NoRTEC
MINUTES
WIB AND GOVERNING BOARD
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2000
REDDING, CALIFORNIA
(Posted September 25, 2000, 1:45 P.M.)

1. CALL TO ORDER

   The meeting was called to order by the WIB Chair, J. Madden, and the Governing Board Chair, J. Reese, at 10:05 A.M.

2. ROLL CALL

   There was a quorum of both the WIB and the Governing Board. Roster

3. WIB APPROVAL OF MINUTES, APRIL 27, 2000

   Judi Madden said she was not at the April 27, 2000, meeting, and asked for the minutes to be corrected accordingly.

   A motion by B. Maffett, seconded by L. Bosetti, for WIB approval of the April 27, 2000, minutes, noting Judi's absence, passed the WIB unanimously.

   A motion by J. Smith, seconded by G. Russell, for Governing Board approval of the April 27, 2000, minutes, noting Judi's absence, passed the Governing Board unanimously.*

   *Irwiun Fust abstained, stating he wasn't on the Board, and not in attendance at this meeting.

4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

   A motion by T. Cochran, seconded by B. Maffett, for WIB approval of the Agenda, as mailed, passed the WIB unanimously.

   A motion by J. Smith, seconded by B. Reiss, for Governing Board approval of the agenda, as mailed, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

5. PUBLIC COMMENT

   There was no public comment.

6. INTRODUCTION, NEW GOVERNING BOARD MEMBERS

   Irwin Fust was introduced as the newly appointed NoRTEC Governing Board member representing Shasta County, appointed by the Shasta County Board of Supervisors at their August 15, 2000, meeting.

7. NEW COMMUNITY COLLEGE WIB SEAT AND APPOINTMENT

   C. Brown said NoRTEC has received letters of support from four of the five Community Colleges in the NoRTEC area supporting the appointment of Sandra Acebo, President, Butte Community College, to represent Community Colleges on the NoRTEC WIB. He said no reason was given for no letter , but he suspected the lack of response from Lassen Community College was not meant to be negative.

   A motion by G. Russell, seconded by J. Smith, for the designation of an "At Large" seat on the NoRTEC WIB to represent Community Colleges, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

   A motion by G. Russell, seconded by B. Reiss, for the appointment of Sandra Acebo to the newly created "At Large" seat on the NoRTEC WIB to represent Community Colleges, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

8. NORTEC YOUTH COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS

   T. Brown said there was a mistake on the agenda. A "Private Sector" individual has expressed interest in serving. She said we are still missing an "Organized Labor" representative from the list of nominations.

   C. Brown said there are no requirements for Youth Council membership numbers other than the list of interest groups be represented. The Youth Council is advisory to the WIB, is non-voting, and is not saddled with needing a standard quorum (51%) in order to meet and discuss their business. His recommendation was to appoint all the interested individuals on the list to the Youth Council, and to recruit for a representative from Organized Labor. He said they could revisit the question of numbers at a later date after seeing how attendance and duties were working out.

   The discussion ranged from appointing one individual for each required entity, to two per county. The general consensus was for a smaller rather than a larger council, but to go with the full list on nominations for the short term.

   A motion by T. Cochran, seconded by M. Piller, for the appointment of the full list of nominations, with the question of membership to be revisited at a later date, passed the WIB unanimously.

   A motion by G. Russell, seconded by E. McCain, for the appointment of the full list of nominations, with the question of membership to be revisited at a later date, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

9. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT

   Michele Piller, Program Committee Chair, presented the Program Committee Report.

   1. Program Monitoring

      M. Piller said the on-site monitoring went well, with no problems to report. She said the first monitoring reviews of the programs under WIA are tentatively scheduled for November and early December.

   2. PY 1999/2000 Fourth Quarter Program Reports

      There was a brief review of the standard Program Committee reports: Title II-A 77% Adult and 82% Youth Performance Standards; Title III Entered Employment Rate and Average Wage at Placement Standards, Federally Defined Barrier to Employment Ratios In-School Vs. Out-of School Youth Service Ratios, Welfare to Work. No concerns were noted.

      G. Russell said he wanted to commend the NoRTEC program monitoring, which efficiently and effectively both finds and helps resolve problems in the programs, and provides in-depth solid reports to the Board.

   3. State Monitoring

      All prior JTPA monitoring findings have been closed (resolved).

      There are still some unresolved findings from the Welfare to Work program monitoring. All are minor and no problems are anticipated in achieving positive resolution.

      Currently, the State has not scheduled any monitoring visits for either the WtW or WIA programs.

   4. PY 2000/2001 Performance Standards

      T. Brown said NoRTEC staff literally received this year's "negotiated" performance standards in the mail, and is neutral about NoRTEC's ability to meet these standards. The good news is that this first year is a trial year, and does not count in the official judgment of the quality of NoRTEC's programs and services.

      E. McCain commented that he thought the performance standards had a tendency to drive the program, rather than the needs of the people seeking services. He would be happy to see them go away altogether. L. Jungwirth asked what we can do for all the people in need that we can't afford to enroll into training. C. Brown said they were pursuing additional funding, but this first year was going to be difficult.

   5. New Program Reports Needed

      M. Piller said they were going to take the new law (WIA) and the addition of Butte and Shasta counties as an opportunity to re-think their standard program reports and maybe come up with ways to get closer to the programs. An example would be to highlight one or two of the Community Coordinator reports each month.

      A motion by B. Maffett, seconded by T. Cochran, for the approval of the Program Committee report, passed the WIB unanimously.

      A motion by B. Reiss, seconded by I. Fust, , for the approval of the Program Committee report, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

10. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

    In the absence of B. Hamby, Finance Committee Chair, C. Martin, Finance Committee member, presented the Finance Committee report.

    1. PY 99/00 Fourth Quarter Financial Reports

       C. Martin said NoRTEC had $9,700,442 in available funds for the program year July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2000. There was a brief review of the standard Finance Committee reports; PY 99/00 Contracts Summary, PY 99/00 Service Provider Contract Modifications,PY 99/00 Program Expenditure Report, PY 99/00 NoRTEC Administrative Entity Expenditure Report, and PY 99/00 NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board Expenditure Report. No items of concern were noted.

       A motion by T. Cochran, seconded by D. Beeson, for the approval of the Finance Committee report, passed the WIB unanimously.

       A motion by G. Russell, seconded by B. Reiss, , for the approval of the Finance Committee report, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

    2. PY 2000/2001 Funding

       C. Martin said that currently, NoRTEC has $11,276,836 in available funds for the program year July 1, 2000, to June 30, 2001. An additional $645,333 in Rapid Response Funding has been requested, which would bring the total funding available for PY 2000/2001 to $11,922,169. This represents a $2,221,727 increase over the amount available in PY 1999/2000, due to the addition of Butte and Shasta Counties to NoRTEC. The amount of funding available for PY 00/01 does not include funds carried forward from JTPA and WTW which should total approximately $1,000,000.

    3. PY 00/01 Contracts Summary

       C. Martin said that as of August 15, 2000, NoRTEC had a total of $11,302,169 allocated in contracts for the 00/01 program year. E. McCain asked about the discrepancy noted in the Contract report, with more money allocated to the counties for Rapid Response than currently received from the State. C. Brown said staff made the decision to commit $65,000 per county for rapid response; the amount allocated per county over the past several years. He said the continued uncertainty over rapid response funding has jeopardized the Community Coordinator positions in the NoRTEC counties. He said he felt it important to provide stability. The risk was that they might not receive enough additional rapid response funding from the State to cover the difference ($25,333). In that unhappy case, staff would make up the difference from other sources, including their own special projects budget.

    4. Fiscal Monitoring of Service Providers By NoRTEC

       M. Cross said he conducted on-site fiscal and procurement reviews of NoRTEC service providers during May and June. The review included accounting systems, allowable costs, cost categories, financial reporting, cost allocation, property management and procurement.

       He said there were no findings in Del Norte, Lassen, Modoc and Plumas, or Tehama. He said the findings in Siskiyou and Trinity had been addressed through acceptable corrective action plans. These will be verified during the next on-site monitoring visit. In general, there are no items of concern at this time.

       M. Cross said NoRTEC's letters of monitoring findings and Service Providers' responses are available for review by interested WIB/GB members.

    5. State Monitoring of NoRTEC

       M. Cross said that the State on-site monitoring concluded that NoRTEC was meeting applicable JTPA requirements concerning the resolution of local level audit findings and local level monitoring findings. The State also notified NoRTEC that all open State level monitoring findings have been resolved. The State's monitoring report is available for review by interested WIB/GB members.

       State Cost Compliance Monitoring
       M. Cross said NoRTEC has received notice from the State that NoRTEC is in compliance with the required cost category limits in Title II-A Adult and IIC Youth for the 1997 year of allocation. The notification letters are available for review by interested WIB/GB members

     

11. WIA TRANSITION COMMITTEE MEETING, MAY 25, 2000

    C. Brown explained that this committee was established by the WIB and Governing Board to make decisions on their behalf in the interim between regularly scheduled. It is made up of the Governing Board and the WIB Executive Committee. All WIB members are invited to attend, but the smaller membership of the committee helps guarantee a quorum. Due to the change in the law from JTPA to WIA, the WIA Transition Committee had been pretty busy. Highlights from the May 25, 2000, meeting were noted (as presented on the agenda for this meeting).

     

• YOUTH PROVIDER FOR SHASTA COUNTY

  There was a brief discussion of the proposal received from the Shasta PIC for the provision of the NoRTEC Youth Program in Shasta County. No items of concern were noted.

  A motion by M. Piller, seconded by L. Wright, for the approval of NoRTEC AE staff negotiating a contract with the Shasta PIC for the provision of WIA funded youth programs in Shasta County, passed the WIB unanimously.

  A motion by J. Smith, seconded by I. Fust, , for the approval of NoRTEC AE staff negotiating a contract with the Shasta PIC for the provision of WIA funded youth programs in Shasta County, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

   

• WIA PLAN - SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

  T. Brown said a number of items were required for final Plan submission, now due September 15, 2000. For "Additional Information," NoRTEC needs to respond to the questions asked by the State about the original Plan submitted back in June. This is also a good place to include a comment regarding Shasta County's inclusion in the NoRTEC Workforce Investment Area.

  For the Supplemental Information, NoRTEC has to agree to the State supplied "negotiated" performance standards for PY 2000/2001. NoRTEC also has to agree to some "assurances" EDD decided to add at the last minute. This section also includes planned expenditures and planned participant numbers.

  A motion by B. Maffett, seconded by T. Cochran, for the approval of the NoRTEC Plan modifications, passed the WIB unanimously.

  A motion by J. Smith, seconded by I. Fust, for the approval of the NoRTEC Plan modifications, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

   

• EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, LABOR MARKET INFORMATION DIVISION PRESENTATION

  Kathy Porter, North State Local Labor Market Consultant, introduced a number of other Labor Market Consultants present at the meeting; Arvis Curry (her Supervisor), Anita Alexandra, Brandy Daniel and Mary Mahoney. Ms. Porter presented a slide show of a cross section of labor market information pertinent to the NoRTEC member counties, and distributed related handout material to those present.

• APPROVAL OF NORTEC POLICIES

  C. Brown said that a number of old policies would have to revised and new ones developed to address changes and concerns raised by the new law; the Workforce Investment Act. He said these will be presented to the NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board as they are completed. The four on today's agenda are the first four ready for consideration by the members. After some discussion, the consensus was to operate under the current Signatory Authority policy until the next meeting, allowing time to consider and possibly modify the Signatory Authority policy submitted with the agenda for this meeting.

  A motion by M. Piller, seconded by T. Cochran, for the approval of the Procurement, Property Management, and Standards of Conduct policies, passed the WIB unanimously.

  A motion by G. Russell, seconded by B. Reiss, for the approval of the Procurement, Property Management, and Standards of Conduct policies, passed the Governing Board unanimously. 

• LOCAL MOU AND ONE STOP STATUS

  C. Brown said the only holdout left for getting all the local MOUs in place was the Department of Rehabilitation. He said he was recommending that the members accept a compromise proposal; NoRTEC will put a termination date of June 30, 2003, on our One Stop Memorandum of Understanding (Item III in the MOU), and use their language for an indemnification clause (Item VIII.Q. in the MOU). In return, Don Reacksecker, Regional Administrator for the Department of Rehabilitation, will work diligently with the One Stop Operators in each NoRTEC County to reach agreement with the other local partners for each of the local MOUs in the seven NoRTEC counties with a full time Rehabilitation presence.

  C. Brown said that, if agreeable, the Five Year Plan would also need to reflect this cooperative mode rather than the impasse we have been in. In addition, the local partners should be given an opportunity to comment on any changes made to the NoRTEC umbrella MOU.

  A motion by D. Beeson, seconded by T. Cochran, for the approval of the NoRTEC MOU modifications presented with the agenda, subject to local partner input, passed the WIB unanimously.

  A motion by G. Russell, seconded by E. McCain, for the approval of the NoRTEC MOU modifications presented with the agenda, subject to local partner input, passed the Governing Board with one no vote from J. Reese.

• STATUS OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS

  A number of potential funding opportunities were discussed, particularly one from the Employment Training Panel. C. Brown said he was working with the programs to develop an application for funding for a number of ETP projects, including Welfare to Work and Hard to Serve, for both classroom training and On The Job training (ETP refers to it as "Structured On Site Training").

  RECOMMENDED ACTION:

  A motion by M. Piller, seconded by B. Maffett, for the approval of the proposed Employment Training Panel project, and designating the NoRTEC Executive Director to negotiate and execute the agreement and subsequent amendments with the Employment Training Panel, passed the WIB unanimously.

  A motion by J. Smith, seconded by I. Fust, for the approval of the proposed Employment Training Panel project, and designating the NoRTEC Executive Director to negotiate and execute the agreement and subsequent amendments with the Employment Training Panel, passed the Governing Board unanimously.

• EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PERFORMANCE AND COMPENSATION

  This item was tabled until the next meeting. The Executive Committee will meet in the interim and present their recommendations to the full WIB and Governing Board.

• OLD BUSINESS

  The following Old Business items were briefly noted:

  1. NoRTEC received the "automatic designation" status as a Workforce Investment Area.
  2. The NoRTEC WIB and (temporary) Youth Council were approved by the Governor.
  3. The Department of Labor has waived further NoRTEC debt collection responsibilities in the case of the 1996 embezzlement in the Plumas County program (Phone call; no confirming letter yet).
  4. DOL will define "administrative costs" as anticipated/hoped for. Basically, the Programs do not charge any of their expenditures to administration.

• NEW BUSINESS

   

  1. The next WIB and Governing Board meeting is scheduled for October 26, 2000, during the Fourth Annual NCEN Conference at Konocti, October 24-27.
  2. J. Reese asked for opinions about re-scheduling meetings for lack of a quorum versus holding the meetings anyhow. He said his preference was to hold the meeting as initially planned. After some discussion, the general consensus was that it was more prudent to reschedule than to incur the expense of a meeting that would have to be held again.

   

• ADJOURNMENT

  There being no further Old or New Business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:45 PM.