Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Hall Renovation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance committee backs AV upgrade and building wiring for renovated City Hall; funding to come from reserves
Summary
Committee recommended awarding the audio-visual contract to ProEV Systems for about $199,511 and contracts for new data and security wiring totaling $413,000 to ABM Mechanical and Norris Minuteman; funding was proposed from the improvement reserve and unassigned fund balance.
The Bangor City Finance Committee voted to move forward with audio-visual upgrades for the renovated City Hall chambers and to contract for building data and security wiring, approving staff recommendations to fund the work from the improvement reserve and unassigned fund balance.
Committee staff recommended awarding the audio-visual contract to ProEV Systems at $199,510.95, citing concerns that the low bidder used proprietary equipment that would lock the city into a single vendor. The committee also recommended contracting ABM Mechanical and Norris Minuteman to perform data and security cabling and card-access hardware for the first floor; those two contracts total roughly $413,000.
Finance staff said the wiring scope was not part of the original renovation RFP and so must be handled as a separate project. Staff reported the city’s improvement reserve had a balance of $3.8 million and that the current unassigned fund balance was $16,000,005.56 (12.38% of operating expenses under the city charter); allocating $413,000 from the unassigned fund balance would reduce that percentage to about 12.07%.
Councilor Beck asked that bid tabs be appended to the meeting minutes for public review. Committee members discussed features staff requested for the AV system, including a visual timer for speakers and staff control via laptop or tablet. ProEV was the only vendor that conducted an on-site walkthrough, staff said; bidder prices ranged from about $114,000 (low proprietary bid) to a high of roughly $692,000 for the most extensive proposals.
Because the initial City Hall renovation bond proceeds did not cover the wiring scope and additional bonded funding would require voter referendum, staff recommended using reserve and unassigned balance funds to avoid major project delays. The committee approved advancing the contract awards and associated council orders to full council for first reading.
Next steps: the AV contract and the appropriation from unassigned fund balance will appear on the full council agenda for formal approval and contract signatures.
