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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-07-21 Finance Committee Minutes FINANCE COMMITTEE July 21, 2008 Minutes Council Attendees: Palmer, Stone, Farrington, Hawes, Blanchette Staff Attendees: Cyr, Ring, Dawes, Barrett, Hupp, Little Dubois Others: Parke Clemmons 1. Bids/Purchasing a. Paving – Public Services – Lane Construction - $1,091,876 Cyr said that two responses were received for the City’s annual paving bid. Staff recommended award of bid to Lane Construction, the low bidder, in the estimated amount of $1,091,875.70. At the request of the City Manager, Wardwell supplied information regarding costs for this year. The materials used for paving are petroleum based. The current cost per ton under this contract is $77.40 compared to $60.40 last year. In FY2000, it was $22.23/ton. Cyr noted that the State’s URIP program dollar amounts to the City has also increased, with an estimated $300,000 increase. Fewer miles are paved for the same amount of money which provides another example of how fuel impacts the City and its limited resources. Palmer made a motion to move staff recommendation, which was seconded by Blanchette. The item will go to the full Council for its final recommendation. b. Police Cruisers – Fleet Maintenance – Darling’s Ford - $95,512 This is part of the annual replacement of cruisers under the City’s Fleet Maintenance Policy. The cruisers are used for 120,000 miles and then replaced, which is about 3-4 years. 7 bids were issued and 2 received. The staff recommendation is to award the contract to the low bidder, Darling’s Ford of Bangor, to replace four vehicles. Dawes said in the past the older vehicles are auctioned off but he is planning to rotate two of the older ones into the Detective Service division. The remaining two older vehicles will be sold online. Responding to Palmer, Dawes said his division is doing all it can to improve efficiency of City vehicles including less idling. Again in response to Palmer, Dawes said the Crown Victoria is the standard, safest vehicle for the police department’s use. Barrett said there are very few cars that are capable of carrying the police department’s necessary equipment. Noting that weight impacts vehicle mileage, Palmer asked if staff has looked at reducing some of the equipment carried by the police officers as a cost savings measure. Blanchette made a motion to move staff recommendation. Palmer seconded the motion. Palmer felt it important for the taxpayers to know that the City is doing due diligence in looking at ways to cut back. c. Request to Waive Bid Process – Snow Blower Repair – Fleet Maintenance – HP Fairfield - $13,500 One of the City’s two snow blower units is in need of major repair. It is 10 years old. A new replacement would be in the area of $200,000. HP Fairfield is the only dealer in the area, and the City has used them frequently in the past. Fairfield estimates the repair cost to be at $13,500. A motion was made and seconded to waive the bid process and return to HP Fairfield for the necessary repair work. The equipment’s life should be extended by another 4-5 years following the repair. A motion was made by Palmer and seconded by Blanchette to approve staff’s recommendation. d. 4 x 4 Vehicle – Airport – Liberty Chevrolet - $56,472 Cyr noted that this item is returning from a prior Finance Committee meeting. The vehicle contains a deccelerometer which tests the friction and stopping capability on the runway. There was question at the last meeting about the vehicle. In the agenda packet, committee members received a memo from the Airport Director explaining the reasons behind their recommendation. In order for the deccelerometer to work properly the ABS needs to be shut down. The ABS in a Chevy Tahoe can be shut down with the vehicle still able to function. Palmer thanked Hupp for the information noting that had it been available at the prior meeting it might have saved time in discussion. Palmer moved staff recommendation. Blanchette seconded it. e. Revenue Control Parking Equipment – Airport – Cincinnati Time Recorder - $218,500 Stone had requested that this item be returned to the Committee. Responding to Stone, Cyr said that Stone had raised the issue dealing with the items to be placed out for bid by the City. He would like the City to do more of a cost benefit analysis and the return on investment when it makes sense. She noted there are some items where it would not make sense; i.e. paving material. Stone had concerns about items purchased in the past with federal or state grant dollars. In the future when items go out for bid, staff will be looking at certain questions depending on the item being bid such as cost avoidance, new costs incurred, annual maintenance versus the existing maintenance, return on investment, additional operating costs, cost or savings associated with the purchase, training involved, extra equipment needed to be purchased for the item, etc. In reference to the current item, Hupp said she had provided a memo which she feels covered a lot of the questions noted by Cyr and reviewed them in detail. Hupp noted that the pay in lane feature had been added at $38,600 and thereby deleting the secondary cashier computer and secondary credit card terminal at a cost of $25,600. It, therefore, increased the project cost by $13,000. It would be offset in a couple of years due to a decrease in cashier hours. Palmer moved staff recommendation as amended. Blanchette seconded the motion. Barrett said this will need to go to full Council for final action including the amendment. Blanchette asked that the item for Council include language that specifically states the cost savings over time. 2. Request to Take Possession of Mobile Home Cyr indicated that staff is requesting that this item be tabled but that she did want a short discussion to assist staff in finalizing its position. In the past when this issue has become before the City, the park owner involved has been more than willing to dispose of the mobile home. Lot 15 in the Rainbow Mobile Home Park is currently vacant and it has matured tax liens, meaning that the City owns it but has not yet taken formal possession. According to the City Solicitor, the City will be liable for the park rental fee st as of August 1. In the past, the City has taken possession of mobile homes and then let a third party dispose of it. In this case, the City would be responsible for the disposal. Responding to Blanchette, Cyr said that the Fire Department is not interested in using the mobile home for a burn exercise. Blanchette asked if the metal could be sold before the City disposes of the mobile home. Little said it is an option that is under discussion with Code Enforcement. Palmer moved to table the item to the next Finance Committee meeting unless staff deems it necessary to bring the item to the upcoming City Council meeting. Motion was seconded. 3. Review of Recent Election Law Changes Dubois noted recent law changes in Legislative Session. Some are not mandatory but at the option of the local municipality. One of the options is to accept absentee ballot requests by e-mail and Dubois opted into the program. Another major change in State Law is the ability to opt into early processing of absentee ballots. Due to the increasing volume in absentee ballots, Clerks across the state have found it very difficult to process absentee ballots on Election Day plus conduct in person voting on Election Day. If appropriate notice is given to all involved, clerks would be allowed to process absentee ballots the day prior to the election. This option was available last November but Bangor was involved in its own pilot on early voting so Dubois opted out of the program at that time. She would now like to opt in for the November 2008 election expecting 9,000-10,000 absentee ballots at an estimated 30 hours for processing time. The processing would take place on Monday, the day before the election. If this is not done, Bangor’s election results would not be available until the day after the election. The Legislature discussed but did not approve mandatory cut off dates for absentee voting but did approve an opt-in option so that if the municipality wanted to participate it could do so with proper notification to the state. Dubois wanted the Committee’s thoughts on the cut off date. Bangor is the only municipality in the State that conducts absentee in-person balloting at an offsite location and staffed like a polling place, it offers extended hours daily from 8 am to 6 pm. Another possibility is closing the City Clerk’s office to regular business on Election Day and have it opened for voting election purposes only. Responding to Stone, Dubois said her choice would be to cut off absentee in person voting before Election Day and she would aggressively advertise in all local media, tv interviews and live radio broadcasts. The option would reduce the stress placed on her office. Barrett said he has observed a number of presidential elections and during the 2000 election the City came close to crunching the system. The 2004 went better but there were some last minute Secretary of State changes that needed to be implemented at the last minute. Barrett expressed his respect to the City Clerk and her office. He supported the Clerk’s recommendation. Palmer asked if the entire Council would make the decision. Barrett suggested that an Order come before the Council. Palmer made a motion, which was seconded, to approve Dubois’ recommendation. Hawes clarified that closing the Clerk’s Office on Election Day was part of the motion. 4. Executive Session – 36 MRSA Section 841 (2) – Hardship Abatements (A) & (B) A motion was made and seconded to move into executive session. 5. Open Session – Hardship Abatement Decisions A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation.