MINUTES
Regular
Meeting – Board of Trustees
In accordance with the terms and provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of Texas Government Code, the Board of Trustees of the Austin Community College District convened in public session on Monday, February 7, 2005, at 6:01 p.m. in the Board Room (201) of the Highland Business Center of Austin Community College located at 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Austin, Texas, with the following members present: Dr. Barbara P. Mink, Chair/Presiding Officer; Mr. John F. Hernandez, Board Vice Chair; Mr. Jeffrey Richard, Secretary; Dr. Lillian J. Davis [arrived at 7:55 p.m.]; Mr. Allen H. Kaplan; Ms. Nan McRaven; Mr. Rafael Quintanilla; Ms. Veronica Rivera; and Dr. John Worley.
It is
further found and determined that in accordance with the policies and orders of
this Board, the notice of this meeting has been posted and return thereof made
pursuant to the terms and provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter
551 of the Texas Government Code, and there has been full compliance with the
terms and provisions of said act, including the timely posting of the subjects
of this meeting.
Recognitions
·
New Employees:
Ms. Gerry Tucker, Associate Vice President, introduced new
employees: Mr. Bruce Davis, Project
Manager, Facilities Department; and Ms. Christina Ponce, Coordinator,
·
Trustee Allen Kaplan recognized Maxine Kaplan, College
employee, for her recent attainment of a Bachelor of Business Administration
degree.
·
Report on Achievements and Recognitions: Ms. Soon Merz,
Associate Vice President, presented the Kudos Report and called attention to
recent awards/recognitions received by faculty/programs, staff, students, and
Citizens
Communication
·
Dr. Terry Thomas, President of ACC/AFT, spoke
regarding Board policy review/shared governance process.
·
Mr. Mark Goodrich, ACC/AFT, spoke regarding
Board policy/shared governance process.
·
Ms. Betty Edgemond,
South Austin Campus Advisory Committee, spoke regarding the South Austin
Campus.
·
Dr. John Cise, ACC
Faculty, spoke regarding the need for a Physics lab at the Cypress Creek
Campus.
·
Ms. Guadalupe Sosa, Chair, South Austin Campus
Advisory Committee, spoke regarding the South Austin Campus.
Reports from
Associations
·
Adjunct Faculty Association – Mr. John Herndon,
President, spoke regarding the College’s Ethics and Fraud Hotline, Eastview Campus environmental concerns, and policy review.
·
Classified Employees Association –Mr. Mark
Goodrich spoke regarding the 3-year compensation plan; representation of
College associations at Board policy discussions, and called attention to the
Classified Employee’s March
·
Full-Time Faculty Senate – Mr. Larry Willoughby,
President, expressed appreciation to Dr. Barbara Mink for attendance at the
February 4 Faculty Senate meeting and spoke regarding Early College Start;
Board Policy F-10, Employee Compensation; and Board Policy C-4, Internal Employee
Associations.
·
Professional-Technical Employees
Association – Ms. Linda Morrison, President, spoke regarding the Association’s
Quarterly Meeting with Austin City Manager Toby Futrell;
and the Board policy review process.
·
Student Government
Association – Arthur Sanchez,
Director of SGA Communications, spoke regarding an upcoming fundraiser at the
Rio Grande Campus; and an ad hoc committee to address student issues.
President’s Administrative Report
No report was presented.
Financial
Report – December 2004
Mr. Ben Ferrell,
Vice President for Business Services, called attention to the November 2004
financial report noting that the College would have a positive balance of revenues versus
expenditures for the current fiscal year and would meet the expectations of the
Cash Reserves Board Policy G-6 or the corrective action plan requirements. He
stated there was a 1.4 percent increase in
enrollments. Mr. Ferrell responded to questions from
Trustees concerning average class size and facility needs if class sizes were
increased.
Reports
to the Board
·
Monthly Construction Update – Mr. Ferrell
called attention to the update on current construction and renovation projects
including: Eastview
Health Sciences, parking expansion, Cypress Creek Campus design, South Austin
Campus design, expansion of parking at Northridge Campus; Rio Grande land use
with the City of Austin; Pinnacle parking expansion; Mr. Ferrell responded to questions from
Trustees regarding negotiations regarding the Pinnacle Campus parking; the need
for a decision regarding whether this project would happen; and possible
reallocation of the dollars; and a possible timeframe for the availability of
the design for the Cypress Creek Campus Expansion.
CONSENT
AGENDA
Chair Mink introduced the Consent Agenda:
Agenda
Item 8015
Proposed
Approval of Minutes of the
Recommendation: That
the Board of Trustees approve the minutes as
presented.
Agenda
Item 8016
Proposed
Acceptance of Fiscal Year 2004 External Audit/Management Letter
Recommendation: That the Board of Trustees accept the Fiscal
Year 2004 Financial Audit Report conducted by Garza/Gonzalez & Associates,
CPAs, San Antonio, Texas, which notied the
unqualified opinion that the financial statements present fairly in all
material respects the financial position of the College as of August 31, 2004,
and were prepared in conformity with applicable accounting and auditing
standards for governmental colleges and universities in the United States.
Agenda
Item 8017
Proposed
Approval of Geomatrix Consultants for Environmental
Services
Recommendation: That
the Board of Trustees consider approval of Geomatrix Consultants to perform the environmental services
necessary at the Eastview Campus.
Board Secretary Jeffrey Richard requested that Agenda Item
8017, Proposed Approval of Geomatrix Consultants for
Environmental Services, be pulled from the Consent Agenda for discussion.
Trustees Allen Kaplan moved and Nan McRaven
seconded that:
MOTION: The Board of
Trustees approve Agenda Item 8015, Proposed Approval of Minutes of the of the January
18, 2005, Regular Meeting; January 24, 2005, Special Meeting; and January 24,
2005, Work Session of the Austin Community College Board of Trustees, and
Agenda Item 8016, Proposed Acceptance of Fiscal Year 2004 External
Audit/Management Letter.
VOTE: The motion
passed on a unanimous vote of 8-0.
FOR: Dr. Lillian
J. Davis, Mr. John F. Hernandez, Mr. Allen H. Kaplan, Ms. Nan McRaven, Dr. Barbara P. Mink, Mr. Rafael Quintanilla, Mr.
Jeffrey Richards, Ms. Veronica Rivera, and Dr. John Worley.
AGAINST: None.
ABSENT: Trustee Lillian Davis was absent for the
vote.
Agenda
Item 8017
Proposed
Approval of Geomatrix Consultants for Environmental
Services
Mr. Ben Ferrell
introduced Cathy Heald, ACC Office of Environmental Health
and Safety, and Mr. Phil Bullock, Geomatrix
Consultants. Mr. Bullock responded to
questions from Trustees regarding Geomatrix’s current
Agreement with the City of Austin, a master list within which the City of
Austin could select a vendor within a certain period of time; the specific time
period; whether Geomatrix currently had any other
contracts with the City of Austin not including the master list; value of the
contract; how many personnel Geomatrix had in Austin;
and if ACC and the City were at odds and both required the expert services of Geomatrix, for which entity could Geomatrix
be an expert witness.
Trustees Richard moved and Allen Kaplan seconded that:
MOTION: That the
Board of Trustees direct the President to research a list of qualified vendors
in the same specialty area as Geomatrix, and to
identify at least one other that is not currently engaged by the City of Austin
for similar environmental services, or is not on the master rotation list of
the City of Austin for such services, such that the City of Austin could not
engage said firm during the same time that it is being engaged by Austin
Community College. The motion was made
out of an abundance of caution to avoid a conflict of interest that either
currently exists, or that might easily exist if the same firm was retained by
two entities that might be involved in litigation with one another.
Dr. Robert Aguero, College President, and Ms. Heald
responded to additional questions from Trustees regarding the cost of the work
performed by Geomatrix Consultants to date regarding
the Eastview Campus landfill site and whether the
work was performed voluntarily or under an Order. Dr. Aguero provided
information regarding the testing performed.
Mr. Ferrell commented on a current Request for Proposal (RFP) for
remediation. Trustees expressed the need
to employ a contractor which had no contract with the City of Austin, the need
to have no potential for a conflict of interest, length of the contract, and
what would be done.
Trustee McRaven moved and Trustee
Kaplan seconded that:
MOTION: The Board of
Trustees table this item until the
VOTE: The motion for
postponement of item until February 21, 2005, passed on a vote of 5-3.
FOR: John Hernandez,
AGAINST: Allen
Kaplan, Rafael Quintanilla, and Jeffrey Richard.
ABSENT: Trustee
Lillian J. Davis was absent for the vote.
Trustee McRaven asked that when
this item is again placed on the Board agenda that the Administration request Geomatrix Consultants to recuse
themselves of any support for the City of Austin and that Geomatrix
Consultants support Austin Community College in any potential litigation.
ITEMS
FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION
Agenda
Item 8019
U[date on South Austin Campus
Dr. Mink
introduced the item.
Recess
Dr. Mink recessed the February 7, 2005, Regular meeting of the
Board of Trustees of Austin Community College at 7:30 p.m. to consult with
legal counsel regarding pending or contemplated litigation or a settlement
offer pursuant to Government Code 551.072.
Reconvene
The Board of Trustees of Austin Community College
reconvened in public session at
Agenda
Item 8018
Update
on
Dr. Mink stated
that all interested parties were asked to attend the meeting to receive a unified
report from the South Austin Campus Advisory Committee in terms of the
consensus of the Committee and seven or eight redesigns of the front of the
Campus; representatives from the PageSutherlandPage
Architects; and representatives from American Constructors, the manager at risk
for the South Austin Campus. She
emphasized that the Board wanted to hear a report, problem solve, and to
hopefully move the project forward in a timely manner, on budget, and on time.
Dr. Aguero proposed that the South Austin Campus Advisory
Committee provide recommendations concerning the building design and that the
architects and construction manager respond to questions from the Board.
Ms. Guadalupe
Sosa introduced Committee members in attendance: Ms. Betty Edgemond,
Mr. Richard Cilley, Ms. Colleen Nance, Mr. Jeff
Jacks, and Tom Huver.
Ms. Sosa provided the following thoughts, reached by a consensus of the
Committee, and stated that the thoughts did not constitute a formal
recommendation:
1.
“ The long delays and
drawn out process to build the South Austin Campus have been disappointing;
2.
The box redesign of the building is unsatisfactory;
3.
The South Austin Campus Advisory Committee (SACAC) cannot
endorse the current unattractive façade of the building;
4.
The SACAC cannot support compromising the square footage or
functional programs for students;
5.
The SACAC cannot support compromising the timeline for
opening a full operating campus by August 2006;
6.
We wish there were more funds available for the South Austin
Campus as that would truly allow us to address all the issues and keep the
promises that have been made to the South Austin community;
7.
The SACAC has considered the consequences of recommending
that the South Austin Campus be abandoned.”
“Whatever the ACC
Board of Trustees decides regarding the South Austin Campus, we expect to work
with ACC, PSP (PageSutherlandPage) and ACI (American
Constructors Inc.) on applying available funds, after the Guaranteed Maximum
Price (GMP) has been finalized, up to $21 million dollar allocation toward
improving the exterior of the South Austin Campus and the building entrances,
especially the main entrance facing Stassney Lane.”
Mr. Cilley, Committee member, distributed possible building
redesigns for the project to move forward in a more acceptable fashion. He called for an aesthetically pleasing
building while allowing the project to move forward with a functional program
to serve the students in South Austin.
He asked the Board to look at coming forward to resolve the difficulties
and move to get the facility on line, on time.
Ms. Betty Edgemond commended the use of a community advisory
committee.
PageSutherlandPage and American Constructors spoke
regarding the redesign and funding needs for the South Austin Campus.
PageSutherlandPage representatives Matt Kreisle and Larry Speck responded to questions from
Trustees concerning the original design, total funding in the amount of $21
million, and the redesign.
Gary Keil and Marty Burger, American
Constructors, Inc., responded to questions from
Trustees regarding the $21 million budget, the need for the signed GMP, and
construction of the campus. It was noted
that there was currently approximately $350,000 available within the $21
million budget to enhance the building.
Trustees Nan McRaven moved and
Allen Kaplan seconded that:
ORIGINAL MOTION: The
Board of Trustees move the $650,000 bond money for the
Pinnacle Campus parking lot to be used for parking for the
Mr. Quintanilla
stated that the Board would like for the project to move forward to open on
schedule, on the current schedule; and
for the budget to be as close to the $21 million as approved by the voters for
the Campus. However, in making sure that
there are appropriate arrangements made to make the building more attractive, a
bond package was put together without having a design. In order to move things forward, we need to
add additional money to the original budget.
Mr. Quintanilla proposed the following Friendly Amendment:
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT:
The Board’s intent is to move forward to get the building
built by August 2006, that there be some redesign, that the parts of the
program package remain intact as the Committee has recommended, and that we work
very hard to finish this redesign process and the actual construction on
schedule.
Ms. McRaven and Mr. Kaplan
accepted the Friendly Amendment.
Trustees
discussed the proposed motion, the Pinnacle Campus parking lot, any authority
for redesign of the Campus and shared governance, additional money for room to
design the Campus to look like something ACC would be proud of.
Trustee John Worley moved and Trustee Richard seconded that:
SUBSTITUTE MOTION:
The Board of Trustees postpone action on this item until the March 7,
2005, Board meeting.
VOTE: The motion
failed on a vote of 7-2.
FOR: Jeffrey Richard
and John Worley
AGAINST: Lillian
Davis, John Hernandez, Allen Kaplan,
Dr. Worley stated
his expectation would be to receive comments from the College community and the
Pinnacle campus staff regarding the parking lot issue and from the
Administration regarding a definitive answer as to whether this is a realistic
possibility so Trustees would know whether the $650,000 could be moved without
adverse consequences to ACC and the Pinnacle Campus. This would be a one-month delay.
Trustee Rivera moved and Jeffrey Richard seconded that:
SUBSTITUTE MOTION:
The Board of Trustees direct the Administration
to sign the GMP with the $350,000 to be used for enhancement of the appearance
of the building, and with instructions to the Administration to come back on
Trustees
discussed the Board’s authority to instruct the Administration to sign a GMP.
Ms. Rivera withdrew the Substitute Motion and Mr. Richard
withdrew the second to the motion.
Ms. McRaven asked what it would take to do some of the
redesign, expand the windows, add lights to the
building. What is the range it would
take to make these changes? Architect
Larry Speck approximated the cost for increasing the size of the windows and a
redesigned entrance to the building would cost approximately $1,000,000.
Trustee McRaven
withdrew her Original Motion and Allen Kaplan withdrew his second to the
Original Motion.
Trustee Rafael moved and Allen Kaplan seconded that:
MOTION: That the
project move forward; stay as close to the $21,000,000 budget as possible; meet
functional, programmatic designs in place now; to continue to work with the
South Austin Campus Advisory Committee to reach agreement on the issue of
design; and if additional funds are needed, the item could be placed on the
March 7, 2005, agenda to include a proposal regarding where the money would
come from and how much it would take.
Many people were working in good faith to make this happen. The President would have one month to make
this happen.
President Aguero stated that four of the five points made by Mr.
Quintanilla were unchanged; however, he was not aware of the needed
improvements to the design and the possibility of additional funding.
Trustees
discussed Phase 1 and Phase II environmental testing at the South Austin Campus
with possible concurrence by the City of
VOTE: The motion
passed on a vote of 8-1.
FOR: Lillian Davis,
John Hernandez, Allen Kaplan,
AGAINST: None.
ABSTAINING: Jeffrey Richard.
Mr. Pete
Montoya, American Constructors, Inc., provided
information regarding the Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs), participation in the project.
Agenda
Item 8019
Early
College Start Program/Fee Structure
Dr. Mink
introduced the item and Mr. Ben Ferrell introduced members of the Advisory
Committee for Finance and Budget, Mr. Hunter Ellinger
and Ms. Kim Edwards. Mr. Ellinger distributed information from an earlier report on
Early College Start and Ms. Edwards provided an update concerning the work of
the Committee and the Committee’s recommendations concerning the Early College
Start Fee: (A) leave the policy as is with no change, or (B) charge reduced
tuition to certain students.
Trustee John Hernandez moved and Jeffrey Richard seconded
that:
MOTION: That the
Board of Trustees, starting with courses offered in Fall Semester 2005, ACC
shall charge $25 to Early College Start students, except for those who meet at
least one of these criteria:
I.
are residents of
the taxing district,
II.
would qualify
for the federal lunch-subsidy program, or meet other Early College Start
financial need criteria set by the administration, or
III.
are participating in a class at their high school.
Trustee Rivera requested a Friendly Amendment:
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT:
That the Board of Trustees, starting with courses offered in January
2006 . . . .; Add: Recommendation #2
- gather more information on Early College Start participants; and Add: Pursue Cost Sharing Arrangements with Local
School Districts.
Trustee Hernandez accepted the Friendly Amendment.
Trustee Jeffrey Richard did not accept the Friendly Amendment.
Trustee Nan McRaven moved and
Trustee Veronica Rivera seconded that:
SUBSTITUTE MOTION:
That the Board of Trustees, starting with courses offered in Fall
Semester 2005, ACC shall charge $40 per course to out-of-district
Early College Start students, except for those who meet at least one of these
criteria:
I.
are residents of
the taxing district,
II.
would qualify
for the federal lunch-subsidy program, or meet other Early College Start
financial need criteria set by the administration, or
III.
are participating in a class at their high school.
·
Add the
Committee’s Recommendation 2: Gather
more information on ESC participants; and
·
Add the
Committee’s Recommendation 3: Pursue
Cost Sharing Arrangements with Local School Districts.
Trustee Quintanilla requested a Friendly Amendment:
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT:
Delete: “II. Would qualify for the federal lunch-subsidy
program, or meet other
Trustees Veronica Rivera and
VOTE: The motion
passed on a vote of 8-1.
FOR: Lillian Davis,
John Hernandez, Allen Kaplan, Barbara Mink, Rafael Quintanilla, Jeffrey
Richard, Veronica Rivera, and John Worley.
AGAINST:
Trustees
expressed appreciation and applauded the work of the Advisory Committee on
Finance and Budget, especially the economic model showing the indirect cost and
the social equity information.
Agenda
Item 8020
Declaration
of Program Priorities for Fiscal Year 2006
This item was
postponed until the March 7, 2005, Board meeting.
Agenda
Item 8021
College
Priorities for President
This item was
postponed until the March 7, 2005, Board meeting.
Agenda
Item 8022
Policy
Review Discussion
This item was postponed
until the March 7, 2005, Board meeting.
Agenda
Item 8023
Recommendation
of CB Richard Ellis for Real Estate Services for
This item was
postponed until the March 7, 2005, Board meeting.
Agenda
Item 8024
Informal
Evaluation of College President
Dr. Mink
introduced the item.
Recess
Dr. Mink recessed the
Reconvene
The Board of Trustees of Austin Community College
reconvened in public session at 10:56 p.m. on Monday, February 7, 2005,
pursuant to Texas Government Code 551.
Announcements
There were no announcements.
Adjournment
Having
no motion before the Board, the February 7, 2005, Regular Meeting of the Austin
Community College Board of Trustees was adjourned at
Approved By
Jeffrey
Richard, Secretary