Florida Governmental Ut¡lity Authority - FGUA

fMissiçn Staternent:
"The FCIIA provides rommunit¡es with high
value, cost effective utility and public facility
rnânagernent alternatives within a public
gÐvefnanfe strHcture which maximizes
custûrner service quality."
{adopted 6- I 3-08)
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Consistent with Vision Statement? Comments?
Amendments?
The Board discussed changes to the Missíon statement and theie
statement as follows:
was.a'iegnsensus of the Board to amend the
' ' :rrl .:ì : i'
"The FGUA provides communities with high value, cost effective utility managemeni alternatives within a public
goVernancestructurethatmaximizescustomerserviceqùâ¡itv,":.]....¡...]-.:
''' ::: ''
Mr. Crumpton stated that he is very pleased With,the work of GSeu,ln.C.ìanà U.S. Water. fV¡Sì.gal,(er agreed and stated
that the Board is very fortunate to have a very.pro.fessfonal and caÈâolë star.
Mr. Sheets addressed the Board and commenteri:,thát staff will put tògetfrer points of further discussion from the
session. He noted that there are not many who har¡e been with the FGUA since April 1999 and for clarification, Mr.
sheets stated that the
lfsjryr misgiän ot¡irre FGUÀwasio transition:privatd,sector utitities to pubtic
"*""-Ã'Åîò.'i'r-.'i'
word "warehousing" or "holding" was never part of the FQUA's,þission,s.tatement. lt was a conduit for those cities or
counties who wanted to takeiñeirsystemsl.out at somel'point after the:FGUA transition; and for those who had no
desire to manage thesystem or frad
no util'ities of their,ewn. The FGUA's mission was always to own and operate
utilities. Mr. Sheets stated that he beine-,the,,c.fosest thing to a FGUA historian wants to ensure that everyone
understands that for.,FGUA.tg'' oe a -waÈ,.e".,¡-l.q ie" roruti.!!i;;d *"ui ir.,L Ålàri*. The mission was to be a partner
3¡rd !9 acou{9.3isets'òonSiitenl with tñè lrost governments' needs, goats or ão¡".tiu"". Mr. Sheets stated that with
yi:Dif lle l,9UÀ
did not stick with üre goilimiõsion; r,òù¿üer, staff came to thé Board with rhe MacDill RFp feeting
that we could makea impactàÀd..gio. 19al
Mi¡igneets
rìi
also noted that the FGUA is not a private sector entity; it is a
government that uSesthe private sectoi.Jn terrné.oJ expansion, Mr. Sheets stated that the Board will need to make
that decision because g!.o( o.f p.egple w-!ö¡have
him regarding the FGUA are not ¡nvestor owned utilities;
they are cities and counties lookingto findvaysto ^aÞÞrôached operate in a more cost effective manner. Also, the FGUA Mission
Statement does not state that the FGUA wants to help communities up to no more than six. ln regards to the
comment on stafl being spreiad tg.o thiLt,,Mr. Sheets stated that becau'se of growth, we are a better staff than we
were before; staff is doing a bette,r.job today at three times the size than threã years ago at a third of the size. Mr.
Sheets stated that he hopes if theiF.GÙA brings in more systems, the Board would know that staff wiil make that
same investment to ensure service only gets better. ln regards to the governance model, Mr. Sheets stated the
original founding members of the FGUA wrote the lnterlocal Agreement in such a manner that if there are three
communities in each county, under the lnterlocal, they may create their own region. This would prevent having 1_2
members travelling around the state to attend meetings. Also, the mission statement says "utilities"; it does noisay
"water and sewer"- Mr. Sheets stated that there is more than one community that run their own electric systems and
are asking if the FGUA model could be used to help them. Under the current lnterlocal the FGUA cannot as it is
specific to water and sewer. However, staff may come to the Board to see if we want to be a conduit to assist them,
and we may have to modify the lnterlocal Agreement to do so. Mr. Sheets stated that he wants the Board to
understand the flexibility the FGUA has. The FGUA has been very successful; the successes are start¡ng to get out
there. Mr. Sheets stated that staff will respond to all the Board's concerns and feedback on what the eoå'rO s;óictsl',
Mr. Sheets noted that he has concerns with meeting via conference calls if the legislation passes, because he too
feels that we would lose something without the face-to-face dialogue.
February 23,2OL2 FGUA Strategic planning Session Minutes 14of 15