The board of directors of JEA wrapped up its business for 2014 on Tuesday with recaps, renewals and a robot.
The board voted unanimously to continue the pay-for-performance incentive program next year that allows JEA employees and management to qualify for annual bonuses if the public utility accomplishes overall cost savings and improvements in customer satisfaction and safety.
JEA non-appointed employees will receive an additional $1,000 in their paycheck on Friday, appointed employees will get $2,000 and the eight members of the senior leadership team will see an additional $3,000.
The bonuses are paid from surplus funds realized through cost-saving measures. In 2013, JEA issued $1.9 million in bonuses. This year’s bonuses total $2.2 million.
“This reaffirms our commitment to pay for performance,” said Lisa Weatherby, interim board chair.
The board also voted unanimously to negotiate a one-year extension of the utility’s contract with Ernst & Young for auditing services.
JEA Chief Financial Officer Melissa Dykes reported the utility’s sales of water and sewer services were up 9 percent in September and October compared to 2013, due to the number of days of rain in the period lagging behind the 30-year average.
Sales of electricity were up 4 percent in the same period, leading Dykes to suggest a way to increase revenue.
“We can hope for some cold weather,” she said.
Before the meeting was called to order, a robot designed and built by students of the Stanton College Preparatory School Robotics Team demonstrated this year’s entry in the Orlando Regional Robotics Competition. The robot will face off against teams from throughout the Southeast in a game styled after soccer, in which robots attempt to pick up an exercise ball, move it down the field and attempt to shoot it into a goal.
JEA Electric Systems Engineer Todd Lovelace, who has advised the team for the past 19 years, said more than 300 students have participated in the robotics team since it was founded. Some of the first team members are now teaching at the school, he said.
At last year’s competition, the Stanton team second among 47 entrants. Lovelace and the students hope to win next year, which would advance the team and its robot to the national championships in St. Louis.
The students and their advisers, engineers from JEA, will compete March 11-14 at the University of Central Florida.
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