Call to Order and Roll Call
The 5th meeting of the Capital Planning Advisory Board was held on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, at 10:00 AM, in Room 171 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Terry Mills, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Stan Humphries, Co-Chair, Representative Terry Mills, Co-Chair, Senator Whitney Westerfield, Representative Tom Riner, Charles Byers, Jane Driskell, Laurie Dudgeon, Carole Henderson, John Hicks, Mary Lassiter, Dan Markwell, and Katie Shepherd.
LRC Staff: Shawn Bowen, Katherine Halloran, and Jennifer Luttrell.
Approval of Minutes
A motion to approve the minutes of the August 19 and September 15 meetings was made by Mr. Hicks, seconded by Ms. Lassiter, and approved by voice vote.
2016-2022 Statewide Capital Improvements Plan
The one item of business was approval of the 2016-2022 Statewide Capital Improvements Plan. The capital plan consists in part of policy recommendations and individual state-funded project recommendations selected by members. The policy recommendations were reviewed and approved by the board at its September 15 meeting and included the following: funding for the Budget Reserve Trust Fund in an amount that represents 5 percent of general fund revenues, adequate funding for state agency maintenance pools, endorsement of the Council on Postsecondary Education’s multibiennium approach for financing capital needs of the postsecondary institutions, and endorsement of the Commonwealth Office of Technology’s approach to developing enterprisewide business solutions for capital information technology projects. The individual project recommendations included 47 state general fund projects in three categories: maintenance and renovation of existing facilities, information technology, and new construction. As in the past, both the policy and project recommendations address the high priority the board places on maintenance of existing facilities.
Representative Mills discussed his concerns with one project recommendation, the University of Kentucky Facilities Renewal and Modernization project. This $250 million project establishes a pool of funds to address certain facilities on campus that require modernization. The pool is comprised of $125 million agency bonds and $125 million state general funds, and the proposed projects will cost $600,000 or more. After the August meeting, the university was asked to provide additional information regarding this project. Specifically, the university was requested to provide a list of the projects and the dollar amounts for each. Additional information was provided, however, the proposed projects and corresponding dollar amounts were not identified.
Representative Mills said he realized there was a need for this project, and noted that the $125 million general fund request was comparable to amounts requested by the other universities. He commended the other universities for submitting projects with a level of detail that is needed, however, he said the lack of information provided for the University of Kentucky Facilities Renewal and Modernization project was cause for concern. He explained that projects submitted during the planning process with incomplete or scant details may impart a negative message about the capital planning process in general and the amount of detail that is required in project descriptions. He added that the lack of transparency in this instance was an issue as well; the public is entitled to know how state tax dollars will be spent.
Representative Mills said after meeting with university officials and receiving additional details about the project, the co-chairs agreed to include the project in the capital planning process. Senator Humphries added that after the co-chairs met with university officials there was a level of assurance gained regarding the project. He echoed Representative Mills’ comments regarding the need for this project, and said he appreciated Representative Mills’ hard work on this issue.
Representative Mills said that, to ensure the proposed projects are reported to the board, additional language was added to the University of Kentucky Facilities Renewal and Modernization project description: This project is included in this plan with the understanding that prior to the submission by the Governor of his proposed 2016-2018 Budget of the Commonwealth, the University of Kentucky will provide to the Capital Planning Advisory Board and to the chairs of the Appropriations and Revenue Committee, a list of the proposed buildings that will be addressed from this pool authorization. The university is currently in the process of completing a condition analysis and needs assessment with respect to this project. The results are not yet final, but will be completed before the final list is submitted.
Representative Mills said the capital plan meets the statutory requirements of KRS Chapter 7A and focuses on the needs of the agencies and the universities. Both he and Senator Humphries then expressed appreciation to the board’s staff for their guidance and to the members for their participation.
There was a motion made by Ms. Lassiter, seconded by Representative Riner, and adopted by roll call vote to approve the draft 2016-2022 Statewide Capital Improvements Plan, including the policy recommendations and the state-funded project recommendations. The motion also included the authorization for staff to make the necessary editing changes in finalizing the plan for publication.
Adjournment
With there being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:25 AM.