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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-03-19 Finance Committee Minutes � � FINANCE COMMITTEE � March 19, 2003 Minutes � Councilor Attendance: Tremble, Greene, Nealley, Allen � Staff Attendance: Barrett, Cyr, Pellegrino, Ervin, Farrar, Ring, Heitmann Others: Buckley, Tyler, Fowle � 1. Bids/Purchasing a. Parking Study — Airport — Carl Walker Inc. - $46,700. � Pellegrino said the parking areas at BIA have been impacted by the TSA terror alert system, which required a 300-foot zone of no parking. Also, there are 75 TSA employees at BIA. 8 proposals were received and staff � subsequently narrowed the field to three: Rich and Associates, Walker Parking Consultants, and Carl Walker. Staff recommended Carl Walker as � the most responsive bidder. The study will be funded through the FAA which is a 90% federal, 5% state and 5% Airport formula. The initial contract amount is $46,700 but the final contract has not been finalized. � Nealley made a motion to approve staff's recommendation. Greene seconded the motion. � b. Site Lights Railroad Street— Waterfront — Gilman Electric - $56,125. This is for the purchase of 21 lights with an eighteen-week delivery which will allow time for installation prior to The Folk Festival. Nealley made a motion to approve staff's recommendation. Greene asked if all the lights �1 in the area are matching. Greene seconded the motion. Ring said these are 16 ft. pole height and are interchangeable. Tremble asked about the � City's separate contract on lamps. Pellegrino will check to compare the prices. I c. Emergency Repair of Baler — Public Works - $6,975. Ring said this is to request a waiver of the purchasing regulations to repair ' the baler, which is an older model. Motor Pool and Public Works have worked together to find a source to repair or replace and to obtain a firm quote with a reasonable delivery time. A proposal was received from L Complete Hydraulics for repair of the existing cylinder, labor and a two- week delivery time for $6,975. Public Works will be applying for a recycling grant for a new baler. Nealley made a motion to approve staff's � recommendation. Nealley asked about the $5,000 limit for competitive bidding and talked about not having to seek committee approval when there is a time issue with broken down equipment. Pellegrino said the � � � policy does contain an emergency provision and, if the committee were � not meeting tonight, the purchase probably would have gone through. Pellegrino will be suggesting some changes in the purchasing policy to the ■ Committee at future date. Nealley's motion was seconded. �1 d. Waive Procurement Policy — Flu Vaccine — Health and Welfare. � There is only one manufacturer available this year. Health and Welfare estimates it will need 5,000 doses for $38,750. Health and Welfare will be � the primary agency this year and Saint)oseph's will be assisting. It is not limited to Bangor residents. There is a charge for the service which covers the cost. A motion was made and seconded to waive the purchasing � policy to purchase the vaccine. e. Power Supply Contract — City Wide. � Farrar said the City is in the position where it needs to select its energy supplier. The most recent contract is a four month contract. Maine Power Options, the current provider, has notified participating � municipalities that the rates are going into effect on April 1� and the City has until March 215� to make a determination. Farrar reviewed the summary of options. Staff recommendation is Option B, which is 5.98Q ' for a 14 month period (approximately 8,500,000 kwh) based on the fact that the City budgeted 6� for the proposed FY04 budget and will enable the City to lock in at a known price for the majority of the next fiscal year. � Greene asked if it would be prudent to select Option C at a lower unit cost and a lock-in of 24 months. Farrar said that 24 months seems to be a � long period to lock in given the current situation and staff feels the rate might be coming down. On an annual basis, the difference between the 5.Z� and the 5.98¢ is about $66,000. The difference between the 5.2� � and the 5.73¢ is $45,000. Allen asked about the fluctuation between the current and the past year. Farrar said that with the present one-year timeframe the Maine PowerOptions rate was 5.6a and the standard offer ' was 7.3¢. In the current timeframe, MainePowerOptions was 5.2Q and the standard offer was 4.4�. Tremble asked about the current 4-month agreement at 5.2� and asked if the City had the option to continue for a � longer period. Farrar said the contract could have gone to June of 2004 at 5.15�. At that time, it was decided to take the 5.2� for the four-month period to see what the standard offer rate would be as well as the new � Maine PowerOptions. Unfortunately instead of going for a one-year period the standard offer rate bid out for a six-month period. Nealley felt that � Option B was a fairly safe route and made a motion to accept staff's recommendation. Tremble agreed with Greene in supporting the 24- month rate. Greene made a motion to accept Option C. The motion was � seconded with Nealley doubting the motion. The motion was accepted 3- 1 to accept Option C. � � ' � 2. Update on State Agency Clients. � The School Superintendent addressed the Committee regarding a problem with education of state agency clients that are in special ed programs in ' the City of Bangor. These clients are students who are in the care of various state agencies and are residents in the City. Because Bangor has the best special ed program in the State, it has become very attractive. � There is a clause in the Maine Department of Education laws that indicates if the money is not available in this account the state may prorate the amount of money distributed to communities for special ed � children. This account becomes attractive in terms of cutting funds. There was an attempt to cut this fund last year and Bangor was � successful in convincing the Legislature that this was not the place to cut. Ervin talked about the Southern Penobscot Regional Program for Children with Exceptionalities which is designed to be creative and flexible. Many � area communities participate in this program. He gave the Committee an info sheet with the numbers involved, the areas covered and the amounts expended for the clients during 2001-02 (136 clients at approximately � $2.4M). The State has indicated that Bangor can submit its bills for April, May and June and, if the money is available in ]une, reimbursement will be processed. If the money is not fully available, it will be prorated. For � Bangor, this ranges from $100,000-$135,000/month. He is concerned that the State will renege on this funding. Bangor does not intend to abandon these students. He doesn't know who will pick up the bill. Allen asked � about the partnership between Bangor and other municipalities in this area of special education. She asked if the partners could work on a more � pro-active basis in projection of ne�year. Ervin has suggested that the state put together a group of statewide individuals to talk about this issue. Nealley talked about the Council issuing a Resolve to the State to insure � that the cost shifting doesn't take place. Each special ed student is evaluated on an individual basis and an individual plan fashioned for each student. There is no one size fits all expense. This is the first year for a � potential shortfall estimated at $4M overall statewide. Barrett addressed the issue of timing in terms of budgeting. He said that it might be that the Council would adopt a School Department budget that is incorrect which , compounds the problem into next year. Ervin agreed with the domino effect. He is planning the School Department budget on a biennial basis. He reiterated that special ed is a State commitment to these children. � Ervin has sent a letter to the Governor. The mandate started out of federal legislation in 1982. Allen asked if the communities in the Southern � Penobscot Regional Program could bypass the state and seek federal funding. Ervin said there are on-going discussions at the Federal level for full funding of special education. Tremble felt there would be willingness ' � ' on the part of the Council to sign a letter. Nealley recommended bringing � this item to the upcoming Council/ Legislative Workshop. Barrett suggested Ervin draft a letter for Council signature to the Governor, � Commissioner of Education and Appropriations Committee and suggested contacting the City of Portland. 3. Request for Option Extension — Bangor Nursing & Rehab Center � Jim Tyler, representative from BNRC, was present to request a 90-day � extension of their option for the Essex Street properry (Naval Reserve Center). An architect is working with BNRC regarding the possible � relocation to the Essex Street property and they would like more time to make a final determination of whether or not to relocate. The Committee recommended approval of an Order for the upcoming Council agenda to � amend the Master Transaction Agreement between the City and Bangor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to extend the option period on the so- called Naval Reserve Center properry on Essex Street for an additional 90 � days. The current option is set to expire on March 31, 2003. 4. 4"' of July Corp Update � In keeping with the Committee's desire to obtain additional information from non-profits funded by the City, Bruce Fowle, representative from the � 4"' of July Corporation, updated the Committee on its efforts to date. The Corporation was formed in the late 80's by the three local Kiwanis Clubs in response to the Downtown Merchants Association pulling out of the July � 4�' activities namely the parade and fireworks. The City has traditionally provided $7,500 for the past several years. Fowle reviewed expenses � associated with the event. Fireworks are $14,000. There is the possibility of a local group matching the monies raised for the fireworks for a one- time deal. Nealley talked about the City cutting back on funding of non- � essential services and seeking participation from the private sector, and suggested cutting back all non-essential service funding requests by 20%. Fowle said it would be very agreeable for the Corporation not to have to � ask for municipality participation. Nealley said he would like to see a listing of"soft costs" to events such as The Folk Festival, 4"' of July Corporation. Cyr said she will do this on all new requests. The 4�' of July , Corporation request will be part of the upcoming budget process. 5. Finance Committee Resolution Approving the Details of the City's ' 2003 SRF General Obligation Bonds Through Maine Municipal Bond Bank � , , , ' Council Order 02-316 authorized the issuance of $3,000,000 for Combined Sewer OverFlow (CSO) projects. The bonds have been issued through ' MMBB's State Revolving Loan Fund, which allows for a 2/3rd of the funds to be interest free. The remaining amount will be at the interest rate of 4.34% over the next twenty years. Cyr outlined the details of the issue, ' including annual principal and interest payments and related interest rates. � � ' � � � ' � � , , � � ' '