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Houston Forensic Science Center, Inc., Board of Directors met Dec. 10.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
1. CALL TO ORDER:
At 9 a.m., Board Chairwoman Stacey Mitchell called the meeting to order.
| The Houston Forensic Science Center, Inc. (“HFSC” and/or the “corporation”) board of directors (the “board”) convened this in-person meeting on Friday, December 10, 2021 in the City Hall Council Annex Chamber, 900 Bagby St. (public level), Houston, Texas 77002. In a manner permitted by the corporation’s bylaws, the meeting was called by providing all directors with notice of the date, time and purpose of the meeting at least three days before the scheduled date.
In accordance with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code (Texas Open Meetings Act) a notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board located on the exterior wall of the City Hall building at 901 Bagby on December 7. |
The following board members were present in-person:
| Chairwoman Stacey Mitchell |
| Vice Chairwoman Mary Lentschke |
| Philip Hilder |
| Francisco Medina |
| Vanessa Goodwin |
| Ellen Cohen |
| Lois Moore |
| Vicki Huff |
| Tracy Calabrese |
Anna Vasquez
Chairwoman Mitchell declared a quorum was present noting that all members were physically present.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Chairwoman Mitchell gave members of the public an opportunity to address the board. No members of the public addressed the board.
4. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PRIOR MEETING: Following a motion by Director Lois Moore and seconded by Director Ellen Cohen, the board unanimously approved the November 12, 2021 meeting minutes.
5. CHAIRWOMAN MITCHELL’S REPORT
The chairwoman noted that the event planning committee planned several fun activities for staff, including the annual holiday party on December 18 at Revelry on Richmond. She encouraged all members to attend. The corporation does not use taxpayers’ dollars for such events, and so the chairwoman requested board members make monetary donations to help pay for the party.
Next, she announced HFSC recently launched a new website that utilizes a shorter domain name, www.hfsctx.gov. Some of the website updates on the homepage make it more user-friendly and for the first time in HFSC’s history, all board members’ pictures will be on the website.
She reminded members to review the detailed data from the previous month and take note of the challenges HFSC is facing on several fronts.
6. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF BOARD RESOLUTION 2021-001 SETTING MEETINGS: Pursuant to the corporation’s bylaws, the board considered a resolution to change its schedule of regular meetings from monthly to every other month. Chairwoman Mitchell reminded the board that the resolution still allows them to call special and emergency meetings as needed. She then opened the floor for further discussion or questions. The board discussed the reasoning behind the proposed new schedule and Chairwoman Mitchell stated the change would reduce redundancy in staff reports allowing them to see trends over longer periods of time. She also acknowledged that HFSC’s well-established infrastructure and leadership make the monthly board meetings less necessary. Lastly, Chairwoman Mitchell noted that if the board subsequently decided the new schedule was ineffective, the board could decide to revert back to monthly meetings.
Director Moore made a motion to approve board resolution 2021-001, to schedule the regular meeting of the board every other month, starting in January 2022. Director Francisco Medina seconded the motion, and the board unanimously approve board resolution 2021-001.
7. CLOSED MEETING/EXECUTIVE SESSION
The board convened in a closed meeting, also referred to as executive session. The executive session was held in accordance with Texas Government Code Sections 551.071 and 551.074(a), for the purpose of consulting with the corporation’s attorney and discussing Dr. Peter Stout, president and CEO’s employment agreement.
Chairwoman Mitchell closed the open meeting at 9:11 a.m. and convened the executive session.
8. RECONVENE INTO OPEN MEETING:
At 9:24 a.m., Chairwoman Mitchell reconvened the open meeting. She announced a quorum was present.
9. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A FIVE-YEAR EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT FOR DR. PETER STOUT:
The chairwoman first reminded members that they discussed extending or renewing Dr. Stout’s agreement in July and authorized her and her designees to act on behalf of the board to negotiate a new agreement. She announced the corporation and Dr. Stout had reached a final agreement and requested the members consider those changes as presented. She added that the new contract would go into effect Jan. 13, 2022, and end January 2027. She noted Dr. Stout’s salary would remain the same though his purchasing authority would increase from $200,000 to $300,000 to reflect the cost of several technologies and equipment that HFSC routinely purchases. Pursuant to the agreement, the chairwoman will receive notice from Dr. Stout regarding purchases over $200,000. She stated the board will update relevant HFSC’s policies and board resolutions to reflect this change and resolve those items at a later board meeting.
Director Philip Hilder then made a motion to approve a five-year employment agreement between HFSC and Dr. Stout to continue serving as president and CEO, and Director Moore seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved the motion.
10. CONSIDER AUTHORIZING AN AGREEMENT WITH MATTERPORT FOR 3D TECHNOLOGY:
Dr. Stout began by sharing that HFSC continues to look for ways to make crime scene analysts’ work less manual, more complete and faster since they spend a lot of time documenting and measuring scenes. He asked the board to approve a contract with Matterport for a product that would allow crime scene investigators (CSIs) to map scenes more efficiently and provide stakeholders a better final product. The technology would be used in conjunction with drones, which allow for exterior mapping but are nearly impossible to use in an indoor setting. The Matterport technology employs a scanning device and allows a CSI to scan the scene in approximately 30 seconds and provide a 3D image with measurements to stakeholders. The individual scanners cost about $2,500 and Dr. Stout plans to purchase one for each shift. The instruments require validation to ensure they operate as expected, and to show the accuracy of the measurements, as well as the instruments’ limitations. Dr. Stout said the Matterport technology should be validated and ready to use by fall 2022. Because the final details of the agreement are still in negotiation, Dr. Stout asked the board to delegate authority to him to complete negotiations and sign the final agreement.
Director Cohen made a motion to delegate authority to Dr. Stout to negotiate and enter into an agreement with Matterport for a total contract value of $260,000. Director Hilder seconded the motion, and the board unanimously approved the motion.
11. ADJOURNMENT:
Chairwoman Mitchell requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. Director Moore made a motion to adjourn. Director Medina seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 9:44 a.m.
The undersigned secretary of the board hereby certifies the following are true and correct minutes of the Dec. 10, 2021 public meeting of the board.
https://www.houstonforensicscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Signed-Meeting-Minutes-December-10-2021.pdf