Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-02-14MINUTES ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2011 — 10:00 A.M. NORTH WING CONFERENCE ROOM - PALM DESERT CIVIC CENTER 73-510 FRED WARING DRIVE, PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER President Benson convened the meeting at 10:14 a.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Absences: Vice President John J. Benoit Commissioner Bill Luna Commissioner John M. Wohlmuth Commissioner Christopher Hans (Alternate) President Jean M. Benson Also Present: Justin McCarthy, ACM for Redevelopment, City of Palm Desert Paul S. Gibson, Director of Finance/City Treasurer/Authority Treasurer Leticia DeLara, District Director, 4th District Supervisor John J. Benoit Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk/Secretary III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES of the Regular Riverside County Palm Desert Financing Authority Meeting of October 4, 2010. Rec: Approve as presented. Upon a motion by Wohlmuth, second by Benoit, and 2-0-1 vote of the Authority Commission Board, with Benson ABSTAINING due to her not being part of the Authority Commission Board at that time, and Luna ABSENT, the Consent Calendar was approved as presented. V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None MINUTES ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY VI. NEW BUSINESS FEBRUARY 14, 2011 A. RESOLUTION NO. RCPDFA - 7 - A RESOLUTION OF THE AUTHORITY COMMISSION OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY, APPROVING AMENDED AND RESTATED BYLAWS (FEBRUARY 14, 2011) OF THE AUTHORITY. Responding to comment, staff said that this action memorialized the request for change in regular meeting dates from the first Monday of the month to the second at 10:00 a.m. Commissioner Wohlmuth moved to waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. RCPDFA - 7. Motion was seconded by Benoit and carried by 3-0 vote of the Authority Commission Board, with Luna ABSENT. B. CONSIDERATION OF AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO THE JOINT EXERCISE OF POWERS AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY — RELATIVE TO ALTERNATES ON THE BOARD OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY. Commissioner Wohlmuth moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Approve of proposed amended language in Section 30 of the Agreement; 2) forward recommendation for approval of Amendment No. 2 to the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors and Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency Board for their respective approvals. Motion was seconded by Benoit and carried by 3-0 vote, with Luna ABSENT. In answer to Ms. DeLara's question about providing a letter to designate either she (District Director) or the Supervisor's Chief of Staff each time the 4th District Supervisor may be absent from the Riverside County Palm Desert Financing Authority Meeting, Ms. Klassen believed that would not be necessary, as long as this Amendment to the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement is approved to specify this authority. However, she added that this Amendment needed to be approved by the Board of Supervisors and the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency Board before it would be effective. The action today recommending approval would be referred to both of those entities. Commissioner Wohlmuth added that this Amendment allows the ability to delegate authority to participate in the meetings to either 4th District Director DeLara or Chief of Staff DeArmond in the Supervisor's absence. 2 MINUTES ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY FEBRUARY 14, 2011 Vice President Benoit stated that his Primary Alternate would be 4'h District Director DeLara, and Chief of Staff DeArmond would only attend if Ms. DeLara could not. Commissioner Wohlmuth advised that if Ms. DeLara was designated as the Primary Alternate for the 4'h District Supervisor, should Ms. DeArmond attend the meeting instead, it would be necessary for her to bring a letter stating that she would be acting for the 4th District Supervisor as the Alternate for any given meeting. Vice President Benoit agreed to provide such a letter to the Authority Commission Board if neither he nor District Director DeLara could attend the meeting and Chief of Staff DeArmond did instead. C. REQUEST FOR AUDIT OF CITY OF PALM DESERT / PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PASS -THROUGH AGREEMENT. Vice President Benoit explained that the Riverside County Executive Office had an opinion about how the monies acquired through the existing Pass -through Agreement are to be handled; meanwhile he, along with former 4'h District Supervisors S. Roy Wilson and Corky Larson, had another opinion about how the money should be handled. He said although there may be some technical merit to the Executive Office's position; as a practical matter, he didn't think they were going to steal away the Coachella Valley's resources, especially with good accounting for tracking these funds. However, the County Executive Office did have a concern that the original Bylaws talked about having separate accounting for different portions of the fund. Mr. Gibson responded that Palm Desert tracks the funds in a separate account, but they're not in a separate bank account. He added that there are also sub - accounts that were created because of the bond issues and payments therefor, which are all met. However, he said if there was something else requested by the County, Palm Desert would be happy to entertain it. Vice President Benoit said he had not yet familiarized himself completely with all the details of the matter and whether or not the concern centered around separate bank accounts, or if they were aware of the internal separate accounting, which may be sufficient. Nonetheless, he said the County was of the opinion that the funds haven't been separated as cleanly as they should be, and they were requesting an audit to make sure. Mr. Gibson said the County Executive Office has been provided with a good deal of information —dozens of e-mails going back and forth in the last year. 3 MINUTES ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY FEBRUARY 14, 2011 Vice President Benoit acknowledged the effort extended by Palm Desert, but to alleviate any concerns, he and Commissioner Wohlmuth had come to an agreement to undertake an audit by a local outside firm to jointly make a one-time review of how the fund was set up, if the accounting was appropriate, and make corrections as necessary. Upon question, Commissioner Wohlmuth affirmed that the firm of Peterson, Slater & Osborne ("Peterson") was suggested, adding that staff made contact with Bruce Legawiec there, who agreed to perform the audit. With regard to the Audit Program, he had e-mailed 4th District Chief of Staff DeArmond with the items to be tested in the audit, asking her to add to or deduct from that list. He hadn't heard back. Ms. DeLara agreed to look into the matter and make sure that an answer was given. Mr. Gibson said the only concern expressed by Mr. Legawiec was timing —getting into tax season and not interfering with that part of their business —he requested that this get done prior to March 1. Mr. Gibson asked for the response back from the Supervisor's Office as soon as possible, so that the formal proposal can be provided by Mr. Legawiec. Vice President Benoit agreed to have an answer within the next day. Commissioner Wohlmuth noted that Commissioner Luna had also expressed interest in the RAP (Regional Access Project) Pass -through Agreement that was not currently part of the requested audit. He asked if that component should be added. Ms. DeLara agreed that the Executive Office has mentioned RAP as another account to be reviewed. Therefore, she felt it should be included, and Authority Commission Board Members concurred. Mr. Gibson noted that the only thing to keep in mind with RAP was that if Redevelopment disappears (as part of the Governor's Budget Proposal for eliminating Redevelopment), that money could disappear too, being tied directly into a Redevelopment Pass -through. Vice President Benoit didn't believe Redevelopment would disappear; and if it did, it wouldn't happen immediately, especially since nothing in writing had been provided as to what the State would do. Therefore, he was very confident that the audit would be performed long before the State made such a decision, pointing out that the subject issue was completely separate. He reiterated that he'd accepted Palm Desert's recommendation and passed it along to the County Executive Office, which had said it was fine and would go along with the Authority Commission Board's recommendation, including splitting the cost. 4 MINUTES ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY FEBRUARY 14, 2011 Ms. DeLara noted that the Executive Office did raise the issue of whether or not Peterson had a history of working with governmental agencies, to which she indicated that they did, and the Executive Office was satisfied. Commissioner Wohlmuth added that the reason Palm Desert recommended Peterson was because they weren't the City's or the County's auditors. Vice President Benoit remarked that Peterson performed audits on the Coachella Valley Enterprise Zone. Vice President Benoit moved to, by Minute Motion, proceed with the Independent Audit of the Pass -through as agreed, including splitting the cost, by the firm of Peterson, Slater & Osborne. Motion was seconded by Benson and carried by 3-0 vote, with Luna ABSENT. D. AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2010. Vice President Benoit moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the June 30, 2010, Financial Statements, subject to the aforementioned Independent Audit to be performed on the Pass -through by Peterson, Slater & Osborne. Motion was seconded by Wohlmuth and carried by 3-0 vote, with Luna ABSENT. NOTE: With Authority Commission Board concurrence, Items E and F of New Business were considered jointly. E. INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS' REPORT ON APPLYING AGREED -UPON PROCEDURES — COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE INVESTMENT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE — FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2010. Mr. Gibson stated that this information was provided by the County, which has control over the investments of the Trust Account where bond proceeds reside. Vice President Benoit moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Independent Accountants' Report. Motion was seconded by Wohlmuth and carried by 3-0 vote, with Luna ABSENT. F. INVESTMENT HOLDINGS REPORT FOR THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY FOR THE PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2010. Vice President Benoit moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Investment Holdings Report. Motion was seconded by Wohlmuth and carried by 3-0 vote, with Luna ABSENT. 5 MINUTES ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. PRESIDENT None B. VICE PRESIDENT None C. MEMBERS OF THE AUTHORITY None D. STAFF FEBRUARY 14, 2011 Ms. Klassen reminded everyone that from this point on, the regular Riverside County Palm Desert Financing Authority Meeting would be scheduled for the second Monday of the month at 10:00 a.m. X. ADJOURNMENT With Authority Commission Board concurrence, President Benson adjourned the meeting at10:25a.m. ATTEST: RA IEL D. KLASSEN-' ECRETARY RIVERSIDE COUNTY PALM DESERT FINANCING AUTHORITY 6