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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-10-07 Finance Committee Minutes FINANCE COMMITTEE October 7, 2013 5:50 PM MINUTES Council Members: Durgin, Blanchette, Gallant, Nealley, Civiello, Sprague, Baldacci Staff: Conlow, Cyr, Morgan, Little, Dawes, Beaton 1. Consent Agenda a. Report of Bids Awarded by Staff – September 2013 b. Quitclaim Deed – Dolan – 241 Fourteenth Street c. Workout Agreement – Elwell – 76 Smith Street d. Emergency Purchase – Parts Washer – Safety Kleen - $15,204 Councilor Baldacci moved, Councilor Gallant seconded, approved. 2. Bids/Purchasing a. Hammond/Union Signal Improvements – Engineering – A & D Electric - $78,997 Finance Director Cyr stated this is a BACTS project with 10% of cost being local responsibility. We received one bid but were not surprised by this because there are very few licensed traffic signal vendors. Councilor Baldacci moved, Councilor Gallant seconded, approved. Councilor Gallant asked what the shut down could mean for this project. Finance Director Cyr and Engineer Art Morgan stated that it will not be affected because we will be working off monies they have already allocated. It could potentially cause a problem the next go around. b. Vehicle Lifts – Fleet Maintenance and Fire – Power Washer Sales LLC - $74,995 Finance Director Cyr stated the recommendation is to award the contract to Power Washer Sales LLC. The City has not worked with them before but they have worked with the State who gave us a good recommendation for them. Councilor Baldacci moved, Councilor Gallant seconded, approved. c. Various Vehicles – Fleet Maintenance and Airport – Darling’s and Whited - $67,009 and $63,436 and $111,697 Finance Director Cyr stated we combined our truck needs from different departments and staff recommendation is to award 3 vehicles to Darlings and 3 vehicles to Whited. Councilor Baldacci moved, Councilor Gallant seconded, approved. d. Silver Rd Sewer/Stormwater – Engineering – Gardner Construction - $162,226 Finance Director Cyr stated staff recommendation is to award the contract to Gardner Construction and the bid will need to be sent to full Council if approved. Councilor Sprague moved, Councilor Baldacci seconded, recommended to City Council. e. Request to Purchase K-9 Police Vehicle from State Contract Finance Director Cyr stated that we have 2 K-9 teams at the airport and we have TSA grant monies to fund those positions as well as to purchase 2 vehicles. Both of those vehicles were purchased at the same time but we would like to get on a rotating schedule so we would like to replace one this year and the other next time. Staff recommendation is to piggyback on the state contract and purchase a Ford Inceptor. Councilor Sprague moved, Councilor Baldacci seconded, approved. f. Request to Waive Bid Process – CCTV/Security System – Airport Finance Director Cyr explained that the airport currently has a CCTV Surveillance System that is linked to a DVR and if we have hardware issues, that causes problems. There are very few vendors that work on our system and we have found a local vendor to work on our current CCTV system as well as our Security System. We had budgeted $30,000 to upgrade our CCTV system and we would like to go to a web based system. All video is archived as well as accessible which is important for meeting TSA regulations. Staff recommendation is to award the contract to Northeast Security Systems in the amount of $24,228. Councilor Gallant moved, Councilor Sprague seconded, approved. 3. Write off of Personal Property Taxes Treasurer Little explained staff recommendation to write off personal property taxes owed on personal property accounts (Perry Rd. property has been taken off the list due to payment) due to the fact that it would cost the City more tracking down payments than writing off the almost $8,000. Councilor Sprague felt that the message this sends to taxpayers who work hard to pay their taxes is not a good one. Treasure Little stated that with the way the rules are it is very hard to enforce nonpayment of taxes and it would cost more to put liens, go to court, etc. Councilor Gallant suggested the Civil Order of Arrest could possibly help find these people who owe and get them to court and set up payments, albeit most likely a small payment. Councilors discussed the pros and cons of writing off taxes both large and small sums. They also spoke of possible options to lessen the City’s loss such as selling off bad debt if that is even a possibility. In general in the past we have an overlay for write offs so typically in June if there is money available we take the oldest property on the list and write it off. We send overdue invoices once a year and don’t have the staff to make follow up calls. Councilor Sprague and Councilor Gallant stated they are opposed to this write off. Councilor Baldacci moved to table both requests, Councilor Nealley seconded, Councilor Blanchette asked our legal staff to advise the Council what we can and cannot do when we issue permits. 4. Update on Properties with Matured Tax Liens Treasurer Little updated the committee on the property’s that are more than 5 years overdue. 50 Grove Street – We were contacted by the taxpayer’s attorney and we were told that the owner was out of the country. The owner is willing to pay the original amount due but hoping the City can do something about the interest and extra fees that have been adding up. Most likely there will be an agenda item to write off some of the fees on this property. 56 Yankee Avenue – This is a vacant lot by the subdivision. There had been a partial payment made and we were told they would be back for the final payment. We have not seen it as of yet but will be getting in contact with the owners to work out the remaining balance payment. 516 Odlin Road - The driveway to Grace Evangelical Church. This was not part of their property but since the current owners are a dissolved corporation that has no interest in gaining the property back, the City hopes that the church can make the payment and have the property deeded to them. We are waiting to hear what the church can offer. 91 Larkin Street – This is a vacant piece of property and we cannot locate the current owners. If these owners do not come forward by the end of December, the City will be taking ownership of it in January at some point. We have been notified that an abutter is interested in buying the property. 177 Pearl Street – The taxpayers will agree to turn the property over to the City in exchange for the City writing off the taxes owed on it. They asked to have until October to clean out personal effects which was approved. 12 North Street - Most delinquent account that has been due for over 20 years. Letters have been sent certified mail but always returned as unclaimed. They were given 30 th days to contact the City which ends October 24. If they have not contacted the City by then, we will take necessary steps to take over the property. 15 Field Street – Vacant piece of land that was next to 11 Field Street property that we st already took possession of a few months ago. Due November 1 and if no contact by then we will take possession of this and combine it with the 11 Field Street property to create one large piece of property that is up to code, etc. and we can sell it. Plans are to demo the lot first before it’s sold. We are also dealing with personal affects found in the 11 Field Street property and are currently taking steps to deal with that before any demo is done. Adjourned at 6:50 PM