HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-10-08 Finance Committee MinutesFINANCE COMMMEE
October 8, 2003
Minutes
Council Attendance: Tremble, Nealley, Palmer, Greene, Alen
Staff Attendance: Cyr, Pellegrino, Olsen, Daniels, Hellmann
Others: _ Scott Lapher, Budget; Ray Moss, Enterprise
1. Consent Agenda
A motion was made and seconded to approve the consent agenda items.
a. Used Equipment Purchase — Forldift - Motor Pool -$23,500
b. Council Resolve 03-304, Accepting & Appropriating a Small Community
Air Service Development Grant for $310,000
2. Bids/Purchasing
a. Rock Salt—Public Works— International Salt Co. -$145,899
A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation.
It. Car Rental Agencies — Airport — Continued From Meeting of 9/17/03
In response to a question raised by Councilor Palmer at the previous
Finance Committee meeting, Pellegrino said that the City Solicitor has
determined that the City can negotiate excise taxes from car rental
agencies to be paid to the City of Bangor, Subsequently, Budget has
offered to register all their cars in Bangor. Regarding a fifth seasonal
car rental vendor at BIA, It would give one agency an unfair advantage
as the fifth vendor would come during the peak season. Staff's
recommendation remains the same to award the contact to Budget
Rental. In response to Nealley, Daniels said he did a search in looking
at airports of similar size and type. Neplley made a motion, which was
seconded, to move staff recommendation. Tremble made an
amendment to Nealley's motion which would direct staff to Include as
part of negotiation for half of the car rentals inventory in Bangor be
registered in Maine, specifically in Bangor. Nealley asked If the issue
would thenneed to be put back out to bid. Pellegrino asked for
idarification from the Committee as to their recommended amendment.
It could cause a delay in reaching an agreement. The current contracts
expiredthe end of September. Nealley indicated it could be voluntary
on the part of the agent es at this point and part of future negotiations
in the RFP process. Palmer asked why staff did an RFP process rather
than a straight bid on this issue. Pellegrino said the bid process
defines everything except price and the final bid is the last element of
the process: The RFP is used when the issue mvolves wnsideramons
-other than money and It Is the beginning of the negotiation process.
Palmer suggested looking at what Is in the best financial interests of
the City in the excise tax process. Tremble made a motion W pursue
how many rental vehicles can be registered in the City of Bangor. The
amended motion was seconded. This amendment was W Nealley's
motion to approve staff recommendation. Palmer voted in favor of the
amendment but expressed concern about the bid versus the RFP
process. He asked staff to review the procedure in terms of
automobile rentals. Ray Moss of Enterprise talked about the process
and said he has never been through a process such as thing; i.e.
congratulations youVe won, now let's negotiate. He feels there are
issues with the proposal that are not acting in the best interest of the
City. The contact allows co -granting which allows the company to
have one or two more names at the counter. He also addressed
concession fees. If excise tax is going to be involved, Enterprise is
the largest rental agency In Maine. The total Handal Impact on the
City to not include Enterprise is not taking the City's best Interest into
play. The motion was made and seconded to approve staff's
recommendation as amended by a 3-2 vote. Councilor Allen doubted
the motion.
c. Storm Windows - Airport - Portland Glass -$11,325
The windows will be installed at the General Aviation building. A
motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation.
d. Request for Proposals for Air Service Development Services - Airport -
Boyd Group. Seven to eight proposals were received, four companies
were interviewed by a review committee which recommended The
Boyd Group/ASRC, Inc. for development of air service route and
market proposals as well as a quarterly statistical analysis. Staff also
recommended Sabre Consulting Group for a one-time collection of
travel data on the region. A motion was made and seconded to
approve staff recommendation. The item will appear on the upcoming
Council agenda for final approval
e. Pager Services - City Wide- Northeast Paging
The City currently has 70 pagers mainly at the Airport and at the Police
department. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff.
recommendation.
f. Review of Recommended Procurement Policy Changes
In the past, the Committee has expressed an interest in reviewing and
making changes to the City's procurement policy. Recommendations
by staff are: (1) Increasing the formal bid limit from $5,000 to
$10,000, (2) increasing the formal quote limit from $1,000 to $2,000,
(3) increasing the informal quote limit from $200 to $500, (4)
increasing the limit for small purchases from $200 to $500; (5) adding
policy language that will allow electronic auction bidding. (6) a
Procurement card program; and (7) delegation to other City officials
for purchases.
Nealley felt that the Committee doesnt need to be bogged down with
details and can focus on the issues that are more material. Palmer
agreed that the proposed changes are reasonable. He wondered If the
auditors should review the procurement policy, Cyr said she would do
so but that the auditors dont look at the policy side but the financial
side. They will pull three bids that have been awarded and follow the
Citys process through.
Pellegrino Indicated that electronic auction bidding is fairly new and
has been successfully used by other municipalities with commodities
that have uniform specifications such as rock salt, chemicals, traffic
paint, etc. Nealley and Palmer expressed support.
Pellegrino talked about the procurement card. It is programmed with
a limit and allows control of amounts spent, the number of Items
purchased as well as the type of items purdiased. Individual
employees would be given personal responsibility for their card for
purchases up to $500. The individual will be responsible for keeping
their sales slips and responsible for their purdiases. It allows the City
to make one electronic payment per month to the vendor as opposed
W hundreds of payments. Currently, the City uses 5-000-6,000
purchase orders per month.- Procurement cards will allow greater
control. Pellegrino suggested it be started with one or two
departments for a pilot program for three to she months and then
report back to the Finance Committee. Tremble noted that with
purchase orders a payment is now withheld if the vendor owes back
taxes to the City. With the new card system, this couldn't take place.
Allen expressed support for the card system. It is successfully used at
the University. Nealley questioned if the limit on the card should be
higher.
Pellegrino discussed delegation of purchase authority to other City
officials and indicated It is basically In place now With the Motor Pool
Director. Dawes has purchased used equipment which doesn't lend.
itself to normal purchasing policies.
Tremble asked about a section of the policy dealing with emergency
repair purchases. Pellegrino said it Is addressed in the policy but he
will check the policy and change some of the language.
A motion was made and seconded to approve staffs recommendation.
Staff will update the policy with the changes and amendments clearly
marked. It will come before the full City Council for final approval. -
3. Executive Session — Hardship Abatement
A motion was made and seconded to go into executive session.
4. Open Session — Hardship Abatement Decision
A motion was made and seconded to approve the h
request.