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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-04-22 Finance Committee Minutes FINANCE COMMITTEE April 22, 2009 Minutes Councilors: Blanchette, Hawes, D’Errico, Wheeler, Bronson, Palmer, Gratwick, Nealley Staff: Cyr, McNeil, Dyer, Cammack, Higgins, Farrar, Yardley, Barrett, Willette Others: Erik Russell, E.J. Dean 1. Consent Agenda In Councilor Bronson’s absence, Councilor Hawes opened the meeting. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda, items a. through d. a. Quitclaim Deed – 85 Holiday Park b. Quitclaim Deed – 64 Second Street c. Quitclaim Deed – 43 Vine Street d. Resolve 09-128, Appropriating HUD Grant Funds – Shelter Plus Care – Tenant Based Rental Assistance 2. Bids/Purchasing a. Greens Mower – Golf Course – R & R Products - $21,359 Cyr noted that this item is part of the Golf Course’s current budget. The current mower is over 10 years old and is requiring significant maintenance. At a prior meeting, the Finance Committee approved staff to move ahead with the bid process. 5 bids were received and the recommendation is to purchase the unit from R & R Products, the low bidder, in the amount of $21,359 which includes delivery. The City has had good experience with R & R Products in the past. Golf Course staff checked with other courses that have used this type of mower and all were happy with the unit. Hawes then turned the meeting over to Councilor Bronson. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. b. RFP - Market & Facility Sizing – Arena & Meeting Complex – ERA/AECOM Cyr noted the Special Committee on Arena Implementation and its Marketing Subcommittee recently conducted a lengthy process of interviewing five potential respondents to perform a market and facility sizing study for the arena and meeting complex. The Special Committee on Arena Implementation unanimously approved awarding the bid to ERA/AECOM of Chicago. This firm will conduct an intensive user survey, look at the layout and size of the facility, produce any number of pieces of information including what the size should be, what the current market is, what the potential market could be with a different facility as well as all of the options to accommodate those. They will provide some fairly accurate pricing to go along with them. ERA will look at the operating trends of any facility they propose. Hawes commended Marketing Subcommittee for performing an excellent job noting that it was very thorough in its questioning process. All members came prepared to the interview table and had read through the volumes of material. Hawes said that a nice synopsis of the interview process was provided to the Council, and it is encouraging that City has moved thus far and now needs to take the next step, which is for the Finance Committee’s approval of the recommendation. A motion was made and seconded to accept the recommendation to award the bid to ERA/AECOM. c. Amendment to Agreement with Fiesta Shows – Bangor State Fair Dyer introduced E.J. Dean of Fiesta Shows. Throughout the fair and theme park industry, people are looking at the idea of offering a true value to the consumer to obtain attendance during this troubled economy. In discussing this year’s fair last fall with Fiesta Shows, Dyer said the conclusion was reached that business as usual would not be a viable plan for 2009. He noted that the idea of a free fair was considered but there was not a sufficient number of sponsorship dollars to make it happen. Over the past few years, wrist bands days have been th trending down. Because it is the 160 anniversary of the Bangor State Fair and th the City’s 175 birthday, Dyer went back to 1993 – the last year that the Fair operated with a ‘pay one price’ admission of $7.00 and over 90,000 people entered the gates. This year, Dyer is proposing a $10.00 pay one price throughout the entire ten days of the Fair. He thinks this will produce a reversal in the attendance trend of the past few years. For disbursement of revenue received, the City would receive 62% of up to $650,000 in pay one price admission fees; it would receive 55% of $650,010 to $700,000; and 50% of $700,010 plus. Fiesta Shows would receive the remaining percentage in this graduated scale. Hawes thinks it would be attractive to the public. Responding to Hawes, Dean said that Fiesta has just opened up in the Boston area and is developing promotional packages based on going to local events for local charities, tying in discounts on rides, food and games for an overall package family experience. Responding to Hawes, Dyer said that the entertainment value of the Fair will not change as a whole. Blanchette asked about plans for other Maine fairs. Dean said Fiesta does the Skowhegan and the Acton Fairs and has been discussing discount promotions with them but not to the level of Bangor’s proposal. Blanchette spoke about Dean working with the Agricultural Commissioner to obtain more agricultural type events for the Bangor Fair. Dyer said that the money that comes back to the fairs is based on a percentage of the amount of premiums or prizes paid out to the various agricultural contests and exhibits. Over the last several years, Dyer has attempted to concentrate on involvement with the Penobscot County 4-H and their projects. The shows open to commercial farms are falling off in participation. This year, the Bangor Fair will offer a farmer’s horse show which is new. They will also offer a steer and oxen show and boosting up a four-day horse show and events midweek during the Fair. Wheeler expressed concern about this year’s as well as future year’s attendance and whether or not the City should remain in the show business. Dyer said that the weather did play a huge role in last year’s attendance. Except for one, all Maine fair attendance was down in attendance and revenue last year. Wheeler noted that this is the third year of a five-year contract with Fiesta Shows. He again stated that this Council and future Councils need to begin thinking about it and look seriously at the practical value of continuing to operate the Fair under City management and sponsorship. Palmer noted that this year’s basketball tournaments showed that dollars and attendance were up. People are looking for good entertainment in tough economic times. The $10 pay one price will play well. He does think that the City needs to look at different ways of presenting some things; i.e. move the ferris wheel to a different location. He spoke about the distance of the agricultural portion from the rides. He spoke positively about Fiesta Show’s involvement. Blanchette asked about placing the agricultural exhibits in the Paul Bunyan Park area. Bronson agreed with Palmer’s thoughts to shake up the Fair venue for 2010 and make it dramatic with a ‘must see’ type of event. Hawes said that last year there had been discussion about placing a footbridge to the agricultural area. Dyer spoke about the cost involved but said that it is not completely out of the picture. Dyer will also look into moving the agricultural portion to the Paul Bunyan Park. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of the pay one price for the 2009 Bangor State Fair to the full Council at their upcoming meeting. 4. Update on Pending Bids/RFPs Cyr said that earlier this year the Finance Committee had requested that prior to the issuance of any bids or RFP’s for non-supply type items that the information come before the Committee for a brief review. The first item involves a State of Maine Historic Preservation Commission grant of $11,000, which will require a local match of just over $7,300 which will be provided via in-kind services (staff time). The grant will be used to create and present historic preservation brochures, which is part of the Commission’s charge as it was created to educate folks on historic preservation. The money has been received and the City needs to move forward with the brochures and with public education. The second is the primary clarifier concrete repairs for the three units at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The original units were put into service in 1968 and are the rectangular concrete tanks. Both the floor and walls of the tanks need to be resurfaced. No structural repairs are apparent. It will include a thorough cleaning and surface prep so that the recoating will adhere. It will increase the efficiency and more importantly protect the structural integrity of the clarifier. This has been planned during the FY09 budget year. The third is the gravity thickener steel repairs at the Treatment Plant which are the circular tanks which were placed in service in 1992 and which thicken the bio-solids before the dewatering process. This also is part of the FY09 budget. The fourth is painting tanks at BIA. These are the three tanks at the fill stand by the Avitat area. This project was included in the FY09 budget. Responding to D’Errico, Cyr said that these tanks are not used by Exxon for storage. The fifth is for the resurfacing of Griffin Road and Cumberland Street. Cyr noted that this bid has been issued but can be retracted if needed. Although this has never come before the Finance Committee for review and approval, this is the third time the project as been bid. These two streets were included in the BACTS program for this area. BACTS provides 85% funding from the State, and the City contributes its 15% match of approximately $60,000 for this project. Bids have been received and were higher than what the State had expected. The State has asked that the work be re-bid. It is a MDOT project but it is locally administered. Bronson noted that Councilors Gratwick and Nealley joined the Committee. The final item is a tractor at Parks and Recreation to replace a 1994 Kubota tractor with a front mount bucket loader. It is their primary utility tractor during the spring/summer and then it is used at Sawyer Arena to clear snow during the winter months. This project was also included in the FY09 budget. Responding to Bronson, Cyr said that since there were no comments from the Committee that she will continue on as planned with the items. 3. Resolve 09-129, Appropriating $39,550 from MDOT to Fund Equipment/Accessories – U Maine/Town of Orono Shuttle Buses Cyr said that the City has been in discussions with both the University of Maine and the Town of Orono for some time due to an interest in having a shuttle service between the two areas. MDOT has been approached and was able to find buses for this purpose. There are some items that are needed to move forward in terms of accessory items to outfit the buses as well as some mechanical equipment. MDOT has notified the City that it has grant monies available for this purpose in the amount of $39,550. McNeil provided some background information regarding this additional service, which would compliment the BAT’s existing service. The original service discussed was extensive and costly and Old Town had pulled out of the service leaving the University and Town of Orono to share it. The BAT worked with MDOT, and they did provide capital monies to purchase two buses with no local match required. The units are 23 and 24 passenger shuttle buses. The service is proposed to run on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights up until midnight. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until 9 pm. The BAT will monitor the success, and adjustments can be made, if needed. The needed accessories for the two units will bring them into line with the other BAT fleet including paint, decals, bike racks, advertising frames and destination signs as well as a generator. McNeil said that he will be returning to the Council with an operating contract, similar to what is in place with other communities served by the BAT. The two units will be housed in Orono and the University of Maine will maintain the vehicles. Gratwick asked if there are other needs documented in case additional monies become available through the Federal Recovery Act. McNeil said that monies have been received from this Act to replace four existing buses and another two buses pending bond approval that will replace the last two. It is 100% funding with no local match. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval to full Council. 4. Resolve 09-127, Appropriating Homeland Security Grant Funds – Improved Preparedness and Response Capabilities Cammack said this is the annual appropriation from Maine Emergency Management for Homeland Security funding in the amount of $329,200. MEMA identifies the funding amount and then Bangor outlines the projects to be funded. Cammack had provided the Committee a detailed explanation of the planned projects. Responding to Blanchette, Cammack said that two thermal imaging cameras will be taken out of service and that Bangor Fire does offer their retired equipment to other municipalities and UTC. The City owns six units. Responding to Gratwick, Cammack said that MEMA will pay for the training, overtime costs and backfilling. NIMS compliance is something that is needed and it would have to be done out of the operating budget if MEMA had not identified it as a need. Some of the other items are capital related costs to improve the department’s current operations. The amount received is within the ballpark of last year’s amount. In response to Gratwick, Cammack said the City’s Emergency Operations Center is in the training room at Central Fire. There are internal dry runs, NIMS also requires it to be done with Public Works and other partners. There is one planned in the fall with City officials. Palmer asked about emergency defibrillators asking if City Hall should have one on site. Cyr said City Hall does not have one as it is two minutes from an ambulance with Central Fire. Cyr and Cammack will provide a list of the defibrillator units currently in place within City buildings and schools. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval to full Council. 5. Finance Committee Resolution Approving the Details of the City’s 2009 General Obligation Bond Issue Cyr said the City went to market last week and sold $3.1M in general obligation bonds. $2.4M is for Station 6 and $700,000 for the capital contribution required by the City under the Master Transaction Agreement with Bangor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She distributed a list by year of principal payments and interest rates. There were four bidders and the low bidder did not require bond insurance. The Finance Committee was asked to sign and approve the specific details related to the bond sale. Responding to Nealley, Cyr said the awarded bidder was Robert Baird. Gratwick commended staff for their management efforts. In putting the closing documents together, it came to the City’s attention that a couple of the Council Orders used to approve the bond issues had only seven days of public notice and it is required to have a ten-day notice. Cyr noted that on the upcoming Monday’s Council agenda there will be a public meeting to ratify the action already taken in passing these. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval. Adjourned at 5:05 pm.