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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-18 Finance Committee Minutes FINANCE COMMITTEE July 18, 2011 Minutes Councilors: Blanchette, Weston, Bronson, Nealley, Gratwick Staff: Cyr, Dawes, Hupp, Little, Cammack, Bostock, Metcalf, Wardwell Others: Nick Bearce, Dan Cassidy Bronson opened the meeting noting that one item (Item 4) had been added to the previously distributed agenda. 1. Consent Agenda A motion was made and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda. The vote was unanimous. a. Emergency Repairs – Paving Machine 2. Bids/Purchasing a. Cab & Chassis – Fleet Maintenance – Daigle & Houghton - $77,153 Cyr said this is the final piece of equipment for a prior fiscal year’s equipment purchase. Initial discussions of this item were to go with the hook and body style. Bids were issued; 2 responses received. Staff’s recommendation is to award the bid to Daigle and Houghton, Inc., the low bidder, in the amount of $77,153.23. Cyr noted that Dawes is also considering the purchase of another one of these vehicles in the current fiscal year’s budget. If staff decides this second purchase off this same bid is appropriate within the 60 days, the Committee would need to approve it. Dawes said this vehicle is the first time the City will be using one chassis whereby different types of bodies can be placed on the back of it. One chassis will be used for three trucks. Rather than going out to bid again, Dawes suggested that this same bid could be used within the next 60 days to purchase another chassis. Responding to Weston, Dawes said this will replace a downtown plow/sander and another older 1990 truck. In response to Gratwick, Dawes said it is an international chassis. Dawes said that this purchase is for the truck portion. The bid for the bodies has not yet been sent out. Gratwick and Dawes discussed the bid/RFP process. Cyr said the direct costs are advertising in the BDN. The staff costs involved are fairly significant; i.e. Dawes needs a couple of days to write specs, a staff member to get it into the right format, to research who should be contacted for vendors, to pull the vendor list, send the notifications, etc. Bronson clarified that this vote approves the purchase of one unit in FY11. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation. The vote was unanimous. A motion was then made and seconded to allow staff to use the same set of specifications for another purchase in FY12. The vote was unanimous. b. Paving Program – Public Services – Lane Construction - $954,439 Cyr said the annual paving program was placed out for bid, and two responses were received. Staff recommendation is to award to Lane Construction, the low bidder, at $954,439.40. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation. The vote was unanimous. c. Request for Sole Source Purchase – Traffic Controller – Public Services – Econolite - $18,454 Cyr said one of the recently approved BACTS project is to update the traffic light equipment at State Street/Hogan Road. BACTS is how the City of Bangor is allocated state and federal monies on a regional basis. With any BACTS project, the state and federal levels contribute a varying percent usually between 80% and 95%. This is a 90% project whereby the City will fund 10%. In order to interconnect the traffic signals with the Hogan Road corridor, a new controller needs to be purchased. The unit needs to be the same type as controls the overall system. Staff recommendation is to waive the bid process, to purchase the controller directly from Econolite of New Hampshire. Bronson noted that Gratwick is a voting member of this committee as they are only five Councilors in attendance. In response to Gratwick, Wardwell said there are two types of systems and are generally run by corridors. The Main Street/Downtown corridor is an Eagle System. The remaining systems are Econolite. This particular project will install a new controller at State/Hogan along with interconnect cable up to Hogan/Mt. Hope Avenue. Wardwell said this is the most up to date system that can be purchased. All of the equipment is aerial mounted. Conlow said the entire corridor would need to be changed out in order to be all on one system Citywide. Wardwell said that Eagle and Econolite systems can be run together but the cost is prohibitive because of conversion needs. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. The vote was unanimous. d. Building 462 and 464 Electrical Upgrades – Airport – Chris Rioux Electric - $78,880 These two buildings are the hangars closest to the Airport terminal and are currently powered with electrical poles and transformers. The transformers were installed in the 1950’s and Bangor Hydro can no longer obtain parts for proper repair. The solution is to remove the poles and replace them with a ground transformer to supply the electricity underground. Staff’s recommendation is to award to Chris Rioux, the low bidder, at $78,880. This is the second of three electrical upgrades. The primary underground was previously discussed by the Committee, and the next item on the agenda is the third. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. The vote was unanimous. e. Generator Upgrade – Airport – Bowman Constructors - $198,198 This generator is in the International Arrivals Building. It also is a 1950 model, in poor condition and leaking, and is not adequately sized to handle the current load of the building. Staff is recommending to replace it with a new generator which will be capable of powering the entire IAB and will have excess capacity to handle future power needs. Staff recommended award of the bid to Bowman Constructors, the low bidder, at $198,198. Responding to Weston, Hupp said the IAB is used on a regular basis and the administrative offices are housed in that building. The generator powers the fire system, alarm system, security system, x-ray systems, and customs offices. The troop flights arrive through this terminal as well. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. Responding to Bronson, Cyr said that specifications are included in the RFP but not the brand and location of the original manufacturer. Bronson asked Cyr to obtain the information within ten days. Because the item needs to return to Council for final action, Cyr said she will find out and bring the info to the Council on Monday. Blanchette asked if any generator type of equipment has been purchased from Bowman Constructors in the past. If so, she asked about the level of service, performance, etc. Cyr said that Bowman was the general contractor for Pancoe Pool, has done a few smaller projects at the Airport and just completed the VOANNE apartment complex on Harlow Street. The City has not purchased generators from them. The generator comes with a manufacturer’s warranty so the City would not be returning to Bowman for the maintenance issues but to the authorized dealer of the equipment. Cyr will find out the name of the dealer. Blanchette stated that the document states past experience with vendor and excellent is checked off which would lead her to believe that the City had purchased generators or some type of equipment from Bowman. The vote was unanimous. f. Update on Rescue/Fire Boat th Cammack said that staff has been diligently researching this item since the July 6 meeting. As of today, staff has been contacted by a Naval architect and perhaps a builder from Maine who will be able to accommodate the request. Staff will be prepared to return to the full Council meeting on Monday with a complete update and results. Bronson questioned why Cammack would be returning to the full Council. Nealley noted that some of the set aside Homeland Security funds will no longer be available sometime in August. Weston questioned Council’s micromanaging of this process. Responding to Gratwick, Cammack said that the funds mentioned by Nealley would expire by the end of August. Gratwick would like the details worked out at the Committee level. Conlow said it could certainly be brought back to committee on August 1,2011 but recommended that the item be placed on the first Council meeting agenda in August. Conlow anticipates the Fire Chief to come back at that time with an th estimated cost. Nealley suggested a Special Finance Committee prior to the July 25 Council meeting. Bronson invited individuals from the audience to speak on this item. Dan Cassidy and Nick Bearce addressed the Committee. Nealley discussed some of Bearce’s comments. Nealley asked how much of the equipment and design is relative to any federal specs and how much does Bangor have discretion over in terms of compromising fire apparatus, etc. When this process initially started, Cammack said that his staff went to the GSA site to obtain specs. As far other enhancements, staff has looked at a minimal amount of funding from this grant to supply some of those needs. Bangor Fire will team up with ProPac and the Coast Guard to determine how they can work together to outfit this vessel at a higher level in the event that they need the resource. Conlow said that staff will return to the August 1, 2011 Finance Committee meeting with the hopes of resolving the issue at the August 8, 2011 Council meeting. 3. Personal Property Tax Settlement Tax Collector Little said the City was approached by Attorney Joe Ferris, representing Ralph Beckwith, the former owner of the Brick Oven Bakery at 183 Hancock Street. Beckwith purchased the property in 1996 and has not paid personal property taxes since that time. The property has now been sold. Ferris approached the City indicating that Beckwith would like to settle the taxes at this point but expressed concerns that the assessed values that have been used since 1996 were drastically higher than the true value of the property. Ferris and Beckwith have recalculated an estimated tax based on the values of the property that they feel are more adequate for what was there during that time period. They are proposing a settlement of $14,703.52. At this time, the amount due is $43,042.54. Little said the proposed calculations are sound and the values are reasonable. Little recommended that the $14,703.52 be accepted. The only other option is court action against Beckwith. Responding to Weston, Little said that the City does not lien personal property. As far as contact from the City, Beckwith would have received a tax bill each year along with past due notices for each year. All real estate taxes were current when the property was sold. Gratwick expressed concern about setting a precedent. He asked if this is a frequent occurring issue and, if so, the Council should be made aware preferring to discuss these issues proactively as opposed to retroactively. Little said there are some accounts that are just as old as this particular one. The unfortunate event with personal property is the State of Maine law that personal property in Maine has no real collection teeth behind it. The City has pursued court action in the past. A couple of meetings ago, Little brought forth a number of personal property accounts to be written off that were six years or older. The over $200,000 that was written off at that time represented less than a quarter of a percent of the City’s assessment over the 15 years covered. Cyr said this is the first time that a taxpayer has sold a business and wants to make good with the City. Nealley made a motion to move staff’s recommendation. The motion was seconded. Weston and Gratwick opposed the motion. Weston asked if Conlow has an action plan to address the staffing problem in Treasury. Conlow said she has not dealt with this specifically but agreed with Little’s explanation that there are no teeth behind the State’s personal property laws. In multiple departments, Weston said there have been conversations where something doesn’t get done because of lack of software or personnel. He felt it should be on the radar as plans move forward for the future. Bronson asked if ordinances could be adopted at the local level to handle these situations. (Ferris spoke but much of his conversation was not recorded as he did not use a microphone). When the mic was eventually turned on, Ferris did indicate that his client is going the entire 15 years in its calculations and wants to pay that interest. Blanchette asked if an inventory was completed when the business was sold by Beckwith. Responding to Blanchette, Ferris said that a declaration was filed in 2011. Ferris and Gratwick discussed the difference between Bangor and Brewer’s handling of the personal property tax. Blanchette noted that the manpower in Bangor’s Treasurer’s Office is stretched as far as it can be stretched. Other City employees have been cross-trained to help out in that office during busier times. Conlow noted that the personal property declaration forms go into the Assessor’s Office and perhaps there can be a conversation with that office about following up with some phone calls and conversations. Weston spoke about efficiency and best practices. He asked that this issue be explored by the City Manager and staff. Little said that Beckwith has received at least three letters a year from the City for 15 years. It’s not that the Treasurer’s Office doesn’t send out notices regarding past due taxes. He will explore how to expand that contact into other avenues. The vote was 3-2. 4. Declaration of Official Intent – Arena/Meeting Complex Bronson noted that this item had been added to the agenda. Cyr explained that a Declaration of Intent sets the date upon which you can reimburse yourself with tax exempt obligations. Bonds have not been issued for the arena nor will it be likely until after the first of 2012. In order, however, for the City to be able to reimburse itself for any costs incurred, the City needs to have either adopted the bond order, which the City is not ready to do as the final price has not been set, the breakdown between taxable and tax-exempt bonds, so the Declaration of Official Intent will establish that date next Monday if the Committee desires to recommend it to full Council. Weston made a motion to accept staff recommendation. The motion was seconded. In response to Bronson, Cyr said once the plans and the GMP is settled, she will set aside some time with the bond attorney and construction manager to actually walk through the plans to price it out. It will take 2-3 months to determine which portion will be taxable and which will be tax-exempt. The vote was unanimous. 5. Executive Session – 1 MRSA Section 405 (6) (E) – Workers Compensation Settlement A motion was made and seconded to move into executive session for this item. 6. Open Session – Workers Compensation Settlement Recommendation A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. Meeting adjourned at 6:40 pm.