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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/02/2001 BAKERSFIELD ~~ ~-z~¢~--'- Mike Maggard, Chair Alan Tandy, City Manager Harold Hanson John W. Stinson, Assistant City Manager Mark Salvaggio AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMrI'rEE Thursday, August 2, 2001, 4:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room 1. ROLL CALL Call to Order at 4:06 p.m. Present: Councilmembers Mike Maggard, Chair; Harold Hanson; and Mark Salvaggio 2. ADOPT JUNE 5, 2001 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding policy on cable broadcast of public meetings This item was referred to the Committee by Councilmember Couch who had requested staff to develop a policy regarding television broadcast of public meetings in the City Council Chambers. County Representatives were invited to attend the meeting. Assistant City Manager John Stinson gave an overview of the six points in the draft policy: 1. Requests to schedule a meeting should be submitted at least one week prior to broadcast date. 2. Parties requesting use of video or computer equipment must provide that material to the City at least three days prior to the meeting. Rick Davis, County of Kern, stated policies for cable broadcast must be in compliance with FCC Regulations. This three-day time period allows staff to review the content prior to broadcast to make sure the content is in compliance with FCC regulations and there are no surprises on live TV. 3. Because of limited broadcast slots available on KGOV for "special" meetings, City- sponsored meetings would have priority over those requested by other governmental agencies or organizations. John Stinson stated this is consistent with our agreement with the County and KGOV. ADOP'IIED ~ SUBNITTED ON AUGUST 30, 2001 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, August 2, 2001 Page -2- Rick Davis explained that essentially when the allocation of time was set up, the time was balanced fairly well between the County and City. There are dedicated time blocks at which time the public expects to view certain meetings. Special meetings will be worked out if there is conflict. 4. Because of limited broadcast slots available on KGOV, there would be no guarantee of live broadcast. Re-broadcast of "special" meetings would be scheduled in order of request. 5. Because there are considerable costs associated with televised meetings, a cost recovery charge would be created and assessed to agencies or groups other than the City of Bakersfield. Costs include staff time for Telecommunications, Clerk, Management Information Services, and Police Department, including overtime. 6. Regular and special meetings of the City Council, Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Adjustment, and Redevelopment Agency would take priority over other "special" meetings requested to be broadcast in the Council Chambers. Committee member Salvaggio made a motion that the Committee approve the policy and staff be directed to forward a resolution to the City Council implementing the policy. The Committee unanimously approved the motion. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Review and Committee recommendation regarding Bakersfield Senior Center request for financial assistance Lynn Edwards, Bakersfield Senior Center, handed out a mission statement and financial information. Ninety-five percent of their participants meet "low-income" parameters, established by state and federal governments. He explained their problems started about a year ago. Bingo used to be a huge fund-raiser for the Center and the funds were depended upon for operational expenses. Since reservations were granted certain new gaming opportunities, their expanded Bingo operations and large prizes attract players from Bakersfield. There are two reservations within an hour and a half (Lemoore and Porterville) that send busses to Bakersfield every day to take patrons to their establishments free of charge. This has impacted all the non-profits in Bakersfield who depended on Bingo to raise funds, as they cannot compete. The Center has a staff of 12. Two are paid and 10 are volunteers. Average daily attendance is 85 to 95 seniors. Lunch is served at the Center, but brought in by an outside agency. Average daily attendance for lunch is 75 to 80. There are two centers providing services to seniors within City boundaries: the Community House at 21st and R Streets and the Bakersfield Senior Center. There are also senior centers located in the unincorporated areas. The Center's operating expenses are exceeding revenue and they need assistance to be able to stay open and keep providing services to seniors. They have been impacted by increased utility rates. The Center is projecting a loss for the period from July 1, 2001 to December 31, 2001 of $17,142 and has long-term liabilities including salaries of $53,217, which they do not have funds to pay. The Center is requesting a contribution of $50,000 to help pay back debts. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, August 2, 2001 Page -3- There was discussion regarding the possibility of state and federal grants for senior services and assisting with grant writing; however, these types of grants are actually outside the expertise of the City. The Committee directed staff to check and see if there are CDBG funds that could be applied for a long-term plan. The Committee agreed senior programs are vital to our community and would like to assist with funding for the present, but for the long-term expressed further financial data is needed and recommended staff from the City's Finance Department assist the Senior Center to determine cash flow and debts with due dates to develop a realistic budget. Committee Chair Maggard stated the City should stand shoulder to shoulder with the Senior Center to objectively determine the deficit and how much funding needs to be from grants and how much needs to come from the City's budget to make sure services are delivered to the seniors. This was agreeable with Mr. Edwards and members of the board present at the meeting. Committee member Hanson made a motion that the Committee recommend to the City Council a one-time contribution of $50,000 to the Bakersfield Senior Center be made from Council Contingency to address the existing debt, and an ongoing plan for financial improvement with assistance from the City's Finance Department be developed. The Committee unanimously approved the motion and forwarding the recommendation to the City Council at the August 22nd meeting. Committee Chair Maggard expressed that at another time it would be useful for the Committee to discuss the credibility of loaning our assistance to all three organizations (non-profits with which the City has a long relationship) to demonstrate what our long-term relationship is, the vested interest we have, and the capital assets we have contributed in order to find a way to make this more finite. Staff was asked to give this some thought to be able to assist the Committee with this issue. B. Staff report and Committee recommendation on the Investment Policy of the City Cou'ncilmember Couch requested the City participate in the Investment Policy Certification Program offered by the Municipal Treasurer's Association of the United States and Canada (MTA US&C). City Treasurer Bill Descary reported staff has rewritten the City's Investment Policy in the format of MTA US&C's model policy. The main portion of our current policy is the same including what we invest in and our percentages to achieve diversification. Information has been added to the rewritten policy in order to qualify for certification. These additions further document current investment procedures and will not cause changes in treasury operations. Staff recommended approval of the policy changes, so the City can pursue certification. Committee member Salvaggio made a motion to approve the policy and forward the resolution to the City Council for adoption, which will enable staff to apply for certification. The Committee unanimously approved. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, August 2, 2001 Page -4- C. Review and Committee recommendation regarding Pre-Qualification of Bidders Ordinance City Attorney Bart Thiltgen stated in 1999 the State Legislature passed a bill to establish a uniform system to be able to evaluate the ability, competency and integrity of bidders on public works projects. The law also provided for the Department of Industrial Relations to put together guidelines for all public entities to utilize and have now printed a handbook. City staff has reviewed the handbook and using it as a basis, are preparing guidelines in the Public Works Department. Mr. Thiltgen gave an overview of the draft ordinance. Basically, the ordinance allows for pre-qualification on any public works contract over $250,000 and also if it is a unique contract that the City Manager or his designee determines will require special expertise, equipment or materials to complete the project. All prospective bidders shall receive written notification of the acceptance of the pre-qualification submittal or the disqualification of such submittal. Should a prospective bidder be disqualified in the pre-qualification process, the ordinance provides for an appeal process. Public Works is in the process of developing the pre-qualification questionnaires and standard uniform process. There was discussion regarding the two major defaults the City has had by major contractors in the last six years. In the second instance, the bonding company also went bankrupt. There were also a couple of minor defaults on smaller projects. The proposed ordinance allows for a procedure to screen contractors so the City only receives bids from those who are qualified. Staff recommend moving forward with the ordinance. Mr. Marvin Dean, Kern Minority Contractors, expressed concerns and wanted to make sure this ordinance does not negatively impact small and minority contractors. He requested more information on the questionnaire and the criteria to be used to determine qualified contractors. Mr. Leon Francies, Francies Electric, expressed concerns regarding the qualifications. Public Works staff will meet will Mr. Dean and Mr. Francies. Finance Director Gregory Klimko explained pre-qualification is not a rating system. It is pass or fail. A contractor is either qualified to do a job or is not. The qualified bidders will be able to submit a bid. The Committee unanimously approved forwarding the ordinance to the City Council for first reading. The Committee directed staff to develop the questionnaires for pre-qualification of bidders before the second reading of the ordinance. Questionnaires will be job specific and, therefore, not part of the ordinance. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, August 2, 2001 Page -5- D. Review and Committee recommendation regarding minimum rating for sureties issuing performance and labor and materials bonds for City construction projects City Attorney Bart Thiltgen stated this issue was referred to the Committee because of the recent incident where the contractor defaulted on a City project and the bonding company went into bankruptcy. The City was bound by State law to accept the surety that was doing business within the State of California. It was noted, there is an option where the City could have entertained an audit by our own staff to determine the financial worth of the surety. However, there is a case law that if a city does entertain the option to do an audit, then that city is responsible for payment if the surety fails. In that failure, the City would have to pay everyone, rather than the surety. So, the City is taking the position that if it is a registered surety within the State, we are not going to take on the audit and be in the position to be charged for a "negligent" audit. The City Attorney's staff has been looking for ways to protect the City further in the future. The League of California Cities and local legislators have been contacted in an effort to get the law changed with regard to projects being paid for with public money so there would be a minimum of a B rating for such sureties. So far, this has not been introduced into the legislature. The City Attorney opined because the City of Bakersfield is a Charter City, it could have a legal impact from the standpoint that as mode of contracting is by case law a municipal affair, the City Council could declare that for all projects the City enters into, there be a bond with a rating of at least B or higher. The City could be challenged on the basis that even though this is a Charter City, this is a statewide concern. Several other localities have required a higher bond rating and have not been challenged as yet. It was noted that some small contractors may not be financially able to obtain a bonding company with a B rating that would grant them a bond, and this could preclude them from bidding. Another consideration when going for a higher rating, the bonding companies may charge a little more for the cost of the bond, which could reflect in higher bids to the City. Mr. Stuart Gentry spoke about his efforts to get legislation introduced and his work with the League of California Cities. As the City can be hurt by being forced to accept weak bonding companies, staff recommended the City adopt an ordinance that provides if public funds are expended on a project, the bonding company must be rated B or better by Best Rating Service. This would assure the bonding company would have the financial strength to pay in the event of a default. The Committee unanimously approved staff's recommendation and forwarding an ordinance to the City Council for adoption. The Committee also directed the City Attorney to move forward with drafting a letter to support legislation to enhance the bonding company rating for projects being paid for with public funds. 6. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 7.' ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 6:32 p.m. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, August 2, 2001 Page -6- Staff present: City Manager Alan Tandy; City Attorney Bart Thiltgen; Assistant City Manager John W. Stinson; Finance Director Gregory Klimko; Assistant to the City Manager Darnell Haynes; Telecommunications Coordinator Mel Perry; Purchasing Officer Darlene Wisham; Deputy City Attorney Alan Daniel; Assistant Public Works Director Jack LaRochelle; City Treasurer Bill Descary; Treasury Supervisor Cheryl Perkins; Assistant Finance Director Nelson Smith; Risk Manager Pat Flaherty; Others present: Rick Davis, County of Kern General Services; Paul Cato, Lynn Edwards, and Helen Lusinger, Bakersfield Senior Center; Marvin Dean and Leon Francies, Kern Minority Contractors; Stuart Gentry; Dibuduo and Defendis Insurance; and Chuck Waide, S.E.I.U. cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council DWH:jp S:/Damell/2001 BFCommittee/bf01junO5summa~y.wpd