Finance Committee

REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MAY 2, 2012 A meeting of the Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 7:02 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Mayor Donnalee Lozeau presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire, Vice Chair Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman June M. Caron Also in Attendance: Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja PUBLIC COMMENT – None COMMUNICATIONS From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Purchase of Haz-Mat Suits for Nashua Fire Rescue (Value: $28,345) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO US COMMUNITIES IN THE AMOUNT OF $28,345. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN ACCT. NO. 332- 64192-6701-6328 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane Did the fire department already purchase suits? Mayor Lozeau These HazMat suits are new. Earlier in the year they purchased their regular gear, but these are HazMat suits. They are replacing the current ones they have that have a shelf life of seven years that they have had for 10 years now. This is also a different level suit. It will actually last longer and be able to be cleaned unlike the current suits they have are what they call “one and done.” Use it once under those difficult circumstances and you can’t keep them. This is also money from the Homeland Security Grant. Alderman Deane Is there money in there 532 operating budget for HazMat suits? Mayor Lozeau No, there’s money in their operating budget for their ordinary protective clothing. They have a HazMat line in their budget for different things, I believe. Alderman Deane That HazMat line wouldn’t be used for these suits? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 2 Mayor Lozeau No, they have not purchased HazMat suits. Alderman Chasse The new ones are replacing the old ones. The old ones are going to go into training? Do they have some in training right now? Mayor Lozeau No. These are not the same as their regular protective clothing that sometimes they move into training. I’m just distinguishing between the two. One is their every day; I’m going to a fire gear. This is their I’m going to a HazMat situation gear. Those can move into training but they’re still only something that can be used once and then they are disposed of. But the new ones they can actually clean in their industrial washer and reuse. Alderman Pressly I’m just surprised that we haven’t had HazMat suits before now. Mayor Lozeau We have HazMat suits. Alderman Pressly This is just a different quality, a different style and different capability. Mayor Lozeau Right and the ones that we have now are beyond their shelf life. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Purchase of SafeSite System Upgrade for Nashua Fire Rescue (Value: $15,573) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO INDUSTRIAL PROTECTION SERVICES IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,573. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS ACCOUNT NO. 332-64192-6704-6304 ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau This one is a little bit more technical in nature. It’s basically a monitoring system for a command center. Alderman Deane Damaged radiation, volatile organic compounds, toxic industrial chemicals, combustible gases and oxygen deficiency. Mayor Lozeau Those are the items that it can detect and monitor for a given area where they set it up. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 3 Alderman Deane Do they set it up in a building or around a building or near wherever you are? Is it that sensitive? Mayor Lozeau It is sensitive to where you are. It would work from the main brain, sort to speak, would be in the command center and then the monitors would be set up in the parameters that they need. Alderman Deane Is there computer software that goes with this? Mayor Lozeau I would imagine there is. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Purchase of Training Safety Vehicle for Nashua Fire Rescue (Value: $21,987) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE FROM MACMULKIN CHEVROLET THROUGH NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE CONTRACT #8001073 IN THE AMOUNT OF $21,987. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN ACCT. NO. 599-68065 ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau This is a vehicle replacement. The vehicle that they are replacing will move to be a spare deputy vehicle. The current one that they have is a Ford Excursion. It’s a diesel vehicle. Alderman Chasse What are they doing with the old one? Mayor Lozeau They’re taking the 2004 Ford Expedition and they are keeping it as a spare deputy’s vehicle. The current spare deputy vehicle is the Ford Excursion. It’s a diesel vehicle. They are trading that in and they are getting $10,000 for that. Alderman Chasse Sweet. Thank you. Alderman Deane I’d like to publicly thank the fire department for downsizing their vehicles. Those Ford Excursions I thought were a mistake the day we bought them. They were way too big and they guzzled up fuel. Anything with a 3- inch exhaust pipe, it’s kind of good to see those things go. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 4 Mayor Lozeau It’s been great to work with them and many of the other departments as we look at what we can do about vehicle sizes and fuel. Alderman Deane Those vehicles were just gigantic. I don’t even know if they had enough stuff put a dent in the cargo space that it had. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for Mine Falls Park Entrance Sign Bases Requested by Park Recreation (Value: $35,560) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO MICHIE CORPORATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $35,560. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS ACCT. NO. 952-45285- 5351 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane The Mine Falls Park Advisory Committee was actively involved with the design and getting people to look at this? Mayor Lozeau They were. Alderman Deane Did they issue a recommendation? Mayor Lozeau They did. They recommended what’s before you. Alderman Deane I don’t see that on the bottom. This account falls under their privy, doesn’t it? Mayor Lozeau Yes, and they have recommended signage. They have participated in the choices. Mr. Caggiano has worked closely with them. As you know, he attends their meetings. All of that has been done. Alderman Deane How easy will it be to get graffiti off of this? Is there any treatment they are going to do to it or that can be done to it so it can be easily removed? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 5 Mayor Lozeau Actually they think that it will not be hard to remove graffiti off of this. It’s the same product that they use for the retaining wall in Greeley Park next to the office. Alderman Deane Those stack on blocks? Mayor Lozeau Ya, it’s concrete. It looks like it’s a rough-faced granite. Alderman Deane So are they going to dig down like four feet and pour a footing and then put a wall up and a stack on top of that? Mayor Lozeau I know that the components of the sign are like a stackable wall, but I did not ask them how deep they were going to dig and if there were foundation. Alderman Deane And this same company is doing the installation? Mayor Lozeau Yes, I believe. Alderman Deane Construct, letter, okay, install, $1,000 per entrance. Alderman Caron I noticed that there’s a place for them to make changes on the signs. How secure is that going to be? I agree with Alderman Deane about vandalism. Is that for the park rules or is that for other things that might be of interest to people who are entering that particular area of the park? Mayor Lozeau My understanding is that the insert will talk about that specific entrance and information about the park. It will also have one of those four square, I don’t know what you call it, on the sign that you can scan with your phone so the trail map will go into your phone. That sort of thing. But Nick feels pretty confident that what they are putting there is probably the best that they could put there. Alderman Caron Okay, very good. Mayor Lozeau Based on the eight separate entrances, some of which have more attention than others as you know. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 6 Alderman Caron Ya, absolutely. Thank you. Mayor Lozeau You’re welcome. I think this design too is a nice one because they could change it out if they needed to and they wouldn’t have to start over. Alderman Caron I was quite impressed with what I had seen. Mayor Lozeau It was pretty creative. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for Infrastructure Energy Efficiency Consulting Services (Value: $25,650) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO D R BROWN, LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,650. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN ACCT. NO. 373-53075- 7202-2002 ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau Just a reminder for folks, this is out of that more than $800,000 that we got in Federal Department of Energy grant dollars. With it, we’ve used it for vehicles, Hybrid vehicles, CNG vehicles, the CNG garage, our energy plan, the energy assessment of buildings, things like that. This is the next piece that was approved by DOE which gives us an opportunity to look at our street lights and what we might be able to do there. We spend over $700,000 a year in street lights in the cost of electricity for them. It also gives us a chance to look at the dams which was a recommendation that we had and the wastewater treatment plant with the net metering that we’re doing. We can actually sell our credits to utilities that we get from that net metering program. He’s going to come in and show the staff how to do that so we can do that annually. So I think it’s a really good use of these funds. Alderman Deane We don’t own the street lights though, do we? We own some of them. Isn’t that a public service product? When we have to have them repaired, they do the work and they replace the fixtures and they replace the bulbs. So we’re going to give a recommendation to Public Service on what we’d like to see to reduce the cost? Mayor Lozeau Actually, no, the plan is to work with Public Service to see what we can do about changing the arrangement that we have. Alderman Deane What is the arrangement, just the old typical? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 7 Mayor Lozeau Right now our maintenance is very high compared to other communities and other states. We’ve been looking at what they are doing in other communities. We’re going to try to work with PSNH on that. Our replacement for lights, you know when we get a new light it runs us just under $700 to put the light on the pole that they own. Then in order to change the actual light bulb to something different that’s a whole other process. A few times a year they go through and different lights they will work on. If we send them out to that light, it’s not part of their maintenance routine. There’s additional cost. Mr. Brown seems to think that there are some things that he can bring to the table for us to discuss for future savings. I think that’s worth doing especially with energy dollars for that purpose. Alderman Deane Is he going to do an analysis on what we have for street lights? Mayor Lozeau We already have that. Alderman Deane So how many street lights could we take down? Mayor Lozeau You mean an analysis on.. I thought you meant analysis of how many street lights we had and where they were. No, he’s not going to do an analysis on which ones can be removed, not for that money. Alderman Deane Just on Main Street when you look at the cobra lights when the parking configuration on Main Street were different, those cobra lights they worked. Now you could take one of those lights off because it doesn’t do what it used to do in fact when there was angled parking on Main Street. Mayor Lozeau The Main Street lights in particular we’re actually replacing hopefully those street lights at some point this year, some of them. There’s money left in this account so depending on what some of the recommendations are, we can do a pilot program for LED lighting, street lights. It’s one of the things we’re looking at particularly for Main Street. Alderman Deane We’ll receive a monthly charge of $25/month per street light. Whether it’s working or not, we still get charged that amount because it’s not metered. It would cost an arm and leg to meter them and it wouldn’t be worthwhile. There’s not going to be any sort of lighting evaluation on what we currently have for fixtures and whether some of them could come down? Mayor Lozeau I don’t believe that this study will go far enough to be able to tell us if any can be removed. Alderman Deane And the treatment plant, he’s going to review the net metering and then draw up a RFP? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 8 Mayor Lozeau Right now with net metering, we’re allowed to sell off those credits to utilities. There’s a value in that for those that we’re not using. He’s going to design the tool that we would use to sell those credits and then teach the staff how to be able to do it annually so we can receive that revenue every year. In essence, that’s what’s going to happen. Alderman Deane He’s going to gather generated data, prepare and submit forms to the public utilities commission, find and select a REC broker from New England, work with the broker to optimize Nashua’s revenue and set up an ongoing program and train the wastewater treatment facility employees for future submittals for payment. How is the generated data stored now? Do you know that? Mayor Lozeau No, I don’t. Alderman Deane Would the director of public works know that? Mayor Lozeau I don’t know if she knows off the top of her head, but I know she’ll be able to find out. Alderman Deane I’ll ask her how it is stored. Thank you. Mayor Lozeau I’m sure it is stored in our data. I mean I’m sure it’s a computer software program. Alderman Deane But we don’t know that though. It’s probably not a digital. Mayor Lozeau No, but nobody’s putting it on a clipboard I’m pretty sure. Alderman Deane You hope. Stranger things have happened, right? Alderman Chasse Stickies. MOTION CARRIED Finance – 05/02/12 Page 9 From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for Auditing Services Requested by Financial Services Division (Value: $114,000) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND, CONTINGENT UPON BOARD OF ALDERMEN APPROVAL, EXTEND THE CONTRACT WITH MELANSON HEATH & CO. IN THE AMOUNT OF $114,000. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS ACCT NOS. 512-52010 ($83,000); 802-53025 ($17,050); 801- 52010 ($10,450); AND, VARIOUS FEDERAL GRANTS ($3,500) ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane What was the net increase from last time? Mayor Lozeau We’re currently paying $110,000 a year. Alderman Deane So this goes to $114,000? Mayor Lozeau Right. Alderman Deane Can you explain these other various federal grants? Mayor Lozeau They are auditing our various federal grants. That’s what they are referring to. Alderman Deane No, this is a funding source. It’s the last funding source. It has no account number. Mayor Lozeau Those are grants that require auditing to happen that contribute some of the funds from that grant for that purpose. Alderman Deane Does anyone happen to know what the total number of grants were? Mayor Lozeau I don’t believe so. Alderman Deane How do we know, was it proportionate to the fee associated with the audit or is another grant paying a little more? They offered a little more in the grant to have the audit done in another one? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 10 Mayor Lozeau There are some grants that don’t have any auditing money at all. Alderman Deane And they require an audit? Mayor Lozeau Any of the money that comes into the city, the city requires an audit of. We’ll audit them anyway. Alderman Deane My question is every grant that comes in needs an audit, right? That’s part of our CAFR, is that right? Could I ask the… Mayor Lozeau Certainly. I’m not sure the answer will be different, but Mr. Griffin. Your budget book does have all the grants listed in it too, Alderman Deane. Alderman Deane I’m well aware of that. I’m just trying to understand because it’s $3,500 and there’s no account number associated with it. That was my only question. John Griffin, CFO Similar to the last time this particular contract came before you for approval, there was the allocation to the general fund, 512, wastewater, solid waste, as well as clearly spelling out the various grants. There were no account numbers because there’s multiple account numbers. This was an allocation that the accounting manager would use to allocate a portion of the total $114,000 to a chargeable account within the grant structure. It falls into the especially federal grants under the single audit requirements. This is ready for an allocation once the specific grants are identified. Alderman Deane Which is all of them. John Griffin, CFO All of the grants are audited as the Chair indicated. Some are able have the recovery of these dollars associated with the chargeable cost to the grant. Alderman Deane Some of them have that and some of them don’t. John Griffin, CFO I would have to check, but that’s my understanding. MOTION CARRIED Finance – 05/02/12 Page 11 Alderman Deane Mayor, I had a question. A quick follow up. Wasn’t this a multi-year approval in the past? Mayor Lozeau Yes, in the past it was a five-year contract with two one-year options. Alderman Deane Is this the second one-year option? Mayor Lozeau No, this is a new contract for two years, each with a one-year option. Alderman Deane So I would have to go back for what a total of Mayor Lozeau Seven years Alderman Deane Seven years to find. So if I went back and looked at my finance agenda from seven years ago, I’d see this. Okay. Mayor Lozeau Five years ago. Alderman Deane Five years ago, I would see this with no account numbers listed as was stated earlier. Okay. Thank you. From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for City Hall Replacement Windows (Value: $67,658) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO DL KING IN THE AMOUNT OF $67,658. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN ACCT. NO. 617-01 ($49,439) AND 717- 3732 ($18,219) ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau For those of you that may not be familiar, some time ago we replaced all of the windows in City Hall that had been the original windows from 1938. This is to replace the remaining windows. There are 30 more windows in what we would call the newer part of the building as a recommendation both from the energy assessment and our Building Manager and our Project Manager that has been working with the City. I just want to make sure everybody knows this does not include the windows and doors that run along the front of the Clerk’s Office facing Elm Street. Those windows are different. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 12 Alderman Deane Those windows aren’t that old either. Those windows were replaced with inauguration money we didn’t spend when we had the inauguration at 14 Court Street. Is there a cost associated with these folks mobilizing again? Mayor Lozeau No actually they held their price from the first time. Alderman Deane So the price we window is the same? Mayor Lozeau Exactly. Alderman Deane No matter what size the window is? Mayor Lozeau They held the same price… Alderman Deane Per united inch or whatever they charge? Mayor Lozeau Exactly. Alderman Deane That is how they charge; united inch? Mayor Lozeau I didn’t ask them if they charged by united inch, I worked with Jay and John and went through the price that they gave us some time ago when I asked them to quote it when we were trying to make a decision around it, and what Jay told me is they maintained the same price in the same way to charge us for these windows that they did the first windows. That worked for me. Alderman Deane Why weren’t the windows all done at the same time? Mayor Lozeau I wasn’t certain that we would be able to put money towards those windows at the same time. Our first priority was to get the windows done that were the 1938 windows. The second priority was to make sure that the manufacturing of that was done to the standards that we had hoped they would and that we would see the results that we wanted. You are having somebody manufacture windows so that it doesn’t change the window opening, it doesn’t change the look of City Hall, which we did successfully, and we were pleased with that product and looking at what was left to be done at City Hall. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 13 We have a few things left to be done here. The windows were one of the things that we were considering, the staging of the back entrance and the Clerk’s Office we’re looking at, and the carpeting that is between 20 and 30 years old we’re looking at. Those are things that still remain to be done here. Alderman Deane Although the account balance is at zero. Mayor Lozeau Well the account balance that has been money set aside for this project. Alderman Deane There was city building renovations, that was the 700 account that is now at zero and the CIP money is at zero. Mayor Lozeau Right; we’ve used most of that money, but we still have money in the general building fund. Alderman Deane In the general building fund? Is that under the… Mayor Lozeau Right. We took the $4.5 million, the cash, put it all together and then internally have worked on trying to determine what the spend was going to be for each building that we were working on, like the Hunt Building; we put funds aside that in our mind we created an account for it and said this is what we’re going to spend on Hunt. It didn’t mean we couldn’t say you know what we’re going to spend another $50,000 on the roof at Hunt so we’re going to take it out of general buildings and move it into the Hunt. This money for City Hall we had a number for in City Hall, it included some of this, it included some other things that we didn’t expect to do, and we did the radon work and some of that, the copula, those sorts of things, and we have moved money in accordingly. But there are still funds available that we could move in for carpets or we’re hopefully going to do the back entrance. That is one of the priorities in some of the work at City Hall, and so first we had to do the windows and the HVAC. That was 90% of the work that was done. And as I said to the committee when we came in with some of that, it didn’t include any renovation work that we wanted to do here. Alderman Deane If I could continue; a little while back we approved a contract to have an evaluation done on the HVAC work that was done in this building. Do you happen to know where that is in the process? Mayor Lozeau They’re almost done, with the commissioning? Alderman Deane Yeah. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 14 Mayor Lozeau Almost done. Alderman Deane I had requested a copy. I don’t know how my colleagues feel, I would like to read it though when it gets… Mayor Lozeau I think because you know something about HVAC that report might mean something to you. Alderman Deane No, it’s just interesting to see what sort of deficiencies this individual may find or may not find or … Mayor Lozeau Hopefully there are no deficiencies. Alderman Deane There is a workmanship guarantee on the… Mayor Lozeau There is. Alderman Deane And that hasn’t expired as of yet right? Mayor Lozeau It has not. Well I shouldn’t say that, I can’t tell you for certain on all of the different parts what the expiration dates were, but I know that Mr. Honeywell has set up the commissioning work to be done in conjunction with keeping an eye on any of the warrantee issues that might come up, and I’ve asked him if there has been a problem and he has said no. Alderman Deane Is the balancing done in this building? Mayor Lozeau Pretty much. Alderman Deane Thank you. Mayor Lozeau You are welcome. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 15 Alderman Pressly Thank you. Could you explain the status of removing the equipment that is in the Alderman’s anteroom? Mayor Lozeau The President of the Board has asked me to look into that. I’ve asked Mr. Honeywell to look into it. He is trying to find somebody that would be willing to come in and scrap that metal. I don’t know if he has had any success with that yet. Alderman Pressly But is that on the list to be done? Mayor Lozeau It is on the list of things that we will consider. It depends on if there is a cost associated with it and whether we should spend that money on something else or not. Alderman Pressly Right. I just want to make sure it hasn’t been totally forgotten. Mayor Lozeau No it is not forgotten at all but if we can find somebody that can scrap the metal we’re hoping that means that won’t cost us anything. Alderman Deane Good luck. Mayor Lozeau Is there further discussion? It is worth a shot. Alderman Deane It is not going to happen. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Purchase of CNG Dump Body Vehicle for Solid Waste (Value: $89,533) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE FROM M-H-Q MUNICIPAL VEHICLES THROUGH MASSACHUSETTS STATE CONTRACT #121314 IN THE AMOUNT OF $89,533. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS ACCT. NO. 791-68048-6534 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane Thank you. Pertaining to the fuel, where would I find the data on the amount of fuel we have used to date? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 16 Mayor Lozeau Each time that you have asked for a report we’ve provided one, and I would be happy to do that again if you would like an updated report. Alderman Deane I’ve never gotten a report. Mayor Lozeau Actually you have, I’ve delivered it to you myself on two occasions… Alderman Deane How long ago was that? Mayor Lozeau At least two occasions that I’m aware that I handed it to you myself. Alderman Deane How long ago was that? I don’t remember that. Mayor Lozeau I don’t know, it was when you… Alderman Deane A report on the CNG and the amount of fuel we’ve used? Mayor Lozeau Oh you didn’t ask for a CNG… Alderman Deane I have a report Mayor on vehicles citywide… Mayor Lozeau Okay. For fuel. Alderman Deane …that’s what you might be thinking about. Mayor Lozeau Okay. Alderman Deane It has nothing to do with CNG. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 17 Mayor Lozeau Okay, then I just misunderstood your question. I didn’t hear you say a report on CNG fuel. Alderman Deane Well I said pertaining to the CNG fuel. Mayor Lozeau Okay. I will make sure you get one. Alderman Deane Is there some place easy on the City’s website to find… Mayor Lozeau No… Alderman Deane No? Mayor Lozeau …That is part of our fuel software. Alderman Deane And how it is being paid for. Mayor Lozeau It is being paid for out of the fuel account. Alderman Deane Well there is no CNG account, there is diesel and gasoline. Mayor Lozeau But it is still a fuel account. Alderman Deane There are two fuel lines; there is one for diesel and one for gasoline. I think there was one for CNG but it had a dollar in it. Mayor Lozeau There is a two digit for fuel Alderman Deane. Just because it… Alderman Deane I understand that. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 18 Mayor Lozeau …doesn’t roll down to different commodity numbers doesn’t mean it doesn’t include fuel. That would be CNG. Alderman Deane That’s wonderful. I’m just wondering…so… Mayor Lozeau If you would like the information in a report I will be happy to get it to you. Alderman Deane I would like to know the diesel use, the gas use, and the CNG use, and where the money was transferred from the diesel or the gas line to cover the CNG cost. Mayor Lozeau Okay. Alderman Deane As well as from the two enterprise accounts or one enterprise account, I guess the wastewater have not partaken in CNG yet have they or do they have a pick-up truck now or something, I forget? Thank you very much. Mayor Lozeau You are welcome. Is there further discussion? MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Extension of Cooperative Agreement with USDA Wildlife Services for Integrated Gull Management Program (Value: $66,605) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND EXTEND THE CONTRACT WITH USDA WILDLIFE SERVICES IN THE AMOUNT OF $66,605. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN ACCT. NO. 801- 53075-8001-8100 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane Thanks. Could we have an update on what they have done about the turkey vultures? Have they gone down to Echo and down in that area? Mayor Lozeau They have. Alderman Deane And what have they done to try to mitigate the… Finance – 05/02/12 Page 19 Mayor Lozeau From our perspective, our understanding is that the problem is in check, and each time somebody brings up that question about the turkey vultures we send somebody out. Echo was solved I think quite a long time ago. If you have a constituent that still has a concern… Alderman Deane How did they solve it? Mayor Lozeau There are a couple of different methods. One that I found interesting was something that they put in the trees, but you know, all I know is they weren’t there. Alderman Deane It’s not buckshot is it of a 12 gauge? Mayor Lozeau No. Not in a residential area. Alderman Deane And what is the other method? Alderman Chasse Grapes. Mayor Lozeau I don’t k now. I just know that they said that there were only a couple of methods that could be used and the one that I remember in my head somehow is something they did in the tree. They hang something or they put something I don’t know. I think it was similar to like the owls that they use for other birds, but I don’t know. I just know that the problem is not there. Alderman Deane The owls will work for crows, but after a while even the crows figure it out you know. Mayor Lozeau Well it doesn’t move. Is there further discussion on this item? MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for FY12 Street Paving Program (Value: $787,900) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO SUNSHINE PAVING IN THE AMOUNT OF $787,900. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS ACCT. NOS. 653-33 ($727,135); 792-59231-3795 ($6,844); 953-45030-5331 ($3,921); AND 792-59231-3744 ($50,000) Finance – 05/02/12 Page 20 ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau This is our paving for this year. Alderman Chasse I looked up the street names that are going to be paved, and I was very, very disappointed. I’ve been waiting for two years to get Lawndale Avenue paved. The city has gone out, they’ve looked at it, and they say, “Yup, next year it will be on the list.” This is now two years in a row and it is not on the list. Lawndale Ave. is in terrible shape especially where Rivier comes into it. They have a washout that happens over there every year and they keep on repairing it. They were supposed to take care of it for me. Well, it’s going to be very disappointing for me next week to go down to the crime watch meeting and inform my constituent it’s not going to be done again this year. Mayor Lozeau This list, Alderman Chasse, is not necessarily a final list. Things happen when they are out on the field that bump other things. Or, last year some of the work that happened was there were only partial streets that were going to be done but when they got out there they ended up doing a full street. I’ll look into it. I don’t know who told you that it would be on there. Alderman Chasse The gentleman that goes out and measures it with numbers. I can’t think of his name. Mayor Lozeau I know who you mean. I’ll look into it and let you know what they say about it. Alderman Deane Who is Sunshine Paving? Mayor Lozeau They are a company that we’ve used in the past. I don’t know what you mean by “who is.” We’ve had them before. Two years ago they had the contract. Last year, Brox came in low bidder. This year they came in low bidder. Alderman Deane Do they own an asphalt plant? Mayor Lozeau I don’t believe they own an asphalt plant, no. Alderman Deane It’s pretty bizarre that they’re… did Continental Paving bid on.. Mayor Lozeau No, they didn’t. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 21 Alderman Deane I think their days of working for the city are over. Mayor Lozeau We got a good price, especially considering that the price of asphalt went up. Alderman Deane We understand that. I’m just kind of surprised that they underbid Brox and that’s probably where they are going to be buying the asphalt. Mayor Lozeau That’s what I thought. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Purchase of Manhole and Catch Basin Castings (Value: $25,879) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND EXTEND THE CONTRACT WITH EJ PRESCOTT IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,879. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN ACCT. NO. 792-59231-3744 ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau This is the companion piece of legislation with the paving that buys let’s just call it the parts they need in the streets. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for Dewatering and Grit System Upgrade Project Construction Phase Requested by DPW Engineering (Value: $4,463,101) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND, CONTINGENT UPON BOARD OF ALDERMEN APPROVAL, AWARD THE CONTRACT TO T-BUCK CONSTRUCTION IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,463,101. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS ACCT. NO. 792-01310-3797 ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau There are two pieces tonight relative to this. One is the work, and the next one is the oversight of the project. I think you’re familiar with some of this as we approved the engineering some time ago. MOTION CARRIED Finance – 05/02/12 Page 22 From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for Dewatering and Grit System Upgrade Project Construction Phase Services (Value: $584,200) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO WRIGHT PIERCE IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $584,200. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN ACCT. NO. 792-53075-3797 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane How much contingency is built into this contract? Mayor Lozeau I don’t know the answer to how much contingency is built in. I don’t think there’s much actually for the oversight. Alderman Deane So you don’t know? Mayor Lozeau That’s what I said. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for Boiler House Tank Removal (Value: $127,800) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO EQ NORTHEAST IN THE AMOUNT OF $127,800. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS ACCT. NO. 753-3740 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Pressly I’ve asked many times about this, and this seems to be contradicting that I’m being told. I think it has been explained many times they estimated a certain size for the tank. Once they got in there, it was a much larger tank than they expected. I was told was what they planned to do was to remove all the fluids and contaminates that were inside. They were going to fill it with sand and bury it forever. Now this says they are going to remove it. I’ve heard both. I had heard a rumor that they were going to do that temporally, to bury it, and then remove it again. So what are they going to do? Mayor Lozeau They are going to remove it. Alderman Pressly But I just asked this. You were there. I asked this the other night, and the answer was they were going to put holes in it, fill it with sand and keep it there. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 23 Mayor Lozeau I’m not certain that’s the case. Alderman Pressly I specifically asked about that, and I’ve asked about it many times. So in other words, they now having filled it with sand, they’re now going to pull it up again? Mayor Lozeau No. I don’t think we’re talking about the same tank. And there’s going to be more tanks too. Alderman Pressly Okay, that will explain that then. It’s not the major oil tank that held all the oil? Mayor Lozeau This is not the one that was thought – actually it was – the 30-foot diameter that was actually 50 feet in diameter. This is the tank behind the building outside. So if you look at the map… Alderman Pressly Behind the building. The one up near the linen place? On that side of the building? Mayor Lozeau No. If you look at the map, I’m just going to help you get your bearings. That’s what I had to do. The top of your map is where Crown Linen is. Okay? The bottom of your map is where the building is. It’s off the page actually. To the right over here is the Gauthier building. So this tank is outside the building footprint in the back in the alleyway. So. Alderman Pressly I think it’s the same one I’m thinking of. It’s between the boiler house and the linen place. Mayor Lozeau Right. So I’m just looking.. Alderman Pressly I think there’s only one big. I mean it was a big, gaping hole. I go there and look occasionally. Mayor Lozeau If you look on the page that’s before the map, it tells you what they are going to do. Alderman Pressly What do you mean the page? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 24 Mayor Lozeau Where is says the “bid tabulation” so you know where the map just was, the opposite page to that has a bid tabulation sheet. It gives you a description of what’s going to happen. So excavate backfill and compact the non-petroleum soil. Extraction, removal, treatment of disposal of the free petroleum product and contaminated water. Excavate removal and disposal of the petroleum contaminated soil, clean and decontaminate the tank, backfill and compact of excavation and temporary site fencing. So they may in fact be leaving it on site. Alderman Pressly I asked specifically about that. I think what they’re going to do. Mayor Lozeau It says soil and ground water removal. Alderman Pressly I’ve asked this so many times. Mayor Lozeau If that’s what Mr. Vancor told you.. Alderman Pressly That’s what he told me just the other night. Mayor Lozeau …then you can take it to the bank. Alderman Pressly So in other words the tank is so big that they’ve decided instead of pulling it out of the ground, they are removing all of the contaminants and all the little fluids inside, but the way this reads it says removal. They’re not removing the tank. I just think that should be clarified. Mayor Lozeau I think it’s removal of the contaminants as you’ve described, as I’ve just listed. Alderman Pressly Right. So the tank, itself, is going to stay in the ground. Mayor Lozeau I think a piece of it is already cut. Alderman Pressly It’s huge. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 25 Mayor Lozeau That’s why. They’ve cut it level with the ground and it’s what’s remaining that they didn’t realize how… Alderman Pressly Right, and so the tank is not going to be removed. It’s going to be buried. It’s going to be filled with fill with sand. Mayor Lozeau Plain soil or whatever, I guess. Alderman Pressly I just the wording.. Mayor Lozeau Well some tanks, they’ve had us remove them and some tanks they’ve allowed to stay. I think this might be one that can stay. Alderman Pressly Right. Mayor Lozeau Frankly, I just can’t keep track. But I know that the work that we approved at the last finance committee meeting, or two finance committee’s ago, when we found contaminants in the soil that we had to go in and we had to change order four, when they were in that trench cleaning it out, they found a pipe that led to another tank. So there’s another tank in the boiler house part of the building. Alderman Pressly That one or under the building? Mayor Lozeau This one is within the building footprint. Alderman Pressly Inside, so they haven’t even gotten to that yet. Mayor Lozeau Right. Alderman Pressly That’s going to be when the floor comes up. Mayor Lozeau Exactly. That’s my understanding. I just heard about it today that they found another tank. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 26 Alderman Pressly Well it’s an extraordinarily well constructed building. It’s quite a task to undo a pre-civil war building. Mayor Lozeau It certainly is. So this was a change in condition. When the contractor on site, MCM, that’s been doing the work for us came back with a price for it, it was more than we thought it should be. So we went out to bid separately for this work, and we found this company that came in at a price almost half of what it was going to be. Alderman Pressly So the tank has not been filled in with the soil yet. Mayor Lozeau No. This is the work they are going to do. I’m sorry for any confusion I caused. It’s hard to keep track. Alderman Pressly Well it is, but this has come up. They intended to remove it but they’re not going to. Mayor Lozeau That’s why I’m telling you that if Mr. Vancor said that when you asked him specifically Alderman Pressly I did ask him. Mayor Lozeau Then you can count on Alderman Pressly I’ve asked him a couple times Mayor Lozeau That’s his response so he doesn’t get confused. Alderman Pressly Okay, I’ll check it out. Thank you. MOTION CARRIED UNFINISHED BUSINESS – None Finance – 05/02/12 Page 27 NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-12-33 Endorsers: Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Richard A. Dowd AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF NASHUA TO ENTER INTO AN OFFICE SPACE LEASE AGREEMENT WITH GREAT AMERICAN DOWNTOWN MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau I see that Alderman Melizzi-Golja, the sponsor, has joined us. Would you like to introduce us to your legislation? Alderman Melizzi-Golja Yes, I will just give you a brief summary of it. As you note from looking at the map in the back of the information that you received, this is the area referred to as office space number 1, located in the lower level under the reading room on the south end of the building. This resolution is to allow the city to enter into an agreement with Great American Downtown for the rental of that space in the Hunt Memorial building. It’s a one-year lease with an option for up to three one-year extensions. Just two things in the lease that I know some people have already asked me questions about. Item No. 9 refers to parking. There is no parking provided with the lease. It’s the responsibility of the lessee to secure parking and as stated in the lease follow all ordinances and pay all tickets. And Item No. 11 makes reference to exterior signage. The Hunt Board of Trustees at this time is working on securing exterior signage. That’s one of their projects that is currently moving forward. Alderman Pressly I was really quite surprised the other evening to notice that they haven’t repaired the front steps yet. Do you have any idea when the railing, when that’s going to take place? Alderman Melizzi-Golja That, I think, is all part of what’s going on there with the signage and just some final finishing. Mayor Lozeau The Risk Department has been involved with that because there was an automobile accident. Alderman Pressly I was wondering about that. Mayor Lozeau There’s been some subrogation issues and that sort of thing but that work should be beginning within the month of May, I believe, they intend for it to be done. Within the next month or so. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 28 Alderman Pressly I don’t have it with me, but I did look at the map. Is this just one room that they are renting? Alderman Melizzi-Golja Yes. It’s the portion of the newly redone basement under the reading room. Alderman Pressly Oh, okay. What is the square footage? Do you have a number? I couldn’t tell from the maps. And is it $700 they are paying a month? Alderman Melizzi-Golja Yes. Mayor Lozeau They are paying $14/square foot if that helps you. Alderman Melizzi-Golja The room is 27.5 by 20.0. That’s all I have for measurements. I don’t see square footage either. Mayor Lozeau Fourteen dollars a square foot. It’s the biggest space there. Alderman Pressly How does this compare with what they have? Is this going to increase their space or decrease? Alderman Melizzi-Golja They meaning Great American Downtown? Alderman Pressly Yes. Alderman Melizzi-Golja I have no idea. I know that they are very happy with the space. They have been through. They obviously seem to feel the space is appropriate to meet their needs. Alderman Pressly Will they be using the back entrance then until the front is repaired do you think? Alderman Melizzi-Golja Yeah, and the back entrance we’re hoping will have a keypad on it and so that will become probably the primary access. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 29 Alderman Pressly Okay. And are they your first tenant? Alderman Melizzi-Golja Yes. Alderman Pressly Congratulations. Alderman Melizzi-Golja Thanks. Mayor Lozeau Alderman Deane did you have a question? Alderman Deane I had a question on another piece of legislation that pertained to the Board of Trustees, but it is not appropriate to ask it at this time. Mayor Lozeau Okay. Is there further discussion on this item? Alderman Wilshire Thank you. Under the fiscal note it says fiscal impact will be $700 per month revenue to the City minus City expenses for maintain, electricity, and heat. So they are not paying heat and electricity in this building? Mayor Lozeau It is part of the… Alderman Wilshire Part of the $700? Alderman Melizzi-Golja It is part of the $700 yes. Alderman Wilshire Okay. Alderman Melizzi-Golja The other piece that I will just mention is, because I know questions have come to me and to other people about property taxes; they are responsible for taking care of that also so as a non-profit it is their responsibility to deal with the property tax piece, which is also in here. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 30 Alderman Wilshire Thank you. Alderman Pressly Could you explain that? Alderman Deane I’m confused by that. Mayor Lozeau Just because you are a non-profit does not make you automatically exempt from paying city taxes. You have to be considered a charitable organization in order to be exempt from taxes. Great American Downtown is likely not going to be exempt from taxes unless the Board of Assessors rules that they are. That is what it is. The City Assessor has gone through the building and assessed a certain tax value to each office that will then be passed on to the tenant. Alderman Pressly Oh. Is that customary? Mayor Lozeau It is the… Alderman Melizzi-Golja So if a for-profit business rented one of those spaces they would then pay that assessed value. Alderman Pressly But it is a city owned building so how does that… Alderman Melizzi-Golja But they are renting the space so the space then comes under them. Mayor Lozeau Exactly. Alderman Melizzi-Golja In that way they would be responsible for the taxes. Mayor Lozeau Under the State law, the City cannot allow somebody to use their space without taxing them. That is that whole discussion with the ballet company. Alderman Pressly Okay. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 31 Mayor Lozeau So you have an organization, if they are not exempt from taxes, taxes have to be paid. Alderman Pressly So you are hoping that they will be declared exempt? Mayor Lozeau I think it really doesn’t matter either way. Alderman Pressly Okay. Mayor Lozeau It is a very small amount for this space. Alderman Pressly Could I follow up on Alderman Wilshire’s questions; as far as utilities they are paying the utilities or the utilities are covered in the $700? Alderman Melizzi-Golja The utilities are covered in the $700. Alderman Pressly How much will the city make? How much does it cover? Alderman Deane Well if they leave the toilet running and the air conditioning down to 40 degrees probably not much. Alderman Melizzi-Golja Well all of those… Mayor Lozeau We have some control over that. Alderman Pressly It’s a big building… Alderman Melizzi-Golja …all of those things are going to be controlled. Controls have been put in place for managing the heat and the air conditioning in that building to control expenses. That building, with the renovation, does not have separate controls on each level or in each space so the city has gone through and determined for each space what portion of the total bill they would be responsible for, and that has been included in this rent. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 32 Alderman Pressly Just a further question, but you are going to have to heat and do the utilities for the entire building no matter how many tenants you have. Alderman Melizzi-Golja Right. Alderman Pressly Do you have any estimate on how that is going to run each month? Alderman Chasse I can stab that one. I’m in the accounting field. You’ve got your building over here, let’s just take this room, and we break this room down to offices, well there is 100,000 sq. ft. here so if there is 1,000 sq. ft. right there they will take a portion of that 1,000 sq. ft., take it into the electric bill so it is the total bill broken down by the size of the office. That is how they do that. Alderman Pressly I think I understand that. My question is this though, what concerns me we just have one tenant and we have a huge building to heat. The city is going to have to heat the entire building even with just one tenant there so I’m just wondering will the city take a loss until we get more tenants in there to fill up… Alderman Melizzi-Golja Certainly the Hunt Board of Trustees in their budget typically budget for heating and water and all of those expenses, and with the new building that is one of the things they’ve had to look at; what are the new costs associated with heating the whole building, cooling the whole building, and until there are tenants in there the City will pay for those services as they have paid for them in the past. This is the first tenant, it is anticipated another contract will be coming forward soon so the hope is that as we move through this the next few months we are going to be able to fill more of those spaces. As you have indicated, the more spaces we are able to rent the less the Hunt Board of Trustees’ budget will be responsible for. But they have gone through and estimated what the new expenses will be based on the whole building being heated and air conditioned. Alderman Pressly Okay. Thank you. Alderman Deane To my friend and colleague from Ward 8, the Hunt Building Board of Trustees’ budget will always be responsible for the utility costs. Alderman Melizzi-Golja Correct, and that is what I was indicating that… Alderman Deane The $700 flows into the general fund I would imagine and once you get somewhat of some trending of what the cost is for utilities, and I would think, and I don’t have any idea, but I don’t know if that building you talked about energy management over there is it, not by room it is by floor? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 33 Alderman Melizzi-Golja It’s actually not even by floor. Alderman Deane It is just one call does it all? Alderman Melizzi-Golja Right. Alderman Deane You wouldn’t think that would have been… Alderman Melizzi-Golja That was my understanding that they had to make some changes when they went through. Mayor Lozeau I know that they had started by thinking that they would do things individually. They didn’t meter all of those areas, but there are multiple controls, and I think it ended up in zones Alderman Deane. Alderman Deane Yeah that is what I’m talking about. I knew that the metering would have been… Alderman Melizzi-Golja I wasn’t… Mayor Lozeau You weren’t on the board then. Alderman Deane …the metering would have been cost prohibitive, it would have been ridiculous to do that to begin with because … Alderman Melizzi-Golja Right. Alderman Deane …you would have been renovating the building again before you got your money back for the rent that you were bringing in. I would think that they…being a brick building sitting out in the middle of sunlight, I’m sure the tonnage of cooling in that building is unbelievable. Zoning off where you could condition spaces you were actually using to make it habitable and not bother or partially condition some of the other spaces except in the winter where you want to keep the building conditioned so you don’t have any pipes freezing and things of that nature. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 34 Alderman Melizzi-Golja If I may, you are correct; the Board of Trustees will be responsible for all of that, but in terms of the difference between what is coming in and what is owed for those expenses, the Board will continue to do that. Mayor Lozeau The goal of course is trying to head towards, as close to self-sufficient as they can get. That is the point. As close as they can get. Alderman Deane We adding the principal and interest on the bond into that too? Mayor Lozeau As close as they can get for operations… Alderman Deane The Hunt people, over the years, have done an excellent job with what they have had to work with when you think about it. Mayor Lozeau I agree. Is there further discussion? Alderman Craffey The cost, square footage, is that $14 a month or a year? Alderman Deane Fourteen dollars a square foot per month. Alderman Craffey Per month. Alderman Melizzi-Golja Per month yes. Alderman Deane So if you take the total square footage times $14 it should come up to $700 right? Alderman Craffey It doesn’t. It comes out to… Alderman Pressly Oh it doesn’t. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 35 Alderman Craffey …if my math is right it comes out to … Alderman Deane Well if you multiply 22 times 28 and then 20 by 22 … Alderman Craffey I come out with a little bit more. Alderman Pressly Just related to that while he is doing the numbers, is that the market value for… Mayor Lozeau Actually it is higher than the market value. Alderman Pressly It is higher? Mayor Lozeau It is. Alderman Deane Haven’t you ever seen the mill space for peanuts sign on… Mayor Lozeau It is higher plus it has no parking and there are some other things that other tenants could have. We’re hoping that people are willing to pay that additional amount because of its location and what it is. But it is a bit higher than the market right now. Alderman Craffey I was just curious of how they came up with the $700 that is all. Mayor Lozeau I know that the square foot price that we had been talking about in the board meeting to be able to include utilities and all of that came to $14. Alderman Deane You get 916 square feet. If you divide that into $700 it doesn’t come up to $14 per square foot. Mayor Lozeau What I think is wrong is I think the map measurements might be wrong. When it was finally fitted…I’ve not see the map with the… Finance – 05/02/12 Page 36 Alderman Deane It shows office 1 Mayor and office 2. So they are paying about $.80 a square foot a month. Mayor Lozeau It is $14 a square foot. I don’t know if the map is wrong. I know that is not a 900 sq. ft. office. Alderman Deane There are two offices; there is office 1 and office 2. Mayor Lozeau But they are only renting office 1. Alderman Deane Office 1 is almost 700 sq. ft. That is $10 a square foot. Whatever. Alderman Craffey Whatever. It is just… Alderman Deane We just voted on a $4 million expenditure and nobody said anything, this is a $700 revenue. Mayor Lozeau I think it is important to be right about it. The calculations that we looked at when we initially did the work relative to the office space, we calculated $14 a square foot. If it is closer to $10 I will let you know just so you know, but the amount is $700/month regardless because we didn’t do it in the lease. Alderman Deane Which office are they renting #1 or #2? Alderman Melizzi-Golja Number 1, office space #1. Alderman Deane It is 27’ 5” by 22’. I rounded it off to 22’ x 28’ and came up with 696. Mayor I’m ready to vote. Mayor Lozeau Are the other members of the committee ready to vote? Alderman Craffey Yes. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 37 Mayor Lozeau Is there further discussion? MOTION CARRIED NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES – None TABLED IN COMMITTEE Alderman Chasse Right now this particular resolution is tabled in Infrastructure, is that correct? Mayor Lozeau It is tabled in Infrastructure, it has passed Planning & Economic Development last night, it goes to the Planning Board tomorrow night, May 3rd. Alderman Chasse Is there a timeline on this particular thing? Mayor Lozeau No. We have time to wait if you would like to leave it on the table. Alderman Chasse I don’t feel comfortable until it has cleared all of the other committee, to act on it. Mayor Lozeau I have no objection. Anybody have an objection to that? Alderman Deane No. R-12-31 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman Kathy Vitale AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION OF LAND AND BUILDINGS AT 25 CROWN STREET (MAP 25, LOT 1 AND MAP 23, LOT 1) FOR A PARK AND RIDE FACILITY AND A RELATED LEASE OF THAT PROPERTY • Also assigned to Planning & Economic Development Committee, Committee on Infrastructure & BPW • Tabled 4/18/12 Finance – 05/02/12 Page 38 DISCUSSION Alderman Deane Thank you. Pertaining to the resolution R-12-31, which is authorizing the acquisition of land and building at 25 Crown Street for a park and ride facility and a related lease of that property, I had a couple of questions… Mayor Lozeau We’re not taking… Alderman Deane …Can I ask them? Mayor Lozeau Alright I will give you a little bit of leeway. Alderman Deane I won’t. Mayor Lozeau You… Alderman Deane I thought we were going to discuss this this evening. Mayor Lozeau If you have questions that you need answers to and you don’t feel like you can get them in another forum, I am happy to try to answer your questions. Alderman Deane No I will look for another forum. That is okay. Thank you very much. Mayor Lozeau You are welcome. Does anybody else have discussion? WARRANT MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO APPROVE WARRANT #20 IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $6,354,931 OF WHICH $5,301,193 ARE PAYROLL AMOUNTS, $16,926 ARE PREPAY AMOUNTS AND $1,036,812 ARE WIRE TRANSFERS ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane Did everybody look at the Warrant? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 39 Alderman Chasse No I haven’t seen it yet. Mayor Lozeau It’s coming. Is the point you are trying to make Alderman Deane that it is less than normal? Alderman Deane Well not that it is less than normal it is how the City survived for two weeks with just using petty cash and paying off a couple of…I think there were a few other checks in the beginning that were written, but most of it was just petty cash and payroll. Mayor Lozeau It was petty cash, vendors, payroll, and I’m happy to explain why. As all of you know, we’re moving to the new system, the financial system under Lawson, we’ve had a three week blackout period where purchase orders could not be done; anything purchased against a purchase order could not be put into the system as we converted over. As of April 24th, we converted. The question that you asked Alderman Deane that I received an e-mail for that I saw today was about what the number for the Warrant was. The number for the Warrant is the same number that is on there, but there have been about $690,000 between April 24th and this cycle that we’re in now. So you will see that coming up next month in the payment register. This actually is kind of historic; it is our last warrant under the old system. You recall in September of 2001 we passed legislation to change the system so you will see the next time things come out; you will see a whole different system. So when it goes up online and is posted it will be called the payment register. You will be able to see all of the information that you have seen in the warrant, but you will have an additional column that gives you a description. Prior to that going out I will send you kind of a cheat sheet that will help you know what some of the codes are that you may have questions about so that when you look it up you will see it. The biggest problem that we’re going to have moving forward is the payroll piece of it. The accounts payable and all of that being posted the way you have seen it in the past it will be a different but you will still have all of that information. We’re having trouble getting the payroll into the same system so you may not be able to see that ahead of time. I don’t know how long it is going to take to convert that. It is a significant amount for Rose Evans to do. We have talked about whether or not she could have that up and posted with the payment register. She probably will not be able to make that happen. Until we get the Human Capital Management System and into the Crono System because there are three components remember; we have the financial one, which is what you are going to see the changes to and why we had the blackout period and no purchase orders were entered into the system and that sort of thing and then we have the HCM process, which is called the Human Capital Process, that should be done within the next three months, and then the last piece is the Cronos piece, which is the timekeeping and scheduling pieces, and that should be done 3-6 months after the HCM system is up. We’re launching a piece at a time. Payroll may not be there for a little while as she is trying to convert it into the data. It is not easy; she has to take it all and put it into a conversion table to get it in for you to see. It is hard for me to make demands relative to payroll when we know it is something that we’re doing and I have some confidence that the staff is doing it properly. You will see the accounts payable information, the payment register; you will have it for our next meeting. I don’t know about the payroll. They are going to do the best they can and I will keep you updated on that. I will send you the cheat sheet so you will have it. Alderman Deane Are we going to get a chart of accounts? Finance – 05/02/12 Page 40 Mayor Lozeau I don’t know why you wouldn’t get a …if you want one… Alderman Deane Well they are changing. Mayor Lozeau Right. So there are two things that are going to happen; you’re going to see different numbers in this payment register… Alderman Deane Correct. Mayor Lozeau …and I’m going to give you a sheet on that that will show you what everything is, which is probably what you are going to call the chart of accounts. And then there are going to be new numbers, not for this year’s budget but for the…so not for the FY13 budget, but for the FY14 budget account numbers are going to change. We provided you with that when we did the presentation back in September of the new two digits and that sort of thing, the series. Alderman Deane So when the chart of accounts is done the cross referencing will be available on this chart of accounts you are going to give us? Mayor Lozeau It should be. I will ask Mrs. Evans based on our conversation tonight what she will be able to provide and when. Alderman Deane And the payroll will be still in the old format? Mayor Lozeau Payroll has to be in the Admin system right now… Alderman Deane So that will be left in the Admin format until such time as Ms. Evans can figure out what is going on or… Mayor Lozeau Right. Alderman Deane …finish her task or whatever. Finance – 05/02/12 Page 41 Mayor Lozeau Right, convert it. Alderman Deane How many problems are we having with the software? We’re having a lot? Mayor Lozeau We’re having some. I wouldn’t call it a lot, but we’re certainly having hiccups of things that don’t work. I think the staff did a heck of a job doing all of the user testing early and working with the other staff, but you know we are having things as people use it that come up that somebody has to come in and make changes to and do that sort of thing. Alderman Deane So this past two weeks it was business as usual; there was $696,000 expended outside of payroll, but there were no purchase orders issued, there were payments that were made that aren’t accounted for because the accounting system has changed? Mayor Lozeau There were no payments against purchase orders that were being converted so for three weeks nobody could get a payment against a purchase order and no new purchase orders were issued. That is basically what happened. But non-purchase order payments that were necessary got paid. Alderman Deane So the bond payments… Mayor Lozeau All of those things; the State of New Hampshire Motor Vehicles, all of those things happened, but what we didn’t want to have happen is we didn’t want to have admin assistants in the system ordering paper when they were trying to do all of this other stuff so we put a three week blackout period so they could concentrate on those things that had to happen and then getting the system launched, tested, and operational. Alderman Deane But money was spent and people were paid… Mayor Lozeau Right. Alderman Deane …it just isn’t recorded. Mayor Lozeau It is recorded, it is just… Finance – 05/02/12 Page 42 Alderman Deane Well it is not recorded in the warrant. Mayor Lozeau It is recorded in the new payment register. They converted over on April 24th so when you, at our next Finance meeting, you will see all of that, you will have all of that information. Alderman Deane When was that complete? Mayor Lozeau April 24th. Alderman Deane No when was it completed? Mayor Lozeau When was what completed? Alderman Deane The AP? All of the accounts payable that was used…you just said that portion has been completed and the data was input and the checks were written and vendors were paid. Am I correct? Mayor Lozeau The things that were necessary. Not the purchase orders and not the things against…what happened is we stopped letting people put it into the old system and then as of April 24th they were able to put it into the new system. There are two things happening here; there is a payment register that began on April 24th because there is no longer a warrant and the new system is working, and there is the warrant that led up to that date. What I’m saying to you is the April 24th information, the remainder of those dollars and how that played out, will be part of what you get for the next Finance meeting. Alderman Deane And the total dollar amount we approve tonight included payments… Mayor Lozeau Doesn’t include that $690,000 no. Again, we’ve now changed the system so you are not really approving dollar amounts, what you are going to be approving is that payment register that you have the opportunity to review to see that the right accounts were charged the amounts that were allowed. And as you know we changed the ordinance for that change. Alderman Deane I know, I voted against it. Mayor Lozeau Finance – 05/02/12 Page 43 I know you did. Alderman Deane Thank you. Mayor Lozeau Is there further discussion? MOTION CARRIED PUBLIC COMMENT - None ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The Finance Committee meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m. Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. Committee Clerk