The Port of Houston Authority Commission today voted unanimously to authorize staff to advertise and receive proposals for group employee benefits insurance coverage for PHA employees, eligible retirees and eligible dependents of both, effective 2012; and to terminate group employee benefits insurance coverage for port commissioners and family members who have such coverage effective August 1, 2011. Listen: MP3  RealPlayer

All other agenda items were approved.  All votes were unanimous except that commissioners Elyse Lanier and Janiece Longoria abstained on renewal of pipeline licenses. Agenda

PHA Chair Jim Edmonds called on the chairs of new task forces he appointed at the previous meeting. Listen: MP3  RealPlayer

Commissioner Jim Fonteno reported on the Audit Task Force, including discussion of a “whistle blower” program, which will be presented to the full commission after it is developed.

Commissioner Steve Phelps said his Governance Task Force has had an organizational meeting and will be dealing with substantive issues in future meetings.

Commissioner Lanier, who chairs the Community Relations and Small Business Task Force said the group agreed to split the committee’s work between community relations and small business.

“We spent much of the meeting discussing the promotion and development budgets,” Lanier said.  “Right now P&D expenditures come from more than one department budget and we want to avoid duplication of efforts.”

Lanier said the committee is proposing a 25 percent reduction in the community relations budget and a 40 percent reduction in the small business budget.

CEO Alec Dreyer said that operational results were mixed during the month of June. 
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“Steel continued to be very, very strong,” he said.  “Our container operations, though, saw a dip from last year’s levels as we enter the short summer lull period for containers.”