A Performance Audit of the Utah Telecommunication Open ...

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separate public body that must comply with the Utah Open andPublic Meetings Act.We reviewed the meeting minutes of the UTOPIA board ofdirectors and have identified numerous occasions in which the boardhas delegated to the executive committee certain tasks andresponsibilities. For example, the board asked the executive committeeto craft a compensation plan for staff and to develop a contract with amajor service provider. In one instance, the board asked the executivecommittee to discuss and finalize an agreement with a provider and tohold a separate vote on the matter. These actions provide evidence thatthe executive committee is a public body that has been given authorityto conduct the public’s business. It must therefore carry out itsresponsibilities during an open public meeting.Board Members Are Concerned about Protecting UTOPIA’sCommercial Information. Members of UTOPIA’s board and its staffhave asserted that the executive committee must conduct its businessduring a closed session in order to avoid disclosing the agency’scommercial information to its competitors. That information, theycontend, is protected under the Government Records AccessManagement Act. They believe that disclosing such information in apublic meeting would violate that act.UTOPIA may need toseek change inlegislation to protectcommercially sensitiveinformation in boardmeetings.We acknowledge that the authors of the Utah Open and PublicMeetings Act may not have envisioned a situation in which a publicenterprise, such as UTOPIA, may need to discuss protectedcommercial information in a closed meeting. If UTOPIA believesstrongly that they cannot comply with both statutes, they should askthe Legislature to consider addressing the problem in futurelegislation. However, at present, we do not believe that UTOPIA hasthe option of disregarding the Utah Open and Public Meetings Act.We therefore encourage the board to explore ways to conduct itsbusiness without disclosing confidential information.- 54 -A Performance Audit of the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (August 2012)
Board Should Rely on Its CommitteesUTOPIA’s board of directors should consider reinstating the threestanding committees it formed in 2008. During its October, 2008meeting, the board of directors discussed the need to provide theagency with greater oversight. In recognition of the need, the boardapproved a resolution creating three new oversight committees:Economic Development CommitteeFinance CommitteeNetwork Advancement CommitteeThe board expressed its justification for creating the committees inthe following statements:The Board is tasked with certain oversightresponsibilities to ensure the network fulfills its goals toaid in economic development. It is prudent forUTOPIA to study the economic development needs ofits members and ways in which the network can helpmeet these needs.In the past, the boardhas formedcommittees aimed atproviding oversight ofthe agency’s economicdevelopment, finances,and technology.The Board is also responsible for budgetary oversight ofUTOPIA’s operations. It is therefore imperative that theBoard remain vigilant over the financial condition ofUTOPIA.As part of this responsibility the Board shouldcontinuously seek methodologies through whichUTOPIA can better advance the deployment and publicawareness of the benefits of the network.The above statements suggest that the board of directors oncerecognized the need to provide the agency with greater oversight andguidance. For this reason, they created three additional oversightcommittees. However, UTOPIA staff report that the three committeesare no longer active.In view of the ongoing need to provide oversight of UTOPIAactivities, we recommend that the board of directors reinstate itscommittees and again provide the same oversight it has offered in thepast. However, to the extent that they are created by resolution andhandle the public’s business, the committees should be consideredWe recommend thatUTOPIA reinstatestanding committeesto strengthen boardinvolvement andoversight.Office of the Utah Legislative Auditor General - 55 -
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REPORT TO THEUTAH LEGISLATURENumber
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DigestA Performance Audit ofUtah Te
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Table of ContentsDigest ...........
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will be funded through UIA financin
Page 14 and 15: the organization’s general manage
Page 16 and 17: UTOPIA Did Not Reach Its Goal to Bu
Page 18 and 19: UTOPIA did notachieve its goal toco
Page 20 and 21: Figure 2.4 Summary of the Agencies
Page 22 and 23: efinancing, the maximum amount pled
Page 24 and 25: One consequence of the slow growth
Page 26 and 27: factors in deciding where to build.
Page 28 and 29: completed in a timely fashion and h
Page 30 and 31: Figure 2.10 Seven Years of Operatin
Page 32 and 33: Figure 2.11 By 2010, UTOPIA Had Spe
Page 34 and 35: plan did not anticipate the difficu
Page 36 and 37: end of 2010, 3,698 former subscribe
Page 38 and 39: Uncollected revenuesfrom retail pro
Page 40 and 41: agreed to provide UTOPIA with a $66
Page 42 and 43: As problems mounted, the board deci
Page 44 and 45: The data in Figure 3.2 shows that,
Page 46 and 47: As stated previously, two possible
Page 48 and 49: This Page Left Blank Intentionally-
Page 50 and 51: UTOPIA Has a New Development PlanAi
Page 52 and 53: Centerville and in its legacy areas
Page 54 and 55: UTOPIA shouldidentify specific area
Page 56 and 57: e applied. Not surprisingly, we fou
Page 58 and 59: act in its entirety. Also, the agen
Page 60 and 61: Manual, which describes how local a
Page 62 and 63: in public, the executive committee
Page 66 and 67: public entities that are subject to
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Page 78 and 79: Five‐Year Plan Summary 2Agency (U
Page 80 and 81: Five‐Year Plan Summary 4cities’
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