1981 SPE MTG MIN SEP 30 - Laserfiche WebLink

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should be holding out 75% of the conversion costs until you have something to gl", - tee that it is operational and refund payment when you are fully satisfied. Mr. Thomas stated that his company is considered prime specialists for municipal financing systems, and the final phase of their program would be the Facility Manage- ment portion of their contract, wherein after the application systems are installed, there is a need for on-going programming and other technical services, making changes as requested or needed by the City, and this would all be covered in the Facility Management portion of the contract. City Manager Trevino stated the City is now under a 60 -day utility billing cycle, and could this be converted to a 30 -day billing cycle. Mr. Thomas answered yes, approximately one-third of the cities they service bill on a monthly cycle, and others bill on a bi-monthly cycle. Mr. Thomas stated the heaviest users, the commercial users, are billed on a monthly cycle and the resi- dential users are billed on a bi-monthly basis, and therefore, you do not, in fact, lose money by sending out bills too frequently for smaller amounts to the residen- tial customers. Mr. Thomas stated that this, however, can be handled in whatever way the City wants. Mr. Thomas then explained their procedure for services stating a representative would come out and discuss with the City Staff to determine how often and on which days they would be needed to come in, and on the basis of those number of days, N that would be the basis of the charge. Mr. Thomas stated it is felt that with the number of systems that will be installed, and some of the potential difficulties CY) the City has been having, an initial amount of 4 half days per week would be real - 7 istic, and that is what we are proposing, at a charge of $2,000 per month, with one < additional charge for a travel expense of $300 per month, for a total charge of Q $2,300 per month. Mr. Thomas said for that charge the City will get scheduled on- site programming and other technical services for 4 half days or, if you choose, 2 full days per week. Mr. Thomas said he would also like to point out that if the City should have diffi- culties on a day when they are not scheduled to come out, there would be no addi- tional charge if they would have to come out. -- City Manager Trevino asked what the City would be bound to on the time of the contract. Mr. Thomas stated the term of the contract would be for a minimum of two years. Mr. Thomas advised that in their seven years of business, they have had only one price increase, which was approximately one year ago. Councilwoman Garcia asked how many employees does Thomas & Associates have. Mr. Thomas answered they currently employ six people, and they are now in the process of interviewing two additional employees, within the next 30 to 60 days. Councilwoman Garcia asked if these people are available to provide services to our City. Mr. Thomas answered yes, in fact, when they come in to do the installation, the City will be seeing not less than 4 different people doing the installation and software. Councilwoman Garcia stated that with the limited number of employees they have and with the many contracts they take care of, how does that work in providing the services. Mr. Thomas stated the majority of cities have been with their company for over 3 years, on 2 half days per week basis, and for those cities one individual could cover five cities easily, by themself. Mr. Thomas also stated that telephone communications equipment is also strongly recommended to assist in handling emergencies and problems, until a representative can come out and check on any difficulties. Councilwoman Garcia asked what is the normal response time. Mr. Thomas stated that within four hours would be the normal response time. Mayor Gonzales asked the cost of the telephone system, would this be an on-going cost or a one-time charge. Mr. Thomas stated this would be an additional cost, in addition to their services. Mayor Gonzales asked if anyone had additional questions. Mayor Gonzales then thanked each representative for their presentations. SEP 3 0 1981