April 23, 2003 Meeting Notes

Ownership, Governance and Management Subcommittee
Summary Points

Group Objective: The objectives of this sub-committee are 1) to explore, evaluate and recommend ownership and governance approaches and structures for the Kerr-Tar Hub, and 2) to explore, evaluate and recommend a management approach and structure for the Kerr-Tar Hub.

Subcommittee Members:
Weldon Capps, Warren County EDC Chairman
Steve Carpenter, Person County Manager
Garland Elliott, Vance Granville Community College
Jackson Elliott, Piedmont Community College
Richard Self, Franklin County Manager
Leon Turner, Granville County Economic Development Director
Danny Wright, Vance County Commissioner

Committee Coordinator – Rick Seekins, COG Staff

Meetings Held: March 31, 2003 and April 23, 2003. Both meetings were held at the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments.

I. Subcommittee Discussion and Progress

• Established principles of sound ownership, governance, and management, including:
  
  • Continuity and consistency of leadership
  • Sharp, clear-headed governing board
  • Long-term stability
  • County managers, who are the chief administrative and fiscal agents for their counties, and are accountable to their commissions, should be a major part of the governance board
  • Benefits from the project relate to the investment/cost for each partner
    
• Identified issues to be considered and addressed, including
  
  • “What it is” is more important than “where it is”.
  • Investments may take a long time to make returns on investment.
  • Host county could lose property tax base, but gain in sales tax, etc.
  • In this ‘home rule’ state, the General Assembly needs to give permission to create a new government/revenue generating entity
  • Responsibilities of governance (such as law enforcement, fire protection, waste management, etc.) need to be examined in tandem with authority, and
  • Partners in the Hub are investing, not simply covering costs.
    
• Discussed models and operating options, focusing on ownership and governance, deciding that management would be considered later, but is largely dependent on the format for ownership and governance.

II. Recommendations to the Full Committee

• We suggest a “private investment” model for ownership, with level of return on investment linked to level of investment, with “investment” to be defined and refined at later meeting. Could include money, infrastructure, lost revenue, etc.
  
• The partnership of ownership concept needs expansion to include municipalities, utilities, academic institutions, and other groups that are both interested and appropriate; to be refined further at later meeting.
  
• The governance concept should include professional staff of investors (such as City/county managers, academic vice-presidents, utility managers, etc.); the governance group would be the primary liaison between the ownership/investor policy makers and the management policy implementers.
  
• The management concept will probably include involvement of EDC Directors and other partner equivalent professional staff; it was decided that management needs to wait until ownership and governance concepts are more fully developed.

III. Next Steps

• The Subcommittee decided that it needs expert resource assistance in legal and organizational matters and is arranging for such resources to attend future meetings.
  
• It realizes that its considerations are in many ways dependent on actions in other sub-committees and looks forward to exchanging ideas and concepts with the other groups.

IV. Next Meeting

Date and Time: Friday, May 16, 2003, 9:00 A.M.
Place: Kerr Tar Council of Governments
Agenda: Further refinement of the above, based on feedback at 4/28 meeting.