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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-1992MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 1992, AT 7:30 P.M. Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Gordon C. VanBenschoten, Councilman Donald E. Cummings, Councilman Carl E. Haynes, Councilman Jack Fitzgerald, Attorney Absent: Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Also present: Liz Brennan, George Senter Opened the meeting at 7:30PM. Bid opening at 7:30PM for Highway Department Overhead Doors. One bid was received. Genson Overhead Door, Inc. RD4, Box 86, Route 38 Total Bid: $19,180.00 Moravia, NY 13118 Town Attorney looked over bid documents. He suggested that bidder sign our form of proposal in additon to his own proposal form. He suggested that the Board defer action on bid until bid is compared with the Town's specifications. It appears as though he has tried to summarize our specs. If he accepts our contract, every thing should be fine. All that is needed is a signature on page 4. Supervisor will contact Mr. Genson tomorrow. RESOLUTION NO. 46 - ACCEPT BID FOR OVERHEAD DOORS Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson (Absent - Sovocool) RESOLVED, that the Bid by Genson Overhead Door, Inc. for seven overhead doors in the amount of $19,180 be accepted contingent up Mr. Genson signing our Contract Forms and review by Mr. Cornelius and Attorney Fitzgerald. Liz Brennan passed out copies of Town's Corrective Action Plan that was submitted along with Single Audit Report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1991, to all required agencies. She requested that the Board approve this plan by resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 47 - APPROVE CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Haynes Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson Resolved, that the Town Board does hereby approve the Corrective Action Plan as follows: 1.COMPETITIVE BIDDING - The Town is in the process of adopting a Procurement Policy which would clearly delineate dollar limits at which competitive bidding and other purchasing procedures must be followed. 2.AMBULANCE CONTRACT - The Board is negotiating with McLean Fire District to enter into an agreement to provide emergency ambulance service within the district rather than the Town. 3.CIVIL RIGHTS POLICY - The Town has now adopted a Civil Rights Policy, in compliance with the requirements of Circular A -128. 4.DRUG -FREE WORKPLACE ACT - The Town has now adopted and implemented the provisions of the Drug -Free Workplace Act, in compliance with the requirements of Circular A -128. 1 8:OOPM - Bid opening for Highway Garage Roof - Three bids were received. Bid No. 1 - Jade Contracting $24,785.00 Box A.26 Moravia, NY 13118 Bid No. 2 - Wright Contracting 3853 W. Bates Road $33,378.00 Trumansburg, NY 14886 Bid No. 3 - Gallagher Construction 15 Commando Ave, Box 643 $37,180.00 Cortland, NY 3A- Gallagher Construction $40,040.00 (Tear -off) Bids and documents were given to Attorney Fitzgerald for his review. Attorney Fitzgerald handed out proposed Procurement Policy for the Board to review and to take action on. There was some discussion on the Supervisor being the only one to approve purchases under $250. Consensus of the Board was that it should read as follows: "All purchases under $250 must have verbal approval from the Supervisor, or the Town Clerk, or the Highway Superintendent. RESOLUTION NO. 48 - PROCUREMENT POLICY FOR THE TOWN Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Cummings Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton does hereby adopt the following procurement policy: PROCUREMENT POLICY FOR THE TOWN OF GROTON 1. Every purchase to be made must be initially reviewed to determine whether it is a purchase contract or a public works contract. Once the determination is made, a good faith effort will be made to determine whether it is known or can reasonably be expected that the aggregate amount to be spent on the item of supply or service is not subject to competitive bidding, taking into account past purchases and the aggregate amount to be spent in a year. The following items are not subject to competitive biddding pursuant to Section 103 of the General Municipal Law: purchase contracts under $10,000 and public works contracts under $20,000; emergency purchases; goods purchased from agencies for the blind or severely handcapped; goods purchased from correctional institutions; purchases under State and County contracts; and surplus and secondhand purchases from another governmental entity. The decision that a purchase is not subject to competitive bidding will be documented in writing by the individual making the purchase. This documentation may include written or verbal quotes from vendors, a memo from the purchaser indicating how the decision was arrived at, a copy of the contract indicating the source which makes the item or service exempt, a memo from the purchaser detailing the circimstances which led to an emergency purchase, or any other written documentation that is appropriate. 2. All goods and services will be secured by use of written requests for proposals, written quotations, verbal quotations, or any other method that assures that goods will be purchased at the lowest price and that favoritism will be avoided, except in the following circumstances: purchase contracts over $10,000 and public works contracts over $20,000; goods purchased from agencies for the blind or severely handicapped pursuant to Section 175 -b of the State Finance Law; goods purchased from correctional institutions pursuant to Section 186 of the Correction Law; purchases under State contracts pursuant to Section 104 of the General Municipal Law; purchases under county contracts pursuant to Section 103 (3) of the General Municipal Law; or purchases pursuant to subdivision 6 2 of this policy: 3. The following method of purchase will be used when required by this policy in order to achieve the highest savings: All purchases under $250 must have verbal approval from the Supervisor, or Town Clerk or Highway Superintendent of the Town of Groton. Estimated Amount of Purchase Contract Method $250 - $2,999 2 verbal quotes Board approval $3,000 - $9,999 3 written /fax quotes or request for proposals. Board approval Estimated Amount of Public Works Contract Method $250 - $2,999 2 verbal quotes Board approval $3,000 - $4,999 $5,000 - $19,999 2 written quotes Board approval 3 written quotes or requests for proposals. Board approval A good faith effort shall be made to obtain the required number of proposals or quotations. If the purchaser is unable to obtain the required number of proposals or quotations, the purchaser will document the attempt made at obtaining the proposals. In no event shall the failure to obtain the proposals be a bar to the procurement. 4. Documentation is required of each action taken in connection with each procurement. 5. Documentation and an explanation is required whenever a contract is awarded to other than the lowest responsible offeror. This documentation will include an explanation of how the award will achieve savings or how the offeror was not responsible. A determination that the offeror is not responsible shall be made by the purchaser and may not be challenged under any circumstances. 6. Pursuant to General Municipal Law Section 104 -b (2) (f) , The Town Board may, after a determination by a majority of the board that special circumstances exist, decide that the solicitation of alternative proposals or quotations will not be in the best interest of the Town when contracting for the following: a. Professional services or services requiring special or technical skill, training or expertise. The individual or company must be chosen based on accountability, reliability, responsibility, skill, education and training, judgment, integrity, and moral worth. These qualifications are not necessarily found in the individual or company that offers the lowest price and the nature of these services are such that they do not readily lend themselves to competitive procurement procedures. In determining whether a service fits into this category the TOWN BOARD shall take into consideration the following guidelines: (a) whether the services are subject to State licensing or testing requirements; (b) whether substantial formal education or training is a necessary prerequisite to the performance of the services; and (c) whether the services require a personal relationship 3 between the individual and municipal officials. Professional or technical services shall include but not be limited to the following: services of an attorney; services of a physician; techical services of an engineer engaged to prepare plans, maps and estimates; securing insurance coverage and /or services of an insurance broker; services of a certified public accountant; investment management services; printing services involving extensive writing, editing or art work; management of municipally owned property; and computer software or programming services for customized programs, or services involved in substantial modification and customizing of pre - packaged software. b. Emergency purchases pursuant to Section 103 (4) of the General Municipal Law. Due to the nature of this exception, these goods or services must be purchased immediately and a delay in order to seek alternate proposals may threaten the life, health, safety or welfare of the residents. This section does not preclude alternate proposals if time permits. C. Purchases of surplus and second -hand goods from any source. If alternate proposals are required, the TOWN is precluded from purchasing surplus and second -hand goods at auctions or through specific advertised sources where the best prices are usually obtained. It is also difficult to try to compare prices of used goods and a lower price may indicate an older product. d. Goods or services under $250. The time and documentation required to purchase through this policy may be more costly than the item itself and would therefore not be in the best interests of the taxpayer. In addition, it is not likely that such de minimis contracts would be awarded based on favoritism. 7. True Leases. The courts have held that "true lease" agreements are neither purchases nor contracts for public work and, thus, are not subject to bidding under General Municipal Law, 103. Documentation should include written quotes, cost - benefit analysis of leasing versus purchasing, etc. 8. Sole Sources. Competitive bidding is not required under section 103 of the General Muncipal Law in those limited situations when there is only one possible source from which to procure goods and services required in the public interest such as in the case of certain patented goods or services or public utility services (see, gen, 1986 Opns St Comp No. 86- 25, p. 41) Thus, for example, if a political subdivision, acting in good faith and without intent to arbitrarily inhibit or restrict competion, determines that a particular patented item is required in the public interest and it is further determined that such item is available only from one source so that no possibility of competition exists, competitive bidding may not be required for the procurement of the item. In making these determinations, the political subdivision should document, among other things, the unique benefits of the patented item as compared to other items available in the marketplace; that no other item provides substantially equivalent or similar benefits; and that, considering the benefits received, the cost of the item is reasonable, when compared to conventional methods, In addition, the political subdivision should document that, as a matter of fact, there is no possibility of competition for the procurement of the goods. 9. Insurance. The courts have held that insurance coverage is not subject to formal competitive bidding. The political subdivision would still have the option, however, of requiring formal bidding in its policies and procedures. Documentation would include bid advertisements, specifications and awarding resolution. Alternatively, written or verbal quotation forms could serve as documentation if formal bidding is not required. 10. This policy shall go into effect SEPTEMBER 1, 1992 and will be reviewed annually. 4 Moved by by Mr. Cummings, seconded by Mr. Haynes, that the minutes of the July 13th meeting be approved as mailed. Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Claim Nos. 158 to 171 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $12,709.38 and Claim Nos. 213 to 240 of the General Fund in the amount of $9,324.42 were presented for audit. Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Cummings, that the bills be appoved for payment. Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. LIZ BRENNAN - BOOKKEEPER - Had a few transfers that she needed resolution for. One is from bridges to disability because we need money in the highway fund to pay off their share of the disability. In the General Fund to pay for the worker's compensation insurance which was lumped together in the unallocated insurance fund and that should be separate. We've been moving money into there and since we just got another bill for $3,760, we need to transfer more money. And then, we need authorization to move money from the General Fund to pay back Capital Fund for interest earnings in the amount of $5,860. We had discussed the excess fund balance that we had, but we need to put it in a capital reserve fund. I came up with three resolutions setting up a capital reserve for acquisition of Highway Fund Equipment, a reserve for acquisition of General Fund Equipment and also a reserve for cost of repairs or additions to the Town Building. I set it up for the Board to authorize an initial deposit. We need to do this to reduce our excess funds. We can use excess funds for roof and doors if these were not budgeted for this year. Consensus of the Board was that the important reserve would be the Highway Fund for Equipment. We should not need any major repairs to building other than the garage electrical wiring. We need to show that we are making an effort to reduce excess fund balances. The main principal is that we've got too much money sitting around and we shouldn't be collecting taxes. Board asked if we could do this around budget time so that we would have a better idea of where we stood. Liz suggested Board set up the Highway Fund Equipment Reserve Fund tonight with a minimum deposit and add to it later after seeing where we stand at budget time. Supervisor said that we've had this before, over and over again, but we still have a large fund balance that we must reduce. Usually it is recommended that you have no more than 10% in a fund balance. Discussed at length current funds, excess funds and what to do with them. At this time, it was decided to set up a Capital Reserve Fund for Highway Equipment. RESOLUTION NO. 49 - AUTHORIZATION TO TRANSFER FUNDS Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the following transfers be authorized: Highway Fund DA - From - Bridges DA5120.4 To - Disability DA9055.8 - $326.25 General Fund A - From - Unallocated Ins. A1910.4 To - Worker's Comp. Ins. A9040.8 - $3,760.00 RESOLUTION NO. 50 - AUTHORIZATION TO REPAY CAPITAL RESERVE FUND FROM GENERAL FUND Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Cummings Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the Town Supervisor to draw a check in the amount of $5,860 from the General Fund payable to the Capital Fund to repay interest earnings. k, RESOLUTION NO. 51 - ESTABLISH HIGHWAY EOUIPMENT RESERVE FUND Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Cummings Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that pursuant to Section 6 -c of the General Municipal Law, as amended, the Town Board does hereby establish a Capital Reserve Fund to finance the cost of acquisition of Highway Fund Equipment. The Town Supervisor is hereby directed to desposit monies of this reserve fund in a separate bank account to be known as the "HIGHWAY FUND EQUIPMENT RESERVE FUND ". The Town Supervisor is authorized to invest, from time to time, the monies of this fund pursuant to Section 6 -f of the General Municipal Law. No expenditure shall be made from this fund, except upon authorization of this Board pursuant to Section 6 -c of the General Municipal Law. The Board authorizes an initial deposit of $10,000 to be taken from unappropriated fund balances to open the account. Supervisor Robinson had a report for Highway Superintendent, Leland Cornelius. Joe Hora will rebuild a motor from a 1980 Ford one ton dump truck for $950. It is going to be guaranteed for 12,000 miles. Lee has taken the motor from the paver to use in the 1980 truck until we get motor back. We don't have a paver right now. The other verbal quotation he obtained was $1200. RESOLUTION NO. 52 - AUTHORIZATION TO REBUILD MOTOR Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Cummings Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the Highway Superintendent to have Joe Hora rebuild the motor from our 1980 Ford One Ton dump truck for the sum of $950.00. GEORGE SENTER - CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER - Year to date building permits issued are as follows: 1991 - 48 - 5 houses; 7 Mobile Homes 1992 - 50 - 7 houses; 6 Mobile Homes The ZBA Hearings held on July 21st: Darling was dismissed since he'd cleaned up; Miller has until August 25th to comply; Boat problem has been cleaned up on Peruville Road. Attorney Fitzgerald, Town Justice Alexander and George will meet to see if they can work up some kind of direction on John Anderson. Supervisor Robinson discussed employee vouchers that include mileage and /or meals. We must have detailed daily mileage to include when you go, where you go and when you return. We also should have receipts for all meals in order to be reimbursed. Possibly we could set an allotted amount for meals when out of town. Supervisor will check with others to see how much is allotted for meals. It was mentioned that the Code Enforcement Officer might use a Town vehicle and then we wouldn't have to worry about daily mileage and the reimbursement. Judge Heffron and Judge Alexander will be attending the 83rd Annual Conference of the New York State Magistrates Association at the Nevele Hotel, Ellenville, NY, from October 18 -21, 1992. Judge Heffron will be attending as Village Justice. Judge Alexander will have to submit an itemized voucher for reimbursement. After reviewing the garage roof bids, Attorney Fitzgerald had the following problems with all three bids. Everything is different on all three bids. The prices are substantial. Gallagher is $37, 180; Wright is $33,378 and Jade is $24,785. Jade did this as he was supposed to. He returned our entire n specifications without making any alterations. He had hand printed J. D. Contracting on the proposal page and signed non - collusive bidding certificate but he has signed it up on the top. We could ask him to come in and sign in proper places. Jade contracting has also bid $1,100 on the pole building out back. Gallagher's proposal has very artfully dodged the part of our specifications which require that the prevailing NYS Dept. of Labor rate schedule must be used. Gallagher wants $3,080 for the pole barn. He also has included what appears to be a counter proposal which he says recovery and that's got the same price on there of $37,180 and he has deviated substantially from our specifications in that proposal and then he has another proposal called optional tear -off for $40,040. You might want to study these two further. Wright's proposal comes back with only the last page of our specifications. He did not sign, he has typewritten where he should have signed bid and also the non - collusive bidding certificate is typed instead of being signed. He has a proposal of $33,378 plus an alternate proposal to mechanically fasten 1/2" recovery board to roof in lieu of grinding for an additional charge of $5,460. Wright also submitted a proposal of $1,638 to coat pole barn roof. Substantially, a lot of the papers are missing. Attorney suggested the Board find out all they could about the lowest bidder who submitted proper forms but lacked a couple signatures. Jade didn't mention warranty in his bid. Board discussed roofing project and method of removing any soft spots to include inspections so that none of them are missed. Also discussed length of warranty. Supervisor said that stones are removed by a machine that peels stones off down to the roof material in order to see if it is wet or not. Also discussed whether material should be removed down to the concrete and if this should happen, is this going to cost us additional dollars as submitted in Gallagher's bid. Mr. VanBenschoten will contact Jim Hurst of Jade Construction and advise him of our concerns and have him come up to sign documents and provide warranty information. RESOLUTION NO. 53 - ACCEPT HIGHWAY GARAGE ROOF BID Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby accept the low bid of $24,785 from Jade Contracting subject to Mr. Hurst signing his name to bid, signing non - collusive bidding certificate and providing a 12 year warranty satisfactory to the Board. RESOLUTION NO. 54 - ACCEPT PROPOSAL TO COAT POLE BARN ROOF Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Cummings Ayes - VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby accept the lowest proposal in the amount of $1,100 from Jade Contracting to coat roof of metal storage building behind Highway Garage. There being no further business, Mr. Haynes moved to adjourn meeting, seconded by Mr. Cummings, at 10:15PM. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk 7