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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-01-19 Finance Committee Minutes 1 Finance Committee Meeting Wednesday, lanuary 19, 2005 / 4 p.m. , City Council Chambers Councilors in Attendance: Cashwell, D'Errico, Farrington, Gratwick, Green, Hewes, Stone, Tremble ' Staff in Attendance: Bob D, Dana W, Dave L, Dave P, Deb, Ed, Jeff Cammack, Mike Dyer, Patti Dubois Others in Attendance: Harrison Clark, Gerry Palmer, Nancy Roberts, Donald Lewis ' The Chair called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. It was moved and voted to accept the consent ' agenda. a. Council Resolve 05-58, Appropriating $10,000 from Forestry Trust Account to Fund ' Facilitation of Penjajawoc/Mall Area Task Force b. Council resolve 05-59, Appropriating $10,000 from City Forest Trust Account to Rent a Skidder , c. Quitclaim Deed — 35 Garland Street— Allen d. Acceptance of Payment— 29 Heritage Lane — D'Alessio Item 2A• The ourchase of an extended cab oickup truck— a 4x4 one ton emeraencv vehicie. It was ' noted that the current truck has 160,000 miles, this vehicle is on-call 365 days per year 24/7, responding to vehicle accidents, items in the roadway, etc. It was recommended to purchase the ' Dodge Ram one-ton for $32,349. Specifications have been reviewed and are responsive to the City's request. The questions was raised as to whether it makes sense to utilize one brand of vehicle. It , was noted that from the fleet maintenance position, yes, but in using the bid process, this would be difficult to do. There was discussion. Motor pool will review the differences in maintaining two brands of vehicles. There was further discussion regarding purchasing a large volume at a discounted price. ' It was moved and voted to purchase the Dodge Ram one-ton for $32,349. Item 2B• The rental of a skidder for o�erations in the Citv Forest: It was noted that skidders are not ' rypically rented but there is an employee who works in the Forestry Division of Public Works that would be willing to rent an older model skidder for $25 per hour of operation—an extremely low price. He carries the appropriate insurance, and he was the only responder to the proposal for the ' rentai of a skidder. The consent agenda includes an Item B, which includes the appropriate funds to rent this skidder. There is a fair amount of wood to pull out and seli. The equipment would be operated by its owner, Mark Pomeroy, the City employee. It was noted that after review with the ' legal department, this is not in conflict with our Ethics Ordinance. There was discussion. It was moved and voted to rent the skidder. , Item 3• Areas to be addressed in the Bangor Auditorium and civic center. Bottom line corrections/improvements have been made to the building to keep the building up to current minimal ' standards of safety code issues; items performed included isolating areas of the building, i.e., the Elephant Room, which is used as a storage area. Construction and replacement for doors remains to be done in and around the elephant room and doors on the storage center underneath the civic , center at a cost of approximately $15k in materials, with the work to be done by Public Works. There was discussion on the construction. Chief Cammack commented on the concerns associated with public safety. It was moved and voted to recommend to Council to appropriate funds for the repairs. , FC Minutes 1-19-05 / Page 1 , ' Item 4: Cam�Bangor — United Way, its administrator, is asking for $1,000 rental fee for the Civic , Center be waived and the Ciry contribute up to $780 for the BBQ celebration. Nancy Roberts of United Way presented an overview of the benefits of Camp Bangor, the credentials the youth must have to be eligible, and an overview of a variety of options in the sites that have been explored. It ' was noted that the for-profit camp fee should be at a higher rate than the nonprofit camp in future years. There was discussion on the community service element and the tracking of the service. It was moved and voted to recommend to Council to authorize the $1,780 towards Camp Bangor. ' Item 5: Consolidation of Polling Places from nine sites to one site— some advantages of consolidating were noted: it is one-stop shopping; address changes could be performed at one location; voter ' confusion would be eliminated; this would provide an opportunity for voters to share rides with others who would have voted at another site in the past; ample parking would be available; it is a well-known site and is easily handicap accessible; voting sites would not have to be changed again if , it were one site; an ADA compliance evaluation was performed from the State and violations cited; the process would be streamlined with the resources in one space; security of the students would be , increased; this may bring the community together; staff would be on-hand to assist; the BAT could offer a reduced rate; a shuttle service could be offered in the parking lot; wardens would be responsible for each specific area; there would be one sort at the end of the day. There was ' discussion on notifying the residents—i.e. direct mail. It was noted that many communities in Maine have reduced the number of voting sites. It was recommended that we review other states' practices. Councilors commended the efforts of putting this recommendation together. It was noted that a ' public hearing would be required. It was noted that this would give the City Clerk the ability to handle the process better and resolution of problems would be handled with in a timely fashion. It was recommended that the entrance and exit areas be separated, keeping the flow of traffic moving , along. Gerry Palmer commented on the process, the poll watchers, and candidate invoivement and expressed this as a positive approach in the long run. Harrison Clark commented on observations made in the past, particularly when problems arose there was no supervision or the clerk could not ' advise a warden but also indicated that this process could strengthen the process and that it has potential. Donald Lewis commented positively on observations made in the past and on the proposed , one-site voting, noting that we will have time to make improvements with each election. It was moved and voted to recommend to Council for public hearing and further consideration. , Item : Executive Session: Hardship Abatements Item 7: Open Session: Hardship Abatement Decision: It was moved and voted to approve staff , recommendation for both Hardship Abatements. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m. ' ' ' ' FC Minutes 1-19-05 / Page 2 '