coen Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana February 9, 2009 Call to Order The Special Board Meeting of the Board of Trustees of School District No. 2, Yellowstone County, Montana, and the High School District, Yellowstone County, Montana was duly held at The Lincoln Center, 415 North 30th Street, Billings, Montana on Monday, February 9, 2009. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Chair Katharin Kelker who led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call Those attending were: Trustees Katharin Kelker, Tim Trafford, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals and Mary Jo Fox; Clerk Leo Hudetz, Superintendent Jack Copps, Scott Anderson, Rich Whitney, Gail Surwill, Thomas Harper, and Karen Palmer. Registered guests were Becky Shay and Laura Ross. Award of RFP 4-164-A-09 for Internet Service Provider Karen Palmer addressed the Board in regard to items C and D on the agenda: RFP for Internet Service Provider and RFP for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Local Telephone. She explained that our current contract expires on June 30th of this year. Federal e-rate dollars are available to offset the cost. These moneys are received from your personal phone bills, the fees for state and federal taxes, provide districts with e-rate moneys based on the percent of free and reduced lunch students, historically 51-54 percent is the e-rate discount. The contract needs to be in place by February 12th. The recommendation from the administration is to award the contract to Bresnan Communications for both low cost and they met all the requirements of the RFP. The internet service is currently at 80 mps and will increase to 100 mps. The monthly savings to the district will be $3,698. All of the phone service equipment is currently outdated and has a lack of features. This requires more repairs, using older and difficult to find parts. The phone and data lines will run parallel to each other. Bresnan will provide all the equipment. The full cost is eligible for the e-rate discount, with the exception of Lincoln Center, the Warehouse and Facilities Services because they are not listed as schools. Trustee Kelker asked if the RFPs for Internet and VoIP were tied together. Karen Palmer answered that they are not and the bids are separate. Trustee Goodrich made a motion to approve awarding the RFP R-164-A-09 for the Internet Service Provider to Bresnan Communications for a five-year contract. Trustee Fox seconded the motion. Trustee Guthals asked if the internet charge is eligible for e-rate dollars. Karen Palmer said it is. Previously it was paid out of district funds, then claimed at the end of each quarter. Bresnan has agreed to take the discount off the bill. They will be ready to go with this in August so there may be two months where the district will pay and then claim reimbursement. Trustee Trafford questioned the fiber connections and where the internet servers are located. They are in Granite Towers. Our service will go to Granite then Bresnan will take it forward to the school buildings. A vote was called and the motion carried unanimously with Mary Jo Fox, Malcolm Goodrich, Joel Guthals, Tim Trafford and Kathy Kelker voting in favor of the motion. Award of RFP 4-163-A-09 for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Local Telephone Service Trustee Goodrich made a motion to approve awarding RFP R-163-A-09 for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Local Telephone Service to Bresnan Communications for a five-year contract. Trustee Guthals seconded the motion. Trustee Guthals asked where the $42,110 to install the system is coming from. Thomas Harper replied that it will be budgeted for the 2009-2010 year. We will then be eligible for an e-rate rebate. Superintendent Copps reiterated that there is a savings of $18,000 between the two contracts. Trustee Trafford asked for the main reason for the VoIP. Ms. Palmer stated that we have staff who understand and can maintain the system. Phone traffic will not be competing with internet traffic. There will be cable reserved only for phone use. We have lots of space available and it has been pre-partitioned. It is guaranteed not to degrade data service. Trustee Trafford asked if the call volume has been researched and is suspicious of the phone service not interfering with internet traffic and vice versa. Karen Palmer is concerned but stated that the quality is there. Trustee Trafford expressed concern that our buildings may not contain the proper cabling for VoIP, and we may incur additional cost. Karen Palmer said we would incur addition cost if this were true, but she felt we would not have any big problems with our cabling. They will first certify that all cables meet the standards. Bresnan uses this system now. Mr. Trafford asked if the 911 calls would go to a Billings 911 dispatch. They will. Ms. Palmer stated that our calls will not be going out on the public internet. They will stay within our fiber optic network. Mr. Trafford asked if this has been tested. Karen Palmer replied that it had not but stated that we are using the cable and not seeing problems now. The certification process is very expensive. The motion to approve was voted on and was approved unanimously. Trustees voting in favor were Mary Jo Fox, Malcolm Goodrich, Kathy Kelker, Tim Trafford and Joel Guthals. Beartooth – Rooftop HVAC Replacement 2009 Trustee Kelker announced that there were four projects related to maintenance that needed approval. Rich Whitney asked that since all the projects were elementary, were there enough elementary trustees present to represent a quorum? Since only three elementary trustees were present, another trustee was contacted. There was a short break while Clerk Leo Hudetz contacted Dawn Achten by telephone. Rich Whitney explained the request for a rooftop HVAC replacement for Beartooth Elementary School. This will be paid with Quality Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) funds. Trustee Guthals asked about the payback for this improvement. Mr. Whitney stated that this will be recovered in approximately six and a half to eight years. Trustee Fox asked about a warranty on equipment. Mr. Whitney would have to look at the contract specifically for that, but stated that it is probably the standard one year. Trustee Fox asked if there is a required length of time in business for the business before their RFP is considered. Mr. Whitney stated that this is done as a bid so the recommendations were based on the RFP requirements. Accent Air is a smaller contractor. Time in business is not an item in low bid process. Trustee Goodrich moved and Trustee Fox seconded awarding the bid for the rooftop HVAC replacement 2009 at Beartooth to Accent Air and Mechanical for $249,850. The motion passed unanimously with Trustees Goodrich, Fox, Kelker, Trafford and Achten voting in favor of the motion. Ponderosa – Boiler Replacement 2009 Rich Whitney handed out a sheet with the results of the bids for the Ponderosa boiler replacement. He explained that Conair Engineering did the design work. He explained that two different boilers were bid: a 93 percent efficient and an 87 percent efficient. High-Tec Boilermakers, Inc. was the low bid. It is Mr. Whitney’s recommendation to accept the low bid of $112,086 for the 93 percent efficient boiler. The payback is expected in seven years. This project will be funded with QZAB funds. Trustee Goodrich made a motion to approve awarding the bid to High-Tec Boilermakers, Inc. for a 93 percent efficient boiler replacement at Ponderosa Elementary School. The motion was seconded by Trustee Fox. Trustee Guthals asked for clarification of repayment when the money is coming from QZAB funds. If the payback is for seven years, and the QZAB is 10 years, is there a cash flow improvement to School District 2? Thomas Harper answered there is a cash flow improvement under this situation. The motion passed unanimously with Trustees Goodrich, Fox, Kelker, and Achten voting in favor. High School Trustees Guthals and Trafford are not eligible to vote on an elementary issue. Will James – Lighting Project 2009 Rich Whitney explained that this was not a low bid project. A CMAR proposal looks at contractor specifications on overhead percentage and markup on equipment. He stated that there were five bids for this project and he recommended Reddi Electric. He said there is a partnership with Northwestern Energy and a group out of Butte. Northwestern Energy will pay part of this as a rebate. Trustee Goodrich is concerned about proceeding with this item because there are no numbers provided and no action specified in the agenda; no notice to the public of action being taken. Rich Whitney stated that this will be a minimal cost, approximately $12-$13 thousand dollars. Trustee Goodrich is concerned about voting as a point of order and not knowing the numbers. Trustee Kelker asked if Mr. Whitney is just requesting approval to proceed with the process. Rich explained that Reddi Electric’s proposal specified a 15 percent overhead, and 8 percent profit for equipment. Mr. Whitney also stated that a newer company specified a 5 percent overhead and a 5 percent profit for equipment. They are doing another project at Will James at the current time. The decision to recommend Reddi Electric is based on the district’s history with this company and profit margin. Trustee Kelker asked what the Board was being asked to do: approve the selection of the company? This will likely not come before the Board again since the bid limit is $50,000 and this is considerably less. Trustee Goodrich believes the Board is being asked to approve contractor and process without being given pertinent information. Mr. Hudetz stated that there is no requirement by law or policy to approve this project since the amount is below the minimums required. This could be approved as a consent item at a future meeting. Mr. Whitney stated it is being proposed as part of a bigger project. It is important information because of the HVAC part. We are doing everything that is economically feasible to get Will James energy efficient. Malcolm Goodrich is concerned as a procedural standpoint that there is not enough information to make a decision. Kathy Kelker stated there is no reason to have a vote; consequently, this item was not voted on. Will James – HVAC Project 2009 This a CMAR proposal over $50,000 for an HVAC project at Will James that will require Board approval. There were two bids: Mechanical Technology, Inc. and Control System Integrators, LLC. Mr. Whitney is recommending MTI. Their proposal was for 25 percent overhead and 10 percent profit while CSI’s bid was for 40 percent overhead and 10 percent profit. Payback on this is 50 percent cash savings, about 25-30 percent electrical savings grant from Northwestern Energy. Work needs to be done this summer. Trustee Goodrich restated that there is no way of knowing on this item what is involved. We have not complied with law and with procedures and cannot approve a contractor at this meeting. Trustee Kelker asked for this to be brought back at the next meeting with information about projects planned for Will James containing bid information, funding sources, and contractors, and a recommendation for action will be provided. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m. _________________________________ Katharin Kelker, Chair _______________________________ Nancy Coe, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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