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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10-04 Finance Committee Minutes , ' FINANCE COMMITTEE ' October 4, 2004 Minutes , Councilors in Attendance: Farrington, D'Errico, Palmer, Gratwick, Allen Staff in Attendance: Cyr, Barrett, Farrar, Pellegrino, Little, McNeil, Ring , 1. Consent Agenda ' A motion was made and seconded to approve Consent Agenda items a through d. , a. Council Resolve 04-293, Accepting &Appropriating HUD Special Projects Program for Waterfront Improvement Grant , b. Quitclaim Deed —Young & Poisson — 142 Holiday Park c. Quitclaim Deed — Campbell — 58 Randolph Drive d. Waived Purchasing Regulations — WIC Program — Breast Pumps & Kits , 2. Update on Cues, Inc , As of this date, Little reported that Cues is not current with its workout agreement with the Ciry. The required payment due last Friday was not ' received. Little spoke with Mr. Grey from Cues and he indicated he came to City Hall on Friday but it was after 4:30 pm. Grey indicated he would make the payment on October 5`h. Little said the agreement called for Cues to ' make the September payment on time, which was due on the 15"'. Payment was not made. Between those payments and personal property, it is approximately $17,500. Grey indicated his company does not have the ' money to make the payments. Grey said they will do their best between now and March to get the first half paid. Grey also indicated Cues would continue to work toward making Friday payments but may be a few days late. Grey , has been invited, and has agreed to attend, the next Finance Committee to speak directly to the Committee. In response to Farrington, Little said that in the past with most workout agreements, if the taxpayer brings payments up ' to current status, the workout agreement has been continued. The Cues' agreement was done strictly for business licensing. Little said there are workout agreements whereby payments are made on time, some are paid off ' early, and some are a bit late. Except for the September payment, Cues has made payments within a week of the due date. The lack of this payment has ' not affected the mil rate or other taxpayers. Palmer asked about a drop box outside of City Hall for taxpayer use. Little expressed concern about security. There is a drop box outside of the Treasurer's Office, which receives a lot of ' � ' ' use. Palmer suggested that Grey be made aware of the drop box. He also ' asked if e-mail payments are available. Little said there is nothing in place. Individuals can make a payment on line using a credit card. D'Errico ' expressed concern with bringing an individual before the committee, which is aired on the government channel, regarding a financial area. Palmer feels it would be best to handle it privately. However, he noted that it has been done ' without results. D'Errico asked if it could be handled in executive session. Little will check with the Legal Department. Little will let Grey know that the ' meeting will be televised. 3. Bids/Purchasing � ' a. Fuel Truck Containment Building — Airport — J.M. Brown - $360,000 Pellegrino explained that the construction of this building is required by ' recent Environmental Protection Agency rules requiring that airports provide emergency containment for the fuel stored in refueling trucks. At the present time, Exxon Mobil Corporation owns six of the fueling trucks ' at BIA, while the Airport owns five. E�ocon has agreed to pay for half of the total cost of the building. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff's recommendation to award this bid to J.M. Brown, the low ' bidder, in the amount of $360,000. The Committee also requested that the Airport investigate with E�ocon the potential of funding the City's ' portion of the project through an offset to our fuel override payments to E�ocon Mobil. Staff will report on that possibility at the upcoming Wednesday City Council meeting. This item will go to full Council for , approval. b. Bus Storage Facility — Engineering —].M. Brown - $407,000 , The City has received bids for the construction of a building designed to allow us to store our bus fleet within a heated space during the winter. By storing the buses in such a space, there should be fewer problems with ' frozen handicapped ramps, greater reliability on cold winter mornings, and a more comfortable environment for passengers who ride early in the day. The original bid of $656,126 was well over the City's available funds of ' $407,687. Staff has negotiated with the original low bidder, J.M. Brown of Hampden, to make the necessary changes to reduce the cost of the project. This can be accomplished by reducing the size of the building , through eliminating two bays and by redesigning or substituting many of the original features of the building. The buses that cannot be housed in ' the new structure will be stored within the existing Recycling building. A major factor affecting the price of these bids has been the dramatic increase in the cost of steel. A motion was made and seconded to ' approve staff's recommendation to award this contract to J.M. Brown in the amount of $407,000. This will go to full Council for approval. ' ' ' ' 4. Executive Session — Appeal of General Assistance Decision — 1 M.R.S.A. § 405(6)(F) & 22 M.R.S.A. § 4306 , Councilor Farrington indicated that this item has been indefinitely posted. ' S. Open Session — Decision on Appeal of General Assistance Decision 6. Executive Session — Hardship Abatement— 36 M.R.S.A. § 841 (2) , A motion was made and seconded to go into executive session. , 7. Open Session — Decision on Hardship Abatement ' A motion was made and seconded to approve the hardship abatement request. , ' , ' ' ' ' ' ' ' , '