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Minutes for the special called Public Safety Committee meeting on November 15, 2006.
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Public Safety Committee Minutes
Special called meeting
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
9:00 a.m.
Members present were: Judy Furr, Jim Hargis, Mitch Johnson and Harold Perrin. Councilman Moore and Councilman McCall were unable to attend.
MOSQUITO CONTROL CONTRACT PRESENTATIONS
Advanced Mosquito Control, Mr. Bern Prewitt: Mr. Prewitt discussed his proposal for mosquito control for the City. Councilman Hargis noted the price of the bid decreased from the original bid. Mr. Prewitt explained his proposal was for full-service, including airplanes and trucks. Councilman Perrin questioned whether Mr. Prewitt was comfortable with the RFP when he was making his bid. Mr. Prewitt stated he was comfortable with it and also took into consideration the golf courses and other areas in Jonesboro when he made his proposal. He also stated he would hire a local entomologist to help determine what work needs to be done. He added all the people that do the work for the City of Jonesboro would come from Jonesboro, with the exception of the airplane pilots. Mr. Prewitt explained the day after work is done they would provide the City with reports to show what work they performed. Discussion was held regarding aerial spraying. Mr. Prewitt explained they worked into their price spraying Jonesboro by air at least 3 times a month. He further explained spraying by air will allow them to reach areas that nothing else would allow them to get to. Councilwoman Furr questioned whether Mr. Prewitt had worked in an area similar to Jonesboro where there were rice fields surrounding the town. Mr. Prewitt stated in their area they have a lot of rice fields. He added they a pretty good job of controlling the mosquitoes in that area. Councilman Hargis questioned what hours the equipment would be running. Mr. Prewitt explained their trucks would work from just after dusk until 9:30 or 10 p.m. in the residential areas and then they would go to the shopping centers and the Industrial Park so the public isn’t disturbed. He added the airplanes would start just after dark. It was noted the price of Mr. Prewitt’s bid went down by almost $32,000. Mr. Prewitt explained they based their price on more flying and less truck work, plus they were able to lower their chemical prices.
AVL units for the Police, Animal Control and Code Enforcement Departments: Captain Lynn Waterworth discussed the AVL units for the police cars. She explained they need to purchase the rest of the AVL units to finish the computers in the cars. It was explained the reason they weren’t purchased in the past is because they wanted to wait and make sure the AVLs would work before purchasing the remaining units. It was questioned how many units would be purchased. Mr. Bob Andrews explained 29 units would be purchased for the Police Department and 13 would be purchased for Animal Control and Code Enforcement. He added they need to also waive competitive bidding since Relativity is the only source they purchase the equipment from. Councilman Perrin stated they also looked into the $39 a month fee and found the fee is due to a state contract which cannot be changed. Discussion was held concerning how the AVL units work. Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to recommend the ordinance to the Finance Committee. All voted aye. It was explained the cost would be $77,281.28.
Clarke Mosquito Control, Mr. Larry Erickson: Mr. Erickson discussed their company and their proposal for the City’s mosquito control. Councilman Perrin questioned how many aerial applications would be involved. Mr. Erickson stated they have included at least three applications a month. He added they will provide the City with computer reports of their work. Councilman Perrin questioned the $100,000 spread between the lowest and highest bidders. Mr. Erickson stated they have a standard cost for everything that does include a fair profit. He added Jonesboro would be the first acquisition in Arkansas, but they are also bidding in West Memphis and DeWitt in the near future. Councilman Perrin expressed concern over the lowest and highest bidders being $100,000 apart. Mr. Erickson said he initially wanted the bid to be higher, but his boss wanted the price to be low because they want the City’s business. He further explained there is no up charge with their service. Councilman Perrin clarified if the City was unhappy with their service after ten months into the contract then the company would increase their service with no increase in price. Mr. Erickson stated that is correct; there would be no increase in price. Councilwoman Furr questioned the response time to complaint calls they’ll take in. Mr. Erickson stated their response would most likely be the same day, but if the call is late in the day it might be the next morning before they get to it. He also stated they will report all the complaints to the City on a weekly basis. Councilwoman Furr questioned where the employees would come from. Mr. Erickson stated the supervisor might come in from another location, but the rest of the employees would be hired locally. Mr. Randy Howard explained they would hire about 6-8 people with 5-6 trucks. Councilman Hargis questioned how they compare aerial versus ground work. Mr. Erickson stated nothing beats aerial work, but they will also be working from the ground. He added they will also have an ATV for use in areas where they can’t reach from the street. He noted he’s familiar with Jonesboro’s area because they have attended an annual conference at the Holiday Inn for over ten years. Councilman Hargis questioned what city they find similar to Jonesboro in terms of work they’ve done. Mr. Howard noted they have not dealt with another city with rice fields. Mr. Erickson explained the closest they could come up with in comparison to area and mosquito nuisance is Florida. He discussed their mosquito control in Celebration, Florida which is next to a 10,000 acre wetland marsh that they can’t larvicide.
Vector Disease Control, Mr. Alan Loe: Mr. Loe explained their references consist of cities in the same geographic region with the same agricultural community around the cities. It was noted Vector has been with the City for the last 12 years. Councilman Perrin questioned whether they have improved mosquito control over the last 3-5 years. Mr. Loe stated he thinks the mosquito problem is at a controlled level. He added they are at 90% plus control over what is in the outside areas. He then discussed the disease monitoring performed by Vector. Councilman Perrin questioned how many flyovers they do per month. Mr. Loe stated it fluctuates, with as many as 14 flights a year and as few as 1 flight. He noted they use the aircraft as a tool and don’t depend on the aircraft. He explained they sprayed Jonesboro by air 1 time this year and sprayed the rice fields about 3 times. Discussion was then held regarding the price of Vector’s proposal. Mr. Loe added the rice field larviciding is a significant cost, amounting to about $100,000 in just chemicals. Mr. Loe discussed the GIS systems in the vehicles that provide information on what their workers do. Councilwoman Furr questioned how Mr. Loe feels about aerial applications. Mr. Loe stated if there was one thing that was best for mosquito control, then everyone would do it. He explained he sees aerial application as a last resort after larvae control and ground control do not work. He stated the fact that they’ve done less aerial applications is an indicator that their other programs are working. Councilwoman Furr questioned whether there were any studies backing up the limited use of aerial applications. Mr. Loe stated the American Mosquito Control Association website discusses it. He explained with states like Florida and Louisiana that are heavy in mosquitoes their mosquito abatement programs either don’t include aerial applications or have very few aerial applications. He added the aerial application is a flashy component and is just one tool used in mosquito control.
Mr. Jim Mead, owner of the putt putt golf course, discussed how the mosquito control has affected his business. He stated he has virtually no mosquito problem.
Councilwoman Furr expressed concern over whether all of the companies looked at the same set of standards. She questioned whether the RFP was specific enough and asked the right questions. Mr. Roe suggested getting a list of the big mosquito control programs around the country and talk with them. Councilwoman Furr stated she would like to have seen specific answers to questions from all three companies so the companies could be fairly compared. Mr. Roe noted the other two companies did not include rice field applications like they did. Councilman Perrin also expressed concern over the variance in price. He suggested rejecting all of the bids and sending out a new RFP that asks specific questions. Councilman Perrin also stated Mr. Loe provided a breakdown of the total proposed price, which showed exactly where the money was being spent. He stated he would like all of the companies to provide a similar breakdown of costs. Councilman Johnson questioned whether aerial applications are one-time kills. Mr. Loe stated that they are one-time kills. Councilman Johnson then questioned how much one aerial application would cost. Mr. Loe stated if you take the acreage and multiply that by 2/3 of an ounce that would tell how much chemical it takes. Mr. Loe then explained the cost would be approximately $30,000. Councilman Johnson expressed concern over a company saying they would perform several aerial applications a month when the estimated cost would be $30,000.
Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilman Johnson, to reject all of the mosquito control bids and re-bid the project. It was suggested the committee would help draft the RFP so it would ask specific questions. Councilman Perrin explained they could plug a number into the 2007 budget for mosquito control and adjust it when the contract is final. Councilman Hargis stated he would vote against the motion. Councilwoman Furr stated she would vote in favor of the motion.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.