TOWN COUNCIL
BOARD OF FINANCE
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
NOVEMBER 9, 2011
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. at the Avon Town Hall, in the Selectmen's Chamber by Chairman Zacchio. Members present: Mrs. Samul, Messrs. Shea and Pena. Absent: Mr. Evans.
II. STORM RECOVERY
The Town Manager reported that a joint Town Council and Board of Finance meeting was held last week, the primary item on the agenda was to talk about the debris removal as a result of Storm Alfred. He reported that we were able to pull together an RFP in very short order, put it out on the street and the bid opening was held on the afternoon of Monday, November 7th.
He reported that he has been sending out via e-mail letters to the Avon community talking about the various steps that the local government has taken. He reported that finally eleven days after the fact things are beginning to return to normal; last night was the last opening night for the shelter at the high school; CL&P is tracking a few outages at this point, probably fifty or sixty left in Town that they are chasing down, they know where they are at and for those outages there are some very specific reason why it is happening and it may be that they have to order equipment or specialized expertise but whatever it is they are on it and dealing with those. Chairman Zacchio questioned if we know exactly what is out in Avon right now. The Town Manager responded yes. Chairman Zacchio asked if we
can target communication to those neighborhoods. The Town Manager responded that we could do that but they should be up very quickly. Chairman Zacchio reported that he does not want to interrupt the flow of communication to this point; we had a slow point getting out of the gate because we did not have power to anybody and you struggle with how do you communicate across a Town with zero power. He reported that as we are down to the last few he does not want to leave them out or forget them and wants to make sure that we are communicating with that community of people that do not have power to make sure they know what is going on and what they should expect.
The Town Manager reported that beginning on Friday last week we were holding nightly meetings of the Farmington Valley leaders, Town Managers, Council Chairs, First Selectmen and executives at CL&P to review the day’s progress; we met last Friday through Tuesday and this is the first night since then that we have not met with that group because it is down to a granular level at this point. He reported that the First Company Governor’s Horse Guard has stopped distributing MREs at the Public Works Department. He reported that the onsite FEMA inspectors are making their way around the State; what has happened so far is that we have the initial presidential declaration that covers the 78 hours of the event; what these inspectors are doing is making sure that it rises to the level of a fully
reimbursable disaster event. He reported that based on what they found so far they think that it will but they do have to complete their assessment and once that happens that funding of the 75% reimbursement will be locked in. He reported that another thing we are talking about already is the after action report. He reported that this was a real test for the Town’s emergency response capabilities and we are going to have a series of meetings after this about how we dealt with this from a Town of Avon perspective and talk about our inter and intra-departmental coordination. He reported that the bigger picture to this, the Governor has contracted with a company called Witt Associates, named after James Witt who is a former Director of FEMA, and he and Jamie DiPace are going to be meeting with a representative from Witt tomorrow at the Capitol to review some of our experiences with respect to CL&P and what we encountered as a result of this situation. He reported that things are
slowly but surely returning to normal. Mr. Shea asked how the Town Manager will determine who is in the meetings and who is not to help you pull this together. The Town Manager responded that throughout this entire process, when you go into this kind of event you know it is going to be a multi-day event and you go in with the idea that you are taking notes from the very start so we have had a scribe for instance at all of our Emergency Operations Center meetings, we have had secretarial help in over the weekend to help us document all of our actions, and we have kept track of the different players involved so it really is extraordinary the level of coordination that has occurred because usually what happens is the Town does their thing and the Board of Education does their thing but in this event there have been so many actors involved, Gary Mala has been fully engaged, the high school custodians, the cafeteria workers, Social Services staff; we even had a volunteer
contingent and how to harness what the volunteers learned. Mr. Shea clarified that the Town Manager is going to try to involve everyone, including the nurses. The Town Manager responded yes.
III. STORM DEBRIS REMOVAL: REVIEW RESPONSES TO REQUEST FOR
PROPOSALS
The Town Manager reported that one of the important after action issues is the issue of debris clean-up and we began thinking about that early last week, had an initial meeting with a company called Ashbritt which is a large debris removal firm that is on the State bid list and gave us an initial estimate of several million dollars to do the necessary clean-up based on 100,000 cubic yards of debris and included two components: FEMA compliance and the actual physical removal work. He reported that given the fact that we are dealing with such dollars and that this is likely going to be a FEMA reimbursable event there are specific procurement requirements that municipalities have to go through. He reported that we put the RFP out, received the responses, and the Assistant to the Town Manager is here to walk you
through the results, etc.
The Assistant to the Town Manager reported that the calls about debris started coming in early last week and to get a handle on what volume of debris might be out there the Director of Public Works did a drive through Town with one of the first vendors that came onsite and said you should start considering cleaning it and we can help. The Deputy Director of Public Works sent out a couple of his plow drivers to do an assessment along their plow routes, two ten mile plow routes, they counted the number of trees that were damaged. He reported that we sent them on one plow route that we knew had been really heavy hit and one that had been more lightly hit, we got a handle on how many trees and a line item in the RFP document, and came up with an estimate of twenty cubic yards per parcel with just under 500,000
single-family parcels which is how we came up with 100,000 cubic yards for the bidding purposes. He reported that we pulled the document together with the guidance from FEMA, after the RFP went out on Saturday afternoon, the Town Attorney reviewed it on Sunday morning and raised a few minor points of which addenda were sent out that day, opened the bids on Monday, we had ten responses and there are some substantial savings associated with the route we went instead of piggy backing the State contract. The Deputy Director of Public Works called some of the references on the low bidder that had experience in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, post Hurricane Katrina. The Director of Public Works had an extensive conversation with them yesterday to make sure they were up to the task and he is very comfortable with the firm that was the low bid. The other component of this is the monitoring and auditing; there is a State contract to go with that as well and was pretty
expensive. Simsbury put out a bid for debris auditing; we took the low bid from their process and compared it to the numbers that our Director of Human Resources and Director of Public Works were able to come up with to do the work in-house. We do not think it is overly complicated work and could save some money doing it in-house and as an indirect benefit of doing it in-house if we have our staff overseeing the collection process we think we will have a much tighter control on when it ends and keeping it moving along.
Chairman Zacchio asked for an explanation of the process of picking up the debris, what kinds of trucks, how will it be picked up at curbside, where is it going to go, how do you monitor cubic yardage. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded that the trucks are large, sixty yard trucks with large arms. Our auditing has two phases: monitoring phase which is where we will actually be tailing these trucks through Town making sure that they are not taking debris that they should not with some training in the next few days to get them ready and the auditing at the collection site, which the Director of Public Works has been working on, we have our staff there watching the trucks come in and they have load tickets that they would have to complete and determine what capacity the truck is at. Chairman
Zacchio asked how we monitor what is in the truck and if it is chipped at that point. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded the debris is raw and gets reduced with the grinder at the debris management site. Chairman Zacchio commented that if you were measuring it reduced you get a very clear indication on what the cubic yardage is but if it is just brush in a truck how will someone monitor what is the actual cubic yardage other than the size of the container there is a lot of air space.
Chairman Zacchio reported that we estimate that we have 100,000 cubic yards of material in town and asked how we are going to actually control and measure that. The Director of Public Works responded that the monitors are out in the field following the trucks and ensuring that they are keeping on the public right-of-ways and not going onto private property or leaving the boundaries of the community. He added that the containers that it will go in will be premeasured and everyone will know the potential capacity of that vehicle; that monitor will sign off the time that the load is full, the truck will proceed to the temporary disposal site, there will be a monitor and a tower that will look down into that truck and will be able to assess how full the truck is. The mechanical means to load that is a
grapple and there will be air space but want to have a best guessed estimate on that load. Chairman Zacchio asked if there is a standard to say that it is never going to be at a 100% load. The Director of Public Works responded that there are bidders from this project sitting in the room today nodding yes. Chairman Zacchio asked why not measure it when it is being removed from the collection site in its ground form? The Director of Public Works responded that in essence you will know after the fact because we acquire a 4:1 minimum reduction in the volume so whatever the total is we will divide. Chairman Zacchio asked if it is reconciled. The Director of Public Works responded yes. Chairman Zacchio asked if it is an estimate coming and actual going out before we get billed. The Director of Public Works responded that you will be billed as it comes into the site. The Deputy Director of Public Works reported that the monitor at the
tower has the final say as to the capacity that is inside that vehicle. When he did his research on the company that is the low bidder all of the Public Works Directors, Engineers, and Town Officials that he talked to said not to be fooled as you need the monitor there because he has the final say and FEMA will not accept every truck being 100% full because it is impossible. Mr. Gugliotti reported that as long as it is apples to apples it is ok and if you have ten bids and everyone bid cubic yards based upon the truck going in, assuming there is naturally some voids or none if they packed as best they can, then that is ok but if someone was bidding per cubic yard after it has been chipped then you have cause to question. Chairman Zacchio asked if the 100,000 cubic yards is a limit as it could end up being 200,000 cubic yards and would like to get it in its lowest possible form for measuring purposes. Mr. Gugliotti commented that he gathered everything is
being bid based upon the truck as it goes in to the place where the tower looks in and chipping has nothing to do with it. Mrs. Samul responded no but the density of the truck load coming in does and we are trying to determine that there is no fluffing. The Director of Public Works reported that it is not in the best interest for that driver to come in with three-quarters of a load as he is paying on that ticket too.
Mr. Shea asked how much of this will be subbed? The low bidder, Michael’s Tree and Loader Service, responded that the Director of Public Works wants ten trucks and Michael has six that will be up here; he noted that they won Farmington’s bid as well so he wants to have a presence in both towns so he will put three of his own trucks each in Farmington and Avon. Michael noted that he owns the grinder and will have every bit of the equipment that is at the reduction site will be owned by him; one of the bucket trucks that will be in Town is owned by him, along with subbing out three buckets and seven of the hauling trucks. Mr. Shea asked what percentage of the work does Michael think he will sub out, ballpark. Michael responded that fifty percent of the site reduction will be done by his
company and thirty percent of the hauling trucks and twenty-five percent of the bucket trucks will be his. Mr. Shea asked if the Town is at all involved with, interacting with, obviously monitoring the subs, who oversees the subs. Michael responded that he is going to manage the subcontractors to make sure we get a good quality set of contractors, have insurance, and staying up to the standards that he holds. Mr. Shea asked if the same team with his company will monitor the subs in Farmington and Avon. Michael responded that he has another project manager on his way here now and will manage Farmington; he will be involved in both. Mr. Shea commented that Michael has seen the bids and has been doing this awhile, if their roles were reversed, there is a big discrepancy here and staff says that they have done their due diligence. Michael responded that he does not need to get rich off every job that he works on. He reported that every
municipality that they have worked for they have gotten a great letter of recommendation from and they want to build a relationship; with the $34 per yard when it comes down to the people actually doing the work they are not a broker of equipment as they own it; the AshBritt’s of the world hire people like his company to run jobs like this and they are probably paying their subcontractors $7-8 per cubic yard and they are making the difference. Mr. Shea commented that he wanted to hear Michael’s explanation version of response to the difference in price because if the roles were reversed he thinks Michael would have a few questions also because you are going to have a lot of inspectors on this job; this is a big deal for Avon as we do not do this all of the time.
Mr. Shea asked about public roads versus private roads. The Director of Public Works responded that there is question of eligibility versus ineligibility with FEMA; that is one of the reasons why monitors are out there to make sure that they are not picking up on private property; if it is on the public right-of-way it will be reimbursed by FEMA and if it is off the public right-of-way it should not be picked up. He commented that it is a remote possibility that FEMA would reimburse under certain exceptions, highly unlikely on private property. Mr. Shea asked if we are going to be picking up private road debris. The Town Manager responded that is not the plan at this point and not the way the project was put out to bid; if the debris is in the right-of-way it will be picked up but this does not
include going into the private associations, the tax districts, or anything else.
Mrs. Samul asked with regards to volume versus weight if we weighed the truck would we have a better idea whether they were 50% or 75% full or is there any relationship between cubic yardage and weight. The Director of Public Works responded that the units bid on are in cubic yard. Mrs. Samul asked if you have a sixty yard truck can you anticipate that it will weigh a certain amount when loaded. The Director of Public Works responded it also depends on the type of wood, hard or soft which will have different weights. Mr. Pena asked who the monitors are provided by. The Director of Public Works responded the Town of Avon and they will be trained as part of the requirement for the eligibility. Mr. Pena asked if he is comfortable with that. The Director of Public Works responded yes,
we have a good turnout and the Human Resources Department has done a good job recruiting people from the Avon Volunteer Fire Department. Mr. Pena asked if it is more than one person that looks at the loads. The Director of Public Works responded that there will be one person with each truck or two trucks depending on the areas that we are in; when the vehicles are out in the field picking up the streets it is to make sure they stay on our right-of-ways and within our boundaries; they sign off the time that the truck left there and when it comes in there will be another sign in. He reported that the monitors that are in the tower will have a very responsible position to determine volume of what they see. Mr. Pena commented that if they go outside the parameters that is fairly easy to tell but with the volume someone has to be able to understand what they are looking at. The Director of Public Works responded that we are looking for monitors that will
have a comfort level, who understand what they are doing, and be able to be consistent.
Mrs. Samul asked where the loaded trucks will be coming into. The Director of Public Works responded the former MH Rhodes site. Mrs. Samul asked how many trucks will be coming in and out per hour during the day and at what time will they stop as they will be going by a school. The Director of Public Works responded that they will operate from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week. Mrs. Samul questioned that our municipal regulation of no excessive noise before 7:00 or 7:30 a.m. is going to be waived. The Director of Public Works responded yes, however it has not been brought to anyone’s attention but would assume that in the state of an emergency we would have the authority to waive that policy. Mrs. Samul questioned the school buses, etc. The Director of Public Works
responded that he has talked to the Superintendent of Schools noting some inconveniences. Mrs. Samul asked if the police department has been brought in on that. The Director of Public Works responded no. Mrs. Samul asked if we might need some additional assistance with that. The Director of Public Works responded that he did not think so; we did the bulky waste pick-up with the approximate same size trucks but we do not want to flood the town. He noted that if we can pick up 5,000 cubic yards per day we can work through that process.
Chairman Zacchio asked where the trucks will be parked or repair work or maintenance will be done. The Director of Public Works responded they will be stationed at the MH Rhodes site, far enough off the road. Mrs. Samul expressed concern about contaminating that site with oil or gasoline. The Director of Public Works responded that the trucks will be parked on asphalt and if the truck is unfit for the road it will not be on our roads too long. Chairman Zacchio asked Michael with Michael’s Tree and Loader Service how many people will be here and where are they going to live. Michael responded that they have hotel rooms in Farmington for his staff; the subcontractors usually find their own lodging.
Mr. Pena asked the number of days it would be necessary to get this project completed. The Director of Public Works responded if we can meet that goal it will be twenty consecutive days. He noted that we are going to make more than one pass through the community and our intention is to hit the heavier areas (Stony Corners, Ridgewood, East Woodhaven, and Climax). He recommended that with regard to putting debris out to the curb the last day should be November 21st before they commence their final pass through Town. It allows residents who are just getting their power back now a week and a half to bring debris to the curb. Mr. Pena asked if there is communication to the residents if we have already gone through a street and missed a house or two. The Director of Public Works
responded that we will deal with that on an as needed basis; the Engineering Department has offered to do a map on a daily basis. Mr. Pena asked if there will be a schedule so residents know what area of town is being worked in when. The Director of Public Works responded that he would like to do that but once you give it to them it sticks. Chairman Zacchio commented that residents just need to get the debris out to the curb. The Director of Public Works responded that is the important part and being communicated with the news bulletins being sent out from the Town Manager’s office. He looked to Council with an end date that they might recommend bearing in mind that snow will be coming in the next six weeks so time is of the essence.
Mrs. Bratton asked if chipping is an option to consider now or not. Chairman Zacchio responded that materials will be picked up on the side of the road, put into box trucks, taken to the MH Rhodes site and be grounded into chips there, and then removed from that site. Mr. Gugliotti asked if there are parameters for residents to know as to what they can have out at the curb. The Director of Public Works responded that anything can be up to twenty feet; the reach off the truck is up to twenty-seven feet and can lift approximately 9,000 pounds. Chairman Zacchio commented that is one advantage of this method is that you can pick up anything. Mr. Gugliotti commented that Michael mentioned that he has contracts with Farmington and Avon and be supervising both and asked if there will be separate
grinders for each town. Michael responded that he is going to use his grinder to do both towns at each of its sites. Mr. Pena asked if in the event the grinder should fail do you have a backup? Michael responded yes, that he will have subcontractors that will have grinders. Mr. Shea asked if there will be a mechanic onsite. Michael responded yes, a full-time service truck.
A member of the audience asked with regards to the monitors if there is a way to calibrate them up front. The Director of Public Works responded that we will be doing the measuring. Mrs. Bratton asked if there is a training fee. The Director of Public Works responded that was requested in the bid document. Mr. Gugliotti asked if we are building a tower. The Director of Public Works responded that is in the bid document as well; there was discussion about the contractor bringing in towers but it is cheaper to build them. Mr. Pena asked if the grinder has a fairly loud noise that will be heard constantly. Michael responded that it does make noise and is one of the reasons why they chose the very back side of the MH Rhodes site as far away from residents. Mr. Gugliotti asked
what addenda one through four in the bid package included. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded the addenda worked out any issues through the process. A member of the audience commented that it appears that we had a reasonable process when estimating the 100,000 cubic yards and asked if we have any idea from experience what the reason is behind the 100,000 cubic yards. The Director of Public Works responded that he took three different companies for assessment traveling through town and two of the three were in that area, a little under, not to say we cannot control the vegetation that is put there as residents decide to clear more of their property. He reported that the comfort level was there. The Assistant to the Town Manager commented that the bid was written in such a way that if we are two weeks in and finding out that we are way ahead of where we thought we would be that we have a termination for convenience clause in the
contract.
Chairman Zacchio went back to the private road and condo association question that Mr. Shea had. He reported that we had a number of requests this afternoon from local associations that are private roads, non-conforming roads and typically take care of this stuff on their own for some relief from the Town. He does not think that we have had time to even digest what that means and does not sound as if it is reimbursable so it was not included in this bid but we will have to think about how to address that; some of those condo associations have already removed debris and it is gone, i.e. Pond Place was chipping this week and has a contractor cutting hangers tomorrow. Some of them clearly have taken care of themselves already, others are reaching out for help. He reported that he has no idea how much
debris is in those areas and if trucks can access them. He suggested to the Town Manager that we take a look at those areas between now and the next Town Council regular meeting on Tuesday, November 15th and get our hands around what that means, it sounds like it is not reimbursable from FEMA, we need to get some clarify around that, we need to understand what we can get in there for equipment; the knee jerk reaction is those are private associations that have their own general fund and normally take care of this on their own; this is an extenuating circumstance and at least we need to look at and consider what that means. If it is $50,000 or $1 million it is cash out of the Town of Avon’s coffer that is going to be a difficult number to swallow but let us look at that. The Town Manager clarified that we have both associations and separate taxing districts and assuming we are including both headings we have approximately a dozen between the two. Mrs. Samul asked if that it
would include Secret Lake. The Town Manager responded yes.
Chairman Zacchio reported first and foremost if it is in the right-of-way it is covered. Michael reported that they would be willing to extend their pricing structure to those communities; he would need to meet with them on a one-on-one basis and look at the roads and come up with the game plan on the type of equipment that would be needed, then the community and himself would have to sign a waiver about that as long as they have the comfort level on going in on those roads and collecting that debris. The Town Manager added that it is possible that the tax districts they may qualify for reimbursement on their own. Chairman Zacchio asked to figure that out this week and find out if that is reasonable. He also read in the newspaper today, courtesy of Mr. Hooper, that Northeast Utilities has put aside
$10 million to help residents and consumers with storm debris clean-up so they may apply there. There may be a number of avenues to go so let us look at it as it cannot be ignored. Mr. Gugliotti sought clarification that the process being looked into in no way slows up the Town’s debris clean-up process. Chairman Zacchio responded that it does not. Mr. Gugliotti suggested talking to the Town Attorney about liability issues. Chairman Zacchio responded that they are private, non-conforming roads and was developed such that they are self-sufficient but considering the circumstances it is at least appropriate we look into that to help them and working with Michael can find a number. Mr. Shea commented that we need to have a good, solid, fair balanced response to anybody that lives in Avon and needs to be logical. Chairman Zacchio asked the Town Manager to look into this prior to Council’s next meeting and keep Council informed as he
goes through the process with the options. He also asked the Town Manager to draft a response to any parties related to this issue that it is being discussed and considered. Mr. Shea commented that we can also offer to help them contract independently; there is a lot we can offer in terms of assistance. Mr. Gugliotti commented that he is learning as we go along how all of this is playing out as are we all, and with respect to non-town roads and a contract he asked if Council would envision that to be a separate contract with that association or a contract with the Town. The Town Manager responded that would be a conversation with our Town Attorney. Mr. Gugliotti asked if moving debris from a non-right-of-way to the right-of-way would jeopardize our FEMA reimbursement. Chairman Zacchio responded that he did not think so as it is all picked up within the right-of-way. The Director of Public Works reported that the State roads are being picked
up by the State of Connecticut.
Mr. Shea asked about the $1.476 million and if that is the total of the monitoring and auditing and storm debris removal. The Assistant to the Town Manager responded yes plus the 5% contingency. Mr. Shea asked Michael in his experience with other contracts, other municipalities, other entities, what percentage of a contingency do they usually use? He reported that we have used a 5% contingency. Mrs. Samul asked if there was a basis of which the 5% was chosen. The Director of Public Works responded that it was selected based on the assessments. Michael responded that some say that if it gets to a certain amount it is done; it depends on how much money they have. He reported that he has not had a lot of experience with a contingency. Chairman Zacchio asked if it is fair, to
Mr. Shea’s point, that tonight we would presumably authorize the Town Manager to go into a contract up to and including the amount of the bid and can always come back and do more.
Mr. Hooper asked about the $113,000 for the monitoring and auditing and if the monitors are new persons that we are bringing in. The Director of Public Works responded that they are persons from the Avon Volunteer Fire Department. The Assistant to the Town Manager reported that the Director of Human Resources is putting together job descriptions that comply with FEMA and these persons will be hired as temporary employees and paid an hourly rate. The Director of Public Works responded that there is some money in there for Public Works Maintainer III on Saturdays or Sundays and that money is reimbursable if you are full-time and it is overtime.
The Town Manager reported that Michael’s bid is $1.3 million with the monitoring and auditing services it is a total of $1.476 million which includes the 5% contingency. If we base the 75% reimbursement on that it saves the Town approximately $400,000. He reported that 75% reimbursement looks good but it is not a done deal yet; it still needs action by the President and congressional approval. Mr. Hooper asked when we will know that. The Town Manager responded that it is a function of how quickly those assessments are completed in the field, how quickly it makes its way up FEMA’s food chain, and ultimately the President signs off on it. He reported that after the President signs off on it, it does require congressional approval; when Senator Blumenthal was here last week and we
were talking about this he did mention that there are currently forty-eight states in the nation that have just these types of declarations that are pending or tied up in Congress. He reported that Tropical Storm Irene happened pretty quickly. Mr. Gugliotti commented that we have to do this anyway. Council agreed. Chairman Zacchio added that time is of the essence with snow coming soon.
Mr. Pena commented that there were three vendors that came up with 100,000 cubic yards and asked where other vendors came in. The Director of Public Works responded that he had a real low from the State low bidder that he discounted; one vendor drove around the Town assessing the debris with him. Chairman Zacchio reported that at the end of the day the bid is $12.98 per cubic yard regardless of the number of cubic yards and we can make a determination at any point and time to keep going or stop. He added that the 100,000 is an estimate for the purposes of budgeting and as we monitor that yardage we can monitor what we want to pay. Mr. Pena commented that if it is 80,000 cubic yards than the 5% contingency we will have more than built in after that.
Donald with Series Environmental reported that they talked with the Director of Public Works and commented that your request for proposal as well as FEMA guidelines do allow for you to hire more than one contractor. They have dealt with eighty-six FEMA declared disasters and every customer has been reimbursed fully. He reported that you can go line item by line item or split it however you would like and there might be some savings in doing that and something to consider. He reported that they think there is some savings for the Town. A representative of his firm reported that if Michael’s Tree Service did the grinding and managed the debris site and Series Environmental did the pick-up and the trimming there is a savings of approximately $400,000 for the Town. Mr. Shea asked if Series
Environmental participated in the bidding process. Donald responded yes. Mr. Shea commented that our professional staff has analyzed all of that and asked if their bid has changed. Donald responded no, your proposal allows for you to choose line item by line item. Chairman Zacchio asked what the Director of Public Works recommendation would be. The Director of Public Works responded that we did not look at it line item by line item; we looked at the bottom line numbers and one vendor to control and run; if we did otherwise we would have picked a cafeteria plan of low bidders and in fairness to all of the bidders we set the threshold of the quantities to focus on one number; the scope is going to change here and there throughout this project.
Mrs. Samul asked how important it is that we work seven days a week starting at 6:30 a.m. She commented that as much as residents want this out of their yard having phone calls because there is someone out in their yard at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, how important is it? The Director of Public Works responded that it is very important due to the fact that snow is coming and in the last five years we have had plowable snow in November. Mrs. Samul asked when we communicate this that we make it very clear that it is a seven day operation starting at and going to what times and the reason for it. Mrs. Samul also noted that she has an obstruction pulling out of her street because of the brush that is there. The Director of Public Works agreed that another concern is sight line issues and is very
dangerous.
IV. POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING AGENDA ITEM III
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to execute a contract with Michael’s Tree and Loader Service for storm debris removal in an amount not to exceed $1,362,900.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mrs. Samul, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council recommends an appropriation with an amount not to exceed $113,290 for the monitoring and auditing services for the storm debris removal process.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
On a motion made by Mr. Shea, seconded by Mr. Pena, it was voted:
RESOLVED: That the Town Council recommends to the Board of Finance to approve an emergency appropriation with an amount not to exceed $1,476,190.
Mrs. Samul, Messrs: Zacchio, Shea, Evans, and Pena voted in favor.
Mr. Gugliotti commented that it was great that the Town Council, Board of Finance, Public Works, etc. just did this so fast and of all the stuff that has happened with this storm, what has happened here in the last week or so shows that a nice little town like Avon can get stuff done, people can pull together, and very happy with what Avon did. Other Board of Finance members agreed.
V. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
Attest:
Caroline B. LaMonica
Clerk
| 
