Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 6 PM

Agenda 4 items

1. 1.
   22-1551 Committee Minutes Approved

   Approval of the Finance Committee Minutes of September 6, 2022.

   Roll call: 4 aye · 1 absent

   • Judy Pineda NeufeldAye
   • Charlotte KellyAye
   • Matthew McLaughlinAbsent
   • Jefferson Thomas (J.T.) ScottAye
   • Jake WilsonAye

   • 📎 Minutes - Finance - 9-6-22 Full
2. 2.
   22-1439 Mayor's Request Recommended to be approved

   Requesting authorization to borrow $993,132 in a bond, and to authorization to appropriate the same amount for the General Fund portion of the Clarendon Hills Infrastructure Improvements project.

   {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fnil\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs24 Taken together with item 22-1240. Dir. Galligani explained that the city is seeking additional authorization due to increased costs in infrastructure work, and that the portion of the DIF received in December will be going to infrastructure. Dir. Postlewaite added that the construction environment has changed a lot in the past year and bids came in much higher than the expected estimate of $4 million. He said that he felt that the bids they received are at current market value.\par \par Councilor Scott asked about the total cost, which led to a breakdown of the allocations. Dir. Richards added that the two authorization requests in this meeting total $8.1 million. Councilor Scott also referenced Councilor White\rquote s former work to fight \ldblquote bad actors\rdblquote in the city and asked who won the bid. Dir. Richards said that the low bid came from RM Pacella and that the city did have a pre-award meeting with them to ensure that they would follow the city\rquote s requirements. \par \par Councilor Scott asked if there would be a specific liaison on-site to make sure the city\rquote s expectations are met by crews on the ground, as well as from a business standpoint. Dir. Postlewaite said that the construction will operate similar to Spring Hill. The new streetscapes manager, Rebecca Wright, will be taking over the role of liaison, and Dir. Postlewaite and Daniel Amelin will be overseeing that. Regarding procurement, the internal project manager sees to both fieldwork and the contract. The consulting engineer has a clerk on-site daily, but the city will not be there daily.\par \par Councilor Kelly asked for the difference between portions coming from the general and sewer funds, and also for the percentage of the dollar increase. Dir. Bean gave a breakdown of the portions from the general fund, sewer fund, and CPA, and added that the DIF allows for more flexible borrowing terms. He said that the increase was $2.5 million over what was appropriated, and that he also raised interest rates. Councilor Kelly asked about the projected timeline and whether delays could increase costs. Dir. Postlewaite explained that the bid is good for the entire length of the contract, except for a few escalation causes related to the prices of asphalt and diesel fuel. However, Somerville put in a 20% construction contingency into the project for that and other potential obstacles.\par \par Councilor Kelly also asked about the cost of police details on the sewer enterprise and general funds and whether the cost would exceed what was listed on the attachment. Dir. Richards said that the police detail allocations will be split equally between the sewer and streetscape funds. He also said that they have been conservative with spending on details in the last few years and does not expect to approach that full value. Councilor Pineda Neufeld asked if DCR shared the costs for police details, to which Dir. Postlewaite said that DCR is not an active partner in the contract.\par \par Councilor Pineda Neufeld asked about potential delays from fall into the spring. Dir. Postlewaite replied that the major risk for delay is in getting the contract funded, signed and returned to the contractor; the other risk is winter conditions. He said that they should at least get initial work done before the end of the year.\par \cf1\f1\par }

   Roll call: 4 aye · 1 absent

   • Judy Pineda NeufeldAye
   • Charlotte KellyAye
   • Matthew McLaughlinAbsent
   • Jefferson Thomas (J.T.) ScottAye
   • Jake WilsonAye

   • 📎 Appropriation Request_Clarendon Hill Infrastructure
   • 📎 Clarendon Hill GF_Capital Program Request Sheet_FY23 CIP
   • 📎 Appropriation Order (Somerville) Clarendon Hill Signalized Intersection 8_2022
3. 3.
   22-1440 Mayor's Request Recommended to be approved

   Requesting authorization to borrow $662,088 in a bond, and authorization to appropriate the same amount for the Sewer portion of the Clarendon Hills Infrastructure Improvements Project.

   {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fnil\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs24 Taken together with item 22-1239.\par \cf1\f1\par }

   Roll call: 4 aye · 1 absent

   • Judy Pineda NeufeldAye
   • Charlotte KellyAye
   • Matthew McLaughlinAbsent
   • Jefferson Thomas (J.T.) ScottAye
   • Jake WilsonAye

   • 📎 Clarendon Hill Sewer_Capital Program Request Sheet_FY23 CIP
   • 📎 Appropriation Request_Clarendon Hill Infrastructure
   • 📎 Appropriation Order (Somerville) Clarendon Hill Sewer - enterprise fund 08_2022
4. 4.
   22-1509 Mayor's Request Recommended to be approved

   Requesting acceptance of an additional $500,000 grant with no new match required, from the MA Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development for Clarendon Hill Project infrastructure improvements.

   {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fnil\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs24 Dir. Inacio explained that the full grant is $4.9 million. The city applied for $4.4 million through this grant in 2019 and was accepted for that amount through negotiations with the state. Later on, Somerville was approved for the full $4.9 million. Councilor Kelly asked for confirmation on the timeline of the initial approval, to which Dir. Inacio answered that the original award was in October of 2019, after which there were back-and-forth negotiations.\par \cf1\f1\par }

   Roll call: 4 aye · 1 absent

   • Judy Pineda NeufeldAye
   • Charlotte KellyAye
   • Matthew McLaughlinAbsent
   • Jefferson Thomas (J.T.) ScottAye
   • Jake WilsonAye

   • 📎 MA Works - Clarendon Infrastructure
   • 📎 Revised MAWorks Contract - $4.9M
   • 📎 MassWorks PreContract Form - Somerville Clarendon Hill