Finance Committee

REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 A meeting of the Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, Chair, presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire, Vice Chair Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. Also in Attendance: Chief John Seusing, NPD Mayor Lozeau This evening some of you will note that we have a police department item as the last item on the agenda. I didn’t realize that the Chief would be here. So if there’s no objection, I’ll take that first so we don’t ask the chief to wait until the need of the meeting tonight. Any objection to that? I didn’t think there would be. Excuse me, Chief; I should have started with public comment. Any public comment tonight? PUBLIC COMMENT Tony Privio, Retired Member of the Nashua Police Department. It’s regarding the first item that you just mentioned, the police sign. I actually just drove by the police department, looked at the place that’s in place right now. The sign looks brand new. It looks like it’s been there a matter of days. It seems that to spend $12,000 which is what the paper recorded today for a sign that there’s nothing wrong with the current sign. It’s made of concrete. It’s going to last forever. Whoever presented the need for a new sign is obviously trying to spend money foolishly. I go to the police commission meetings monthly and they routinely talked about no money for ammunition, for training. Why don’t they take that money and put it towards a better use? It just seems like somebody has a personal agenda of putting a new sign in front of the police department. If you drive down West Hollis Street you can barely see the police department right now. You’ve got trees right outside the fence line that you can’t even see the police department. Why not cut back the trees, spend some money to landscape or do something that’s practical. There’s a sign right now, a blue sign, that says “Police Department” with an arrow that you can barely see. Why not put a big sign out front on West Hollis Street that tells people and citizens how to get to the police department. “Nashua Police Department Next Right.” It seems that money spent on those things is better than replacing a sign that you don’t need. It’s just not to me, it doesn’t seem that way. It doesn’t seem practical. I think before the finance committee rules on that, they should go out and look at the current sign that’s there. Don’t just take someone’s word that it’s decrepit, it’s falling down, it’s old. It’s not. It’s like brand new. I guess another item would be what are they going to do with the old one? It’s a big heavy sign. Is it property that’s going to be auctioned off or is it just going to be taken away and crushed up? There’s talk amongst the current members of the police department, which I’ve talked to and I’m fairly friendly with, that seems that the chief is pushing for a sign harder than he is for their contracts, the policemen without contracts right now. But yet this is a personal issue for the chief to have a new sign in front of the police department. Guys are concerned within the police department that what’s a priority here? Finance – 09/04/13 Page 2 The wellbeing of the policemen or a sign? That’s just a few comments that I have. Take it for what it’s worth, but I think people really need to go out and look at that sign before they spend $12,000 on a new one. COMMUNICATIONS Mayor Lozeau Chief, if you’d like to join us, you could. I’m going to point out something that’s a little unusual with this tonight as you know. You’ll note on the purchasing memo that the final paragraph that normally tells you a recommendation from the purchasing department or other city departments is missing from this. The reason that it’s missing is the purchasing department and the administration actually does not support this proposal. The chief and I have been talking about this since January at least. I’ve objected to it for a number of reasons. I’ll say that I don’t have a problem with having a granite sign in front of the police department. I do like the idea that something would be there for a very long time. I would prefer it to be double-sided and angled in a different way so that if you’re going down Riverside you can look back and see the sign. But my concern was the cost and the design of the sign. I think a nice granite sign could be done for less. But when the price was $12,000 and the finance committee, as you know, authorizes and considers things $10,000 or greater, I didn’t think it was fair to the chief to not put it on the committee agenda for that $2,000 difference. I thought it best to come here tonight and let the chief explain to the finance committee his thoughts instead of me just holding it off of the finance agenda. I just wanted you to be aware that’s why it’s a little bit unusual tonight. I did tell the chief that I would do it under these circumstances, and he did think it was probably a fair shot at being able to come in and explain it to the finance committee. That’s why it’s in a little bit of an unusual circumstance tonight. I just wanted to let you know that. From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Purchase of Police Department Granite Sign (Value: $12,120) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE, AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO GATE CITY MONUMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $12,120. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS DEPARTMENT 150, POLICE FUND; PISTOL PERMIT FEES ON THE QUESTION Chief Seusing Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to come down here and certainly answer any questions or concerns that the committee members might have regarding this purchase. I did want to say that the purchase of this sign certainly is very important to me. It’s very important to my staff members. The reason that we even considered replacing our current sign is because if you take a close look at our current sign, as you heard earlier, it is a sign that was made out of poured concrete. That sign has been there for as long as I can remember. It certainly is not a brand new sign. It certainly does not look brand new at all. In fact if you look at the back side of the sign, you’ll actually see the pour marks when this was formed when they took off the wood, or whatever they used, to actually make the sign. It actually left two divots in the back side of the sign. I think it’s called rebar metal that is in the concrete; it’s actually coming out and the rust is bleeding down a little bit on the back side. This sign again has been there for a long period of time. It is frankly been a very big eye sore to me and other members. The image of the police department is critically important. We thought that a nice granite sign that matched the memorial that we have out there that was done by the same vendor that we’re hoping to go with on this purchase made for us at least ten years ago that honors our four fallen officers that we had lost over the years. We thought it would be important that this new sign match that sign. I will not disagree that $12,000 is a lot of money for a sign. We certainly could have purchased a granite sign for less money. However I wanted to make sure that when we installed this sign, it’s a very, very nice sign; one that presents a very positive image of the police department; and, one that is Finance – 09/04/13 Page 3 done right from the very beginning. That was very important to me. I had Captain Hanson and Captain Lima who put a lot of work into coming up with the design and going out to bid on it. The design that we have again is costly, but I can tell you right now once this sign is installed it will never, ever have to be replaced again. It was very important that it match the current memorial that we have. It’s only about 30 feet away. It’s something that I fully support. I ask for your support on this. Again the image of the police department is critically important to us. It’s really the first thing you see when you drive into our building. The current sign that had been there was, in my opinion, terrible looking. I’m not asking the taxpayers to pay for this. This is not taxpayer money. It’s coming out of the pistol permit account, and I’m very fortunate I have that account to use some of that money to make a purchase such as this. I think what’s most important to remember: this is going to be a one-time purchase. You’ll never, ever have to do this again and I want to do it right the first time. Alderman Caron Chief, did you have other input from other staff members concerning the design of the sign? Chief Seusing We did. We spoke at a staff meeting, and two of my staff members actually worked together to put it together. Alderman Caron I think that sign has been up there over 30 years. Chief Seusing I don’t know how long it’s been there. It’s been there as long as I can remember, and I’ve been there 31 years. I personally don’t recall the previous sign, but it’s been there a very long time. Mayor Lozeau My understanding, Chief, is that the sign has been there since the building was built. I think it was part of that original. Alderman Craffey Why such an expensive sign? Why couldn’t you go with just the regular first initial design? Chief Seusing We had received some input that the badge that we’re going to have on the sign, that if you want the badge to be a replica of the badge that we wear on the chest, and this is actually going to be a patrolman’s badge, that to do it right and to get the most detail, you would use black granite which can be etched and colored. That was a re commendation that we had been given to provide the most detail. And you’re correct, Alderman Craffey, we could have just engraved it in there and it would have cost less money. But by putting a black granite insert which would represent the badge, it allows the folks that would actually be doing the work to put more detail into the badge. The badge obviously represents us, and I want to make sure that badge looks as nice as it possibly can. Granted, it is going to cost a little bit more money but it will be a one-time shot. It will never have to be done again. Alderman Craffey Does the gold leaf have to be in there too? Finance – 09/04/13 Page 4 Chief Seusing The gold leaf is going to be used to color city hall, which is on our badge, the gold color because on the patrolman’s badge, city hall is that color. They could have used another material, but what was told to us that the gold leaf apparently is used in the industry. It’s a little bit more expensive. I actually spoke with Mr. Pellerin today to ask him: “What’s the additional cost of a gold leaf material?” He said it was about $700 more for that material. The reason they would use that material is because it is very weather resistant and it will stand up to the elements forever and a day. He mentioned that same type of material was used in the purple heart memorial in Railroad Square. I took a look at it, and I know that has been there for decades, I believe, and that still looks pretty good today. We could have gone again with a cheaper stain or paint or whatever they use, but again, his recommendation if you want that portion of the badge which will be city hall to look the best for decades to come, he recommended that which is why I support that. Alderman Craffey I have a problem with spending $12,000 on a single side, Chief. I’ve been a big supporter of yours. I’ve always supported the police department and everything that you gentlemen have done, that your office has done. I have great respect for the department. But last year we had to appropriate money for overtime and other issues. Then there was the possibility that we almost had to do the same thing again towards the end of the fiscal year again. I just have a problem spending $12,000 on a sign that A) is one-sided; B) that’s very, very intricate in detail. I understand the pride but given the current economy that we’re in and where money is tight throughout, I don’t think this is the time right now for this sign. I can’t see spending $12,000 for a sign at this time. Thank you. Alderman Wilshire I’m curious what we spent on the crosswalk gold leaf ends on Main Street, if anybody knows how much we spent on that? Mayor Lozeau I know the answer. Are you asking? Alderman Wilshire Ya. Mayor Lozeau For the crosswalk, it was actually hand-painted. It’s not real. It’s just hand-painted by Park-Rec on the black sign. Alderman Wilshire Fake? Mayor Lozeau Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not gold leaf. It’s just regular gold paint. Alderman Wilshire Okay. The thing is I think this is a good purchase. I think the police department’s sign looks like a Jersey barrier. If you took a good look at that sign and you drive by, if there’s any weather, you can’t even read Finance – 09/04/13 Page 5 what it says because it’s washed looking. The lettering doesn’t stand out at all. It’s kind of just etched in the concrete. The landfill has a better sign than the police department. I don’t know what that says but they have the city seal, the recycle thing put in the sign. I’m going to support this. The police department, they’re not in here asking for extras. If they ask for overtime it’s because they’ve had a lot of crime going on. It’s not because they are out spending money foolishly. I’m going to support this. I’d like a roll call vote on this too please. Alderman Chasse What would you do with the permit fees if you weren’t buying this sign? What is that normally used for? Chief Seusing It’s used for a variety of things. Recently we have started having an annual awards recognition night for the officers. We use some of the money to purchase some plaques that we present to certain officers who were given certain awards. We use the money for that. I know last year we gave a donation to the Chamber of Commerce towards the Nashua Goes Back to School event. We’ve used it for furniture because we don’t have any furniture in our budget. When something comes up that we feel that we need to purchase and if there isn’t any budget money available for it then this account would be used for purchases such as that. Alderman Chasse What are they going to do with the old one? Chief Seusing I don’t have an answer. I don’t know what we’re going to do with the old one. Alderman Chasse The retired officer who spoke earlier would it be feasible to take that and grind it down and put the word “police” with an arrow pointing towards Riverside? Instead of throwing it to the junk pile or crushing it down, recycle I think they call that. Chief Seusing I’m a big recycler but to be honest with you, I haven’t given it any thought as to what we would do with that sign. It would be disposed of properly whatever that is. Alderman Deane Good, we’re not going to find it in the river. Alderman Chasse Are you going to put it on the Mayor’s law? Mayor Lozeau No, I can assure you that won’t happen. I would just take a moment to say I agree, Alderman Wilshire, that a new sign is in order for the police department. I agree that it’s not easy to see. Frankly I recall having a conversation when I was in the legislature with the police about across the top of the building where it says “Nashua Police” there with the letters. I didn’t think that was big enough particularly for somebody that Finance – 09/04/13 Page 6 might be in a panic trying to find the police department. I would agree that the sign that’s out there, the blue sign, the traffic sign, we should do something about that too. My concern is just I think we could do a very nice, two-sided granite sign there that could be permanent forever and nicely done and maybe even do something with the lettering on the building at a cost below $12,000. When we’re looking at moving the police training facility, there’s going to be some work that needs to be done if we end up at Gilson Road or another location. I thick funds are going to be necessary for that. At least for me, I don’t think the issue is having a new sign or even having a granite sign, or even having something that really better reflects the professionalism at the police department. It’s more along the lines of the cost. Having a memorial that is done the way it is, to me, is a very different sort of thing., Recognizing those fallen officers in a way that is special, that has the engraving the way it does, I think is very appropriate. I think having the police sign not be quite so elaborate but still show some pride I think could be done. I would like to see that done. I was hopeful in waiting on this that we might find some way to find some middle ground that had it in a more affordable way than this. But as I said, I just thought everybody should have an opportunity to weigh in because it was within that striking distance of the $10,000 so that’s why I did it. Alderman Chasse I wasn’t done. Mayor Lozeau My apologizes. I’m sorry. And then chief, I’ll be happy to recognize you as well. Alderman Chasse Here’s my feelings. You people did all the work. It’s not costing the taxpayers anything. It’s coming out of your account so it’s not affecting the City of Nashua at all. If you guys did the work, in my opinion, it would probably be more pride for you guys. I’ll be honest, I’m going to support this because as you say, Mayor, you can get a lot of other people involved but then now we go back to the old saying that you’ve got too many Chiefs and not enough Indians. I want purple, I want pink, I want green. They did the work, it’s coming out of their account and not costing me anything or anybody else in the City of Nashua. Good luck. Chief Seusing Thank you. If I could just comment on Alderman Craffey. I understand your comment regarding the budget issues that we have had in the past. I would certainly agree with you if I was asking to take this money out of budget or use taxpayers’ money. But I would not do that because I understand the financial crisis, I suppose, that we’re in and that we’ve had in the past. I completely understand that. But again, this sign is unlike many other things we might replace in the police department. It’s our image, it’s one of the first things that someone will see when they come in to our police department. I think the Mayor used the word “extravagant.” The sign actually is going to be fairly basic except for the badge. It’s just going to say “Nashua Police Department’ on top. The badge, itself, is where all the detail is going to be. I’m telling you when it’s done it’s going to be spectacular and something that we’re all going to be very proud of. I would not ask the taxpayers to pay for it in these economic times. Again, we’re very fortunate that we have some funding available. There’s not a lot of money in that account, and we have used it for other things because we don’t have the money in our budget. I know you mentioned this would not be a good time, I don’t know when there would be a good time. We’ve had that sign for maybe 30 years. I think now is as good a time as ever, and we have the funding available. Again, I would just ask you to consider that. I think the other thing to consider is I won’t be coming down here five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty years asking to replace it. We probably won’t even be on this planet whenever there’s a discussion again to be replacing that sign. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 7 Alderman Craffey I hope not to be on this planet when we have to replace that sign if it gets. I don’t want to be that old. Chief, I understand your position. I don’t take exception to that. I would like to see a two-sided sign. I would like to see as the gentleman who spoke earlier come up, maybe some landscaping in the area in addition to this to bring out. It’s very difficult to see the police station to begin with from West Hollis Street. If that was to be part of it maybe I could consider myself doing this. To echo Alderman Chasse, I know it’s coming out of the pistol registration fees, it’s not costing the taxpayers a dime. I just think it’s a little over the top. Could you tell me why you chose Gate City versus Hepworth Memorials, the difference between the two? There’s $2,000 difference between the two right there. Chief Seusing I believe Hepworth was not going to use the black granite insert. They were just going to engrave the granite itself into it. Alderman Craffey Were they going to overlay it with the gold? Chief Seusing They were going to use the gold leaf but they were not going to use the black granite which would not allow them to put the fine detail in it that we would need to replicate the badge as much as we want. That’s what was asked in the second bid that had gone out. I agree regarding the visibility of the police department from West Hollis Street. I recently noticed that those trees are getting a little bit higher now. We can easily trim them so you can see the lettering on the building. That lettering that’s on there now had been replaced since the original lettering. That lettering now is much easier to see on that side of the building. We can certainly look into putting another sign, a smaller sign on West Hollis Street to show where they need to turn the corner if we need to do that and we’ll certainly do that. But I think this sign that I’m putting up isn’t necessarily to tell the people where the police department is. I think I explained the importance of that sign. It’s the pride in representing who we are. I think before they actually see that sign, they’re going to see where the police department is. You mentioned a two-sided sign. I know the position it’s currently in, it’s only on one side. I’m assuming the reason they did that was because it’s just a one-way going down there and nobody would be driving up the other way. I recently went out to that sign actually today. We haven’t decided completely yet but we’re thinking that we might actually turn the sign around where it faces Panther Drive. We just back it up a little bit where as you’re coming down Panther Drive, you’re going to see the front of the sign. No one is really going to see the back of the sign unless you’re in the parking lot. In that case, we wouldn’t need to have the sign double-sided. Alderman Craffey Positioning would be key to the sign as would the landscaping. The lighting of the building, signage for the building would be key to the area also. To find the police station from the highway or from West Hollis is a little sign saying NYPD, excuse me, Nashua PD, wrong city, Nashua PD, bear right, would be very helpful. Chief Seusing We can certainly look at the trees and put another sign out there. We can do that very easily. Alderman Craffey Those are my concerns more than spending $12,000 on a sign. Those things in conjunction with the sign would be very helpful for me. If I knew those were going to be done that could say my vote. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 8 Chief Seusing We can easily take care of those because I really don’t think there would be any cost associated with those changes. A little landscaping, putting a smaller sign out where West Hollis turns onto Panther, we could easily do that. Alderman Pressly It’s not too often that an item on the finance committee makes it to the front page of the paper. It’s given me the chance, and all of us sort of a chance to think about it. I’ve talked to a couple people to try to understand this particular fund as Alderman Chasse has. I think it’s almost a fund for basic morale. If I understand it correctly the funding for this is not public money. It has been used for things in the past that seem to be something that the people in the police department want. I think it’s important. They have a high stress job, they have a dangerous job. I think we should appreciate the fact that they work pretty hard. The two issues Mr. Tony Pivero mentioned, the shrubbery, does need to be pruned as you approach the police. Also at the landfill, you can hardly see that sign. Maybe there can be an effort for the Park-Rec to go around and just prune the trees around all the signage so they can be visible. I think the money is there from this fund. In fact I think there’s some left over for another project. This is something that has clearly come from the people that work there. I also will be supporting this. Thank you. Mayor Lozeau I just want to take a moment to respond to Alderman Chasse. I don’t want to be involved in designing the sign. I’m not looking for me people. I asked for two things. I asked for it to be below the cost that it was, and I asked for them to consider double-siding the sign. That’s what I was hoping for. I think a beautiful granite sign can be done at a lower price. I also took into consideration the concerns of the purchasing department and how the process went. Although I’m a huge fan of Gate City Monument, and they’ve done a lot of charitable things for this city, they’ve stepped up often times at no charge to do work for us, and I trust the judgment of the owner of that company to do what he believes is best. I think the purchasing department was also concerned because there was some conflict between different bidders on what they thought the best process was for the sign as well as the process of how it play out when the bids came in. I took that into consideration as well. A viva voce roll call was taken on the motion which resulted as follows: Yea: Ald. Wilshire, Ald. Deane, Ald. Pressly, Ald. Caron, Ald. Craffey, Ald. Chasse 6 Nay: Mayor Lozeau 1 MOTION CARRIED From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Exercise of 1st Option to Extend Ambulance Contract MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND CONCUR WITH EXERCISING THE ONE-YEAR OPTION TO EXTEND THE AGREEMENT WITH AMR \ ON THE QUESTION Alderman Pressly The other night you mentioned that there had been an audit for this department. Would you tell us a bit about that and what the results were? Finance – 09/04/13 Page 9 Mayor Lozeau The audit is not complete, but it’s pretty close to completion. The audit has shown good results. Under the contract we have the opportunity to audit whenever we’d like annually if that’s the case. The treasurer asked for the audit. It took a little longer than he expected because there’s requirements under HIPAA that had to be met. We had hoped that it would be done before we brought this in, but they’re probably at about 95 percent completed and they have found no irregularities that concern them. The ambulance committee did recommend that we move forward with this option. Alderman Pressly The ambulance committee? Mayor Lozeau We have an ambulance committee that’s set up by ordinance. Alderman Pressly Who’s on that? Mayor Lozeau The ordinance lays out who the members are. It’s chaired by the Director of Public Health, Director Vigroux. It also has police, fire, the two hospitals and emergency management on that committee. They meet on a regular basis, at least quarterly, to review how things are going with the company and things like that. Alderman Pressly If I recall correctly there were some issues the last time that it was signed. Have those been resolved? There were some issues as far as fairness on the competitive bidding for this. Mayor Lozeau I think Alderman Pressly that those were resolved before the contract was resolved. Alderman Pressly Okay, maybe there’s others that can speak to that. Mayor Lozeau There were bids received from more than one ambulance company. The one recommended and chosen was AMR. One of the companies that bid on it objected, made their concerns known. I still feel satisfied and confident in the decision that was made with AMR. I think they’ve provided great service to this community. They’ve had over 16,000 responses since they’ve been in service. They’ve followed their contract, provided free CPR trainings. They are a nationally accredited group. Frankly, the only ones in the State of New Hampshire that have a national accreditation for 911 services. I think we’ve been very satisfied. There were a couple of questions early on about costs associated with some of the billing. That was looked into immediately and resolved. They in the beginning had a time lapse of getting their contract signed with Anthem. That’s been taken care of, actually relatively quickly after we signed, so I think all is well. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 10 Alderman Deane I’d like a copy of the audit report. Are their meeting minutes associated with the Ambulance Committee? Mayor Lozeau There are. They’re on line, Alderman Deane. I think the expectation is that the audit will be completed by the end of this month. I’ll make sure that it’s available. Alderman Craffey I would also like a copy of the minutes please. Mayor Lozeau A copy of the audit report? Alderman Craffey Yes, I would. Do we any idea of their response time from call to arrival at the site? Mayor Lozeau They are meeting the response times as required in the contract. It’s one of the questions that we asked, and they are meeting that. Alderman Craffey How about the inter-hospital transport? Are they still charging or is that going to be covered in the audit? Mayor Lozeau It won’t be covered in the audit because the contract has nothing to do with the transport. The hospitals would like us to negotiate something relative to the transport. We have not done that. Our obligation under the law is to contract for 911 series. The issues surrounding transporting patients from the hospitals to other locations or to the hospital from other locations is the private business of the hospitals to work out with the ambulance company. Alderman Craffey Do you know how many accidents they have been involved in? Mayor Lozeau I’m not aware of any accidents. Alderman Craffey Will that be covered in the audit also? Finance – 09/04/13 Page 11 Mayor Lozeau I think the audit is primarily focused on billing, response times and whether they are meeting some of the things in the contract, primarily financial in nature. Alderman Craffey Is there a way that the hospital group, the hospital could ask that question? Find out the number of accidents they have had, their drivers? I’d appreciate it thank you. Mayor Lozeau Certainly. You’re welcome. Alderman Deane I’m confused by the major accidents by an ambulance or accidents of other motor vehicles in the city? Alderman Craffey By the ambulance drivers. Mayor Lozeau The question is just so we’re all on the same page: How many accidents has AMR been involved in during the time that they have been providing our ambulance service. Alderman Craffey Yes. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: ESRI Municipal & County Government Enterprise Agreement Requested by Assessing (Value $75,000) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND, CONTINGENT UPON BOARD OF ALDERMEN APPROVAL, AWARD THE CONTRACT TO ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN THE AMOUNT OF $75,000. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN DEPARTMENT 134, GIS; GENERAL FUND; 54, PROPERTY SERVICES ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau This is our software that runs our GIS system. They changed their licensing structure for the first time. It used to be that they had a certain way that you would purchase the software and pay your licensing fees. They’ve changed it and under that change the city was going to be responsible for a $50,000 cost. In working with them and negotiating with them, we were able to share that cost with Pennichuck. We’re splitting that cost and both getting a significant amount for our money. I was quite pleased with the creative solution. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 12 Alderman Pressly The reference to Pennichuck caught my eye. I presume that it just has to do with identifying their pipes and pumps and all their underground utilities. Mayor Lozeau That’s correct. Alderman Pressly I’m also wondering, I know the GIS mapping is used by private citizens. I think members of the Board of Aldermen use it. I presume it will also be available to the public and to the board of aldermen. Mayor Lozeau Yes. Under this new structure, it’s unlimited usage which is really good too. Under this structure we could have go with sort of buying minutes or unlimited, and we were able to do the unlimited. Citizens, internal and external, it can be used by all. Alderman Pressly And it is of a permanent nature. It will stay. Mayor Lozeau It’s a three-year contract. Anything we create we then take ownership of. Alderman Deane This also includes a contract between the city and Pennichuck. Mayor Lozeau Correct. We want to make sure that we have access to their infrastructure information as well. Alderman Pressly That’s at the end of the paperwork. Mayor Lozeau If you turn on our GIS system, you can click on the different layers and see the wetlands, see the sewer pipes, all of those things. We want to be able to include Pennichuck in that information so we can use it as well when we’re planning and doing things. Alderman Pressly It’s not their land. Mayor Lozeau It’s just their utilities which sadly they don’t really have a system for. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 13 Alderman Deane There’s four complimentary conference registration fees. Where would those be held, in California? Mayor Lozeau They’ve been out of state, sometimes they are in-state. I know this year there’s an ARC user conference here that relates to mapping in Nashua at the end of September. I can’t tell you where their conferences are; I think they move. I can find out. Alderman Deane The billing address/mailing address is in Los Angeles, California. Mayor Lozeau And I’m sure they have had conferences in California. Alderman Deane Do they ever use a site where you go onto the site and sign in? Mayor Lozeau Teleconferences? Alderman Deane Webinars. Instead of getting on a plane and flying somewhere, can’t we use webinars instead? Do they offer that? Mayor Lozeau I know when they are offered, we use them but there’s also conferences where one of the reasons you don’t use a webinar is because you want to be there and see other vendors and products. It’s not just the stagnant meeting type of thing. Alderman Deane Stagnant meetings are cheap though, and you do gain a lot of knowledge compared to paying to air fare, hotel rooms and meals to fly somebody around to look at say cutting edges for snowplows or something. I was just wondering. Mayor Lozeau We do both, and these conferences also offer education. Alderman Deane And we know that people come back and share it with others which is a good thing. Mayor Lozeau They do. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 14 MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for On-Line Tutoring Services Requested by Nashua Public Library (Value: $22,500) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO BRAINFUSE IN THE AMOUNT OF $22,500. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS DEPARTMENT 179, LIBRARY; GENERAL FUND OPERATING BUDGET; 61, SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau This is that familiar annual contract for tutoring services. You’ll notice that it’s $1,000 less than last year. The reason is because it has two components. One is the homework use and one is job search. The job search use was less and the homework use was up. The library director was able to negotiate with them to look at it in two separate ways to be able to lower the cost. She also wanted to make sure that folks knew that the number in the first paragraph that said 2400 actually went up to 3200 this year. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Purchase of Signs and Traffic Related Items Requested by Street Department (Value: $25,000) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE, AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO PERMA-LINE IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $25,000. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN DEPARTMENT 161, STREET, GENERAL FUND OPERATING BUDGET; 61, SUPPLIES & MATERIALS ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane How much of this $25,000 is going to be shipping costs? Is it coming from Perm-Aline, the product, or is it coming from the vendor that actually produces it and we’re buying it through Perm-Aline? Mayor Lozeau I believe it’s a combination. Alderman Deane I looked at the list in the back. There’s some specialty items. Unless you have a lot of problems, you’re not going to buy 20 Loop Ave signs or 20 Pond Street signs. For the other basic products such as sign posts and delineator posts, are they going to buy in bulk? Order those in bulk so we get a better rate on those or are these unit prices? When you look at these posts they’re $34.75 a piece for a 12-foot galvanized U- channel, and a 8-foot galvanized is $15.45. For four feet more you’re paying $20.30. That doesn’t make sense. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 15 Mayor Lozeau This was included to show you just a typical item cost list, but I do believe they buy them in bulk. As we’re trying to collect the sign information for replacements and things like that, we’re able to have a better sense of what we’re going to need to replace over the course of the year. Alderman Deane You know how they got away from, and the state should do this too, the U-channel with the reflectors on them like we have down in the south end round-about where after the first snow storm they are all bent and twisted. It seems like all the issues at East Dunstable Road, they finally put up the weeble ones that move. You can run them over and they come back up whereas the other ones somebody would hit them and then the next thing you know a jiggered piece of u-channel would be sticking out into the roadway. Do they plan on going to some of that? Like the dividers on the Daniel Webster Highway are in desperate need, the emergency dividers for the fire trucks and police cars. I know down by the old Dexter Shoe, I forget what it is now, those down there, people that come out of that development that’s up on the hill there, they just drive right through because those things are gone. A portion of them are gone. Instead of going down and following the normal traffic pattern. Is that included in this purchase? Mayor Lozeau I would imagine that whatever is needed for this year’s replacement schedule will be included in this. Sometimes that maybe the flexible pole and sometimes not. I didn’t ask specifically if we had any plans for those. Alderman Deane What’s an R2-1? It says “engineer. LR18, TB24” What does that mean? Mayor Lozeau I don’t know their code. Alderman Deane You don’t have your old team decoder with you. Mayor Lozeau No, and I’ll admit it. I’m okay not having the code for the traffic sign holes, pipes and signs. I try to know a lot of things, but that I draw the line. Alderman Deane Mayor, I’m not trying to grind you here. I wanted to know if they wanted to know if they were going to buy some of these. That’s what I’d like to know. Mayor Lozeau And I don’t know, but I’d be happy to ask. Alderman Deane I think they work very well and I’d like to see them. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 16 Mayor Lozeau I’d be happy to ask that question, Alderman Deane. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Miscellaneous Sewerage Improvements Change Order #1 (Value: $195,140) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE, AND AUTHORIZE CHANGE ORDER #1 TO THE CONTRACT WITH PARK CONSTRUCTION FOR A NET CHANGE IN THE AMOUNT OF $195,140. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS DEPARTMENT 169, WASTEWATER; WASTEWATER FUND; SEWER REHAB AND SEWER STRUCTURES ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane It’s $390.28 a linear foot for this sewer line. The engineer was within $6600 of what they had anticipated for costs. They were at $188,540 and the bid came in at $195,140. Did the engineering department try to work them down to that $188,000? Mayor Lozeau We actually added these two locations at the original price. All those other sewer replacement locations that are happening, they met that same price. Alderman Deane But they are already mobilized so we don’t have that cost, right? Mayor Lozeau This is still a different area. Beacon Street and Beacon Court is nowhere near these other locations. Alderman Deane Normally when you’re mobilized… Mayor Lozeau I understand Alderman Deane Where are they from? Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Mayor Lozeau It depends on the timing and how they do it, I imagine, but Beacon Street and Beacon Court are pretty difficult locations. I think people thought it was a fair price. That’s the street off of Amherst Street across from the fire station that goes straight up hill. That’s a tough area to do. I believe they feel they got a fair price. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 17 Alderman Pressly I’d like to ask about Mulberry Street because I asked about it last year too. That was one of the streets that they opened it up to do part of the work and then closed it up and then had to open it up again. What are your thoughts on that? We talked about it last year, the importance of trying to do it all at one time, do all the utilities at the same time. Mayor Lozeau Alderman Pressly, we can’t do them all at the same time. You can’t be in the street doing the water pipe while they are doing the gas pipe. You can’t be doing the sewer pipe when they are doing the water pipe or the gas pipe. Alderman Pressly I don’t mean the same time, not simultaneously, but when the road is opened up. There had been an effort. You mentioned that they tried to do it so there’s just one opening of the road. Mayor Lozeau They do try to do that during our construction season. If they can get it all done in that period, they will close the road. They will do an initial base coat of asphalt and then they will come back in the next season and do the finish coat. Let things settle in. They weren’t able to do that on Mulberry Street. There’s a few areas where that happens. I think they found more complexities on Mulberry Street so they weren’t able to do that. Alderman Pressly We talked about this a year ago that you do try to do that. What has been your track record this year as far as not having to do the duplicate opening? Mayor Lozeau I haven’t kept track of how we do that that way. From our perspective it’s unusual to have it be opened year after year unless the project is not done. Sometimes you get in there and it just takes you longer than you expect. Look at Harbor Ave. That was, I think, three construction seasons, a big project, a lot of work, a lot to be done. When we can do it that way, we do it. Alderman Pressly Have you had a repeat this season or you don’t know? You won’t know until the end of the construction season? Mayor Lozeau Repeat the season with Mulberry Street? Alderman Pressly I assume you’re going to finish that this season. Mayor Lozeau I believe we are. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 18 Alderman Pressly Are you having this happen again? Will there be other streets? Mayor Lozeau I know that Franklin Street was pretty complicated. We did some work in there this last season looking in and identifying the problem and then closed the road. We’re back now doing the work. Court Street last year had a sink hole so I guess you can consider that two seasons because they identified the problem last season and this season we’re doing the work, but other than that. MOTION CARRIED From: Robert Gabriel, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract Award for Landfill Gas Expansion Project (Value: $118,240) MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND, CONTINGENT UPON FINAL PASSAGE OF R-13-138, AWARD THE CONTRACT TO AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP IN THE AMOUNT OF $118,240. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN DEPARTMENT 168, SOLID WASTE; CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND; LANDFILL EXPANSION PROJECT ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau For those of you here last night for the budget meeting, this was the conversation around the gas collection. The bid came in less significantly than we had anticipated. MOTION CARRIED UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None NEW BUSINESS – None DISCUSSION Alderman Pressly You had mentioned last night or it was reported in the paper that you might be bringing in the project to clean up the riverbed. Mayor Lozeau I’m expecting to bring it in at the next finance meeting. Alderman Pressly And that was tonight. Mayor Lozeau No, I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear about that. Not tonight, the next one. Finance – 09/04/13 Page 19 Alderman Pressly That puts us at the Board of Aldermen the end of September, and you think that will be plenty of time to get the work done before the river goes up? Mayor Lozeau Yes. Alderman Pressly Have they promised you that? Mayor Lozeau I wouldn’t say they promised, but they are pretty confident especially because we’re monitoring the project. The water is probably going to be down a little bit longer than people anticipated. Alderman Pressly I also wanted to thank you for responding to the citizens group as you did. It’s really great that this is being done. It’s an opportunity, and I think it’s a great price. I’m shocked at how reasonable it is. Now is that part of the John Stabile contract or is that what the city did? In the letter that you sent to the citizens group you indicated that it was working with the Stabile Company. Mayor Lozeau Right. We’ve been trying to work with them. The Stabile Company in their project footprint, they’re doing this same kind of clean up. What I’m going to bring in to the next Finance meeting is from that dam where the Cotton Mill crest gate stops and up to Coliseum Ave is where this work intends to be done. Now I will tell you from the Millyard Technology Park up to the problem at Coliseum Ave, there’s really nothing, really not much stuff in that area. The stuff is really located between the dam and the Millyard and then a piece up near Coliseum Ave where we talked about last night and things getting in. Alderman Pressly So it’s not as long as the river is. Mayor Lozeau Exactly. They’re in the more populated areas as you could imagine. Alderman Pressly I thank you for the work you did on that and for responding to the citizen’s forum as you did. That was great. Thank you. RECORD OF EXPENDITURES MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE THAT THE FINANCE COMMITTEE HAS COMPLIED WITH THE CITY CHARTER AND ORDINANCES PERTAINING TO THE RECORD OF EXPENDITURES FOR THE PERIOD AUGUST 16, 2013 TO AUGUST 29, 2013 Finance – 09/04/13 Page 20 ON THE QUESTION Mayor Lozeau Alderman Deane, the accounting manager has been able to find a way to put the credit card information in the manner in which you asked. At the next Record of Expenditures you will find that as one of the items. Alderman Deane Thank you. MOTION CARRIED PUBLIC COMMENT POSSIBLE NON-PUBLIC SESSION ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The Finance Committee meeting was adjourned at 7:59 p.m. Alderman Paul M. Chasse Committee Clerk