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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIPC Board Meeting Minutes 6.18.24 Inclusive Procurement and Contracting Board Meeting Minutes ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Date: June 18th, 2024 | Time: 5:30 pm | Location: Microsoft Teams (Virtual) & TRC 1165 Franklin Street, Suite 100, South Bend, IN 46601 Link: https://tinyurl.com/ipcboardmeeting  Call to Order- The IPC Board is now called to order on June 18th, 2024, @ 5:30 p.m. • BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Keana Baylis, Rachel Tomas-Morgan, Wilbur Boggs, Murray Miller, Cynthia Simmons-Taylor, Breanna Allen, Kimberly Hurt • BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT VIRTUALLY: • DIVERSITY & INCLUSION: Darius Lipsey, Bianca Jones • PURCHASING: • LEGAL: Michael Schmidt • BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Michael Morris, Kara Boyles, Jeff Rea  Approval of Minutes: May 2024 minutes – Boggs motions to approve / Miller seconded All Ayes not Nays Notes: Schmidt – Let the minutes reflect the Rosa Tomas (Community Investment Representative) is present in an unofficial capacity and has yet to be appointed. I. Procurement: Simmons-Taylor presented the procurement report. No questions were asked of this report. II. Public Works: Lipsey presented the DPW report – Boggs - Questioned about the comparison in the spend from 23-24. He noted there was a significant dollar increase paid to the primes and a significant decrease in payment to the subcontractors. He asked if the MWBE goals would drive up participation? The current numbers show MBEs down 93% from 23 and the WBEs are down 52% from 23. Is there a rational for that? Lipsey – Stated there has not been any substantial work in those projects so those dollars have not yet been paid out and we will continue to that number grow as the subs are being paid throughout the year. Miller – Asked about a few projects where the low bidder was rejected and used Wastewater CNG Compressor upgrades, and SB Medical Foundation demo as a reference. He stated that the bids were rejected because he did not meet the goals. Schmidt – The SB Medical Foundation was rejected because they did not provide any utilization. Miller – Questioned for clarity on why the board was not notified of this rejection and further went on to state the ordinance states that the board is supposed to be notified if the bids are rejected. He also asked if we talked to the contractor and reminded them, they have the right to appeal. Simmons-Taylor – Stated that she will look through the ordinance to identify where it states we are supposed to inform the board when the lowest bidder gets rejected for not meeting the goals. She continued with saying that we are trying to make sure that those bidders who do not meet the goals do not get the project. Schmidt – Stated we can make a quick addition for the future that if there is a low bid rejected, it should be listed. This can be an easy adjustment to the DPW report to make sure we capture those situations where bids are not being awarded. Regarding the appeal anybody has the right to appeal. Tomas-Morgan – Asked if Miller can share information as well because he sits on the Board of Public Works. She also stated that we may need to review the ordinance to what the board is to be notified about. Schmidt - Stated there is language in the program plan that talks about if a low bid is not selected due to goals. However, there are some grays areas when they don’t get awarded because they don’t get a good faith effort waiver vs when they do not submit any paperwork. It can be addressed if somebody wants to appeal. Allen - Had a question about the race and gender being unassigned to some of the businesses in the report. Lipsey - B2G gives them the option to choose. However, B2G communicated with the certifying agencies so the certified vendor information is correct. However, the system does not make it mandatory they disclose. Allen - Inquires on page 7 of the Report if the Richard Bros. payment a credit to them. Lipsey – We are unsure why that shows that, and we will get back to you on that. Record show President Keana Baylis enters. III. Office of Diversity and Inclusion: Simmons-Taylor – She informed the board of ODIs involvement in the Though Leadership Conference. She touched on the Inclusion and Economics session ODI hosted as well as the Youth and Trades Segment targeting middle and high school aged students. She informed the board that we have pulled the reports from the building department to identify other Minority and Women owned businesses to pull in for increased M/WBE engagement. She stated that she will be providing the board with 2022,2023, 2024 and the projected 2025 budget for their input on our upcoming budget year. She went on to say we are adding marketing to the business assistance suite because we see that this is an issue with some businesses. Boggs- Have you added any additional MBE/WBEs since we last met. Simmons-Taylor – We just started our second cohort and asked Bianca to speak to it. Jones – Out of the first group we had 3 or 4 vendors that went completely through and have received their IDOA certifications. We did identify several individuals on the brink of submission but chose not to. We opened an additional window of time for them to meet and get assistance. Miller – Do they do business with the city? Jones - One of the businesses that became certified is one of the consultants in the business assistance suite, LeRoy King… Simmons-Taylor – Added that while we are speaking on the b-suite we have strongly urged the owner of IMPower to become certified as well as the coaches. She continued that our janitorial service has reached out to get assistance. She noted she reached out individuals who did not complete to reach out to get further assistance. Baylis – Requested a list of businesses that were certified. Hurt – Aked how long is the certification process and is there a fee. Simmons-Taylor - We broke it down into 4 weekly sessions for an hour and a half each week and on the 4 week we then submit and there is no fee. Baylis – Inquired about marketing of the most recent MWBE workshop as she had not seen anything about it and where it was advertised. She also asked is ODI has a Facebook page. Jones - We are pulling in a marketer to assist us with marketing our outreach. With our current workload it is not feasibly possible to focus on that. We marketed it to the best of our ability by posting it on our Facebook page, sending out the information the small business ecosystem (SBERP, IMPower, NIMBA (Spark with Paula), Dr. Morris), and businesses. Baylis - Stated she was not aware that ODI had Facebook page and to ask the other partners to share because she did not see it advertised. She also requested that ODI send the Board a notice when the next cohort comes up so they can share it as well. Tomas-Morgan – Asked if it was shared on the COSB Facebook page because of the reach there. Jones – Stated that it had not been shared there but she will find out who to send it to so we can make sure the information is out there. Allen – Asked when Cynthia brings the budget to the board will they see a line item for marketing because she understands how things can go to the wayside with a heavy workload. Simmons-Taylor – She will be using the professional services budget to pay the marketer to help us with internal marketing. She stated that many people still did not know we offer the services that we do. She was recently on hometown living and received a lot of calls for assistance. Jones – Added the ODI recently got a membership with WBENC and the goal is to help open up different opportunities for businesses that may not do business with the city. ODI is also meeting with Mid-States to establish a relationship with them an hopefully mirror the same goals we have with WBENC. Miller – Was confused with how Youth Build fits in here and the Trades. He stated that ODI talks about the trades but does not include the trades. He was trying to understand how that all works. Jones – Stated that Miller asked a good question. She went on to say that the outreach event was titled the Youth and Trades for the Thought Leadership Conference. We were asked to present to the youth, and we agreed. She partnered with the work-based learning coordinator Tiffany Reddick and her program Elevate Youth Mentoring as well as Erika Jones who is the Family Liaison with the SBCSC. She stated she invited Miller to the meeting and Tiffany asked Miller to connect with her so the team can see how to bring tradesmen into the program and was not sure what happened with the communication after that. With that being said, they had construction teachers and students from Riley comes set up, there was an electrical station, adult education provided a welding simulator station, Darius assisted with a brick laying set that had mortar and small bricks, there was a supply chain station, robotics and Notre Dame Trios came for parent engagement. To answer Miller’s question, he was not left or and neither were the tradesmen. She was unaware of where the conversation broke down. She continued to the Youth Build and stated that her Susan Beals (Oliver) had been working alongside Joe Gambill to move the conversation forward. It is still in the preparation stage, but Miller’s name did come up regarding this particular project. Simmons-Taylor – Has stated that we are also working internally to so a city-wide cultural training, which is taking some time as well. She moved to the investigation update and stated that ODI sent out a letter and it came back but staff shredded it. We sent the letter certified and First-class. She did receive and email and the company under investigation, stated that he was not coming to a meeting unless he had his attorney present. Schmidt – The board should anticipate evidence presented at the July meeting. There will be an opportunity for the respondent to present their side of this investigation. This is the first time we are encountering this and learning the process a little bit. There will be emphasis on transparency and both sides an opportunity to speak. Simmons-Taylor – Stated we are not happy with the spend and we do not want anyone getting in under the guise of utilizing Ms or Ws if they are not. Miller – Asked did ODI send out the Annual Report Simmons-Taylor – Stated that she is waiting on the Mayors approval to present. We are working with Director of Purchasing, Innovation and Technology and Business Analytics. IV. Old Business o Simmons-Taylor – April’s meeting minutes to get approved. Baylis – Motion to approve April Meeting minutes. V. New Business o VI. Announcements o VII. Floor Open to the Public - VIII. Adjournment- Baylis – Motion to adjourn /Allen – Second Notes & Action Items