Baltimore, MD - The Board of Estimates agenda for the May 4th meeting is now available. It can be found on the Comptroller’s website under the Board of Estimates tab.

Items of note 

These are transactions we find interesting or may be of interest to the public, organized by agency. A separate list of items on the non-routine/ discussion agenda are announced at the BOE meeting.

Audits

Page 20, Audits, Biennial Performance Audit of the Baltimore City Department of Finance for Fiscal Year 2020 and 2019.

BDC

Page 22, BDC, Request to Approve and Authorize Execution of an amended and restated Land Disposition Agreement with with Zahlco Development, LLC for 506 N. Howard Street and 300-304 W Franklin Street. 

BPD

Pages 51-52, Item #3, Bureau of Procurement, Increase for Contract 06000 for Mounted Unit Operational Supplies with BAFS t/a The Mill at Bel Air.  End-user is BPD.  Increase amount is $15,000 for a total contract value of $33,412.04. 

Pages 56-57, Item #7, Bureau of Procurement, Award of Contract 08000 for Mobile Command Truck Network Upgrade with Incident Communication Solutions.  End-user is BPD.  Award amount is $30,562.

Pages 75-76, BPD, Travel Request for Commissioner Harrison and for Colonel Kevin Jones. 

Pages 97-102, Items #17-21, Personnel Matters. Reclassification of a Forensic Supervisor position, renewals of five employment contracts, and creation of two new investigative specialist classifications.   

Pages 108-109, Item #30, Personnel Matters. BPD employment contract renewal. 

DHCD

Pages 141-142, DHCD, Extension of Lease Agreement for Redwood Apartments Air Rights Parcel. 

Law Department

Settlement Agreements and Releases: 

Pages 42-43, Rebecca Ebaugh v MCC, multiple discrimination claims relating to termination from Rec & Parks in 2018. Settlement amount is $250,000. 

Page 44, Cassandra Gass vs MCC, personal injury claim for injuries sustained at a bus stop.  Settlement amount is $42,500. 

Page 45, Kenyon Joyner v MCC, personal injury claim for injuries sustained in an encounter with a BPD officer.  Settlement amount is $40,000.

Procurement

Pages 52-53, Item #4, Bureau of Procurement, Increase for Contract B50005017 for Background Investigations with Kentech Consulting, Inc.  End-user is shown as DHR. The increase will add $192,000 in value for a total contract amount of $2,242,851.70. 

Pages 65-70, Bureau of Procurement, Payment of Confirming/Unauthorized Invoices:

• Page 65, DGS, payment of $35,599.35 to VFA, Inc. for renewal of a software subscription after expiration of an existing contract. 
• Page 66, Fire Dept., payment of $17,990.91 to ImageTrend for CAD Integration support services provided after contract expiration but before contract renewal. 
• Page 67, payment of $10,732.69 to Klein’s ShopRite of Maryland for delivery charges for groceries provided to nine senior housing buildings during the pandemic but after financial assistance from the American Heart Association ended.  
• Page 68, Council President’s Office, payment of $10,479.34 to Acme Auto Leasing for vehicles for City Council members.  The vehicles were provided when a valid contract was in place, but the request to pay the invoices was not submitted until after it had expired. 
• Page 69, DPW, payment of $404.78 to Air Power, Inc. The vendor then changed its name which voided the purchase order and the contract expired with no other action having been taken. 
• Page 70, Rec & Parks, payment of $1,117.57 to Aspen Building Products for materials and labor for a project involving the Patterson Park Pool office that was undertaken outside the scope of an existing contract.

Pages 72-73, Bureau of Procurement, Recommendation for Award for Contract B50006315 for Energy Consulting Services.  End-user is DGS.  Award amount of $180,000. A protest was received from Maryland Energy Advisors. A Response to Protest was received from Enel X North American, Inc.

Page 151, Item #1, Bureau of Procurement, Recommendation for Award for Contract B50006380, Decals & Striping for Vehicles and Equipment.  Award amount is $529,028.75, recommended awardee is Shann-Baum Signs, Inc. A protest was received from AP Corp.

Public Works

Pages 1-6, Dept. of Finance/DPW, Water, Sewer and Stormwater Utility Rates. The Board of Estimates is requested to hold a hearing on a proposed rate increases for water, wastewater, and stormwater charges. A public hearing  would be set for June 15, 2022.

Pages 7-8, Extra Work Order No. 2 with Metra Industries under WC 1403, Urgent Needs Water Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Improvements—Phase II—FY20. The EWO is for $2 million and the original contract amount was $8,454,504.  

 Pages 10-11, Professional Services Agreement with Promise Network, Inc. to implement “Promise Pay,” a program to help low-income persons pay delinquent water bills. Amount sought is $195,000.

Page 17, MOU with Maryland Department of Human Services for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program.

Page 153, Item # 7, DPW, Rejection of All Bids for SC 938, Headworks Facilities Improvements at Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Pages 153-154, Items #8 and 9, DPW, Recommendation for WC 1410, Urgent Need Water Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Improvements Phase I-FY’21 and Transfer of Funds—protested by Metra Industries and by R.E. Harrington.

Sheriff

Pages 94-95, Item # 13, Personnel Matters. Salary adjustment for Sheriff to coincide with a fixed relationship with the new Fraternal Order of Police agreement.

Telecom

Pages 86-88, Items #2,3, and 4, Personnel Matters.  These three items involve the creation of two Agency IT Specialist positions and contract extensions for Tyrone Hobbs and Demetrius Carroll.  

Travel Requests

Page 24, Travel Request for Councilman Schliefer to participate in Associated Mission to Israel from May 2-8, 2022.

Pages 25-27, ERS, Travel Requests for Deborah Moore-Carter, Jonathan Pearce, and Helen Holton to National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems Annual Conference and Exhibition, the PRISM 2022 Conference and the Saxena White Annual Diversity Investing Symposium respectively.

Pages 83-85, Office of the Comptroller, Travel Requests for Charmaine Callahan and Simon Etta for the 2022 National Postal Forum and Information Technology Exposition (ITEXPO) respectively.

Transportation

Pages 162-167, DOT, Ratifications and Extensions of contracts:

• Pages 162-163, Contract TR01041R for Replacement of Edmondson Avenue Bridge 
• Pages 164-165, Contract TR03319 for Replacement of Harford Road Bridge—this will likely get some media attention 
• Pages 166-167, Contract TR10309R for Inner Harbor Water Taxi Terminal. 

Notices

To attend the meeting:

In person. Join us on the second floor of City Hall in the Hyman Pressman Board Room, 100 N. Holliday St.

Streaming. All meetings are streamed live on Charm TV and posted after on Charm TV's Youtube channel.

Listen in. Members of the public can call in via Webex by dialing (408)-418-9388; access code: 2346 221 8849.

Watch on television. Watch Charm TV, channel 25.

To address the board:

Procedures for addressing the Board have changed. New rules for submitting Protests and Statements of Opposition are available at the Comptroller's Website. Protests (written challenges to the award of a bid) must be received by noon on the Monday prior to the Board of Estimates meeting. 

Members of the public can submit Statements of Opposition. Statements must be received by noon on the Tuesday prior to the Board of Estimates meeting. 

Protests and Statements of Opposition must be submitted to BOE.Clerk@baltimorecity.gov, cc: james.knighton@baltimorecity.gov or by mail or hand delivery to Attn: Clerk, Board of Estimates Room 204, City Hall, 100 N. Holliday Street. 

The complete regulations on procurement, protests, minority and women-owned business enterprises, and debarment/suspensions can be found on the Comptroller's website.

Schedule:

The Board meets regularly on the first and third Wednesday of each month, with the exception of June and December. Please see the Comptroller’s website for a detailed BOE meeting schedule and associated submission deadlines.

Bid openings:

The Office of the Baltimore City Comptroller is accepting public comments on proposed amendments to certain provisions of the City’s Procurement Regulations. The proposed amendments Regulations would affect the process by which the Board of Estimates receives and opens bid submissions and publicizes the results of bid openings.  The overall goal of these changes is to modernize and streamline the bid opening process.

The full text of the proposed Regulations can be found online at the Comptroller’s website and at the Department of Law’s website. Information on how to leave comments can be found at the Comptroller’s website.