCS since it would take WIA money out of the equation.
   
   Norm Audette again pointed out the period of free occupancy and that the obligation was now reduced to $249K. Ed Dennehy brought up the fact that NDSI had made significant leasehold improvements, but Norm added that was a typical practice and does not factor into this.
   
   Chuck Simpson said that the issue of the $300K on the city’s books was brought up to him by the Mayor and he told the Mayor that research showed the WIB had no responsibility to pay. The Mayor agreed and Chuck offered to get the Line of Credit as a way to help out with the problem. Chuck explained the history of this issue dating back to the previous administration. He also stated that the latest information from Steve Grant indicated the actual amount of reserve funds available was only $97K due to a heavy forward funding demand at present.
   
   Susan Peterson said she felt the WIB was in an awkward position and asked if she could move to accept the agreement with reservations about the exposure. She added that this was not a strong endorsement but that the Executive Committee would make the final call. Chuck added that DCS wanted to be assured that WIA money would not be involved and referred to a conversation with Dave Mackley in which Dave explained that the future may not hold performance funding.
   
   When asked about the deadline for the city to remove the debt from its books, Norm answered – Dec.31st.
   
   Chuck Simpson stated that the WIB’s responsibility is oversight. He said if for any unforeseen reason New Directions Southcoast fails to perform and the WIB had to put out an RFP for a lead operator, it would guarantee its own loss through its oversight function.
   
   Susan Peterson moved to approve the signing of the lease and MOA with a reservation that there is an exposure of $130,000. The motion was seconded by Dave Pelletier. The motion passed 3 to 1 with 1 abstention.
   
   The vote:    YES - Susan Peterson, Bruce Morell, Dave Pelletier
                    NO - Carl Waal
                    Abstain – Chuck Simpson
   
   
4. Other Business:
   Due to the time, Bruce Morell tabled all other business.
   
   
5. Adjourn:
   The meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm on a motion by Chuck Simpson, seconded by Susan Peterson.

1. Work Cert: The grant was approved for an extension through January 2008 for one more class to be held January 7 through the 25th. To date we have 75 Entered Employments for the 106 who completed training, an EE rate of 71%.
   Note: The report indicates 77 EE but 2 of these are individuals who have had 2 jobs.
   
   
2. Quaker Fabric: We have a contract with Fall River for case managing those Quaker employees in our area. To date we have received $87K which is being used to hire a case manager and provide support funds to that group, as well as to free up some monies for ITA’s.
   
   
3. Multi-Layer (Polaroid): Plant closed. 168 layoffs began on Nov 2nd and all will be gone by the end of the calendar year. This is in addition to the 60 layoffs that occurred in July. This group is well educated and a majority have transferable skills so do not anticipate any large numbers needing skills training. Multi-Layer has applied for Trade status and if they get it (will know in about a month) training will be covered from Trade funds. Otherwise, at this time we may be able to take care of those that will need training with the Set Aside funds we already have.
   
   
4. ITA's: Training funds have been significantly depleted with the current balances as follows: Adults-$37K, Dislocated Workers-$3K, Youth-$23K, and Set Aside-$24K. Roger Masson suggested that Ed take the ITA funds for Computer Training and hire an instructor to teach the classes at NDS. Ed replied he’d had the same thought.
   
   
5. CC Activity: The level of customer activity at the CC has not slowed down. We have seen 5,250 job seekers through October, well above our level at this time last year (4,440 in FY ‘07). If this rate continues, we will reach 15,750 by the end of the year, a 50% increase over our Plan number of 10,500. The impact is resulting in higher stress levels for staff and the early depletion of ITA funds.
   
   
6. Staffing: New Directions Southcoast has filled all positions in our youth department and are in the process of interviewing for a case manager for Trade and for another job specialist for the CC. Funds for these latter positions are being provided by the Quaker NEG and the One-Stop money. We are down a job specialist in the JSJR program due to a resignation. DCS has not been able to fill this position yet.
   
   
7. Charter Review Presentation: We are planning to present our annual overview for the Charter Review process the week of January 28th, 2008. The specific date can be decided by the PMC but we recommend either Tuesday the 29th, Wednesday the 30th, or Thursday the 31st. It was agreed that the meeting will be held on Wednesday the 30th at the GNB Career Center. Ed Dennehy agreed to schedule the room.
   
   

• Classes being scheduled and then abruptly cancelled without informing students.
• General confusion about start times and dates of classes.
• General confusion about start times and dates of the clinical portion of training.
• Meetings were scheduled with Ms. Gomes and students and Ms. Gomes wouldn’t show up without prior notification.
• Ms. Gomes is hard to get in contact with.
• Not receiving the sufficient number of training hours.