Quarterly Meeting of the State Committee of Vendors

Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Conference Call

Chairman James Warth called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m. Vice Chairman Alton Palmore called the role.

The following individuals were present:
James Warth, Chairman
Alton Palmore, Vice Chairman 

District Representatives: Georgia Kellogg, District 1; Terri Lindstrom, District 3; Darryl Brinton, District 4; David Stevens, District 5; Phi Hubbard, District 6; Sead Bekric, District 7; Steve Barnes, District 8; Joel Rose, District 9.  District 2 and District 10 were not represented.

Bureau of Business Enterprise Staff: Bill Findley, Bureau Chief; Maureen Fink, Operations Manager; Alan Risk, Compliance Officer; Tony Arduengo, Region 4 Business Consultant; Alejandro Garcia, Region 6 Business Consultant; Janet Chernoff, Administrative Services Consultant.

Licensed Vendors: Mike McCrea; District 3 Alternate; Joey Garcia, District 7 Alternate, David Kaplan, District 9 Alternate.

On September 13, 2018 an email was sent out to Committee members and the Bureau of Business Enterprise (BBE) staff advising them that a special meeting was to be held via conference call to discuss creation of a new facility and the reconfiguration of current facilities in Region 4. It had been determined that this could not wait until the regularly scheduled meeting in December. The meeting was originally scheduled for September 19, 2018 but was postponed until September 26, 2018 because of scheduling conflicts of some of the participants. Information on the proposed changes were emailed along with the meeting notification.

Bill Findley explained that Facility 605, VA vending in Tampa was originally planned as a VA only facility. The division was given notice of a proposed VA bed tower in 2012. Nothing has been done with this location until this year and it is expected not to be completed for three more years. Another additional VA clinic is also planned to open in South Tampa in 2019. The Division is proposing to add Facility 605 to Facility 396, Tampa vending route. The operator of Facility 396 is willing to give up the micro-market at the Federal Timberlake facility, the commercial kitchen and vending at 1313 Tampa Street and the Sam Gibbons building. An additional micro-market is planned for the Sam Gibbons building and is expected to be installed later this year. These locations will be combined into a new facility. Facility 605 is geographically located in the area of the second Tampa vending route, Facility 161. The operator of that facility has confirmed in writing that he has no interest in adding the facility to his route.

Joel Rose asked about the expected sales for both Facility 605 and that the new facility that is being proposed.  Sales at the three locations that would make up the new facility are currently $98,000 per year. When the new micro-market is installed they are expected to increase to $120,000. Sales at Facility 605 are currently $70,000 a year but are expected to increase in the next couple of years with the addition of the clinic and bed tower.

Joel Rose made the motion that Facility 605 be added to Facility 396 and that three locations from Facility 396 (1313 N. Tampa Street, 501 N. Polk Street and 801 N. Florida Avenue) be used to create a new facility. Seconded by Sead Bekric. The Chairman asked members if there were any questions about the motion. Darryl Brinton asked about the geographic location of the South Hillsborough VA clinic that is expected to be added next year. This location is geographically in the area served by Facility 396. The Chairman called for a voice vote by district. The motion passed 7 – 1. District 6 voted no and Districts 2 and 10 were not represented.

Bill Findley asked about the timeline for the transition and Maureen indicated that the transition would be done by the end of the year. Maureen also recommended that the transitions be done at the same time and that the new facility be advertised as a Type II. Sead Bekric asked Jim Warth, the current operator of Facility 396 if he would be able to handle both Facility 605 and 396 until an operator was selected for the new facility.  There was a brief discussion about an employee of the operator who is a recently licensed vendor. Alan Risk stopped the discussion as it was off topic and involved the selection of an operator for the new facility. After further discussion it was determined that a Type II would be sent out immediately with a planned transition on December 1, 2018. This would give ample time to allow the selected operator to get the required clearances for the building. Sead Bekric asked about the expansion possibilities for the new facility. No new locations would be added as those would go to the existing routes. The new operator would have an opportunity to increase the sales by expanding the product line in the micro-market and looking at opportunities to provide catering services. Sead confirmed that the reorganization would not impact storage for Facility 396. 

Joel Rose made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Steve Barnes. Adjourned at 4:44pm.

 

Return to top of page

DISCLAIMER: Links on the Florida Division of Blind Services (DBS) website that are directed toward websites outside the DBS, provide additional information that may be useful or interesting and are being provided consistent with the intended purpose of the DBS website. DBS cannot attest to the accuracy of information provided by non-DBS websites. Further, providing links to a non-DBS website does not constitute an endorsement by DBS, the Florida Department of Education or any of its employees, of the sponsors of the non-DBS website or of the information or products presented on the non-DBS website.