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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-08-06 Finance Committee Minutes FINANCE COMMITTEE August 6, 2007 Minutes Councilors in attendance: Blanchette, Hawes, D’Errico, Stone, Farrington, Gratwick, Greene Staff in attendance: Cyr, Hamer, Caruso, Warren, Dawes, Jellison, Barrett, Birch, Bates Others: Parke Clemons 1. Consent Agenda A motion was made and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda. a. Quitclaim Deed – Hunt – 585 Main Street b. Used Vehicle Purchase – Motor Pool c. Used Vehicle Purchase – Airport/Motor Pool d. West Site/Hows Corner/Plymouth Site Tolling Agreement 2. Bids/Purchasing a. Pickup Truck – Airport – Varney GMC - $28,766 Prior to discussion of Item a., Cyr explained an emergency arose at BIA over the weekend during which time the Airport lost three compressors for A/C units. Honeywell, the contractor that the City works with to purchase and to maintain all of this equipment, has provided a quote for $20,575 to replace the three units and remove the old ones. The Airport will be filing an insurance claim. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation to replace three compressors at the Airport. Responding to Stone, Caruso said that the loss unfortunately occurs during a power outage. The Airport staff will be meeting with Honeywell at the end of this week to discuss a plan to put a system in place to develop a bypass or a cutoff in the event of an upcoming outage. Stone questioned the insurance coverage as it is an act of God. D’Errico inquired as to the auxiliary generator. Caruso said he isn’t certain why it didn’t protect the system and it is being investigated. D’Errico then asked if that in itself could have created the surge. Gratwick asked if the Airport staff would be reviewing the entire airport property with Honeywell and not just this one building. Blanchette asked how often Honeywell checks the generators on a routine basis. Caruso said Honeywell is at the Airport on a regular basis for standard, periodic checks on the system. He did not, however, know the exact schedule and when the compressors were last checked. Blanchette said if the storm was this past Friday, had the system been tested during that week and it didn’t work when the storm hit. Caruso said he believes it was the storm earlier in the week that damaged the system. He will check with this staff to see when the last check was performed. Blanchette asked why the generator didn’t kick in. Caruso will have to check but said it might have been due to the power failure and the power surge. Responding to Barrett, Caruso said the generator is check each week. Gratwick asked if Caruso would bring this back at a future committee meeting to report the findings of this issue; i.e., what actually happened in this situation and what Honeywell suggests to do prevent future events of this nature from occurring. Cyr returned to the regular agenda Item a, purchase of a pickup for BIA. This was part of the FY08 budget. We received four bids and the recommendation is to award bid to Varney GMC at $28,766, the low bidder. Stone asked if the vehicle needs to be retrofitted. Caruso said this does not need any major work other than lights and radios to operate on the airfield. Stone asked about purchasing a used vehicle. Caruso said it is a replacement vehicle and while not many miles are placed on the vehicle during a year, it does receive a lot of use at the job site or the airport grounds. Stone said a used one might be less and with low mileage. Cyr said this vehicle is used exclusively on the runway and it is the wheat-land yellow that is required. The $28,766 does include the lights and radio. Stone said he would oppose the purchase as staff did not consider a used vehicle. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation, with Stone in opposition. In the future, Stone said he would like to see bids for used vehicles when it is warranted. b. Police Vehicles – Motor Pool – Darling’s Ford - $46,610 Cyr said this is part of the annual replacement for police cruisers. The City issued bids for two vehicles and received four responses. The recommendation is to award the bid to the low bidder, Darling’s Ford. Motor Pool decals the vehicles and numbers them. Lights and other equipment needs to be taken from other vehicles and placed into the new ones. Blanchette asked if two vehicles are being retired. Dawes said they are and will be sold through auction. Gratwick was pleased with a bid being awarded to a local business. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. c. Skid Steer Loader – Motor Pool – Jordan Equipment - $31,629 Cyr said there were five responses to the bid and Jordan Equipment is the low bidder. The unit would be used at the Recycling Center. There are currently two units and one has about 7,000 hours of use and needs to be replaced. The old unit would be taken to auction. Responding to Blanchette, Cyr said the money received at the auction goes into the fleet replacement reserve. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. d. Cab & Chassis – Motor Pool – Whited Truck Center - $274,668 Cyr said these units will eventually become the dump trucks and plow trucks for the City. Five bids were received and the low bidder was Whited Truck Center for $274,668. In the future, other bids will be coming before the committee for the dump bodies and plow equipment. Responding to Stone, Cyr said as part of the annual budget process the Council appropriates money for the Fleet Replacement Reserve and it is $650,000 this year. Cyr said this amount would be bonded and it will be on the upcoming Monday night’s Council agenda. Responding to Stone, Dawes said there is a better price because of the quantity. The biggest thing is the order timeframe. Responding to Stone, Barrett said if these were replaced over time, Motor Pool would be running the older vehicles at a higher cost. Stone asked if the unit cost of operation for the older truck is more than we would earn in interest. Gratwick spoke about buying a finished product at a lower price than purchasing components and putting them together. Dawes said the completed cab and chassis is purchased and then the truck is taken to a business for the placement of the plow equipment. The City receives better prices this way and can perfect what it wants. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. e. Pickering Square Parking Garage Repairs – Community Development – Contracting Specialists - $199,425 Cyr indicated the City recently went out for bid. Becker Structural Engineering performed a maintenance report and as part of that identified a maintenance schedule that needed to be met. It had not been done on a consistent basis over the years. The City then entered into a contract with Becker to develop the specifications for the maintenance plans for the next few years. Bates said Becker looked initially at what should be done for the life of the garage. The contract is for Becker to prepare bid documents for two years. Cyr said that three bids have been received and staff recommends award to the low bidder, Contracting Specialists, $199,425. These funds are part of the downtown TIF District and appropriated during the budget process. Funds in the reserve for the Pickering Square garage were used first. Farrington referred to a letter from Todd Neil expressing concern about the level of experience of this organization and a suggestion that the price was developed to insure they were the low bidder. Bates said that Becker prepared the bid specifications, reviewed the bid responses and then set up an interview with the two low bidders. At that interview were Jack Burgess from Becker, Drew Caron from City Engineering, Parke Clemmons and Sally Bates. It was clear that the low bidder, CSI, is new to the market and different from Knowles in that they specialize in concrete repair with extensive experience with parking structures although not in the state of Maine. They recently have entered Maine’s market and very interested in becoming a force in the market. They also operate with a slightly different paradin than other contractors. The reason Becker set up the two interviews was because there was such a difference between the third lowest bid and the second lowest bid and then the absolute lowest bid. Many of their concerns were alleviated in the meetings. The letter did seem to start out with leeriness but then it concluded with a recommendation for CSI. Assuming Mr. Neil’s fears are substantiated who, in the final end, who would pay the change orders. Barrett said the bidder has to stay with the bid quote and that a change order has to be clearly justified. He stated that this is a relatively small job and he would not expect a lot of change orders. He pointed out that the consultant engineers are supervising the project twice a week and would pickup on the quality control side of the project. Farrington was satisfied with staff’s response. Responding to Gratwick, Bates said the complete Becker report was not available at the Parking Committee meeting so it was a ballpark guess at that point. Gratwick said this is stainless steel clips put in place. Gratwick asked if Becker has looked at the eye-beams. Clemons said that Becker took core samples out of the concrete deck and supporting structure and there are no steel eye-beams in the structures. It is all concrete. All of the caulking is being replaced in the seams. Salt from vehicles get into the seams and into the steel. Also, as part of this phase work will be done on the ground floor and concrete walls as part of the supporting structure. Barrett said a number of individuals have looked at how to best deal with the clips in the garage. Becker is an expert in this field and have a design to rectify the solution. Barrett isn’t certain that the clips would be removed and replaced with stainless steel. Becker’s suggested solution will limit moisture penetration and provide an oxidizing alternative by adding the other material that would rust first. In response to Gratwick, Clemons said Becker anticipates the lifespan of the garage to be 50 years, if well maintained. Becker also provided a schedule of maintenance and repairs for up to 20 years. Bates said she would be returning to the Committee each year through the life of the garage for annual maintenance dollars. Stone asked if the Council selects CSI is it possible to award a contract subject to the resume of the supervisor and the crew placed on the project. Cyr said yes and this would have been covered during the interviews plus references were checked. Responding to Stone, Bates said that when Becker talks with the supervisor the first week the quality of the supervisor will be evidenced. Stone said that when spending $200,000, he doesn’t feel it an unreasonable request to find out who will be sent to supervise. Cyr said she will include language in the contract covering Stone’s concerns. Barrett suggested language that states the site supervisor will be acceptable to Becker. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. Stone noted that Council Chair Greene had joined the meeting. f. Sole Source – WWTP – Pump Replacement – Aqua Solutions - $39,236 Cyr indicated this is the replacement of the Worthington Pumps that have been in place since 1968. There are four. For the past four years, they have been replaced one at a time. Staff tried to bid them but found the fit wasn’t appropriate. The original manufacturer has the original molds and staff is recommending to waive the bid process. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation. g. Request to Waive Bid Requirements – WWTP – Membrane Replacement – Sanitaire - $19,379 Cyr said this is another request to waive the bid process so that WWTP can go directly to the manufacturer. Jellison explained the membrane’s function. Farrington said that due to technology improvements the new membranes will take care of previous issues with the old equipment. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation. 4. Review of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification Policy Barrett said that the City has been looking at energy conservation and has an in- house staff committee in place looking at vehicle fuel use and building energy efficiency. Honeywell is currently performing an energy audit for the City. As a part of the process, Barrett said they are looking at steps for high level energy efficiency to build into the future of City buildings. LEED offers a program largely aimed at energy conservation, water conservation, waste reduction, and appropriately siting buildings to take advantage of their orientation. The LEED Program has a range of certifications and focuses on making certain that what is built meets today’s building standards. Staff is proposing a policy that would require the City to be LEED certified on all new construction over 5,000 sq. ft. undertaken by the City as well as major renovations whereby the City is investing 25% or more of the cost of the project. Staff feels it will start building into the future of the City’s modern energy and waste savings. The additional costs associated with LEED certification range from approximately 7/10 of a percent of construction costs up to 7% based on the level of certification. In return, it is paid for in a relatively short period of time due to savings that come back. Staff thinks this is a good first step. It would also apply to projects in which the City invests funds; i.e. residential renovation projects. Gratwick commended the staff for its effort. Responding to Gratwick, Barrett said the level of the LEED certification would depend on each individual project. Gratwick asked if it would be appropriate to begin at the highest level. Barrett said that some projects might not have measurement that applies to the highest level. For example, he mentioned the new fire station would probably be the first project under LEED. That project might not qualify because of its location not being in downtown. Warren said that the City attempting the first level is a big step forward. In response to Gratwick, Barrett said including the waterfront development could be taken up on a case-by-case basis. Eventually LEED standards may be incorporated in standard building codes. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation to adopt the policy. This item will be placed on Monday’s Council agenda for final action. Gratwick spoke of a public education component, as it is very important. Barrett said that Warren would do so. Section 3 does indicate that Code Enforcement will make materials available regarding the LEED Program. Bangor is the first City in Maine to adopt the program. 5. Assessor’s Update – FY 2008 City Assessor Birch referred to materials previously received by the Committee from him. He highlighted key tasks completed by the Assessing Department since Birch’s last meeting with the committee: FY07 tax commitment and the City Treasurer is ready to collect next year’s taxes; Assessing power point presentation has been broadcasting on the City’s government channel and is available on the City’s web site; the Bangor taxpayer notification letter has been printed on the taxpayer’s tax bill and it highlights issues which might assist the taxpayer to understand increases. It also includes a paragraph explaining the mil rate. On an annual basis, the Department lets the taxpayer know of the Homestead Exemption program. By the end of this week, all bills should have been mailed. He spoke about the tax commitment report, which is a collection of vital reports that is the responsibility of the Assessing Department. It includes a municipal valuation return. He pointed out a state mandated report for each st municipality to file with the Maine Revenue Service by November 1. He spoke about the volume of individuals receiving the Homestead Exemption, the industrial properties summary and the county warrant. Bangor’s obligation to the total county tax is 23.8%. He spoke about the TIF report. Upcoming anticipated projects: the personal property reimbursements, one meeting with the Board of Assessment Review discussing training options, and business equipment tax exemption proposal. The BTR program is now called the BETE (Business Equipment Tax Exemption) Program. Maine Revenue Service has a power point presentation, and Birch will return to the Council with a plan of attack for the next year’s assessments. In response to Greene, Birch said that the mil rate is a two-step process. Process one is the Council responsibility to work with the City Manager through the budget process to determine the level of service to be provided. Once that service amount has been reached, it is then step two, which is the Assessor’s responsibility to satisfy the mandate regulatory requirement for minimum assessment standards with the Council resolve to be as close to 100% as possible. In Bangor, as property values increase, the Assessor has the responsibility to make annual adjustments to set the valuation. The property tax rate may decrease while the cost of City services increase. Greene said to the average homeowner who would like to have the same level of City service as the previous year how does the Council respond to it. The Council tries to do its best in the budgeting area. Birch said that Councilors should refer residents to him (City Assessor) who would take time to meet with the taxpayer at their home or at City Hall to explain the annual adjustments in detail and to assure their assessment information is accurately reflected. Barrett said that many individual do not take advantage of basic tax breaks; i.e. Homestead exemption or the Circuit Breaker Program or the Veteran’s exemption. Birch said that one area not previously explored is the possibility to hold a neighborhood meeting to discuss development schemes. It would not be difficult for the Assessing Department to hold a satellite test neighborhood meeting to discuss the valuation process. Farrington discussed the differences between the BTR and the BETE program. Responding to Blanchette, the current valuation range is 96 to 102%. Assessors are allowed to assess between 90 and 110% to be eligible for 100% certification for exemption reimbursement. Stone asked about LD 1 and tax credits. Barrett said the LD 1 is a tax levy limit. Stone asked if the LD 1 limit could be raised to offset the amount of money lost from the State without violating regulations. Barrett stated that BETE is an annual application program so each business will st need to apply each year. If the filing deadline of April 1 is not met, the st exemption is lost. There is a 30-day extension making it May 1. 7. Executive Session – 1 MRSA 405 (6)(E) – Advice of City Solicitor Regarding Claim Against the City A motion was made and seconded to move into Executive Session. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation.