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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-12-16 - City Commission Special Meeting Minutes5811 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE 6 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 December 12, 1980 NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL TAMARAC, FLORIDA PLEASE BE ADVISED OF A SPECtiTAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1980 at 10:00 A.M. in the West Conference Room of City Hall. The matters to be discussed are: 1. Slurry Seal Paving Mainlands 1 thru 5 -- Discussion and possible action concerning payment to contractor for this work. (tabled from previous Regular Meetings) 2. Finance Department Computer - Discussion and possible action concerning professional services for survey of software for new computer. The City Council may consider such other business as may come before it. Ma ilyn e tholf City Clerk CITY OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING December 16, 1980 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Falck called the meeting to order on Tuesday, December 16, 1980 at 10:00 A.M., West Conference Room, City Hall. PRESENT: ALSO PRESENT: Mayor Walter W. Falck Vice -Mayor Helen Massaro C/M Irving M. Disraelly C/M Irving Zemel C/W Marjorie Kelch City Manager, Edward A. Gross City Attorney, Arthur M. Birken Clerk/Steno, Mimi Reiter Mayor Falck read the notice of the special meeting stating the items to be discussed. 3. Bid for Mini -Attack Pumper - Fire Department Discussion anya possible ac'tlo n. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: Agendized by Consent. (See Pages 5 < nd 6) - Bid Authorization - C/M Zemel MOVED to Agendize by Consent the subject of authorizing the City Manager to go for bid for Mini -Attack Pumper. C/W Kelch SECONDED the motion. VOTE: C/1V1 Zemel Aye V/i,,i massaro Aye (C/M DISRAELLY ABSENT.) C/W Kelch Aye Mayor Falck Aye 4. Tractor for Tamarac ITtilities - Riri, Authorization - Discussion and Possible action. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: Agendized by Consent. (See Page 2 ) Mr. Gross asked to agendize by consent for discussion and possible action to go out for bid for a tractor/truck for the utility company to replace the tractor we now have. C/W Kelch MOVED to AGENDIZE BY CONSENT for discussion and possible action to go out for bid for a tractor/truck for the utility company to replace the tractor we now have. V/M Massaro said she didn't think this item should be included in the Special Nteeting. Mr. Gross indicated that this is an emergency item, as the truck is down and we are spending a lot of money per day to rent a truck; tnis truck has been down for a week. C/M Zemel SECONDED the motion. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE. 1. Slurr Seal Paving - Main,lands 1 thru 5 - Discussion and possible action concerning payment to contractor for this work. (Tabled from previous Regular Meetings) SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: $50,000.00 to be paid now and balance paid upon report from City Engineer that street vacuuming is completed. -1- December 16, 1980 /pe Mr. Gross stated that Council had received a report from Mr. Larry Keating regarding this item. C/W Kelch asked about the vacuuming and Mr. Gross indicated that this had not been done yet. Mr. Gross mentioned that if we pay him, he will guarantee that the vacuuming will be done by the end of this week; we have held up all of his money. The contract was to give him money as needed, but he has not received any at this point and the City is holding up $67,000.00; he is afraid that we are not going to give him anything. Mayor Falck indicated that he has no objection to a partial payment and he agrees with C/M Disraelly's idea that we ought to pay him $50,000.00 and hold back whatever the balance is until whatever needs to be done is completed. C/M Disraelly approved payment of $50,000.00 for Slurry Seal Paving with the balance to be paid upon report from the City Engineer that the vacuuming of the street is completed, and so MOVED. C/M Zemel SECONDED the motion. C/M Disraelly said that C/W Kelch should report to the City Engineer when she is satisfied that the vacuuming has been done. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE. 4. Tractor for Tamarac Utilities - Bid Authorization - Discussion and possible action. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: Tabled to 12/24/80 meeting and report requested.(See Page 1) Mr. Gross indicated that Mr. Keating had given Council a memorandum regarding this item; at the beginning of this year about $7,000.00 was spent fixing the truck which amount included the rental of a truck while the truck was down and the truck is now down again. The cost to repair the truck and put it back into good condition would be up to $19,000.00; perhaps $15,000 or $16,000.00 because work has already been done on the cab itself. Mr. Gross said it is Mr. Keating's feeling after discussing this with other companies, that we can possibly buy a good used truck for between $15,000.00 and $20,000.00 and we would like to go out for bid as it will cost approximately $80.00 a day to rent a truck. V/M Massaro asked how much a new truck is worth and Mr. Gross replied that it would be about $60,000.00 and since the City will be out of the sludge business in two years, doesn't think it warrants buying a new vehicle. C/M Zemel asked what the mileage was on the truck, indicating that these trucks can be in service for a half million miles. Mr. Gross stated that this truck was bought in 1977 by Tamarac Utilities and is a 1965 vehicle having a substantial amount of miles on it. Larry Keating reported that the engine and transmission are in good shape, but that the other equipment is in poor condition and the operator is afraid to drive it; it has been re -welded but is now corroding and parts are difficult to obtain and this vehicle can't even be used for a trade-in. V/M Massaro asked when this vehicle was over -hauled last and Mr. Keating stated that some work was done at the beginning of the year; the engine over -hauling took place in 1978. V/M Massaro asked why so much money was spent on this vehicle if it was in such bad condition? -2- December 16, 1980 /pe me Mr. Keating said that these are questions that should and could be answered, but he believes that regardless of what has happened in the past, there is an existing problem that must be dealt with. V/M Massaro indicated that she would like to see a report on how this money was spent, what it was spent for and who authorized these kind of payments for this work. She further indicated that we do have to go for bid being that this is an emergency, but Council also needs an explanation as to what has taken place. C/W Kelch asked if this cab is something that we can appropriate at the end of two years for some other service within the City. Mr. Gross stated that this was a possibility. C/M Zemel said it is his opinion that we could not possibly go out for bid for the item that we are discussing, as this is unique and would be difficult to locate. Mayor Falck stated that information should be accumulated on this item and presented to Council at the meeting next Wednesday. V/M Massaro said if there is a possibility of availability, it should be brought to Council next Wednesday so that a judgment can be made as to what should be done. V/M Massaro MOVED that this item be tabled until the Wednesday morn- ing meeting and that the City Manager and City Engineer bring in any information that they have as to availability of a used truck if condition is such that it is reasonable to consider its purchase and any other information that they think we may need so that a judgement can be made by Council, including a complete report on what occurred in the past regarding repairs to this truck. C/W Kelch SECONDED the motion. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE. Mr. Keating indicated that one of these vehicles could possibly be located in the northern part of the state and perhaps the City could have someone broker it for them; someone who is knowledgeable in that type of equipment. 2. Finance Dept. Computer - Professional Services for Survey of Software - Discussion and possible action. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: Special Meeting to be scheduled after Steve Wood returns. Mr. Gross stated that the evaluation has been finished by both Alexander Grant and the Finance Department of the hardware; there are a couple of firms which are pretty close together and at this point it is very important for us to analyze the software product of these firms, what they have available in public domain in these areas, because anything in the State of Florida is public domain and we can get some of this information very inexpensively. Mr. Wood and a member of Alexander Grant are up in Clearwater todayolooking at the public domain programs that are part of the Burroughs Computer System which Clearwater has. Mr. Gross indicated that we do not have anybody on Staff to evaluate the software and that is the reason we have dis- cussed this with Alexander Grant and Mr. Bert P-mmer �-Tho is here to�ay. Mr. Bert Emmer explained that basically this involves evaluating the City's requirements and making sure that the computer programs which we call computer software would be suitable for the City's needs. He said that this is probably the area that most organizations are deficient in doin_-g when they ,go out and get a computer; they don't --3- December 16, 1980 /pe decide what they want and do not have a set of specifications and they let the computer market dictate to them what they will have, putting them in a position where they get the computer programs and then find out later on that they are not suitable for the City. He further stated that we are looking at a computer system that is hopefully going to last for the City anywhere from 7 to 10 years, so there is a very long range decision that is going to be made; we must make sure that both the computer equipment, the hardware and the computer programs and software are suitable for the City. He said they are already looking at for evaluation purposes, one set of software at the City of Clearwater which has been runninq fora period of time.. He went on to say that there is a great deal of other soft- ware available also; in addition to just evaluating the software, they have to come up with the specific use or requirements in the various areas of the City -- this will mainly involve applications in the Finance Department and Police Department, these being the main applications that are made with the computer system. He also mentioned that equipment can be obtained from any two of 10 companies and they are all well -engineered, but the software programs make the difference and this determines how good the installation will be in the future. V/M Massaro asked if we have definitely determined that we are going to purchase a computer for this amount of money and to what extent we are going? Mr. Emmer said the main thing is that the service company that is doing the billing for the utility has changed and it was about 60 days ago that it looked like the relationship between the City and service bureau would have to be terminated at that time and it would have put the City in a very difficult position in terms of doing the utility billing. He thinks the feasibility of the computer really came about as a result of the acquisition of TU . Mr. Gross stated that we have budgeted for the acquisition of this item. V/M Massaro said that the fact that you can't get the billing done by this company doesn't necessarily mean that the City has to spend $100,000 for a computer because it doesn't take that kind of money to get a computer to do our billing in TU . She further indicated that we haven't made that determination on how $4000 is spent on something before finding out what type of computer is needed. C/M Disraelly stated that we have to decide what we will do with the hardware before looking into the software; the two have to be. compatible. He said that Mr. Wood has written to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce regarding the programs available; we must have input as to whether we are going to buy it or rent it, as we have nothing to put the software in. Mr. Emmer said it is usually a package decision because most soft- ware will only run on a certain type of computer system; you can back into the hardware, but design of the software is needed. He also said that software doesn't run on any computer; there are only very few situations where you can find a software package that will run on any hardware. Mr. Emmer stated that there are usually three main decisions to be made; 1) that you first must determine what is to be done with it, 2) what is available in terms of software and hardware to satisfy those needs, 3) to make the economic decisions which will determine whether you will buy, lease or what the ultimate arrange- ment will be and whether it is feasible when the numbers are placed before you. He said this expenditure must be looked at as to how this will provide the City with benefits for a number of years; if you are paying a service bill of $30,000 per year and the new system will function for 7 years, then it is really an off -set against $210,000. Mr. Emmer further stated that he has a consultant who has been working on this and he is with Mr. Wood in Clearwater. -4- December 16, 1980 /pe J Ift V/M Massaro said she thinks a computer can do that billing and it is not necessary to spend $100,000 to do it; it is her opinion that a decision has to be made as to what our real needs are now. Mr. Gross said the Council has received all the information that is being asked for now sometime ago. He stated that the City used the Coral Springs system as a model including our billing department, engineering and all other areas of Police, Fire, etc. He further said the needs of the City were predicated on a city no larger than Tamarac. C/M Disraelly asked how much we were paying for the service and Mr. Gross replied that he thinks it was in the neighborhood of $24,000 per month. C/M Disraelly then asked how much it would cost to generate the TUW software and Mr. Emmer replied that from his prior experience with a lot of cities, he does not know of any computer that would be available to do the volume of billing that is done in TUI now in a main frame computer. There was a discussion by Council and Mr. Emmer regarding proposals from Sperry Univac and Burroughs, and as to the feasibility of pro- ceeding with the entire project. (Tapeside #2) Mayor Falck suggested to Council that when Mr. Wood returns from Clearwater he can then give us input at a later meeting. Mr. Gross further suggested that when Mr. Wood returns, he can dis- cuss what he has learned with each member of Council and then set up a separate meeting just for this item. Mayor Falck said he would like to have a Special Meeting so that Council can take action. V/M Massaro MOVED that this item be scheduled far a Special Meeting after Mr. Wood returns so Council can have a full report and a final decision can be made. Mayor Falck asked if Mr. Emmer would be available and Mr. Emmer replied that his consultant will probably be there. C/M Zemel SECONDED the motion. 3.. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE. Bid Authorization for Mini --Attack Discussion and possible action. r - Fire De t. - SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: Tabled until Chief Simon presents information requested. (See Page 1) C/M Zemel mentioned that the City Manager is asking that he be authorized to go to bid for a Mini -Attack Pumper which can be used for many more purposes than just an engine. He indicated that the money is available because there is $16,000 budgeted in the Federal Revenue Sharing and $89,000 was left from Station No. 2 Building Fund and he thinks we can use that. C/M Zemel MOVED that the City Manager be authorized to go for bid for a Mini -Attack Pumper and C/W Kelch SECONDED the motion. There was a discussion by Council as to whether the money could be used for this purpose. Mr. Gross stated that this money was borrowed from one of the banks and all of the money was not used. -5- December 16, 1980 /pe Mayor Falck indicated that the referendum specifically referred to the building and equipment. Mr. Gross stated that there is $16,000 in the Revenue Sharing Fund which would be a down payment on the equipment. V/M Massaro asked what a Mini -Attack Pumper would cost and Mr. Gross replied, "About$65,000.00." V/M Massaro asked if Council was sure that there wasn't a sufficient amount of equipment on hand already? She further felt that this was not investigated fully. Mr. Gross said there is a very large area to cover in this City and we need two good pumpers in each station. C/M Disraelly asked Chief Simon if he can give Council an inventory of the vehicles the Fire Department owns, what they are, what they do and date of purchase. V/M Massaro said she would like the Chief's comments as to where they are used and for what purposes to give us a good, clear picture so a proper evaluation can be made. Mayor Falck stated that Council should clear up the matter of financing. C/M Zemel mentioned that the City Manager can still go out for bid and V/M Massaro replied that we shouldn't spend money to advertise until we have the information as this isn't an emergency. C/M Zemel withdrew his motion and C/W Kelch withdrew her second. C/M Zemel MOVED to table this item until additional information is received from Chief Simon and V/M Massaro SECONDED the motion. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE. Mayor Falck adjourned the meeting at 11:00 A.M. ATTEST: ASSISTANT CITY CLERK This public document was promulgated at a cost of $58.94, or $2.36 per copy to inform the general public and public officers and employees about recent opinions and considerations by the City Council of the City of Tamarac, Florida. -6- December 16, 1980 /pe APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL ON I