City Council

Minutes were approved on October 23, 2023 by the Finance Committee. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING FINANCE MEETING City Hall - Armand A. Bolduc Council Chamber 6:15 P.M. 7/24/2023 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Lipman called the meeting to order at 6:17 PM 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chairman Lipman led the salute to the flag 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Katie Gargano, City Clerk 4. ROLL CALL Clerk Gargano called the roll of the following councilors: Councilor Cheney, Councilor Soucy & Councilor Lipman. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Kirk Beattie, City Manager; Glenn Smith, Finance Director 6. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 6.A. City Council Finance Subcommittee meeting minutes of March 16, 2023 Minutes of the March 16, 2023 Finance Subcommittee meeting were distributed to members of the City Council Finance Subcommittee on March 20, 2023. With no corrections or changes submitted to the Clerk’s Office, the minutes of March 16, 2023 were accepted as distributed. Motion to approve by Councilor Soucy, seconded by Councilor Cheney. Approved. 7. FINANCE (Lipman (Chair), Cheney, Vacant) 7.A. Discussion of potential ambulance purchase Chief Joubert spoke to the committee about the potential purchase of a new ambulance. The request is for it not to exceed $450,000.00. They would be requesting one new ambulance, two if possible. The biggest hurdle would be the time it takes to build them. It could take two to three years. They would replace the oldest units, which are ambulances 2 & 5. Councilor Soucy asked if Laconia had contacted any of the government agencies on if they could purchase an ambulance through them rather than a dealership. The answer is no. Councilor Lipman said that they’d like to support the replacement of the ambulances. The strategies they’d like to look at is asking which companies they’d favor to work with. He’d like to see some competitive offers that offer a competitive format specifically looking at financing rates, deposit  Councilor Soucy asked if Laconia had contacted any of the government agencies on if they could purchase an ambulance through them rather than a dealership. The answer is no. Councilor Lipman said that they’d like to support the replacement of the ambulances. The strategies they’d like to look at is asking which companies they’d favor to work with. He’d like to see some competitive offers that offer a competitive format specifically looking at financing rates, deposit requirements, lead time, and that it allows for a reject all bids options that would allow them to go back out if needed. Chief Joubert said there is a company called HGAC that can be used to input exactly what they are looking for in an ambulance and then it acts like a state bid process where dealerships can reach out stating their offer. The companies that the ambulance committee is willing to work with know that they will be using this program. Councilor Lipman stated that whoever they end up working with said it would be nice to have one built and delivered because it can take almost 25 months to build then have the second one done. Councilor Soucy asked who is on the ambulance committee. It consists of Deputy Bean and mostly paramedics. Four in total. They have been meeting regularly with vendors and dealerships since having been given the task. Another big concern of the whole committee is what can go wrong with the two oldest ambulances while waiting for the new ones. They do not want to have to put money into something that they will be replacing. Councilor Lipman would like the group preparing the bid to look at what we have in the current budget to see if a deposit is required or if. They will need to know this to make sure they have the funds to cover a possible 15% down or to go out and get a bond for this. The Finance Director said he will be speaking to the bond attorney. They currently do not have the funds to do this. But they have to find out the timing of everything. Councilor Lipman asked if anything currently is going to be bonded. Director Smith said that the sewer infrastructure is going to be bonded. Councilor Lipman would like to know if the potential vendor for the fire truck could also be the vendor for the ambulance build. Chief Joubert said yes. Councilor Lipman said, “Why not bundle them together for discounting.” Councilor Lipman would like to see if they proceed on the path to create a bid for 2 ambulances and determine the best package on financing and delivery options. The demand on the ambulances services is most likely going to go up rather than go down. 7.B. Update on fire engine bond This item was touched upon with agenda item 7.A. 8. Any other business that may come before the Committee 9. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Lipman adjourned the meeting at 6:37 PM Respectfully submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk