The Finance Committee met 01/06/2025. The entire meeting lasted just shy of 13 minutes. They received the annual report from the Appleton Yacht Club and unanimously approved the two action items on the agenda.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE APPLETON YACHT CLUB: The Yach Club’s representative was not able to present the reports in person, but they were attached to the agenda for review. Director of Parks and Recreation Dean Gazza said that from the city’s end, everything looked good and met their expectations of their agreement with the Yacht Club. He noted that the agreement included requirements that the club perform annual updates, and they did continue to do those. In 2024, they improved the boat house areas. Per Director Gazza, “[W]e value our partnership with them to be able to serve the community so that Appleton can have a yacht club.”
CONTRACT AMENDMENT TO GREEN RAMP BARRIER PANEL EMERGENCY REPAIRS: The Green Parking Ramp had been damaged by a car accident, and the city has been in the process of repairing that damage. City staff was requesting approval to increase the amount of the phase 1 repair contract by $17,225. Phase 1 had involved temporary emergency shoring of the damaged section of the parking ramp. Phase 2 and phase 3 of the repair work ended up taking 53 days rather than the initially expected 28 days. As a result, the emergency shoring needed to be in place longer which increased the rental cost of the equipment.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked where the funds for the project were coming from. Deputy Director of Public Works Pete Neuberger told her that initially the funds were coming from the parking utility funds, but they anticipated the utility will be fully reimbursed by the city’s insurance policy and whatever could be recouped from the at-fault driver’s insurance.
The committee voted unanimously to approve the increase to the contract.
REQUEST TO AWARD SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT FOR 2025 INTERIOR FINISHES AND FURNITURE PROJECT FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REMODELING PROJECT TO CHET WESENBERG ARCHITECT, LLC IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $67,400: The city had been conducting a multi-phase serious of renovations on City Hall. They have already renovated the Department of Public Works, the Health Department, and the common spaces. In 2025, they plan to renovate the Community Development area and the Assessor’s area. Staff wanted to sole source the contract to the architect who had worked on the other renovation projects.
Director Gazza told the committee that the project was a $1 million project. For a project of that size, they would normally expect to see the cost of architectural and engineering services come in at around 10% of the overall project. $67,400 was well below $100,000. He noted that Chet Wesenberg Architect had always been competitively priced for all the projects they had done for the city, coming in well below what other companies had bid on earlier phases of the City Hall renovations.
Additionally, the company was very familiar with the building’s electrical infrastructure which was very beneficial. They also were already aware of the specifications the city had for things like carpeting, ceiling tile, and lighting. They would be subcontracting for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC engineering services, but that would be covered by the $67,400 the city would pay them.
They were a smaller local company based in Oshkosh and they had carved a niche out for themselves doing smaller renovation projects like this. Director Gazza was happy with the $67,400 figure and said, “[W]hen they submitted that I was happy to see that. They’re not, they’re not the type of people that are trying to take advantage of us. That’s what I like about them.”
The committee voted unanimously to approve the sole source awarding of the contract.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1263340&GUID=DCE95E69-0D1E-468F-8457-B0410A63C6FC
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