HomeMy WebLinkAbout20140250.tiff BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY OF WELD, STATE OF COLORADO
TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC MEETING
IN RE: CONSIDER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT AND AUTHORIZE
CHAIR TO SIGN - BASE TACTICAL DISASTER RECOVERY
The above-entitled matter came for public meeting
before the Weld County Board of County Commissioners on
September 23, 2013, at 1150 O Street, Greeley, Colorado, before
Susan Brown, Deputy Clerk to the Board, and TRANSCRIBED by
Esther Gesick, Deputy Clerk to the Board and Notary Public
within and for the State of Colorado.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the attached transcript is a
complete and accurate account of the above-mentioned portion of
the public meeting.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD OUNTY, COLORADO
d�C
Esther E. Gesick
Deputy Clerk to the Board
2014-0250
1-a7-aa9
2
APPEARANCES:
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
William F. Garcia, Chair
Douglas Rademacher, Pro-Tem
Sean P. Conway, Commissioner
Mike Freeman, Commissioner
Barbara Kirkmeyer, Commissioner
WELD COUNTY ATTORNEY OF RECORD:
Bruce T. Barker
ALSO PRESENT:
Susan Brown, Acting Clerk to the Board
Monica Mika, Director of Finance and Administration
Don Warden, Director of Budget and Management Analysis
Trevor Jiricek, Director of General Services
3
PROCEEDINGS
2
3 CHAIR GARCIA: Ok, item number 8 . Consider
4 Professional Services Agreement, authorize Chair to sign - Base
5 Tactical Disaster Recovery.
6 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Mr. Chair, in light of the work
7 session we had this morning, I would move we continue this
8 matter, um, until tomorrow.
9 COMMISSIONER KIRKMEYER: I thought we were doing it
10 this afternoon at 4 : 30 .
11 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Well, we can approve it . I
12 mean, I'm continuing this to tomorrow morning for consideration
13 - for action. You want to approve it today, before the meeting?
14 MR. BARKER: You can continue the - your meeting today
15 to 4 : 30 and then consider it at that time. So that would be -
16 that would be your motion.
17 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Alright, that' s my motion - to
18 continue this matter until 4 : 30 this afternoon.
19 COMMISSIONER RADEMACHER: Second.
20 CHAIR GARCIA: Ok, there' s a motion to continue this
21 matter to 4 : 30 this afternoon, by Commissioner Conway and
22 seconded by Commissioner Rademacher. Any further discussion?
23 Hearing none; all those in favor signify by saying Aye.
24 UNANIMOUS : Aye.
4
1 CHAIR GARCIA: Those opposed say nay. Motion carries
2 unanimously.
3 [End of discussion/action on Professional Services Agreement
4 with Base Tactical Disaster Recovery during 9 : 00 meeting. The
5 following segment was conducted during a special 4 : 30 meeting. ]
6
7 CHAIR GARCIA: All right, we' ll reconvene the Board of
8 County Commissioners meeting for Monday, September 23, 2013 . It
9 is 4 : 35 in the afternoon.
10 CLERK: Sean Conway?
11 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Here.
12 CLERK: Mike Freeman?
13 COMMISSIONER FREEMAN: Here [via telephone conference]
14 CLERK: Barbara Kirkmeyer?
15 COMMISSIONER KIRKMEYER: Here [via telephone
16 conference]
17 CLERK: Doug Rademacher?
18 COMMISSIONER RADEMACHER: Here .
19 CLERK: Bill Garcia?
20 CHAIR GARCIA: Present . We have all five
21 Commissioners present, with both Commissioners Kirkmeyer and
22 Freeman available by telephone this afternoon. And, we have one
23 item on our agenda, and that is a matter that was continued from
24 this morning. And, that is : Consider Professional Services
25 Agreement, authorize Chair to sign - Base Tactical Disaster
26 Recovery. Who' s going to start us off? Monica are you starting
27 us off?
5
1 MS . MIKA: Sure.
2 CHAIR GARCIA: Toby? Trevor?
3 MS . MIKA: Well, we wanted to thank you for the
4 opportunity to really be able to do some more due diligence and
5 look at some of the different firms in relation to engagement .
6 We looked at information for four different firms and, under the
7 guidance from the Board, we were looking at one firm that were
8 could primarily contract with to do both the FEMA engagement, as
9 well as the public infrastructure damage assessment and really
10 take us through the whole process . We, we really broke it down
11 into two top firms, and, Trevor? Do they have the spreadsheet
12 in front of them?
13 MR. JIRICEK: They do not .
14 MS . MIKA: Um, ok I' ll be happy to send this
15 spreadsheet to you.
16 MR. JIRICEK: Why don' t you keep talking and I' ll send
17 it .
18 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: So we' re getting it by email?
19 MS . MIKA: We' ll send it by email.
20 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Thank you.
21 MS . MIKA: We, um, we just finished our review just a
22 few minutes ago, and looked at two candidates that would
23 provide, we think, services that would meet the Board' s
24 objective in looking at a -- um, disaster recovery services .
25 And, we found out that there are both pros and cons, and there' s
6
1 two different approaches to both of these firms, that we would
2 say would be our top two firms to recommend. The first would be
3 Witt O' Brien, and on the spreadsheet you' ll notice that both
4 Witt O' Brien and Base Tactical both, in a lot of regards, were
5 the same in their response times and also their experience
6 levels . There was a cost differential between Witt O' Brien and
7 Base Tactical . We also listed any other pertinent information
8 as far as just experience . We were specifically looking for
9 mitigation services/experience and we found that both companies
10 possess that ability. It really comes down, in my opinion, and
11 I' ll open it up to Trevor and the other team mates, it really
12 comes down to approach and the way that these two unique firms
13 addressed disaster recovery. Um, we were able to check the
14 referrals from both firms and we - Bruce did a lot of the work
15 on this for Base Tactical, and I believe some of that
16 information is submitted for your review. But, um, they are
17 very positive recommendations . Uh huh?
18 MR. JIRICEK: The last version I have of that was at
19 3 : 08 and I know that you' ve revised it since then. So, would
20 you mind forwarding me one?
21 MS. MIKA: Sure, I' d be happy to send that for you.
22 The other firm that we looked at was with Witt O' Brien and I do
23 have a selected reference list and, interestingly enough, I did
24 -- there' s one, two, three, four, five - there' s like ten
25 references, um names on here, and I was able to call eight of
7
1 them. And with the time difference, I wasn' t able to connect
2 with any of them, but I do have just an easy review. I do have
3 two articles that, um, do point to some concerns with prior
4 engagement for Witt O' Brien, and I' ll forward these to you guys
5 and turn it over to Trevor to comment, and Don also looked at
6 this as well .
7 MR. JIRICEK: Don, do you want to go ahead and address
8 your comments? I'm not sure where to look.
9 CHAIR GARCIA: He can' t see you anyway. [Laughter]
10 MR. BARKER: Hey Don, did you hear that?
11 MR. WARDEN [VIA TELEPHONE] : No, I'm having a hard
12 time hearing actually.
13 MR. BARKER: Ok, do you want to go ahead and, um, tell
14 them your recommendation?
15 MR. WARDEN: Um, yeah I can. After talking to the four
16 firms, I mean, one obviously was just a debris management
17 company. NCIC - I kind of eliminate, again, based on the fact
18 that it' s not really their core business . Um, it' s kind of a
19 subsidiary of a defense-type company, and um, I guess in my mind
20 it kind of boils down to Base Tactical, which is the one we
21 talked about this morning, and Witt O' Brien. Uh, when you look
22 at the cost, um Witt O' Brien would probably be about $210, 000,
23 versus around $250, 000 for Base Tactical . Um, I think - I think
24 either one of them would - could do the job. In my mind, the
25 advantage of Base Tactical is that I think they' ll be aggressive
8
1 in going after FEMA dollars and that was reinforced by Bruce' s
2 two interviews that he had with the New York City Health and
3 Hospital Corporation, where both of the people said that Base
4 Tactical was highly competent and a valuable assess . They, uh,
5 basically were instrumental in recovering a lot of FEMA dollars
6 and, basically, were very aggressive. Uh, their other advantage
7 is they' re a small firm and, uh, basically you get kind of the
8 principals; you don' t get kind of underlings that assigns . You
9 get the principals of the company and they' re the boots on the
10 ground. And, uh, the hospital both kind of reiterated that and,
11 um, they came to the hospital - um, they did six bids and Base
12 Tactical was third lowest bid but they went ahead with them.
13 They were happy with that - uh, they said New York City hired a
14 consulting firm called Haggardy and basically, they were all
15 former FEMA employees and she said it showed. That gets to Witt
16 O' Brien. Um, James Witt - whose basically the principal of Witt
17 O' Brien, basically, was under Clinton - the FEMA Director. Uh,
18 background in construction from Arkansas . Most of his employees
19 are former FEMA employees and uh, I think the one comment that
20 spoke to me - I think they thought it was a complimentary
21 comment about their firm, but it troubled me a little bit . They
22 said the dollars you get is a dollar you keep. In other words -
23 what you claim, they pretty much get reimbursed. And, uh, I
24 guess that tells me they' re probably, uh, conservative and not
25 risk takers and that would fit with their background from FEMA.
9
1 So, it boils down to I think the Board' s looking at these two
2 firms and the proof in the pudding is going to be in about 36
3 months; if you could have both of these firms working on it -
4 you was add up the chips you get from FEMA at the end of 36
5 months and see which one you get the most money for. And, uh,
6 I'm still convinced that [inaudible] this whole process would
7 have the checks add up to be the most because, I think, they' d
8 be aggressive. I think they' ll go after mitigation projects,
9 et cetera, uh, will be Base Tactical. So that' s what I
10 recommend. I could live with Witt O' Brien too. I think they
11 been on the job. I don' t think they' ll be as aggressive as far
12 as going after reimbursement or aggressive going after
13 mitigation projects . So.
14 CHAIR GARCIA: Commissioner Conway.
15 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Yeah, Don. I'm famous for
16 asking this question, so Commissioner Garcia would be
17 disappointed if I didn' t . Um, in this case, you know, I think
18 you have cognizant of being penny wise and pound foolish, don' t
19 you, in many respects, based on the research that you did in
20 regards to these folks?
21 MR. WARDEN: Oh, it is and I think that' s the issue.
22 I think, and I stress again. I think we can' t forget the
23 business concept of the ever-reaching dollar. I mean, for every
24 dollar we spend, we' re going to leverage seven dollars . And,
25 uh, that dollar amount difference in their fee, if they' re
10
1 aggressive and go after, uh, mitigation projects or are a little
2 bit more aggressive on reimbursement; even if we [inaudible] uh,
3 down the road, we' re going to be money ahead. That' s kind of
4 where I am.
5 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Thank you.
6 CHAIR GARICA: Very good. Trevor?
7 MR. JIRICEK: Just to add procurement in, um. Witt
8 O' Brien and a couple of the others, actually three of the
9 consultants - we would be in a better position to guarantee
10 reimbursement because they participate in a cooperative
11 purchasing entity out of Texas that we could us with our Code.
12 So, just for full disclosure, the position - our position to
13 seek reimbursement for Base Tactical is still questionable .
14 We' d be in a stronger position with Witt . Uh, I think Don' s
15 points are well taken.
16 CHAIR GARCIA: Ok, very good. Questions?
17 COMMISSIONER RADEMACHER: Comment .
18 CHAIR GARCIA: Comment, Commissioner Rademacher.
19 COMMISSIONER RADEMACHER: Well, after hearing from
20 Bruce and his due diligence on Base, I am fairly comfortable
21 with a decision going forward with Base Tactical . Ok, can you
22 guys hear me? Barb and Mike?
23 COMMISSIONER FREEMAN [VIA PHONE] : Yeah, speak up a
24 little bit .
11
1 COMMISSIONER RADEMACHER: Ok, I wasn' t in the mic, so.
2 Once again, with Bruce' s due diligence on Base and Don' s
3 recommendation, I feel pretty comfortable going with Base.
4 CHAIR GARICA: Very good. Other comments?
5 Commissioner Conway.
6 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Yeah, um, I think both - I think
7 Don has said that at the end of the day, um, we have to make a
8 determination where do we think we' ll be in 36 months . This is
9 a three-year process . And, I'm comfortable, um, I know when
10 you' re kind of comparing things, and you all know I'm used to
II saying this, "Penny wise, pound foolish. " I think the fact that
12 in looking at Base, that you have a business - a very aggressive
13 small company that is going to be really - and Don? I forgot to
14 ask this question. Are they still only going to sign one or two
15 Colorado contracts from your understanding?
16 MR. WARDEN: Yes, they said they were going to do two.
17 Yeah. I think that' s all the resources they have .
18 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: So, that even makes me feel
19 better, that we' re not going to be competing against other
20 Colorado communities . That they' re not going to be trying to
21 decide, you know, do I do this for Larimer or Boulder County or
22 some other municipality. That they' re going to be working for
23 us . And so, I realize, um, in the end you can make the
24 argument, you know, we' re not talking about a few dollars here .
25 But, I think at the end of the day, I think in 36 months when we
12
1 look back at this process, hopefully, and if not you know I' ll
2 probably still be here to be held accountable, so I'm more than
3 willing to do that . Um, I think we have the right people for
4 the right job, and so I'm very comfortable with the Base
5 contract that we discussed. I don' t know if the other
6 Commissioners have anything to say.
7 CHAIR GARCIA: Very good. Commissioners Kirkmeyer or
8 Freeman, do you have any comments?
9 COMMISSIONER KIRKMEYER [via phone] : This is
10 Commissioner Kirkmeyer and, um, it' s a little difficult hearing
11 everything. I just pulled over so I could look at the emails
12 that came through. Um, after hearing Commissioner Rademacher' s
13 and Commissioner Conway' s remarks, I would agree with that .
14 CHAIR GARCIA: Anything further to say Commissioner
15 Freeman?
16 COMMISSIONER FREEMAN: Um, no, you know it' s one of
17 those things that I think, you know I respect our people that
18 know what we' re doing and with Don' s recommendation, and so
19 yeah, I'm good.
20 CHAIR GARCIA: Commissioner Conway.
21 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Yeah, I know that our County
22 Attorney had spoken to us previously, but I'm not sure he' s
23 spoken on the record. Um, Bruce, are you comfortable in terms
24 of your due diligence on Base and the recommendation that' s been
25 given to us?
13
1 MR. BARKER: I am. Um, I was concerned just by - I
2 think any time you have - and this goes even for when you' re at
3 your own house - when you have a disaster or something and
4 you' ve people showing up out of no where -
5 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Like roofers?
6 MR. BARKER: Like roofers [laughter] . Um, you know,
7 it' s always good to do some due diligence and I'm glad that, um,
8 we had the time to be able to do that . Because the people I
9 talked to, from New York City, were very complimentary of Base
10 Tactical . And, I also double-checked the, uh - to make certain
11 that in fact, um, with CU, because they had mentioned that they
12 were going to be going. And in fact the Chancellor' s Office
13 there said that, Yeah, in fact they had been talking to the risk
14 manager, um, an insurance division manager at CU, and CU hasn' t
15 chosen anyone yet, but they' re looking at a variety of different
16 firms - one of them being Base Tactical . So that confirmed what
17 he had said, so, I feel comfortable with that . I think with
18 those two things I feel pretty good about it .
19 CHAIR GARCIA: Commissioner Rademacher.
20 COMMISSIONER RADEMACHER: Thank you Mr. Chair. And I
21 think we' d be remiss if we didn' t thank our staff for following
22 up on the references . And it took it some time to do so, but
23 thank you guys for doing that .
24 CHAIR GARCIA: Commissioner Conway.
14
1 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Yeah, I just want to ditto what
2 Commissioner Rademacher said. Um, I want to thank Monica and
3 Bruce and Don for all their due diligence in terms of following
4 up with this - and Trevor, sorry, I wasn' t leaving Trevor out .
5 Um, in terms of this, I think we feel - I at least feel a lot
6 better making this decision predicated on that research and I
7 appreciate you, on a very tight time frame, I think we only had
8 this discussion at 9 : 00 a.m. on Monday, and here we are at 4 : 51
9 on Monday, and so that' s very quick turnaround. The other think
10 I will add for the record is, I did my own due diligence, based
11 on the articles that were forwarded to me by Monica, um,
12 concerning Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and some of the issues raised in
13 some of the newspaper articles, and I am comfortable, in talking
14 with government officials out there, that the explanation that
15 was given to us regarding some of the concerns that were raised
16 out there in the news media, um, I'm completely confident, or
17 comfortable with the explanation that Mr. Levy gave us in that
18 meeting on Friday. That what he told me, just like he told us
19 the other things, are true and accurate and that means a lot -
20 that, uh, we weren' t - that he was being straight forward with
21 us . And, I feel that that even strengthens my opinion that this
22 is going to be a good working relationship as we move forward to
23 recoup those funds that we' re going to exert on behalf of our
24 taxpayers, to get as much of that back. So, I just wanted to
25 put that on the record.
15
1 CHAIR GARCIA: Very good. Any other comments?
2 Hearing no comments, is there a motion?
3 COMMISSIONER RADEMACHER: Mr. Chair, I' ll make a
4 motion that we approve the Professional Service Agreement and
5 authorize Chair to sign - Base Tactical Disaster Recovery.
6 COMMISSIONER CONWAY: Second.
7 CHAIR GARCIA: Motion to approve by Commissioner
8 Rademacher; second by Commissioner Conway. Any further
9 discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying
10 aye.
11 COMMISSIONERS UNANIMOUS : Aye.
12 CHAIR GARCIA: Those opposed say, Nay. Motion carries
13 unanimously.
14
15 [End of discussion/action on Professional Services Agreement
16 with Base Tactical Disaster Recovery during 4 : 30 Special
17 Meeting. ]
18
16
1 CERTIFICATE
2
3 STATE OF COLORADO)
4 ) ss
5 COUNTY OF WELD )
6
7 I, Esther E. Gesick, Deputy Clerk to the Board and
8 notary public within and for the State of Colorado, certify the
9 foregoing transcript of the digitally recorded proceedings, In
10 Re : Professional Services Agreement and authorize Chair to sign
11 - Base Tactical Disaster Recovery, before the Weld County Board
12 of County Commissioners, September 23, 2013, and as further set
13 forth on page one . The transcription, dependent upon recording
14 clarity, is true and accurate with special exceptions (s) of any
15 or all precise identification of speakers, and/or correct
16 spelling or any given/spoken proper name or acronym.
17 Dated this 19th day of November, 2013 .
18
19 b ��`s4,
20 Esther E. Gesick, Notary
21 ORIGINAL (x)
22 ESTHER E. GESICK CERTIFIED COPY ( )
NOTARY PUBLIC
STATE OF COLORADO
23 NOTARY ID 19974016478
MY COMMISSION EXPIRES SEPT. 29, 2017
17
1 INVOICE
2 (Recording/Transcribing)
3
4 WELD COUNTY CLERK TO THE BOARD
5 c/o Esther Gesick, Deputy Clerk to the Board
6 1150 O Street, Greeley, Colorado 80631
7 ( 970) 335-7215 X4226 (970) 352-0240 (fax)
8 egesick@co .weld. co. us
9
10 Date : November 19, 2013
11
12 RE: Transcript of 09/23/13 Special Meeting concerning
13 Professional Services Agreement and authorize
14 Chair to sign - Base Tactical Disaster Recovery
15
16 1 . 5 hour staff time (11 : 30 - 1 : 00)
17 @ $60 . 00 per hour - - $90 . 00
18 16 pgs . @4 . 00 - - - - - - - $64 . 00
19 TOTAL, due on receipt, please - - - - $154 .00
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