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Chairman
Abernathy called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m. Trustees
present:
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| Trustees
Present: |
Absent: |
Robert L. Abernathy, Chairman
Judy Baker, Vice Chairman
William "Bart" Creech III
James Ford
Robert Jackson
Tom Kolb
Ron Hooker
Don McNutt
Gary O'Neal
Dan Schuette (Designee for Steve Mahfood) |
Joyce Murphy
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| Staff
Present: |
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Carol
R. Eighmey, Executive Director
Tim Duggan, Assistant Attorney General
Terry M. Nichols, Administrative Assistant
Pat Vuchetich, General Claims Manager
Ray Lentz, Operations Manager
David Pate, Claims Manager
Dave Taylor |
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Tom Kolb
was introduced as a new trustee, appointed to replace Neal Gibbons,
whose term had expired. Ray Lentz, new Operations Manager for Williams
& Company, was also introduced.
Claim
Appeal - Gateway Amoco
Ms. Eighmey notified the Board that the owner of Gateway Amoco had
experienced some health problems and had asked that his appeal be
postponed. The Board agreed.
Approval
of Minutes
Bart Creech moved that the minutes from the March 26, 2003 meeting
be approved. Bob Jackson seconded, and the motion carried.
Monthly
Reports
Chairman Abernathy invited questions from Trustees concerning the
reports in their notebooks. Ms. Eighmey noted the April fluctuation
in transport load fees was explained by Department of Revenue as a
normal monthly variation. She also pointed out the entries on the
balance sheet and income statement reflecting the decision by Office
of Administration to refund $103,464 for FY02 and FY03, as requested;
these were duplicate charges for services provided by Department of
Revenue.
Ms. Eighmey
reported three new remedial claims had been filed since February 28
and recommended that they be funded. Bart Creech moved that funding
be provided for these three claims; Bob Jackson seconded. Motion carried.
FY02/FY03
Audit Report
Drew Blossom of KPMG Kansas City was introduced, and copies of his
report were distributed. He briefly reviewed the report, noting that
KPMG had issued a "clean opinion," to the Board. Year-end adjustments
to the financial statements were summarized. Mr. Blossom clarified
that the adjustments were not things under the control of the Executive
Director or the Board's staff; examples were the receivables for the
transport load fee and for unpaid employee leave. He explained that
the audit had been delayed while his staff waited for information
from other agencies.
Dan Schuette
inquired about the source of the "claims payable" figure; Mr. Blossom
indicated that figure had been provided by the Board's staff.
Bob Jackson
asked if other state boards have difficulties getting information
for their financial statements; Mr. Blossom said his firm also audits
MODOT, and that all adjusting journal entries are made by MODOT staff.
There was discussion about the magnitude of the adjustments and why
people other than the Board's staff are making year-end accounting
entries for PSTIF; Ms. Eighmey said she would have further discussion
with Williams & Company, Mr. Blossom and OA staff to resolve this
for future years.
Bob Jackson
moved that the audit report be accepted; Judy Baker seconded. Dan
Schuette suggested the Board postpone its approval of the report,
since Trustees had not had time to fully review it in advance of the
meeting. Others agreed, and the motion was withdrawn.
Legislative
Report
Ms. Eighmey reported that more than 200 bills had been passed by the
General Assembly, including the thirteen budget bills that comprise
the state budget. She noted one of those appropriations bills included
Department of Revenue's (DOR) request for money from PSTIF to pay
one FTE to collect the transport load fee; since OA had agreed not
to charge PSTIF for DOR's services, and since state law requires the
Board to approve all expenditures from the Fund, she recommended that
the Board formally approve DOR's appropriation. Bart Creech so moved,
Jim Ford seconded. Motion carried.
It was
reported that SB69, called "The Small Business Regulatory Relief Act,"
was enacted. The bill is similar to federal legislation; Ms. Eighmey
expressed doubt that PSTIF's regulations would be impacted by the
bill, but noted evaluation was still underway.
SB36
was briefly reviewed; Ms. Eighmey reported it "died" in the final
week of the legislative session, but she expects some provisions will
be reintroduced next year. Provisions regarding insurance and safety
requirements for contractors/consultants who do tank site work were
briefly reviewed.
SB675,
which "swept" principal and/or interest from various special state
funds was mentioned; Ms. Eighmey thanked those who had helped keep
PSTIF out of the bill, and emphasized many people and organizations
had lobbied on behalf of PSTIF during the legislative session. It
was noted a special session had been called by Governor Holden.
Split
Sampling Report
Ms. Eighmey reminded the Board that PSTIF adjusters occasionally "split
samples" with consultants/contractors to discourage fraud. She noted
the results had provided some unexpected insight into the data being
used to make cleanup decisions, and introduced David Pate to summarize
the findings.
Mr. Pate
briefly reviewed his observations about the data, noting a considerable
variation in laboratory results, but attributing that to factors other
than fraud. He noted a risk-based approach to cleanup is a more technically
sound approach than one which relies too heavily on a single number,
particularly a TPH number, for cleanup decisions, and said the sampling
results had further convinced him of the value of risk-based decision
making.
Bob Jackson
asked what the costs associated with the project were. Ms. Eighmey
noted there had been no additional cost in prior years, given that
the adjusters are on site anyway and DNR's lab had done the analysis
for "free," using some of the money already provided by the Board
to the Department. She noted that DNR had notified PSTIF it could
no longer afford to do the analyses, given the Board's cutback in
funding for DNR, so for future years the costs of lab analysis would
be borne by the Board's third party administrator. Pat Vuchetich said
Williams' staff had obtained bids for FY04 analytical costs private
from several laboratories and DNR's lab, which ranged from about $8,000
to $17,000. Dan Schuette suggested there be further discussion regarding
using DNR's lab; he, Mr. Vuchetich and Ms. Eighmey agreed to evaluate
that further. Chairman Abernathy asked that the Advisory Committee
be used to provide advice and input.
Update
on RBCA
Ms. Eighmey reported that the Stakeholders' Committee had agreed on
a plan to implement RBCA for tank sites in the fall of 2003. Dan Schuette
asked about the pilot projects; she replied the consultant has almost
completed the reports and it has been very helpful to "try out" the
process on some real tank sites. Ed Galbraith predicted that by the
Board's next meeting, he would be able to report a specific "start
date" for using RBCA at all tank sites.
Administrative
Issues
Chairman Abernathy noted the Board needed to replace Tom Kolb on its
Advisory Committee and said Wayne Baker had been recommended. Bart
Creech moved that the Board appoint Mr. Baker; Bob Jackson seconded.
Motion carried.
It was
reported that Request for Proposals for Third Party Administration
Services had been issued on May 9, and proposals are due on June 25.
Judy Baker asked how many firms had expressed interest; Ms. Eighmey
responded that at least six companies were present at the pre-bid
meeting.
Chairman
Abernathy then inquired whether the Board wished to hold its September
meeting in Festus so a field trip to a nearby claim site could be
included. After discussion, it was decided to do so.
Bob Jackson
moved that the Board approve out-of-state travel for Ms. Eighmey to
attend the Fund Administrators' Conference in Duluth, Minnesota, in
June. Bart Creech seconded; motion carried.
Chairman
Abernathy asked if there were questions about any of the bills included
in the Trustees' notebooks; there were none.
Bart
Creech moved that the Board go into closed session to discuss and
vote on matters related to legal actions, causes of action, litigation
and/or personnel issues pursuant to Section 610.021, RSMo. Judy Baker
seconded, and the motion carried.
If
such action is approved a majority vote of a quorum of the Board,
the Board of Trustees of the Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund
may go into closed session at this meeting to discuss legal, confidential
or privileged matters pursuant to Section 610.021, RSMo.
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