HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-08-17 Finance Committee Minutes
FINANCE COMMITTEE
August 17, 2009
Minutes
Council: Stone, Palmer, D’Errico, Bronson, Nealley
Staff: Cyr, Barrett, Gastia, Courtney
1. Consent Agenda
A motion was made and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda.
a. Quitclaim Deed – 166 Warren Street
2. Bids/Purchasing
a. Request to Waive Formal Bid Process - Gabion Baskets – Kenduskeag Stream
Park – Engineering
Cyr noted that the City has a group of AmeriCorps volunteers starting to work in the City
today and for the next few weeks. They will be working on specific projects, one of which is
the restoration of the Kenduskeag Stream Park bank behind the former police station on
Court Street. There is an erosion problem and some of it has crumbled into the walkway.
Due to the location of the site, it is not possible to place equipment. The bank will be
replaced along with the creation of stabilization. The Engineering Department has
recommended use of the gabion baskets, which are wire baskets filled with rock. Work on
this project should start within the next ten days. The project is in the design process and
the numbers of baskets needed is not certain at this time but it may exceed $10,000, which
is the limit required for a bid. Timing is an issue. Staff requested the Committee to allow it
to seek written proposals and quotes from many suppliers and then award it to the low
bidder. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation.
3. Dispatcher Hiring Update
Gastia said the Police Department currently has a staffing level of ten dispatchers. There
are 8 dispatchers employed with two currently on probation that were hired earlier in the
year. When low on dispatch staffing, he has to backfill any open positions with others who
have received specialized training; i.e. officers, sergeants, and lieutenants. This is obviously
with pay at a higher wage. Gastia has one opening that he would like to fill and that would
bring the current staffing level to 9. He plans to leave the remaining vacancy open at least
for the immediate future dependent upon the economic future. He has already built in
th
overtime in the schedule. Gastia asked for the Committee’s approval to fill the 9dispatcher
position.
Responding to Bronson, Gastia said there are always at least two dispatchers at any given
time. There are many times when two people are simply not enough and the supervisor or
someone else with training will pick up a phone. There are typically three dispatchers from
10 am to 8 pm. Bronson asked for clarification of a supervisor. Gastia said one of the
police supervisors is trained as a dispatch supervisor. Bronson asked about the progression
of moving to PSAP. Gastia said there are on-going discussions regarding PSAP as well as
the entire dispatch center.
Stone spoke about overtime to fill vacancies and asked if the overtime is more than the
base cost including benefits. Gastia said yes, particularly when a sergeant or a lieutenant is
filling in, it is much higher.
4. Review of Information Technology Report
Barrett said that one of the goals and objectives cited for his office last year was a desire to
have an outside third party look at the City’s Information Services Department. Working
with Evelyn Silver at the University, arrangements were made to have their staff review the
City’s department, its software, its function and to make suggestions, comments, and
recommendations. The results were included with the Committee’s agenda. The UM staff
generally felt that the City’s IS Department is well managed, efficient and services many of
the departmental needs very well. Their first recommendation deals with the City’s basic
core financial system, which dates to the early 1990’s and it is no longer directly supported
by the manufacturer. It still serves its purpose but it is becoming expensive to operate and
it is limited in what it can perform. At some point, it will need to be replaced at a significant
cost. The initial system’s cost was in the area of $450,000 but this upgrade should not be
as pricey. Cyr said that when the City moved to this system in the 90’s, the move was off
an in-house written COBOL system so the servers and operating system were not in place.
Cyr estimated the cost at $100,000-$200,000. Responding to Stone, Cyr noted that any
new system will be run side by side with the current system during the transfer at least 4-8
weeks. The system handles not only accounting, but it handles payroll, human resources,
purchasing, non-tax billing, and cash receipting. It is a significant part of the City’s day to
day business.
Responding to Stone, Courtney said that nightly backs up are performed. He said that a
failure occurs about once a year, and it is difficult to obtain parts and service.
Courtney said UM did well in identifying the main components of the City’s system. As far
as the network, the City does a good job utilizing it. It could be used better in some areas
but it comes with a significant expense. The UM report mentioned several areas that use
redundancy: public safety, airport. Because the network and phone system are tied
together, the vendors do well in helping the City and eliminating an expense of monitoring
the network. The cost is built into the maintenance costs.
Cyr noted that the City’s response to the UM’s review was also included in the Committee’s
agenda packet. She spoke about advanced technologies in the area of public safety, and
there is an emphasis to streamline the process of data entry and rekeying.
Barrett said the next area deals with servers, and the City runs 9 servers. Courtney noted
that there were 13 services about five years ago. Basically the report pointed out that a
couple of the servers need to be replaced and recommended that IS look at trying to further
reduce the number of servers. The Department is working on this area and it will reduce
the number of maintenance contracts.
Regarding disaster planning, Barrett said the City is looking to perform much of its backups
off site at the new Griffin Road fire station. The UM staff said that a written disaster plans
needs to be in place. Courtney and his staff are in the process of doing so. He noted other
disaster issues that need review; i.e. public safety and their mobile responding units.
Station 6 has newer technology and their fiber that will allow data from City Hall to be
mirrored out to that facility. Retired servers and storage equipment will be moved to the
station as a backup. There is a secured room that is protected by the City Hall access
control.
Speaking about user support, Barrett said that when an employee has a computer problem
they place a call to IS. The UM report recommends a more formal process whereby a
request tracking system would be in place to better monitor the requests and responses.
Courtney is looking into it and there is a lot of freeware available.
The UM report recommended that the City make more of its forms available on the City’s
website to be filled out and returned electronically. There are some in place such as the
citizen request form. The website could be made more interactive and more useable for the
public. On-line credit card payment registration is available for Parks and Recreation’s
classes. Most of what is available has been done through third party vendors. The limiting
factor for this recommendation is mainly cost. The web system would need to be updated
or additional support added to it. Cyr noted that within the last month or so the City started
to accept bids via e-mail. There is now software available to create interactive PDF forms
and attach them to the website. Separate e-mail addresses are available through the
website for bid submittal. Cyr said there are instances where forms are needed to be
submitted without payment and the City can now handle them. IS will be looking at the
various City departments who might have the need for this specific application. The third
party credit processing becomes an issue. Stone was concerned about increased printing
costs. When forms are received for bids, they are printed off at the City. Initially, the one
sheet with pricing is printed. On the construction bid documents, they can be very lengthy.
With construction projects, the bidders need to purchase the spec books and the plans and
the bid form is included. Stone said the City will spend a fortune on printing materials. Cyr
said as little as possible will be printed initially. Years ago, the City would send out hard
copies of bid invitations. Most vendors are now contacted by e-mail. Barrett said many
forms are already printed; i.e. certificate of occupancy.
Regarding e-mail, UM staff suggested the City look at its archiving policy. The City currently
keeps 10 years worth of e-mail but is only required to keep two years worth. Courtney said
the requirements change all the time based upon what the City wants to keep. Under the
Maine Freedom of Information Act, Cyr said the City is receiving more requests for
information provided by e-mail. Depending on the Statute, the record retention period is
different.
The last recommendation by UM was some sources that the City should continue to make
use of in order to make sure it is keeping up to date in the world of government technology.
The State of Maine has an annual conference which the City has regularly attended, looking
at technology in government within Maine.
Barrett said the report brought forth recommendations but also confirmed that the City has
a good technology system in place. He thinks the City will be continually challenged to try
to keep up with technology.
Palmer asked if protocols and policies are in place for individuals who might want to hack
the IS system. Courtney said he cannot guarantee anything because if there is a will there
is a way but the IS department does its best. There are firewalls in place for all activity that
comes from the outside. He works with vendors to protect access to e-mail and internet
from outside attacks. There are protocols in place and, when an employee is terminated,
appropriate actions are taken to remove their access to e-mail, network and resources.
Responding to Palmer, Courtney said that everything is housed in the basement at City Hall,
in a secured room. Cyr said the only way to access the room is by internal cards and they
are limited to the IS employees. It is air conditioned and protected by a fire suppression
system.
5. Update on City Birthday Efforts
Palmer talked about and provided details for an upcoming event on August 23 at the Bangor
House, which is also 175 years. He noted that many events have taken place with little or
no money being spent. Referring to in-kind, people have been extremely generous. Staff
has been very helpful. He spoke about t-shirts. Cyr clarified that $4,410 was expended for
500 shirts. Over 12 dozen have been sold. Many volunteers have been involved with the
th
shirt sales as well as the magnets. For the 175 birthday effort, Palmer noted that there is
$35,000 of in-kind. 25 years ago, Palmer said that the City spent $100,000 for the birthday
party held at that time. He spoke about the time capsule containing over 300 items which
will be opened 25 years from now. Stone noted that none of these efforts would have
taken place without Palmer’s initiative and energy level. Palmer said there are so many
th
people involved. He gave credit to the 175 Birthday Committee. He also noted the
th
September 5 Bangor High School vs. Skowhegan football game on the exact day, 50 years
to the day, that the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants played professional football
in Bangor, the only Maine community ever to host a professional football game. Tracy
Willette along with the School Department have done a great job in putting this together.
Stone provided an opportunity for Committee questions; none were brought forward.
6. Review of Proposed City Manager Evaluation Process
Barrett said that the Council has adopted a policy on how it evaluates its Council Appointees
which includes the City Manager, City Clerk, City Solicitor and City Assessor. There has been
discussion in the past relating to the difference in how the Manager’s evaluation has been
conducted as opposed to how the other appointee evaluations have been conducted.
Barrett presented a revised policy that makes the process the same. For the other
appointees, a committee was appointed of three Council members. Everyone on the
Council is provided an opportunity to complete an evaluation form, the Committee then
compiles the responses, meets with the appointee and the process is finalized between the
Committee and the appointee. A copy is then provided to the full Council and any Councilor
or the appointee has the right to request a meeting of the full Council for review.
The Manager’s process has been different in that all Councilors have completed the
evaluation, it is compiled, and then the Manager meets with the full Council rather than
individually with a committee. The revised policy would change the process so that the
Manager’s evaluation process is the same as what is done for all other Council Appointees.
There is one minor difference. As drafted, the Council Chair would serve as the Chair of the
Manager’s Evaluation Committee.
Palmer feels that there should be equity among the four appointees and would like the
system for all four to be similar if not identical. His bias would be for a third of the Council
to perform the evaluations rather than the entire Council. Barrett noted that the proposed
policy suggests the Council Chair to serve as the Chair of the Manager’s Committee. It is
not currently in place and could be modified. Palmer said he is not in favor of the Council
Chair serving as the Chair of the Manager’s Committee.
Responding to Stone, Barrett said this would require a full Council vote at some point.
Stone asked for the Committee’s thoughts on the makeup of the Manager’s Evaluation
Committee. Barrett noted that the Council Chair could appoint him/herself to the Evaluation
Committee.
Nealley said he could go either way.
Responding to Stone, Barrett said that Evaluation Committees are made up of three. It is,
however, a posted meeting and any Councilor may attend.
Bronson said the recommendation is fine. He does see the rationale of the Council Chair
being involved in the Manager’s evaluation.
D’Errico said either way is satisfactory to him.
Nealley said he would be prepared to make a motion exempting specific wording for the
Chair because, as suggested, the Chair may attend any meeting although the three voting
members would be those appointed to the Evaluation Committee.
The motion was seconded.
The item will be forwarded to the full Council.
Adjournment: 8:15 a.m.