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MANAGER’S REPORT
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL Before we start the agenda, I have a few items to report and discuss with you. On economic development, capacity building and program goals seemed to be hitting a peak in the next few days. ü Knox-Waldo Regional Economic Development Council will be launching its new “plug and play” initiative to get the word out that KWRED is in existence to help retain and attract jobs. This announcement will be done through a series of press conferences in each of the three areas (Belfast, Camden, and Rockland) all day Tuesday. ü The Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has selected a new Executive Director at its meeting Thursday night. He will be introduced to the public at a press conference on Monday. I am looking to introduce him to the City Council at your meeting Tuesday night. I think that his position –and his expertise—complements those of the KWRED and that, together, Belfast now moves forward with a cost-effective and productive economic development and business support capability. The new director will start work on Monday. He will also be attending the city’s Business Development Committee at its monthly meeting next Thursday, which will be part of his routine as we go forward. ü Also on Tuesday night, by coincidence of timing, we will have ready to distribute to you the completed “Vibrancy” report, the report done for the city by Michael Crane of Crane Associates, LLC, under a Community Development Block Grant. The report offers a great economic analysis of the region and makes some good suggestions for the future. Once the report has been handed out to you, we will look to post it on the city’s Website. After you have reviewed and absorbed the contents of this 70-page report, we also should look to having a more formal rollout and workshop on this report in the near future. ü The above developments take place in the same time frame that the City Council considers the second reading and recommendation for inclusion of the Penobscot McCrum, LLC property into the Pine Tree Zone that will open the door for economic incentives for that potato processing company to expand. ü And, curiously enough, Tuesday night will be the first formal reading leading toward the adoption of the Downtown/Waterfront Tax Increment Financing District, which itself is a major economic development plan that has been under consideration by the Council for more than a year. This TIF designation should provide a major impetus for public improvements in the area, which should be a catalyst for significant private investments as well. On another matter, I want to share with you information concerning the renewal of health insurance for city employees. Treasurer Rickie LeSan and I met with our insurance broker, Kim Crossman of Benefit Services Consulting, Inc., to review the new rates for calendar 2007. Our present carrier, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, had proposed a rate increase of 16 per cent, based on the city’s unfortunately growing experience rating. Crossman negotiated that increase to 12.09 per cent. The new rates are $532.02 per month (from $474.64 currently) for each individual employee; $1,330.08 for family coverage, and $904.45 for an employee and children. This is not all at the city’s cost; this is just listing what the monthly costs are for each type of insurance. Insurance rates continue to be a major cost, of course. One of the ways we look to be sure that we are at least getting a reasonable price is to compare alternatives. I have the rate schedule offered by the Maine Municipal Employees Health Trust, a division of the Maine Municipal Association. The overall increase was 7 percent; however the rates were higher to begin with. The 2007 MMEHT rates for a comparable plan to ours is $618.48 for individual coverage; $1,387.35 for family, and $1,387 for an employee with children. Based on this discussion and comparison, I have signed the contract for 2007 with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue shield. We need to sign a contract at this time of year in order for it to be in place for a January start. This does not need further action. I am apprising you of what the costs are. We have budgeted for some increase in the second half of this budget year, and we will be discussing these costs for the FY2008 budget at budget time. The boiler at the Waste Water Treatment Facility (WWTF) needs to be replaced, as I reported to you earlier by way of a copy of a bid request. I am including a copy of that bid request (Tan) in this packet as a reminder. The boiler is starting to show its age and we should replace it as soon as possible, before the peak of the upcoming heating season. We did send out bids, but there were no responses. I can only assume that fuel and furnace companies are busy at this time of year and are not as interested in competing by sealed bids as they might be another time. At any rate, we have a need and nobody responded under our procurement procedures. The next step would be to call a company to see if we can negotiate a work order. WWTF Superintendent Jon Carman, with my approval, has done that. Maine Energy has agreed to install a new boiler that meets our requirements for $14,783. We had anticipated between $15,000 and $20,000, so that price appears acceptable. I have authorized Jon to proceed, and am informing you of that. The payment will come out of the separate enterprise account, the Waste Water Treatment Account. In the interest of making sure we had a good boiler in a timely way, I probably have jumped a step. This should be approved by the City Council, I think, so we will have an Order for you Tuesday evening. Now the agenda: 11.B Library Ordinance Amendment. You have a copy of the proposed amendment to the library ordinance (Lilac). I would suggest an amendment to the document that is enclosed. One, is to make (b) become (a), and two, is to make it “Applications for Trustee shall be submitted…” This would be an insubstantial change that would not require a repeat of the notice-public hearing process. 11.C Pine Tree Zone. This is also familiar to you. The action on this should be to vote to adopt the resolution (Green) and then each Councilor should sign the master copy. 11.D TIF District. I do not have, at this writing, any new material concerning this TIF. I know that EMDC and Eaton Peabody have been working on the final presentation. They have sent me drafts of some wording, on which I made some edits. But I have not received the package in the mail. I know that Vickie Burpee of EMDC and Noreen Norton of Eaton Peabody will be here Tuesday night with the package and make a presentation. There will be nothing new that we have not discussed in the past. If new councilors wish to have more information and discussion before the meeting, I would be glad to discuss it with you. On second thought, I do have a pretty good draft, and I am sending this to you. 11.E Harbor Usage Fees. Each year, we ask the Harbor Advisory Committee to review the harbor usage fees to make recommendations for change. In fact, an ordinance exists to direct that. Harbor Master Kathy Messier has a memo (Blue) that includes these proposed changes for next year. It is healthy to adjust these fees as costs go up. The money goes for harbor operations and to offset taxes. 11.F Fire Chief’s Pickup. Fire Chief Jim Richards has, with your prior approval, requested bids for a replacement pickup truck. Bids have been received and opened, and his recommendation (Cherry) is enclosed. 11.G Zoning Amendment. The Comprehensive Planning Committee has reviewed and is recommending to the Council that small parcel of land (and a building) on Route 52 be re-zoned to accommodate the fact that the building is being used as a residence but could not be sold as a residence under the present Airport Growth zoning. This item is on the agenda as an introduction to see if the Council wishes to go forward with a first and second reading and public hearing leading to the adoption of an amendment. Wayne Marshall has more on this in a memo (Gray) enclosed. That’s everything I can think of for this week. |
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