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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-08-06 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee August 6, 2012 (Immediately following Infrastructure) Minutes Councilors: Committee Members: Baldacci, Blanchette, Gallant, Hawes and Longo along with Gratwick, Sprague, and Weston Staff: Conlow, Farrar, Yardley, Goodwin and Dawes Others: 1. Proposed Ordinance – Requiring Disclosure forms for School Committee Members The Code of Ordinances currently requires City Councilors and appointed board members to file disclosure forms regarding their finances. School Board members have traditionally filed disclosure forms as well, but it is not required. The proposed Ordinance would bring the Code into compliance with current practice regarding School Board members. City Clerk Lisa Goodwin explained that this is a housekeeping matter. A question came up due to a disclosure form that was not filed by a School Committee member. After review, Goodwin realized that Council and Appointed Board Members were included, but the School Board was excluded from the Ordinance. This change will clarify the current Ordinance. Councilor Blanchette asked that the School Committee Members be informed of the changes. Baldacci moved to recommend the Proposed Ordinance to Full Council, Gallant seconded and it was approved. 2. November Election Update City Clerk Goodwin will brief the Committee regarding the upcoming November election and several changes that she plans to implement to improve the voting process. Goodwin stated that this is the kickoff week for the November Election. Nomination papers will be available on Thursday and applications for absentee ballots have been received and will be issued in mid September. Goodwin further explained that she will be extending the hours for early voting until 7:00p.m. Golf carts and wheelchairs will be available to help with mobility for voters. This year’s voter registration office will be located in the back storage room of the City Clerk’s office. In working with Debbie Cyr, it was decided that a Dutch door could be installed and voters can be directed to this area in City Hall for registering. Councilor Gallant asked if extending voter hours has an additional cost associated with it. Goodwin replied that because two election clerk positions (those handing ballots to voters) have been eliminated this year, the total cost is actually less. Mayor Weston said that he had a conversation with the State Department of Elections about the handicapped voting apparatus availability. The State Department said that this machine should be available during the 10 days prior to Election Day for early voting, (state mandate) but it appears that Bangor uses it only on Election Day Tuesday. Goodwin responded that the machine is not available and is in a practice mode 10 days prior to the Election, but she offered to check into it further and let Weston know. 3. Proposal to Revise the Procedure for Council Appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees Currently, the Personnel Committee interviews all candidates who express an interest in serving on City Boards, Commissions and Committees. Depending upon the number of applicants received, this can be a very time consuming process. Recently, the City Clerk was asked to develop a procedure to streamline this process. Goodwin spoke about streamlining the Committee Interview process for appointments to Board, Commissions and Committees. Goodwin distributed a document with ideas for review and feedback in her attempt to make the process more efficient. There was dialogue among the Councilors with ideas such as staggering the time of the interview process by moving away from budget time if possible. Some wanted to retain the current process due to the importance of human interaction with candidates. After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made by Councilor Blanchette to continue to perform interviews for all candidates, but to have interviews earlier during September and October and have new members sworn in during the month of January. The motion was seconded and approved. 4. Approval of Part-time Position for Healthy Maine Partnership Grant Program The Health and Community Services Department is requesting approval to create a part-time contract manager position with the Healthy Maine Partnership (HMP) grant program. This position would be fully funded from the HMP grant and would be responsible for managing and administering the HMP grant program. Shawn Yardley explained that due to the fact that the Health and Community Services Department has the additional burden as Fiscal Agent for Healthy Maine Partnership along with the loss of two staff members due to budget cuts, there is a need for a part-time Grants Manager. This would be completely funded by grants from the Healthy Maine Partnership. Yardley asked for approval of hiring a person for this part time position. Baldacci made a motion to approve, it was seconded and approved. 5. Request to Waive Bid Procedure – Purchase of Large Snow Blower In the approved FY13 budget, $140,000 was included to replace one of the City’s large snow blowers that is attached to a front-end loader. We have recently learned that we have an opportunity to “piggyback” on the State Contract for an estimated cost of $101,000, a significant savings. Staff is recommending that the formal bid procedure be waived and that staff be authorized to purchase the snow blower from Howard P. Fairfield. As the offer to be part of the State Contract expires August 9, 2012, a Council Order will be prepared after the fact ratifying this action if approved by the Committee. Fleet Maintenance Director Bob Dawes explained that he has an opportunity through a state contract to purchase a large snow blower which moves 2200 cu. ft. of snow per minute. This will replace a 1997 snow blower currently in use and will save $40,000 from the original budget. Gallant moved staff recommendation, Baldacci seconded and it was approved. Meeting Adjourned at 5:40 p.m.