Finance Committee

REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE OCTOBER 21, 2015 A meeting of the Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, at 7:02 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, Chair, presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderman-at-Large Daniel T. Moriarty, Vice Chair Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman Ken Siegel Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. PUBLIC COMMENT - None COMMUNICATIONS From: Dan Kooken, Purchasing Manager Re: Purchase of Two (2) Chevrolet Impala Police Packages Unmarked (Value: $40,828) MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE FROM MACMULKIN CHEVROLET IN THE AMOUNT OF $40,828. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN DEPARTMENT 150, POLICE; CERF MOTION CARRIED From: Dan Kooken, Purchasing Manager Re: Contract for Paving at Fire Training Grounds (Value: $13,600) MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO HUDSON PAVING IN THE AMOUNT OF $13,600. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS DEPARTMENT 152, FIRE; GENERAL FUND ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane Does this are really have to be paved? Mayor Lozeau It does. When we were there for the opening of the training facility one of the things that they took a couple of minutes to show us was that the asphalt doesn’t go out far enough and they are concerned that people coming in and out of that training facility quickly could easily twist an ankle or be hurt. Their hope is that at some point everything will be paved in some future years when it needs it. It’s actually really filled with gravel so I understood what he needed to have done. MOTION CARRIED Finance – 10/21/15 Page 2 From: Dan Kooken, Purchasing Manager Re: Public Health & Community Services Facility Cost Estimation and Site Selection Services (Value: $33,300) MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO DENNIS MIRES, PA, ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS IN THE AMOUNT OF $33,300. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN DEPARTMENT 171, COMMUNITY SERVICES; ESCROW FUNDS ON THE QUESTION Alderman Siegel I examined the contract and what I saw was that there is a scope item in element three. Element three is the review of RFP’s and there’s no statement in there about the number of RFP’s they will be willing to review or the amount of hours that they will spend on them, however there is a statement that says that they are not sure about what would be involved and they reserve the right to charge us an hourly rate. My issue with that is that there should be an initial scope of work which includes at least the number of RFP’s that they are willing to examine and/or a number of hours that they will be willing to devote to that task so that we at least understand that the cost estimate associated with that line item has some actual amount of work associated with it that we can quantify. Mayor Lozeau I don’t have a problem with that. Do you have something in mind? We are not really sure how to judge how many proposals may come in for them to look at. Alderman Siegel I would suggest a number of hours and not being an expert in what it would take to examine the results of an RFP of this nature, I’d say we probably want to make some queries to maybe the Department of Public Works or the building department. I don’t know how many hours typically it would take to review these types of RFP’s. Mayor Lozeau The RFP’s are a proposal about the way we would build to suit or lease it at a certain amount. I don’t think they will be very complicated. Alderman Siegel I understand what an RFP is. Mayor Lozeau I know, I’m just saying that I don’t think it would be a response to an RFP; I’m trying to think of something that would be 100 pages long as we have seen in some responses. I think it will be relatively manageable. When we talked with the group they were expecting that there would be somewhere between three and six so perhaps we say six and then we have them have to come back for hours exceeding a certain amount beyond those six. I’d rather not break the RFP’s into hours but I would agree that they also shouldn’t have twelve hour fees and then start charging us after that. I think that it makes sense to put some parameters on it. Finance – 10/21/15 Page 3 Alderman Siegel Correct and I don’t know what the best way to do to scope that. I would suggest that the minimum number of RFP’s they would examine but also some hours that are associated with that because if they can have an unspecified number of hours they could say we had three RFP’s but each one was way more difficult than we thought and they get to define what difficult is. Perhaps going back and having them clarify what it is they mean by that line item would be helpful before we vote on this. Mayor Lozeau Is there a motion to table? Alderman Deane I don’t understand why we are even doing this. We don’t have any site specifics. When I look at the comparison of alternatives in task four, why are we spending $30,000 to have this drawn up, for what purpose? Mayor Lozeau As you know we have been going back and forth having conversations around public health and there is some disagreement on whether or not we should own or we should rent. In an effort to try to move forward we came in and met with the Infrastructure Committee back in May and a motion was made that agreed that we would put out an RFP to get a company to come in and do an analysis for us on ownership versus leasing. Originally when the RFP went out it identified certain locations; city owned property or whatever and it seemed to me that it was very expensive and that would limit the scope but the ability for a company to come in and give us an idea about what would it cost to build a building and then to put the RFP out for people to respond to that own property that want to do something; that that would make some sense. I am of the opinion that it is in the city’s best interest to own property for public health because I don’t think we want to be in a position where what’s happening to the state in Manchester could happen because the lease holder says the owner of the property said we are not leasing anymore. We are always going to be in the business of public health in the city but I understand people’s interest in finding out what they think is the best solution. It’s the only way that I can think of to do it, to have an outside opinion come in and present what people’s highest and best offer would be. The Infrastructure Committee made a motion, it passed the committee and this is a result of that. Alderman Deane So you want to pay someone $33,300 to come in? Mayor Lozeau Yes and give us an analysis of ownership versus leasing. Alderman Moriarty I see this is being managed by the Director of Economic Development. Why that as opposed to the Director of Public Health? Mayor Lozeau It’s a team but we asked Director Galligani to be the lead on it because it’s really an economic development issue in the sense that we presented it here more than a public health issue. Its public health, community development and economic development are working this together. Finance – 10/21/15 Page 4 Alderman Siegel Alderman Donchess, as Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee do you believe that this represents what your understanding was and the will of the committee when they make the motion to have this study put in place. Alderman Donchess I think the committee endorsed the idea that we should seek professional help in trying to make the basic decision between ownership and leasing in terms of where we might be lease, although we never saw this particular proposal or discussed this specific amount. The committee was behind the concept and was supportive of. Mayor Lozeau During the committee meeting the question was asked what it would cost and the response was between $25,000 and $50,000 was what the estimate was and the motion that was adopted was that the committee sign onto the concept that we put our an RFP, that we sign onto the concept, that we would engage the professional to help prepare that with the understanding that the contract might have to come back and go to the Finance Committee and that after the contract is approved that we sign on to the idea that we proceed to prepare and issue the RFP. That’s what is before you tonight. Alderman Donchess Yes, and I’ve forgotten that we were provided that last time as it has been five or six months but the committee was definitely on board with trying to seek professional help. Alderman Chasse I guess I feel like Alderman Deane, leasing I feel like you do that there’s no way we should be leasing. If we are going to have public health then you are right, it’s not going away and we should have our own building. I don’t think I need to spend $33,000 for someone to come in and say get your own building. We definitely should not be leasing a building because we could be out in the rain later on down the road. Alderman Siegel Separate from the fact that I disagree with my colleague, Alderman Chasse, we just don’t know what the best alternative would be. Again, I’ve at least outlined a potential issue with what is directly before us right now and I don’t think we should approve this as it is right now. Alderwoman Brown I recall when we were having the discussion about purchasing the property at Mulberry Street and the question about why we should buy it, we don’t even know how much the building is going to cost so it seems that community development has done their due diligence to get several quotes and it seems that somebody chose someone, Dennis Mires. It says in the memo that he had experience with local health facilities. Do you know off-hand which those might have been? Mayor Lozeau They were involved with Lamprey Health and Manchester Public Health. Finance – 10/21/15 Page 5 Alderwoman Brown It does make sense because a public health building has to have certain ventilation for the lab and there are precautions with that. I am going to support this. MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO TABLE MOTION CARRIED From: Dan Kooken, Purchasing Manager Re: Main Street Crosswalk Installation Blocks 3 & 4 (Value: $184,000) MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO HUTTER CONSTRUCTION, INC. IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $184,000. SOURCE OF FUNDING IS DEPARTMENT 161, STREETS; GENERAL FUND; MAIN STREET ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane This seems like an exorbitant amount of money for two crosswalks. Mayor Lozeau It is the mid-block crosswalks. Alderman Deane I know where they are located but when I look through the budget I see $36,000 budgeted for each crosswalk and times two it’s $72,000. This is $184,000. Mayor Lozeau Actually we budgeted $151,000 as an option for the mid-block crossings. It’s carried in the right hand final column of the budget on the sidewalks because we knew that they would be more expensive. We’ve also changed these crosswalks in order to put foundations in with lights on them. We ordered the lights a couple of months ago and they should be here and they should be in soon so that they are lit up before it gets too far into the winter. The challenge with these crosswalks is what it takes to do them in the middle of the road during the day. With Hutter doing the crosswalks on Concord and Manchester Streets this was a way to ensure the all of this work would be done before the winter. Alderman Deane At a premium. Mayor Lozeau Well, $164,000 and we budgeted $151,000. We put money in there for contingency in case when they dig out the asphalt they find something like we did on the bridge. Alderman Deane But if our city staff did it what would the cost be? Finance – 10/21/15 Page 6 Mayor Lozeau With overtime? The one on the bridge cost a lot and the one on the bridge had lights and some extra features. Alderman Deane I understand that, I’m not questioning the components. We’ve been told since the time this project started that the concept of using our staff and our equipment greatly reduces the cost of the project which it seems it has done because we are a little under $3 million was the last number I heard. I’m just wondering if our city staff did this what the cost would be. Mayor Lozeau I would agree, Alderman Deane that it would probably be lower but I don’t think the project will be able to get finished with what they have had to deal with out there because of the challenges on the block they are on. Alderman Deane So basically you are doing this just to finish everything for the winter? Mayor Lozeau That’s part of the reason is to make sure that the project gets done and yes, we are probably paying a little bit more because we want them to have it done before December. Alderman Deane It just seems to me that we are paying a lot more money and having those two crosswalks really isn’t; I mean there is no sense of urgency to have those done. The city staff could do those in the springtime if they had to, right, if this isn’t approved. Mayor Lozeau No, all of the mid-block crossings, we’ve had a combination of contractors and city staff depending on what the work is. Alderman Deane But the city staff can, well I mean the electrical work, I understand what they can’t do. Mayor Lozeau I know but we had somebody else come in to do the curb work and one of them did some of the brick work. It depends but we budgeted $151,000 and we will still come in at our budgeted number doing this work this way and those crosswalks will be safer. The only way the get lit, Alderman Deane is if we get the foundations and the light poles in and those are two areas where… Alderman Deane Mayor, I’m contesting the design or the construction, I am not contesting any of that. All I am saying is that I am of the belief if our city staff did this work it would be a heck of a lot cheaper than $184,000; that’s all I am saying. Finance – 10/21/15 Page 7 Mayor Lozeau And all I am saying to you is… Alderman Deane We’ve been told with what they have done in Concord it was three to four times the cost to have a private contractor to do all of this work so I just look at this and say why would we do this? I mean there is no real sense of urgency to have this done before winter sets in. Mayor Lozeau Actually I think there is and the sense of urgency that I feel is to get the foundations and the lights in. I think that should happen in these areas where the crosswalks are. Alderman Deane I’ve been asking about a light on the Main Street Bridge for about one year and nothing has been done. Mayor Lozeau Actually, Alderman Deane, plenty has been done. Alderman Deane I don’t see a light pole down there with a light on it. Mayor, I don’t want to argue with you, I just think this is an exorbitant amount of money to paying a contractor just to rush and get something done when you can do this in springtime at a lot less of a cost. Mayor Lozeau We budgeted $151,000 and this is $164,000 plus $20,000 in contingency that they may not have to spend. Alderman Deane Just because you budget a number doesn’t mean you are going to spend all of the money. Mayor Lozeau I understand that. Alderman Donchess Where are the lights going to be located according to this design? Mayor Lozeau They are going to be located in the granite area, that refuge area. So if you look at 100 Main Street where the two concrete pieces are they will be in the center and the light drops over one on each side to light the crosswalks. We had hoped to have that done for winter. Alderman Donchess Does this cost that we are being asked to approve, does that include all of the materials? Finance – 10/21/15 Page 8 Mayor Lozeau The cost of all of the materials is in the budget already and have been purchased. This includes the items listed on that sheet; the mobilization of equipment, the saw cutting removal of the asphalt, the crushed gravel, the conduits, the electrical, the concrete for the foundations, the brick and granite curb, the patch binder and the overlay. Alderman Deane Some of this stuff is furnished by Nashua. Mayor Lozeau That’s right and that’s what I have said, they are in the budget and we have purchased them. Alderman Donchess What is the value of what has been purchased already? I assume, are you saying that the amount that has been purchased is within the $184,000 or is not part of it? Mayor Lozeau No, it’s within the budgeted cost and it’s really $164,000 because there’s $20,000 in contingency because from time to time we find things underground. Alderman Donchess So all of the material that is going to be purchased or has been is within the budget we are looking at right now? Mayor Lozeau Yes. Alderman Donchess Is there evidence that the construction of these mid-block crosswalks islands increases safety for pedestrians? Mayor Lozeau Yes. Alderman Donchess What is that evidence? Mayor Lozeau The evidence is based on traffic and city engineer work throughout communities where they request certain things when you are going to provide crosswalks that do not have signalized crossings. They make suggestions on what should or shouldn’t be there as refuge for people as they cross. As you know and all of us have seen, and one of the reasons that we are doing all the work on Concord Street is because cars tend to…when a car stops because they see a pedestrian the car in the other lane keeps going because they don’t see the pedestrian. To have a mid-block crossing with a safe refuge area, particularly if it’s lit those lights will Finance – 10/21/15 Page 9 also have banners on them that show that they are a crosswalk. That’s an important safety feature as well. We’ve had very good luck with the crosswalks that we have and these are the final two. Alderwoman Brown These two crosswalks are in a very high pedestrian area. If you go to a traffic light and press the button you usually have to stand there for a couple of minutes and people just like to go so I think for safety reasons it would be very important for us to get these done before the winter sets in. I’m going to approve this. Alderman Siegel Alderman Deane, the quote that you had in front of you, the original quote, did that include the labor and the materials cost which in this contract is not… Alderman Deane It was just materials. Alderman Siegel Okay so what you saw was just materials and not additional labor? I guess what I am asking is we comparing apples to apples in looking at the relative cost? Alderman Deane I think the relative cost together is about $50,000 in city staff, is that what it is, Mayor? Mayor Lozeau No, the original budget for the crosswalks we were carrying an option of $151,830. Alderman Deane Let’s forget about the option, let’s go back to city staff. Mayor Lozeau I can’t give you the amount for city staff specifically because each crosswalk has been different depending on what they have done. Not all of the blocks have mid-block crossings. Alderman Deane I understand that but here’s all of your budget numbers. Mayor Lozeau Right, I’ve got the same ones. Alderman Deane For instance we are supplying the granite planters, the lights, the bricks; we are supplying all of the material for them to install. The cost of this is basically labor driven except for the conduit. Furnish and install 18’ of crushed gravel for the concrete base. Furnish and install electric and water sleeve conduits, furnish and install Finance – 10/21/15 Page 10 two concrete light bases, furnish and install 6’ of 4,000 PSI concrete with drains as shown. Install sand base brick and granite curb, brick and curb furnished by Nashua (inaudible). So we are providing a lot of the end of the high end materials. Mayor Lozeau When I talked to the engineers about the cost, because certainly I try not to live under a rock and most people would be concerned about cost, according to the City Engineer, who is overseeing the project it comes out to about $1,000 an hour for construction cost which is not an unusual cost. They are using their equipment, their labor and it’s during the workday. Our staff will work on another part of the project. I don’t think it’s exorbitant based on what these crosswalks are. Alderman Deane We still don’t know what number it would be if our staff did it and it can be anywhere near this. I just look at with everything being equal and what we looked at and what we’ve been told and it seems to come to fruition as the project is almost done if we were looking at three to four times the rate; and it’s not that I don’t think the crosswalks need to be there because I do, I understand the safety issues. All I am saying is that they haven’t been there and what’s there is there now but the cost of this project is just an exorbitant amount of money. Even though the money is budgeted, and we both agree that even though it’s there doesn’t mean it has to be spent. Mayor Lozeau I agree but I think it is important to get the project done and if we can get those crosswalks lit before the winter… Alderman Deane I think it’s important to get the project done too but not at this cost. Springtime is not that far away. Mayor Lozeau But winter is when it’s most dangerous. Alderman Deane It’s been like that for how many years? Mayor Lozeau I understand that. Alderman Deane That’s a weak argument. I am concerned with the cost, not the need for the crosswalk. Alderman Siegel It seems to me that we are missing a major piece of information and a necessary one to make an intelligent decision about this which is what would be a comparable cost if city staff did the work that is described here. We are supplying a great deal of very expensive materials so the actual cost of this is this contract plus the value of the material we are supplying. That is quite a bit of money and so it would be nice to see what the Finance – 10/21/15 Page 11 comparison is. If the difference is relatively small then of course it makes sense to me to get this done before winter sets in but it doesn’t feel to me that it would be that small. That’s a lot of money. Mayor Lozeau I can tell you that on the Main Street Bridge cost within striking distance of this amount and that one was complicated and that was a single crosswalk. Alderman Siegel Yes, but we don’t know. Mayor Lozeau I understand but there is some value… Alderman Deane Let’s compare apples to apples and we can’t do that with the Main Street Bridge. Mayor Lozeau We are pretty close. Alderman Chasse Is this the end of it? Mayor Lozeau Yes. I think the staff would like to be off of Main Street as well and I think that the last block they have done has been the most complicated in the whole project and the weather has cooperated enough that you will see all of the concrete poured this week and then it’s brick work and tightening up some of the last things like lights and other things. I just think this is a value worth doing for what the end result is. Alderman Chasse What is the projected finish date? Mayor Lozeau It should be before the Holiday Stroll if we can make all of these things happen. Alderman Chasse So it’s all going to tie in with the Broad Street Parkway. Mayor Lozeau Well maybe. The goal is to have all of the lights up for the Holiday Stroll. Alderman Siegel Is this being driven by the Holiday Stroll? Finance – 10/21/15 Page 12 Mayor Lozeau No. As we all know it gets very dark this time of the year and my only point was Alderman Chasse and I have had conversations about how dark it is when we walk on the Holiday Stroll and I’m just mentioning that by then it will be too cold to do work and it would be great if we had all of the lights up and operational for that. Alderman Siegel Hypothetically if it’s a $50,000 difference I am sure we can put some post lights up there for the Holiday Stroll to light things up really cheaply. It’s a lot of money is my point. Potentially, I don’t know so I am uncomfortable voting on something where I don’t know if I am looking at a very expensive option. Mayor Lozeau Well, and I’m comfortable voting on something that is going to come in under budget and be done this year and that the lights will be in place and the safety will be there for the winter. That was a challenge last year because as you know the shape of the crosswalk changes a little bit. Anyway, whatever the will of the committee is. Alderwoman Brown I suspect that and maybe you could fill us in whether we have the manpower available from our Department of Public Works to focus on this last project. Mayor Lozeau We have the manpower in the spring as Alderman Deane has mentioned. If we wait until the spring the crew can certainly go out and do it. If we are trying to button it up this year before the winter then I don’t have enough people to pull and do all of the work that needs to be done. We have known and one of the reasons that we have been carrying money was because there are some times when we have had contractors come in because they could finish faster and work in conjunction with the staff doing some of the work. That’s what we are trying to do. MOTION FAILED From: Bruce R. Codagnone, CIO / IT Division Director Re: (R-15-168) Comcast Franchise Agreement – Recommendations from CTAB MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT AND PLACE ON FILE MOTION CARRIED UNFINISHED BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-15-168, Amended Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau APPROVING A PROPOSED CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE AGREEMENT RENEWAL BETWEEN THE CITY OF NASHUA AND COMCAST  Amended & Referred to CTAB & Re-Referred to Committee – 9/22/15 MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE AS AMENDED ON THE QUESTION Finance – 10/21/15 Page 13 Alderman Deane Does this satisfy the uprising from the public television people that are demanding more money for operations over there? Mayor Lozeau No, I don’t think it does. I think they would like more money. I think they have come to understand that that is a budget process. I think it would be a mistake to divvy up percentages for each of the three channels. Alderman Siegel In reading the contract, it looked like there was no specific divvying up. I remember it was the will of the committee to have that done in budget. It looks to me; correct me if I’m wrong, that this has been modified to reflect it. Mayor Lozeau It has never been divvied up in any of the versions that we had. It was simply an idea that was talked about in the meetings saying this is how they thought it should be. The contract never reflected anything other than the 1.3 and the 2.7. Alderman Deane That’s a decision that the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen make, how we divvy up that money. We could not fund any of it if we didn’t want to. It seemed to me that the uprising had to do with that, solely with that, and spelling it out in the contract. The divvying up had nothing to do with the Comcast contract. It’s all in our budgeting. The contract is not going to require us to put that amount of money aside every year. The franchise fee is what it is through the contract. That’s all we can get through the contract is that one franchise fee. What we do with our franchise fee is up to the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen. Mayor Lozeau This contract has always had a certain percentage going to PEG and a certain percentage going to the general fund. This new contract modifies that from the 3 percent and the 1 percent to 2.7 and 1.3. How that 1.3 in the PEG channel world is divvied up, I think is a budgeting matter. Alderman Deane I agree with you. Mayor Lozeau I also think that the public access, their contract has expired. Instead of asking for an additional extension which we have done in years’ past, they have been waiting to see what would happen with the franchise agreement. I’ve made it very clear to them that I don’t think anybody should automatically negotiate or increase public access’ share without going out to bid. The $85,000 that was budgeted that was awarded to the Community Media Group, they won the bid at $85,000. Each year they extended that contract based on what was agreed in the contract. Right now, we budgeted $85,000 through the 505 dollars in the operating budget for that. If they are willing to maintain that $85,000, I think they stay in place. I think come January or February, an RFP should go out and a bid should be solicited for public access television for whoever might win the bid for whatever their price may be. Finance – 10/21/15 Page 14 Alderman Deane Even if they maintain the $85,000? Mayor Lozeau If it’s a different company maintaining the $85,000? Let me put it this way: The company that we currently have, if they are willing to stay at $85,000, I think the right thing to do would be to extend their contract to complete this fiscal year. Alderman Deane I agree with you. Mayor Lozeau In the meantime, I think a bid should be being prepared prior to the budget being adopted to see whether they would bid again and what that would be and what others might bid and do. Alderman Deane They didn’t seem to want to sit on the $85,000. Mayor Lozeau I think they would like to see more money, but I don’t think it’s appropriate in the middle of the budget year. Alderman Deane I agree. Alderman Moriarty There’s a subtle difference. It used to be PEG wasn’t automatically funded. EG was funded and P was in the general fund. This puts the P over with the E and G. Alderman Siegel For the general public, if you could just say what the P and E and G is. Alderman Moriarty Public, Education and Government. Education and government was in the enterprise fund and public was in the general fund. The amount for public was always variable, but the E & G was always a fixed amount. One thing that the Public Access Community and in general CTAB, they wanted to have all three, P, E and G, all spelled out as one enterprise fund. Enterprise fund might be the wrong term. It’s a Special Revenue Fund. Mayor Lozeau Special Revenue Fund. Finance – 10/21/15 Page 15 Alderman Moriarty In order to move P out of general fund into that special fund, the number was changed from 1 percent to 1.3 which is very closely to approximately how much was spent. The funding to the general fund will go down slightly, but the amount being spent out of the general fund will also go down. That was big victory. That’s one thing that made a lot of people happy, having all three together. The amendment was a subtly about making sure Public Access can use equipment that’s being paid for by the education and government funding because it’s one studio. My personal opinion is that the $85,000 I wouldn’t have any grievance with it going up by inflation. If that went up only by inflation, it would be the first salary contract ever across my desk since I’ve been on this board to go up by less than inflation. Being fixed at $85,000 for the past five years and staying fixed at $85,000 to infinity seems a little extreme. MOTION CARRIED UNFINISHED BUSINESS – ORDINANCES – None NEW BUSINESS – None DISCUSSION Mayor Lozeau Alderman Deane, at the last meeting you asked about a maintenance agreement for the articulated dump. I told you yes, we were going to get a service agreement. We’ve since looked at the service agreement proposed by CAT. I brought a copy for you. The staff is looking that we don’t do it. Alderman Deane Why is that? Mayor Lozeau I’ll give you a copy, and we can talk about it later. Alderman Chasse The forum that we had the other night with all the candidates, was that televised? Alderman Donchess You mean last night? I think it was televised. I was there so I wasn’t watching. Mayor Lozeau It wouldn’t have been on 16. Wasn’t it at the school? Alderman Donchess It might have been on NH1. It wasn’t on 99. Alderman Siegel It was on NH1. Finance – 10/21/15 Page 16 Alderwoman Brown Before we leave here, David, you tabled this contract. Can you tell us what it is that you would need before you could vote on this? Alderman Siegel What are you discussing? Alderwoman Brown The public health building contract. I believe that was tabled. It comes up with discussion, the committee’s on Infrastructure is concerned about something and asks for, well we want this. We don’t know this. Community Development comes back and does what we requested, but here we are with exactly what the Infrastructure Committee requested and it was tabled. What information do you need? Mayor Lozeau There’s first of all philosophical discussion about whether we need it at all. Alderman Deane That had nothing to do with … Mayor Lozeau I agree. Alderman Deane …. why I tabled. I tabled it as a courtesy to Alderman Siegel. Mayor Lozeau My understanding is Alderman Siegel would like information relative to Item 3 to give the parameters for the review of RFPs. I’ll take care of that and make sure that I bring it back to the Finance Committee. I’m not aware of anybody else asking for anything on that. Alderman Siegel That’s my understanding. Thank you. Mayor Lozeau It will be my goal to get it to you well before the Finance meeting. I’m also going to mention as it relates to the crosswalks, when we have our Board of Public Works meeting this week, I’m going to try to get the information that Alderman Deane has asked. If I can get the information and Board of Public Works want to proceed with those crosswalks, I’ll bring it back to the Finance Committee if Hutter thinks there’s still time once that happens. If it needs a special meeting because the information is worth the Finance Committee hearing and time is sensitive, then I’ll let you all know and I’ll look at doing something about that. Alderman Deane I’m confused on how you can do that. We voted that contract down. Finance – 10/21/15 Page 17 Mayor Lozeau I can’t bring back information for the committee? Alderman Deane You can bring back all the information you want. I guess somebody who voted on the prevailing side would have to vote to reconsider it. Mayor Lozeau Okay. Alderman Deane It’s not just an action that can be taken by placing it on the agenda again. Mayor Lozeau Okay, thank you. Alderman Chasse I hope those students sitting in the Chamber are getting a good lesson here and are finding out how politics work. RECORD OF EXPENDITURES MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL THAT THE FINANCE COMMITTEE HAS COMPLIED WITH THE CITY CHARTER AND ORDINANCES PERTAINING TO THE RECORD OF EXPENDITURES FOR THE PERIOD OCTOBER 2, 2015 THROUGH OCTOBER 15, 2015 Alderman Deane Thank you, Mr. Griffin, for responding to the Citizens Services question. A couple of them thank you. Alderman Siegel Although there was that open question about whether we have the capacity to withhold payment for vouchers for Country Barn pending the investigation outcome, my understanding is as a matter of record, we can decide whether to pay an invoice or not. Mayor Lozeau There’s nothing on this week’s Record of Expenditures for Country Barn. Alderman Siegel That is not true. There is. Mayor Lozeau I’m sorry. Mr. Griffin had looked at it, and I guess I hadn’t gotten the final answer. The answer is still the same. We cannot prevent them from using the services that are open from a vendor. The inspection has Finance – 10/21/15 Page 18 taken place. It’s my intention to have information to you early next week for the Infrastructure Committee, which we have talked about me providing. Alderman Siegel I will reiterate the same thing I said last time. This is not a question of restricting the choice of the welfare clients. It’s whether or not we choose to pay an invoice based on our belief whether a service was provided for which a voucher was issued. If it were a piece of concrete that we purchased, and we felt that concrete was defective, we would probably withhold payment for the concrete. We would not see it on the Records of Expenditures. We have a service which may or may not be what it is that we are paying for. I think we, as a city, have an obligation to not pay for it. Mayor Lozeau The service has already been rendered. Alderman Siegel A voucher has been issued. It’s not clear what service has been rendered. Mayor Lozeau They had a place to sleep. Alderman Siegel, I have on more than one occasion given you my response to that. I would suggest you have that conversation with the legal department. MOTION CARRIED PUBLIC COMMENT POSSIBLE NON-PUBLIC SESSION ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The Finance Committee meeting was adjourned at 7:48 p.m. Alderman Ken Siegel . Committee Clerk