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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-01-03 Finance Committee Minutes FINANCE COMMITTEE January 3, 2011 Councilors: Bronson, Weston, Durgin, Hawes, Gratwick, Blanchette, Longo, Nealley Staff: Cyr, Conlow, Cammack, Little, Ring, Gastia, Hupp 1. Consent Agenda A motion was made and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda. The vote was unanimous. a. Emergency Purchase – Dow Trunk Sewer Line Repair b. Quitclaim Deed – 2602 & 2604 Broadway c. Quitclaim Deed – 125 Ohio Street d. Quitclaim Deed – 454 Ohio Street e. Quitclaim Deed – 155 Palm Street f. Quitclaim Deed – 56 Pushaw Road g. Quitclaim Deed – 12 Wing Street h. Workout Agreement – 568 Hammond Street i. Workout Agreement – 91 Holiday Park j. Workout Agreement – 99 & 101 Pine Street 2. Bids/Purchasing a. Automated Fingerprint Identification System – Police Department – Spex Forensics - $20,000 Cyr said this came before the Finance Committee last fall and the item was put out for bid. It was an item included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding through the Department of Justice. The estimated cost was $15,000. Four responses were received and two were disqualified because of not meeting the bid specifications; i.e. they could not be remotely accessed. The Police Department recommends award of the bid to Spex Forensics in the amount of $20,000. The Department has funding from another Homeland Security Grant to be redirected for the purpose of covering the $5,000 difference. Responding to Durgin, Gastia said that this system was priced at a much higher price than what was obtained. It provides the vendor a way for this particular system to make inroads into northeast, particularly Maine. The two companies do offer the same product. One is a distributor and the other represents the manufacturer. The distributor has a set price which the manufacturer sets for them. The manufacturer was willing to work with the City but the distributor was not allowed to come down on the price. Gastia said that the manufacturer will ask the distributor to sell the City the product at the manufacturer’s price. In response to Gratwick, Gastia said that this is up-to-date technology. Gastia said that the State of Maine uses a different system and is in agreement with the states of New Hampshire and Vermont. It would be extremely expensive for the City to get into the State Police’s system, and there is no guarantee that Bangor would be accepted get into the State’s system. Gastia noted that the State Police’s backlog is extensive. The Portland Police Department is using the same system as Bangor PD is requesting. Portland has started to build a statewide data base that will be more accessible to the smaller departments. Gratwick said it is unfortunate that all departments cannot use the same system. Durgin asked if the Police Department would be able to get compatible data from the state. Gastia said yes although it may take months to get the answer. Durgin asked about making the Legislative Delegation aware of the incompatibility. Bangor’s Department has been exploring this since 2005. Blanchette said the Legislature needs to let municipalities break free from the State Police and do their own database on fingerprints. A motion was made and seconded supporting staff recommendation. The vote was unanimous. b. Radios – Airport – Continental Wireless - $12,433.55 The Finance Committee previously approved the issuance of bids. In 2013, the City will need to change its radio channels due to the narrowing of the band width. Over the last few years, any radios purchased by the City are capable of being changed over to meet the new requirements; however, the Airport had 16 portable units and 35 base units that were too old to convert. The recommendation is to award the bid to Continental Wireless for $12,463.47 (Cyr noted a typo in the amount printed on the prepared agenda). Continental Wireless was the second low bid but they were the first responsive bidder. The City had requested Motorola PR400s, Motorola CP200s and Icoms S5021s. The funds have been budgeted in the Airport’s operating budget. Responding to Weston, Hupp said this purchase would complete the conversion in line with the band change. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. The vote was unanimous. Bronson discussed the $2,000 dollar amount difference between the local vendor and the Texas vendor. Hupp said the Airport does not have experience with the Texas vendor. The existing policy is to go with the low responsive bid. References were checked. Cyr said that while there are provisions if the bids are equal then a local bidder is recommended. She noted that $2,000 on top of the $12,000 is about 15-20% price increase. She also pointed out that the service and maintenance of these items will be handled by the local rep as the service contract is with that individual. There is a multi-year service contract with Whitten’s. The low bidder did not bid the Motorola units. Longo spoke of local bidders. If a local bidder came within 12% of the low bidder, could the bid be given the local vendor to keep the money in the community. Bronson agreed. Cyr said there have been a number of conversations about local preference. In reviewing this several years ago, it was noted that a majority of the City’s bids go to local companies. There is no clear way to define a threshold. With a built-incentive for local businesses, a wide variety businesses will potentially not be attracted and thereby reduce competition and potentially increase the overall operating costs. Nealley said he still struggles about local vendor preference. Blanchette said that Councils in the past and will continue in the future to question why there is not a local preference for bids. The backfiring component is that once you start playing favorites you do not get the bids that would normally be received. Blanchette thinks that the City has a fair bidding policy in place. The City has a good reputation. c. Ambulance – Fire Department – Custom Truck and Body Works - $118,541 Cyr said that as part of the FY11 budget process the Council reviewed a list of capital equipment requests and appropriated $115,000 from the Fire Equipment Reserve Account to replace an ambulance. The recommendation is to award to the low bidder, Custom Truck and Body Works, in the amount of $118,541. The item will go forward to full Council. The amount is slightly higher than what was set aside but in that same capital project there were other pieces of equipment and/or projects that have come in under bid. Cammack noted that the Department has previously done business with Custom Truck. A motion was made and seconded to move staff recommendation. In response to Gratwick, Cammack said there are 5 ambulances and this purchase will replace a 2006 ambulance with over 100,000 miles. When a new ambulance is taken in, it is placed at Central Fire. The unit from Central Fire will be moved to Station 5 or 6, then it goes to a long distance transfer unit, then to the spare unit and finally taken out of the fleet. Cammack noted that the 100,000 miles on the ambulance does not take idling time into consideration. Gratwick asked if the retired units are sold; Cammack said he would come to the Committee at the time plans are in place for the retired unit. Weston asked about the price differential in the quotes. Cyr said there is no difference because the specifications for an ambulance are 50 pages in length and identify every single piece of equipment, etc. Cammack said that two other bids were received after the fact. Cammack said that the higher priced vehicles are not always better. Weston said if the specs are the same perhaps the market for ambulances is not as dire. In response to Durgin, Cammack said the normal useful life of an ambulance is around 5 years. Cammack said at budget time he meets with the Finance Director and City Manager to look at the fleet. He noted that changing from the Ford chassis to the Chevy chassis hoping it will make a difference in the life expectancy. Responding to Longo, Cammack said there seems to be less issue with the Chevy chassis. This item received unanimous approval. d. Turnout Gear – Fire Department – Bergeron Protective Clothing - $15,953.64 Cammack said that this clothing needs to be topnotch. When going out for bid, some vendors were invited in and 10 different prices were received for turnout gear. The rd recommendation is for Bergeron, which is 3 on the list of bidders. After speaking with the folks from Bergeron about the Globe Classics, which didn’t suit the needs of the Department and did not meet specs, staff is recommending Bergeron for a three-year contract of a low bid of $46,037.36. Cammack noted the positive experience with Bergeron. Responding to Durgin, Cammack said that the Department has worked with this specific brand. He also checked with other Departments around the state. A motion was made and seconded to move staff recommendation. It was unanimous. 3. Request to Take Possession of 34 Holland Street The Finance Director requested that this item be removed from the agenda due to some miscommunication. It may come back at another time. 4. Proposed Legislation Little noted that he is Vice President of the Maine Municipal Tax Collectors/Treasurers Association. He also is Chair of the Legislative Committee and, as such, he was instrumental in drafting two pieces of proposed Legislation which the Association will be putting forth this coming session. Both pieces will affect City staff and City revenues. The first proposal is a housekeeping matter. In current legislation with what he called a facsimile bill, sewer liens, tax and sewer discharges and tax and sewer lien, waivers of foreclosure require a real signature. Without a real signature, the Registry of Deeds will not accept those filings. As such, the Finance Director and Little spend hours a year signing thousands of documents with a real signature. This proposal will clean up those pieces of current law and allow facsimile signatures like it does on regular tax liens and other documents. The Maine Municipal Association Legislative Policy Committee will also be supporting this change. The second proposal relates to the agent fee that the City currently collects for motor vehicle and inland fishery transactions. This fee is collected when a transaction is completed for the State. Currently, there is a $3.00 fee for motor vehicle renewal, $4.00 if it is a new registration, $1.00 for a boat, snowmobile or ATV, $2.00 for a renewal and $4.00 for a new transaction. The Association is proposing that those fees be increased to $5 and $6 for motor vehicles and $3 and $4 for recreational vehicles. The fee for motor vehicles has not been increased since 1991. The intent of the original fee is to reimburse some of the costs that the municipality incurs when acting as an agent for the state in completing a transaction. It’s not just a matter of convenience for the customer; there is a lot of extra time involved in the transaction as well as paperwork in preparing the report and sending money to the state. Current fees are not adequate to cover those costs. Little estimates that the City finishes 75% or almost 19,000 registrations out of the 25,000 processed on an annual basis. It would be a way to increase municipal revenues without impacting property taxes. It is an optional fee as the customer could chose to go to the Department of Motor Vehicle. He estimates an additional $30,000-$40,000 in revenue with the proposed increased. Responding to Bronson, Conlow said that a list of all legislation coming out of various departments and agencies will be prepared for the Council’s consideration. The Council will have an opportunity to express support or opposition. st The list will be taken to the January 31 Council/Legislation Delegation meeting. Bronson spoke about the Maine Municipal Association and Bangor’s membership dues. Conlow said that MMA has a Legislative Policy Committee. Little noted that Paul Nicklas is a voting member of the MMA LPC; Little is on the Committee as a non-voting member because he is on the Tax Collectors Board. Conlow noted that many communities including Bangor have formed their own lobbying group – the Maine Service Center Coalition. Farrar sits on that Coalition and will bring the Coalition’s list to the City. Bronson clarified that a Councilor is appointed to the MMA LPC. The two-year term is shared with the Town of Hermon. Bronson was appointed but expressed his desire to not serve in that capacity to Council Chair Hawes. Bronson said it is important that Nicklas summarize all that is proposed at MMA. Blanchette asked Bronson if the Committee is going to support the proposed increases. She said it is one of the best services offered in the City of Bangor and supports the increased fees. Little clarified that the proposed languages indicates an “up to” amount. Bronson supported the increase. The support was unanimous. Adjournment at 5:57 pm.