Finance Committee — 01/19/2022 Page 4
Charter mandated committee — the Charter requires that the Finance Committee approve city contracts. So all of the
contracts that the city enters above $25,000 will come to you for approval — come to us for approval. At certain times if a
contract gets amended if it carries a certain financial increase, it will come in front of you as well or you may receive a
memo saying we amended this contract in such and such a way but it didn’t have a significant financial impact. That’s the
basic role of the committee. You'll see tonight that we have a few different purchases on the agenda.
Does anybody have any questions about any of this?
Alderman Jette
| didn’t Know if you were recognizing Alderman Comeau or not. So we’re just — these items are pursuant to some other
authorization from the budget or from vote of the Board of Aldermen. All we’re doing is just approving the Purchasing
Department’s seeking authorization to do what the Aldermen have already told them to do?
Mayor Donchess
Basically yes. For example, the first item this backhoe. You see where it’s part of the CERF. CERF Is a list of equipment
purchases that the Board of Aldermen has approved for the year. CERF means capital equipment reserve fund. So this
specific piece of equipment was in the budget and now we’re being asked to authorize the department — being the School
Department — to go forward and do the purchase.
Sometimes it’s less specifically identified in a budget. For example, the next one — well that’s part of a capital project so
we approve — this is a grant funded with a local match transit building improvement. This is one of the items and we are
being asked to approve this within that transit construction project. Sometimes like at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, a
pump needs to be replaced but it might be in the budget as just in a more general way. Equipment replacement or
something like that. Why don’t we learn by example as opposed to trying to come up with all the permutations?
COMMUNICATIONS
From: Kelly Parkinson, Purchasing Manager
Re: Caterpillar Backhoe Loader in the amount not to exceed $123,900 funded from 81500 Vehicles/CERF (School
District)
MOTION BY ALDERMAN JETTE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF A 2022
CATERPILLAR 420XE 4-WHEEL DRIVE BACKHOE LOADER IN THE AMOUNT OF $123,900, WHICH INCLUDES
THE TRADE-IN VALUE OF THE 2005 NEW HOLLARD BACKHOE. FUNDING THROUGH DEPARTMENT: 191
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT; FUND: 81500 VEHICLES/CERF, BY ROLL CALL
ON THE QUESTION
Shawn Smith, NSD Plant Operations Director
To your early comments about Directors being out at night time, I’m happy to be out anytime particularly when I’m asking
for $123,000. It’s part of doing the job if we need it to explain things to the city fathers and mothers to get things passed,
then that’s what we do.
Long story short, we have a 2005 backhoe that’s seen much, much better days. It’s (inaudible) we’ve had it for thousands
of dollars into it the last couple of years. We did look at alternative backhoes, alternative manufacturers but at the end of
the day, | wanted to get a vehicle that | knew that Public Works could maintain. They have also standardized on
Caterpillar and they do most of our maintenance for us. They actually suggest that | check with Sourcewell, which is the
nationwide consortium for purchasing this sort of thing. We actually got the best price out of them. | request that you
approve this purchase.
Alderman Comeau
| just wanted to say that | was fortunate enough to have seen Mr. Smith do much longer piece of testimony to the Board of
Education when they approved this. | agree with pretty much everything he just said that the idea of standardizing the
equipment so that Public Works can do maintenance on it with similar tools and parts to the equipment they already have
makes a lot of sense. | think like most people you get to a point with your personal vehicle where you realize that it’s
costing you more to maintain and repair it than it would be to just upgrade it. Based on maintenance records over the last
couple of years, | think that it does make a lot of sense to go ahead and make this upgrade.
