04-09-18 Public Works and Property Vacation

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®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Mr.Danch replied,No they do not. You should have received notification from the Board of Public Works and they give a favorable recommendation. Committee Chair Voorde then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. He then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 19-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committteemember Sharon L. McBride seconded this motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 21-18- Ordinance Establishing Responsible Bidding Practices and Submission Requirements on Public Works Projects Councilmember Tim Scott, 711 Forest Avenue, stated, My cosponsors on this were Jo M. Broden and Karen L. White. This was a team effort between the City, some of the Trades and the Chamber of Commerce to put together a Responsible Bidder Ordinance (RBO). For the Ordinance we will go through policy goals. Councilmember Scott referenced a presentation which is available in the City Clerk's Office. He continued, This has been adopted throughout the State of Indiana. The whole idea is to protect taxpayer dollars that are a part of public works. We have all heard the lowest bidder but what we want to see is the lowest responsible bidder. Part of our team was Administration including James Mueller and Eric Horvath. We want to make sure everything is fair and level. We had everything that is documented for tax payers. As we moved forward, one (1) of the biggest things we worked on with a lot of team effort was looking at the contractors and subcontractors that are small. We want to make sure they are exempt from this because this affects projects worth$150,000 and more. The conditions here do not apply to the small businesses trying to get contracts. The one (1) thing I really like about this too is the prequalification of bidders. A lot of people think this is going to be burdensome but they can prequalify by adding all your information and then the City has that on file. You are then just having to update that as you need. Certified Payroll is also important. We have had issues where there has been undocumented pay and we want to make sure we are getting the taxpaying dollars accounted for. There are penalties that are majority complaint driven, but this also allows the City to conduct an audit if need be. Again, the threshold is $150,000. Subcontractors will submit bids as well. The Certified Payroll will come through the Board of Public Works. This also affects apprenticeships. They don't have to be a part of a Union to get business with the City. Councilmember Karen White stated, There was an excellent level of communication throughout this process. We really started this process in 2017 and we had a number of conversations. The discussions were very rich and transparent with the goal to make sure there is the responsibility with bids of business in the City. This is to help ensure those doing work with the City will provide the highest quality of work. I think this is a step in the right direction and it sends a message. I hope the other Council Members are supportive as well. Committeemember Jo M. Broden stated, The thing I particularly like about this is certainly the collaboration that occurred through the process. I do think already we have a pretty robust expectation of our contractors already. This basically quantifies that in advance. It is very specific. It is consistent and most importantly it is verifiable. It levels the playing field for all. And frankly, the type of information that is asked for,for the most part,is something I do think the local taxpayer EXCELLENCE ( ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227W Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.91731 TM 574.235.5567 l www.southbendin.gov 2