The City of Birmingham Regional Water Works board has ended its relationship with a nonprofit organization that was assisting with programs aimed at building capacity for local firms to provide goods and services to the water works and at helping companies owned by women and minorities qualify to bid on such contracts.

With two members absent, the board voted 4-1 Monday to terminate all agreements with the Birmingham Business Resource Center. It rescinded a resolution a previous board approved Dec. 11 that had expanded the services BBRC provided and increased its monthly fee from $20,000 to $35,000.

“My understanding is that they had not produced a lot of results,” Phillip Wiedmeyer, board vice chairman, said after the meeting in explaining why the board decided to cancel all agreements with BBRC.

Wiedmeyer, who led the meeting in Chairman Tommy Hudson’s absence, said BBRC’s services provided an indirect rather than direct benefit to the water works in potentially increasing the number of bids the utility receives from contractors and suppliers.

“My understanding is their primary focus is in assisting minority and HUB (historically underutilized business) contractors with financing to help them become more financially stable as an organization, which – they could potentially bid,” Wiedmeyer said. “And that’s, in my opinion, a lot of money for that.”

Members of the regional board put in place in May, after a state law required a new, restructured board, have repeatedly expressed concerns about bid requests that attract only one bidder.

Attempts to reach BBRC have been unsuccessful. According to its LinkedIn page, the BBRC is a “one-stop shop” for small-business development, offering training, financing and technical assistance primarily for economically disadvantaged, minority- and women-owned businesses. One of the services listed on its website is vendor supplier development.

The BBRC’s founder and executive director is Bob Dickerson, who was vice president of A.G. Gaston’s Citizen’s Federal Savings Bank and was twice elected to chair the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, most recently leaving the post in March.

The board also voted to table paying the BBRC’s invoices for work in March, April and May until the water works’ attorneys provide an opinion on whether payment is due.

Board member Jeff Brumlow proposed rescinding the agreement because both parties had not signed it. Wiedmeyer said he didn’t know whether the lack of signature was a clerical issue. The previous board voted in late January and April to pay two BBRC invoices of $35,000 each for work performed in December 2024 through February 2025.

At the Dec. 11 meeting, that board also appointed a team to assess the advantages of conducting a disparity study to determine whether inequities in purchasing and contractor selection processes could be affecting minorities, women or other disadvantaged businesses.

The team was supposed to report back to the board by Jan. 31. The possibility of a disparity study did not appear on subsequent board meeting agendas.

In another related move during the Dec. 11 meeting, then-interim General Manager Darryl Jones announced that two new employees who would work to get more women- and minority-owned businesses qualified to provide services to the water works would join the staff Dec. 16.

Updating Payment Channel

Also Monday night the board voted to upgrade the utility’s payment channel by adding a service that will allow customers to see more details, including multiple meter reads, on their paper bills and in an online customer portal. Ratepayers should see those changes in 12 to 16 months, said Barry Williams, an assistant general manager for the water works.

The upgrade involves a one-time implementation fee of $537,425 and an annual licensing fee that is $450,676 for the first year. Williams said the water works hopes to negotiate a five-year agreement with Paymentus, the third party that collects customers’ payments, for the additional service.

Inland Lake Land Bought

The board also voted to purchase for $265,000 structures and improvements on lot 45 of property the board owns along the shores of Inland Lake in Blount County. Board member David Standridge, who was appointed by the Blount County Commission, abstained from the vote.

In a discussion during the board’s work session last week, water works external attorney Shan Paden told the new regional board that previous boards have been buying structures and improvements on 43 lots where houses were built in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. Those transactions also entail revoking licenses that were granted to private individuals to use and build on the lots.

Williams said protecting the watershed was the motivation for the purchases, and Paden said there were concerns about seepage from septic tanks.

Standridge said he needed more information before he would vote on purchasing improvements on additional lots. He said the houses, only three of which are accessible by road, are infrequently visited.

“My concern is whether there is significant environmental impact to offset the cost of what we’re doing,” Standridge said.

CEO Search Company Hired

The board also voted to hire Russell Reynolds Associates to lead the search for a chief executive of the water works. The board authorized during its July 7 meeting a search for a chief executive officer, a position the new state law requires. Hudson appointed himself, Wiedmeyer and Standridge as a committee to conduct the search, and the committee presented other board members with a proposal from Russell Reynolds Associates for approval.

Wiedmeyer said the search process should take no more than four months, Russell Reyolds would be paid 35% of the new CEO’s first-year salary, and part of the work would be to determine an appropriate salary range for the position.

“They’re going to be getting input to help us identify traits that are important for success, and part of that includes developing the compensation,” Wiedmeyer said.

Board Secretary Post Debated

Board members talked about searching for a board secretary, another position the new state law requires. Wiedmeyer said Hudson, who was absent because he was recovering from surgery, appointed Wiedmeyer, Jarvis Patton Sr. and himself as a committee to conduct the search.

Patton noted – and water works General Manager Mac Underwood confirmed – that an employee already performs many of the duties the law assigns to the secretary position. Anitra Clark is board administrator. Underwood said a currently vacant position of corporate compliance officer also includes board secretarial duties.

“So you have two administrative positions already set up in the executive area to do all of this,” Underwood said. “And I know what the bylaws say, but the board administrator could serve in that capacity and be responsible for the minutes. Otherwise you might have to hire another person to do the same thing that Anitra is kind of doing, so it’s just up to the board.”

Underwood said he sent an email with similar comments to board members last week.

Wiedmeyer said the board needs more timely preparation of meeting minutes and accountability needs to be with one person.

Because the board’s new attorneys have asked for a change in the format of the minutes, they can be produced faster in the future, Underwood said. Attorneys have asked that the minutes, which in the past have included discussion details, record only motions, seconds and votes, he said.

“My question is, is there a need for a committee?” Patton said. “And we have somebody that’s doing the job already.”

Discussion ended after Brumlow pointed out that the search committee could recommend a current employee to serve as the official board secretary.

Audit Report for 2024 Presented

Board members heard a presentation on the water works’ fiscal year 2024 audit report and asked questions about an inventory discrepancy the audit found.

The financial audit found no significant issues, said Andrew Waits with Carr, Riggs and Ingram LLC, but observation of inventory in October revealed a difference of approximately $600,000 in the value of items on the books and what was physically on hand, Waits said.

“It would be very common for there to be some differences in what’s on hand versus what’s on the books, just due to normal operations,” Waits said. “It did stand out as being a larger adjustment.”

In response, he said, water works managers have proposed observing inventory quarterly rather than annually.

Underwood said the 2024 audit did not include the discovery in May of an alleged employee theft of copper from a water works warehouse. At that time, Birmingham police investigated a group of employees after water works staff conducted an internal investigation and reported allegations to law enforcement.