City mulls $5M contract with Johnson Controls

By AMY FOSTER / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Vice Mayor Patti Nunley, left, and Mayor Royce Davenport, middle, agree along with the board of aldermen to defer a vote on the Johnson Controls Inc. contract until next session as city recorder Shirley Durham records notes from the meeting.

After a week of reviewing numbers, McMinnville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen delayed voting on the estimated $5 million contract with Johnson Controls, Inc. for two more weeks due to a overwhelming uncertainty still felt toward the project.

“I’m not convinced you don’t need this program,” JCI representative Trey Crayford said to the city’s Finance Committee. “I can be convinced but right now I am just not.”

At the Finance Committee meeting, Crayford presented new numbers that included only a 2 percent water rate hike in 10 years. Previously, the numbers included a 3 percent hike every year for 10 years. The new numbers also included totally dropping the street lighting aspect of the contract. The deal would still include LED traffic lights and other specialty lighting.

With the exclusion of the lighting and the new numbers, the total contract price plummeted from an estimated $6.5 million to an approximate $5 million figure.

Crayford spent most of the presentation talking about the proposed new water meters and how the meters would save the city millions not only in unidentifiable water leakage but through less need for water meter readers.

“It boils down to the fact we don’t need all of those escalations,” Crayford said. “Basically if we did nothing else and the rates stayed as is, you would need only a 2 percent increase on your end over 10 years and no other increases.”

Crayford also said the people who will no longer be needed to service and read the meters could spend their efforts toward customer service.

“You’re basically going to read all of your meters in a day and a half or two days,” Crayford said. “With the new system you can work with the community and figure out when would be the best time for them to receive their bill and you can’t do that if you are out trying to get all of your meters read.”

Aside from the minimum increase and customer service, Crayford also stressed the new water meters will read much more accurately.

“You are only at 86 percent accuracy with your meters and we are guaranteeing 98.5 percent water measure accuracy,” Crayford added.

Not all of the aldermen were ready to delay the contract vote. During the Finance Committee meeting, Alderman Donald Hillis was ready to allow the council to vote and stop putting off the contract.

“I would like to make a motion before the committee that we go ahead and vote on this but if one of you needs some more information, or you need more time, then I guess we need more time,” Hillis said.

The current contract presented to the council consists of nine scopes of work concentration with a pricetag of over $5 million. This amount would be paid over the next nine months through a loan or bond.

Along with accrued interest, the city will make a yearly payment through the life of the loan. JCI will also receive a yearly payment over 10 years for the amount of $461,214. In return, JCI guarantees that all costs will be covered by the profit made each year through this program.

This matter will come in front of city officials again at the next meeting Sept. 6.