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Bids, Purchases and Contracts
Bid to tow town vehicles
February 26, 2008, work session
Background: For approximately the past 10 years, the town has awarded
contracts, based on competitive bidding to companies to tow vehicles originating
from police calls. Prior to that, various towing companies were used on a
rotating basis.
Yorktown Auto Body on Front
Street currently has the contract for which it
pays the town $113,000 a year in quarterly installments. The contract
includes free towing for town vehicles. The current contract is up in March,
2008 and the town has the option to renew the contract or seek new bids that
could include a penalty provision in the event that payment was late.
The issue, raised by Councilman Campisi is that the
owner, Herman Schultz, has been late in his payments, although he pays them
within 5-7 days of getting a reminder call from the comptroller's office.
There have been no complaints about the company's service.
There was a brief discussion during the open part of the meeting during which
Schultz explained the financial pressures he was under and that the existing
contract did not include a specific date when the payments were due. The
discussion was continued in executive session.
March 18, 2008
At the request of the Legal Department, the board approved an extension of
the Tow Bid. There was no discussion.
March 17, 2009
At the pre-session meeting the board deferred action on this bid.
The bid specs include a requirement that the tow company be able to store the
town's vehicles indoors. (Town Attorney John Buckley explained that the
rationale for the requirement is that trucks with salt need to be stored
indoors to avoid freezing.) Councilman Campisi said
he felt that the specs were written so that only one company could meet them,
Yorktown Auto Body, which has had the towing contract for several years.
Because the company is located across the street from the highway garage, he
said that the trucks are actually stored at the highway facility and not at
Yorktown Auto Body. He was also concerned about the company being in arrears
on a payment due the town for December-March, although it was explained that
the company did not submit any payments because there was no contract. Town
Clerk Alice Roker told the board that the specs were the same as
those used in prior years and it was up to the board to write different ones.
She said that the bid issue had become personal and also advised board
members to review a related email she had sent them that dealt with a
potential litigation issuse.
The board will discuss the issue further at a work session.
Valley Towing in Yorktown had received
information about the bid but never submitted a bid. The Hilltop Service
Station submitted a bid that did not include local on site indoor storage.
March 24, 2009, work session
Although not on the agenda, the board voted to award the tow bid to Yorktown
Auto Body for one year. Councilmen Bianco and Martorano and Supervisor Peters noted for the record that
they had received campaign contributions from the company. (Initially Mr. Bianco said he would abstain from the vote but Town Clerk
Alice Roker said that based on prior rulings from
the town's Ethics Board, in such matters, board members only had to make
public the contributions; they did not have to abstain from votes.)
Ms. Roker explained that as one company had already
submitted a bid which was public knowledge, it would not be possible to
re-advertise the bids.
It was decided that the bid would only be awarded for one year and that the
bid specs would be rewritten for the following year eliminating the
requirement that the bidder be able to store 10 trucks on site within a
½ mile of the highway garage. The inclusion of that spec effectively
limited the number of possible bidders to only one company. The board also
sought assurance that Yorktown Auto Body was currently paid for the previous
contract.
Union
Apprenticeship Program
May 27, 2008, work session
Patrick McVeigh of the Sheet Metal Workers union advised the board of a NYS
law passed in 2001 that gives towns the option to require that contractors
who do work for the town must have an approved apprenticeship program in
place. He explained the importance of the program as a way to get new blood
into the trades. Both union and non union contractors have state approved
apprenticeship programs. He told the board that using contractors with
apprenticeship programs could save the town money; the example he used was
that instead of requiring 3 mechanics on a job, the contractor might be able
to use 2 mechanics and an apprentice to do the same work. Town Engineer
Sharon Robinson questioned whether there would be a savings on all jobs.
While the apprentices would not necessarily come from Yorktown, the town
could require that a Yorktown person be
hired in a pre-apprentice position. The town could also set the contract
dollar limit that the requirement applied to.
While the board members generally thought the concept behind the program had
merit they were concerned that there choice of contractors for further jobs
would be limited if they could only choose from those with approved
apprenticeship programs. They cited the $3M sewer contract they had awarded
earlier in the evening to a company that they all agreed had a good
reputation but did not have an apprenticeship program.
The board will contact other Westchester
communities that have adopted the program (5 cities and Greenburgh)
for more information and take the issue under advisement.
Purchase of new truck/s
January 6, 2009
The board approved a resolution for the purchase of one pickup truck at a
cost of $34,392 and held the bid open for the remainder of the year for the
possible purchase of three additional trucks. (Note: At the pre-meeting
session when the board was reviewing the evening's agenda, there was some
confusion over how many trucks the board said could be purchased during 2009.
Recollections differed over what the board had discussed at the November
budget meeting with department heads and whether the board gave the Highway
Department the okay to use its budget surplus to purchase four new trucks in
2009. While the bid the town received was for four trucks, the bid under
discussion was good for the entire year so that the board could make actual
purchase decisions one truck at a time. Councilman Bianco
expressed concern that the town was purchasing four trucks when it said it
could not afford to purchase any new police cars. Councilmen Metz and Martorano
noted that just because there was a surplus in the highway budget didn't mean
the department had to spend the money.)
February 3,
2009
a. New trucks
Without any discussion the board voted 4-1, with Councilman Bianco opposing the measure, to purchase three new trucks
for the water department. (The purchase of a fourth truck was previously been
approved. See notes for January 6, 2009 meeting.) In the pre-meeting session,
Director of Labor Operations Eric DiBartolo
explained that two older trucks in the water department would be
“sold” to the parks department (replacing two trucks that
recently became no longer useable after doing some snow plowing), one would
go to the building department, and one to environmental conservation. He
explained that the trucks would be sold to the other departments at the Blue Book
fair market value of $3,000 but that if the town tried to use the vehicles as
trade ins, it would only get $750. He said that the money for the trucks
would come from the surplus in the water district fund.
Councilman Bianco, citing an email he had received
from town comptroller Joan Goldberg regarding the disabled parks department
trucks, expressed concern that while the water department is financed as a
separate fund (not all Yorktown taxpayers are in the water district) that
water department funds were being used to make vehicles available for the
parks department. He felt that if parks needed new trucks, they should be
purchased directly for that department out of the general fund. Councilman Campisi said that Ms. Goldberg was misrepresenting the
situation.
There was also some disagreement over Ms. Goldberg's role. While she serves
on the town's Fleet Committee with Mr. DiBartolo,
Councilman Campisi said that she shouldn't have
sent the email to Councilman Bianco and Mr. DiBartolo said that he was making the decisions regarding
truck purchases, not Ms. Goldberg.
Pool
& Park Cleaning
January 6, 2009
The board authorized resolutions permitting the payment of vouchers to
Chappaqua Cleaning Service ($30,115.93) and Nu Clear Swimming Pool Service ($22,306.45)
for services already rendered but for which there had been no competitive
bidding during 2008 because the town had not considered that the monthly cost
would exceed the yearly amount that would have required a bid under the
town's Purchasing Policy. Councilman Bianco said that in 2009, the town will correct the mistake and that the
cleaning service will be bid out. Town staff has been trained to add the
chemicals to the pools so that an outside provider will not be necessary for
this task in 2009. (Note: Some of this discussion took place in the
pre-meeting session.)
February 17, 2009
The board rejected the bid for pool cleaning and voted to rebid the job. At
the pre-meeting session, Town Clerk Alice Roker
said that the bid notice had been sent to five companies but that the single
submitted bid was too high.
March 17, 2009
At the pre-session meeting, the board deferred action awarding this bid
pending a review of the submissions at a work session with Director of Labor
Operations Eric DiBartolo.
See also March 24, 2009 discussion on cleaning costs at Parks and Recreation, Miscellaneous Issues
May 19, 2009
The board awarded a bid for pool cleaning to Chappaqua Full Service Cleaning
Miscellaneous
bids
February 3, 2009
Pavement marking and rebuilding stonewalls: At the request of the
highway superintendent, the board approved extensions of the Pavement Marking
bid and the Rebuilding Stonewalls and Stonehead
Walls bid.
February 17, 2009
a. Dry cleaning of police uniforms: At the pre-meeting session, in
response to Councilman Lou Campisi questioning of
the $4.00 per shirt charge for police shirts, it was explained that the shirts
were dry cleaned and not laundered as shirts were. Supervisor Peters said
that the vendor, Rite Price Cleaning, had not changed his prices in several
years. The bid was awarded at the meeting.
b. Computer equipment: The board awarded a bid of 427,267 to Sullivan
Data Management, the sole responsible bidder, for computer hardware.
c. Senior Bus Trips: Bids were awarded to several companies for
different trips.
d. Concession at town pools: The board approved a one year extension
of the agreement with O'Neill's Concessions to provide food and refreshments
at the town pools.
February 24, 2009, work
session
Award Bid: Meals on Wheels: Instead of waiting until the March 3rd
regular meeting, the board voted to authorize the supervisor to sign a
contract for $72,000 for the meals on wheels program for seniors.
March 3, 2009
Bid Award/Games & Athletic Equipment: The board approved a series
of bids to various vendors for a long list of games and athletic equipment
for the Parks & Recreation Department.
March 24, 2009, work session
Highway Department boiler service contract
Highway Superintendent Eric DiBartolo explained that
the highway garage boiler is the only gas fired boiler in town that that the
equipment has not had a service contract for 1½ years. He requested
– and obtained – board approval to enter into a $2,285 service contract.
April 21, 2009
a. Swimming pool safety improvements
The board took no action on the bid as it was not ready to award the bid this
evening. No explanation was given.
b. Chain link fence
The bid was awarded to Precision Built Fences of Peekskill.
April 29, 2009
Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Safety Act
Without any discussion, the board awarded the bid for the project. Neither the contractor or the amount of the bid were not
identified.
July 7, 2009
Advanced Life Support District
The board approved a
resolution advertising for bids
for furnishing the town with advanced life support service to work in
conjunction with the police, fire and ambulance services.
July 21, 2009
Award RFP for police system
The board authorized the supervisor to sign an agreement with Land
Communications for a new phone system in the police department in the amount
of $19,150.
2009 Outside Audit
January 12, 2010, work
session
Comptroller Goldstein reported the Town received 4 responses to an
RFP for outside audit services.
She deemed two of the responses to be inadequate, since they showed
only about 400 hours of work and the Town expects the work will take (as it
has in the past) closer to 600 hours.
The remaining two responses were from Bennett Keilsen
for $90,000 and Tosky for $60,000.
The Town has used the services of Bennett Keilsen
for many years and has been satisfied with their work,
however the savings would be significant if the Town went with Tosky. While
Bennett Keilsen is the preeminent firm for
municipalities in Westchester, Tosky is strong
upstate (they have done audits of the NYS Comptroller’s office) and do
work in Putnam County
and Long Island.
Board members asked what is covered by the outside audit, and were
told Internal Controls are tested, audits are done of bills, questions are
asked of the Board, checks and balances are reviewed, meetings are held with
Departments, federal monies are audited -- especially for Section 8 (the
largest federally funded program in Yorktown), water receipts, petty cash and
the Justice Court are all also reviewed.
In addition, there is a focus on a different department each year for
more detailed review.
The Board also asked what impact the elimination of the Director
of Labor Operations would have and was told the only impact is in the review
of salary controls. The Board
also asked about any penalties that may be incurred and was told unlike the
IRS, the OSC does not impose penalties. They also asked how we know what has
been spent, and the Comptroller explained that staff process vouchers that
are then sent to the Comptroller for payment. All of the financial records reside in
the Comptroller’s office.
The proposals are for a three year contract, FY 90, 10 and
11. The cost quoted in the
responses is for each year. The Supervisor
would like to move quickly since the firm chosen would have already begun its
work if the contract was in place.
A resolution will be prepared for approval at the January 19, 2010
Board meeting. Board members are
to let the Supervisor know their preference for which firm.
January 19, 2010
Authorize Supervisor to sign a contract with Toski,
Schaefer & Co. P.C. to provide outside auditing services 2009-2011
The Board approved unanimously a resolution to award a contract
to Toski, Schaeffer & Co P.C. to provide
outside auditing services for Fiscal years 2009 – 2011 for a fee of
$60,000 per year. This is a
change from the previous audit firm because it is $30,000 per year less
expensive and it will provide a “fresh set of eyes” and give the
Town new perspectives on how other local governments manage accounts,
Internal Controls and recommendations on how to do it better.
January 19, 2010
The Board unanimously approved awarding bids for 5 passenger wagon
for the Nutrition
Center. These vehicles are for transporting
Seniors to and from their homes to the Senior
Center and also for Doctor visits if
the Doctors are in Yorktown
Heights.
Request from the Town Board
Authorize the Supervisor
to sign a one year agreement with Webcasting at a cost of $525
per month. This contract
represents an increase of $25 per month.
Oil Spill
clean up contract
Contract issue relating to oil spill clean up at Water Department site. See Environmental Issues
Professional Services Contracts
April 7, 2009
During Courtesy of the Floor, Susan Siegel (the person writing this summary),
speaking on behalf of the Committee for a Yorktown Town Administrator, asked
the town why it didn't have a written policy that established purchasing
procedures for professional services contracts that were exempt from
competitive bidding requirements. She gave the board copies of the state law
that requires the town to have such as policy.
In response, Councilman Bianco agreed that the town
did need such a policy and he said that he was reviewing a sample policy he
had obtained from another town.
Emergency contracts
September 1, 2009
During Courtesy of the Floor, Mark Drexel questioned whether the supervisor's
proposal to award contracts in advance of an emergency would save any money
and whether there was any justification or need for the change in procedure.
He said that while the proposal sounded appealing, it would close government
to the taxpayers because projects would be done without any competitive
bidding. He said that what some might call “red tape” were
actually laws designed to prevent mismanagement.
Commenting on the same issue, Howard Frank said that it wasn't necessary to
contract out maintenance work as the town had a great staff that could handle
these types of job in house.
In response, Supervisor Don Peters said that his proposal (which the board
will discuss at the September 8th work session) was copied after the Yorktown School District's policy and that he
had spoken to the district's business superintendent. “If it works good for the school, why not for us,” he said.
September 1, 2009
Miscellaneous contract issues
The board approved the renewal of a contract for computer maintenance and
support with Sullivan Data for $41,250.
The board also authorized the Finance Department to pay Streamline Aquatics
for the purchase and installation of anti entrapment drain covers. The new
resolution was needed, to correct a problem in the earlier resolution that
awarded the bid to the company.
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