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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-10-17 Finance Committee Minutes FINANCE COMMITTEE October 17, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. Minutes Councilors: Gratwick, Durgin, Sprague, and Weston Staff: Cyr, Moore, Birch, Nicklas, and Hamilton Others: 1. Consent Agenda a. Resolve 12-329, Accepting & Appropriating $329,292 in U.S. Department of HUD Grant Funds – Shelter Plus Care b. Requesting Authority to Apply for an $8,000 Project Canopy Grant for Pruning of Large Trees Sprague made a motion to move Consent Agenda, it was seconded and approved. 2. Bids/Purchasing a. Request to Amend and Extend ADS Environmental Services Contract – WWTP - $56,128 Finance Director Cyr explained that the request is to extend the contract from November 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 and was approved as part of fiscal year 2013 budget. Sprague made a motion to move to staff recommendation, it was seconded by Weston and approved. 3. Council Order, Amending the Period of Utility of Projects to be Financed with the City’s $2,800,000 Qualified School Construction Bonds Cyr explained that these are referred to as QSCB bonds and the term is set by the market. The term has always been 15 years or less, so that is how the Council Order was drafted. Recent market terms have gone to 23 years, which is the allowable term of the bond. Cyr said that we need to amend the Council Order to increase the number of years to 25. This will be on the Council Agenda for Monday evening, nd October 22. A motion was made to move to Staff Recommendation, it was seconded by Sprague and approved. 4. Recommendation to Authorize Execution of Memorandum of Understanding with State of Maine – Public Health Nursing Assistant City Solicitor Nicklas said that currently the Maternal and Child Health referral process calls come into numerous areas, which involves transferring referrals and additional time to get to the correct destination. This authorization would streamline the process, saving time and expense by everyone using the same referral number where it will be immediately transferred to the correct area. Patty Hamilton, Public Health Director concurred and said that this would make the process more efficient. Moved to staff recommendation by Sprague and seconded by Gratwick. 5. Assessor’s Update (information distributed separately with weekly packet) City Assessor Ben Birch distributed a packet outlining an updated assessment process and property values for the City of Bangor which is the basis for tax assessment. This is the beginning of the assessment process for the upcoming tax year, April 1, 2013. He added that the information is collected from residential homes, commercial and industrial properties and lands. A memo summarizing this information was sent out last week so that Council can familiarize themselves with what has transpired nationwide with changing values. We’re beginning to see a positive change, with appreciation in values, as well as an increase in real estate activity. Birch went on to explain these changes in detail as they relate to New England, the State of Maine, Lewiston, Auburn, Portland and Bangor. To recap, Birch stated that the market is showing positive signs in moving from the 2012 to 2013 timeframe. Committee adjourned at 5:35p.m.