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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GGAF_04.24.2013 The General Government and Finance (GGAF) Advisory Subcommittee established by the Georgetown City Council met at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in the Friends of the Library Room, located at 402 West 8th Street, Georgetown, Texas. MINUTES The meeting was called to order at 2:04 p.m. These minutes were approved at the May 29, 2013 GGAF Meeting. 1. Review minutes from the March 27, 2013 GGAF meeting – Danella Elliott, Executive Assistant Under Item #2, Steve Fought said that the following specific verbiage was not included in the minutes and would like this to be reflected: “cost growth of the program will be controlled by a fixed amount for raises in the budget”. Unanimously approved as amended. 2. Consideration and possible action to purchase additional surveillance camera video storage equipment from Convergint Technologies through the Texas Cooperative Purchasing Network (TCPN) contract in the amount of $83,000.00 - Paul Pausewang, Support Services Manager and Micki Rundell, CFO Staff is requesting approval to purchases additional video storage equipment to continue to meet our 30 days storage requirement. We have not increased the storage platform over the last five years. The number of surveillance cameras has doubled during this time, and this would add 144 more terrabytes. Paul said that they use the cameras to review/monitor surveillance 2-3 times per month during the summer, when it is busier. He noted that these are very beneficial and can be used as teaching tools, focus on cash handling, and Police also use them. Unanimously approved. 3. Consideration and possible action to purchase two Altec AM55 Bucket Trucks, a Altec AT40 Bucket Truck and a Altec D2055 Digger Derrick (boom truck) from Altec Industries. This purchase would be through the TXMAS purchasing contract in the amount of $676,387.00 - Paul Pausewang, Support Services Manager and Micki Rundell, CFO Staff is requesting approval to purchase (through the TXMAS contract: (2) AM55 bucket truck @ $174,960.00 each (1) AT40 bucket truck @ $124,365.00 (1) D2055A digger derrick truck @ $202,102.00 Members Present: Patty Eason, Danny Meigs, Steve Fought, Joe Pondrom, Jerry Hammerlun Members Absent: None Staff Present: Micki Rundell, Susan Morgan, Paul Pausewang, Trina Bickford, Mike Peters These trucks will replace two 2003 55’ International bucket trucks, 2008 40’ Ford F-550 bucket truck and 2002 International digger derrick truck. These trucks are used by the Electric Department to maintain electrical services. The bucket trucks are part of the Mid year budget adjustment approved by Council last night, and the digger derrick was part of the Vehicle ISF 2012/13 budget. Unanimously approved. 4. Presentation to Committee – Information Technology (IT) major project status for the current fiscal year, and the IT Master Plan update for FY 2014 – Mike Peters, IT Director Mike gave an overview of major Information Technology projects completed this year, those planned for FY 2014, and future initiatives identified in the 2014 update of the IT Master Plan. He explained the new tablet subsidy program and how it works. There was discussion on “when the work day ends”, open records and law suits for hourly employees working from home and later filing lawsuits for compensation. There was additional discussion on the Asset Management system, which is the first step of a truly integrated solution and how the relationship to the utilities are all integrated. 5. Consideration and discussion of proposed change in practices used by the City for procurement of vehicles - Trina Bickford – Purchasing Manager and Micki Rundell, CFO Trina Bickford explained that staff is recommending to continue the shift away from a single large bid invitation for all city vehicles to include using cooperative purchasing contracts where available for all types of vehicle needs. This will continue the staff time efficiencies and service improvements as part of the Vehicle Service Center (VSC) initiative reviewed with GGAF last month. Using cooperative purchasing contracts also can provide lower costs. Current practice. The City makes an annual procurement of new vehicles for city wide use – all vehicles for all departments are combined into one large bid invitation, and the award is made at one time after receipt of Council approval. This is a very large and complex procurement that requires a great deal of staff time for both Purchasing and the Vehicle Service Center. The specifications for all of the vehicles result in a large bid invitation often exceeding 40 pages of details. Once the responses are received, tabulation of the bid and determination of the award requires an additional investment of time all at once. This also results in a large quantity of vehicles arriving simultaneously to be inspected and outfitted by the VSC. The splitting of vehicle purchases reviewed last month will help, but the majority of our purchases remain part of a single bid. Trina explained that there are several advantages to using cooperative purchase contracts, such as HGAC, US Communities and the BuyBoard. • The vehicles available have been publicly bid according to state law, so City staff time is reduced duplicating this same process. Most heavy equipment is already purchased through these contracts. • Vehicles generally cost less on these contracts than the City receives in its bids. The City is a relatively small buyer, so the contracts allow the City to take advantage of volume discounts. • Vehicles are available throughout the year with shorter delivery times. This allows the VSC and the departments they serve to order vehicles and place them in service evenly throughout the year and as best meets VSC and department needs. This further reduces the backlog of new vehicles sitting on site and waiting to be made ready for service that occurs when one large bid is awarded. This shift will require staff to present purchases to GGAF and Council for approval at various times during the year, instead of in one or two large awards. However, the decrease in staff time in the bidding process far outweighs this added paperwork. This shift will limit locally-owned and/or located vendors’ opportunities to supply City vehicles. Most vendors on the contracts are in this area, many as close as Round Rock and Austin. Out of 53 vehicles (excludes heavy equipment) purchased in the past 3 years, 14 were awarded to a locally located vendor. Two heavy equipment items have been awarded to a locally-owned vendor, but they were purchased using one of the cooperative contracts, not through the City’s bid process. Staff recommends modification of the existing process to decrease costs in both time and money associated with bidding vehicle procurements, and to better use the limited resources of the Vehicle Service Center. No increase in costs is anticipated – in addition to soft savings from increased efficiency, the City may receive better pricing through cooperative purchasing agreements. Trina answered questions on how many local vendors bid on our vehicles. It was suggested that we could contact the local vendors once per year, informing them of upcoming bids/services. It was noted that a local vendor does have the oil change bid on our vehicles and that they could possibly bid on the PM, etc. if they did not want to bid on the actual fleet. Motion from the Committee to present this information during Workshop, including detailed documentation on the number of bids received from local bidders, and let Council make the final decision, since this is of a very sensitive nature. They were all in agreement and expressed the importance of providing documentation of the historic realities (local vendors’ bids) to Council and make sure it is thoroughly explained. Micki noted that the City of Georgetown has just earned the SILVER Leadership Circle Award by scoring 13 of twenty possible points on the ratings criteria success in implementing financial transparency and receiving a Leadership Circle Award. This award designation is valid for one year and at the end of 12 months, we can resubmit an application to qualify for the Leadership Circle Award again, or reapply at any time to earn a higher award. We did not receive “gold” because we do not put our check register on the website. Thanks to everyone for their part! 6. Adjourned at 3:30 p.m.