The Finance Committee met 02/06/2023. They took up a number of action items which consisted of 6 requests to award contracts for various projects and two requests to approve budget amendments. All of the items were approved unanimously with the exception of the 2023 Vosters Park Redevelopment Project contract which was held for a second time until the committee’s next meeting.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the full discussion surrounding the action items for download.
The only two items that garnered any notable amount of discussion were the two items that were held at the previous Finance Committee meeting. Those were the contract for the floor epoxy in Fire Station #1’s rig room and the Vosters Park redevelopment project.
The floor epoxy contract had been held because the committee wanted to have further information on what had led staff to request a sole source contract with Parker Coatings rather than request bids from multiple contractors for the job. For this meeting, the committee was provided with a Sole Source Request form which explained, “The mechanic shop floor bordering the rig room floor was replaced by Parking Coatings. Each floor coating company has their own proprietary epoxy product. Due to cost, product exclusivity, warranty, and quality, Parker Coatings provides the best overall value.”
Director of Parks, Recreation, and Facilities spoke well of Parker Coatings’ quality and that they had been the lowest bidder on the previous floor which was abutting the floor that now needed to be epoxied. He also noted that the city was getting bids to install epoxy flooring in other locations, but for this specific location they did not due to the need to maintain consistency with the existing abutting floor that had already been epoxied by Parker Coatings.
The committee voted unanimously to approve the contract.
The Vosters Park redevelopment project contract was put on hold for the second time and will be taken up at the committee’s 02/20/2023 meeting. Director Gazza told the committee that the city had a very constructive meeting with the neighborhood about the park. The residents had expressed a desire for leaving the park more natural rather than developing additional amenities, so staff had developed a new plan that they thought would meet the neighborhood’s needs as well as the long-term needs of the city. They were going to hold one more meeting with the public to review those updated plans before moving forward with approval of the contract.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) who is the alderperson for that area commended staff for their work. “We had a lot of contention and a lot of questions about what was happening there. And staff did a great job of addressing as many questions as possible, and again, going back to the drawing board. So I am hopeful as well, that Thursday’s meeting, again, with the neighbors will kind of calm everyone’s fears and we can move forward with this but in a different way than what’s initially here.”
The request to hold was approved unanimously.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1077210&GUID=09E708F1-D326-4039-8C37-09C33F0E4D22
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