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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-05 Finance Committee Minutes FINANCE COMMITTEE March 5, 2012 Minutes Councilors: Durgin, Gratwick, Longo, Hawes, Baldacci, Blanchette, Gallant Staff: Cyr, Beaton, Curso, Dyer, Gastia, Dawes, Kochis, Webb Others: EJ Dean, A. Neff Meeting Convened: 5:00pm 1. Bids/Purchasing a. Reconstruct General Aviation Apron – Airport – Sargent Corporation - $5,084,037 Robbie Beaton stated that we are in a position to award entire bid. This is an AIP approved project: The Federal Government through the AIP improvement plan will pay 90% of the cost, the State Department of Transportation will pay 2.5% and the airport will pay 7.5% as their share of the cost. Recommendation is to award the entire bid to Sargent Corporation. Motion by Councilor Blanchette, seconded by Councilor Gratwick. No Discussion. Unanimous vote. b. Request to Waive Bid Process – Online Incident Reporting System – Police Department – CopLogic - $15,000 Police Chief Gastia stated that this will allow the citizens an on-line reporting system for minor incidents (stolen cell phones, etc). Software can be uploaded and run from the current system that we have. There are funds available in the Homeland Security Grant money that we receive for Public Safety purposes. Chief Gastia has spoken with South Portland Police Dept and they estimate this system saved them $14,000 last year and expect this to continue to grow as more citizens are made aware of the system. Maintenance is $5,000 per year. The department is looking into assigning temp #s until the reports are approved/signed by the supervisor. Unanimous vote. c. Used Equipment Purchase – Catch Basin Cleaner – Fleet Maintenance - $71,000 The City needs to comply with EPA requirements and maintain catch basins for storm water. We do not have all of the equipment needed to do this. Bob Dawes went to CT to view a couple of used units and has come back with the recommendation that we purchase one of these units, a 2003 Vac-All with stainless steel body. He negotiated the asking price down to $71,000 and he feels that this will serve our needs for a number of years. st This purchase was not anticipated as part of our FY2012 budget. The 1 recommendation is for authority to nd purchase used equipment, and the 2 recommendation is for the Council to reallocate specified premiums / additional bond proceeds for the purpose of vehicle replacement. In answer to questions, the expected life of these vehicles is 10 years and the unit is compartmentalized, so different parts can be replaced as needed. The City does have a mechanical digger for larger projects. Would like to plan ahead and purchase a new unit in a few years. The cost of a new unit would be $250,000 - $300,000. Ms. Cyr explained to the Council that this is the first time she is aware of where we have generated significant premium on a bond sale, so this is a unique situation. Motion is to approve staff recommendation for purchase of vehicle and reallocate the funding. Unanimous vote. d. Midway Operation Agreement – Bangor State Fair 2012 - 2016 – Fiesta Shows Director Mike Dyer stated that we have had a 5 year agreement with Fiesta Shows from 2007-2011 for the fair. The City has been pleased with the partnership and this has generated good revenues. The Business and Economic Development committee met last year and unanimously recommended that we work with Fiesta Shows on a new agreement which would allow for the option of the pay-one price. The City also discussed with them how we would raise prices if we feel this needs to be done at a future date. The City plans to seek competitive bids after the 2016 fair. At some point the city may assign their role in managing the fair to Global Spectrum. Compliments were made to Fiesta Shows representative on the cleanliness of the fair and the positive feedback regarding the designated smoking area. Unanimous vote. 2. Qualified School Construction Bond Allotment Superintendant Webb & Alan Kochis from the School Department were introduced. Last March a $5.7 million qualified school construction bond was approved. This allowed the City to replace the roof at Bangor High School and to begin a lot of heating, ventilation, AC projects, which are currently on-going. The City applied for another $2.8 million and this was awarded. Would like to begin these projects this summer since there is a short timeframe when schools are not in session. Example of projects: The Mary Snow School is almost 100 years old and the water main needs to be replaced. Other projects include ADA accessibility issues, upgrading heat and smoke detectors to interface with our panels, bathroom/locker room renovations and security cameras. Councilor Durgin commented that it is great that we are able to do these projects with money that is being made available through this special program. Superintendent Webb answered questions stating the projects will be going out to bid, and it is the school committee who decides who the bid is awarded to. She said that the City Council has the authority to authorize the issuance of debt which is what they are here seeking approval for. Councilor Baldacci asked that the school committee to keep Council updated on the projects going on. Councilor Gallant would have preferred to see a full list of projects ahead of time. Superintendent Webb stated that she will make the list available to committee members and commented that the school committee has heard every project in detail, as well as that this is a competitive application process. The projects submitted to the State and the projects that are accepted by the State are the only projects that can be done. Because this is a Bond Order, it will be on for first reading Monday night, no action. It will come back two weeks from Monday night and will require a public hearing and then the Council will be asked to vote. Motion doubted by Councilor Gallant, motion passed. 3. Amendment to Arena Fund Policy Ms. Cyr stated that we have had to look at the arena project and determine by IRS regulation what is deemed private use vs. public use of the facility. Portions that are deemed for private use are not eligible for tax exempt bonding, and so we have had to break out square footage. Our bond attorney looked at the current arena fund policy and has made some recommended amendments to the policy based on restrictive IRS regulations. Pg 20 is his proposed language change, however subtle, that grants the Council latitude as to where arena funds can be used. Councilor Blanchette made a comment that the makeup of the casino has changed, and is wondering if we are just referring to slot revenue or if all gaming revenue should be included, such as table gaming. Ms. Cyr asked for consideration of an additional wording change to the amendment, changing “slot revenue” to “gaming revenue.” Motion to include additional wording change. Seconded. Unanimous vote. Main motion as amended. Movement seconded. Unanimous vote. 4. Executive Session - 36 MRSA Section 841 (2) – Hardship Abatement 5. Open Session – Hardship Abatement Decision Final action: staff recommendation - Yes Meeting Adjourned: 6:15PM