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each department's special telephone needs would be reflected in submitted proposals. The Assistant City Administrator then met individually with each vendor giving them the information contained in the staff "spec sheet". Each vendor was asked to submit a proposal with staff's specs in mind. Both Assistant City Administrator and Kathy Schmitz conducted site visits and demonstrated each of the proposed telephone systems. The City's current vendor was contacted to submit a proposal but to date, they have not responded. Other telecommunication vendors contacted the City and four ultimately submitted proposals. Staff did not initiate a bidding process because changes to state bidding laws in 2000 allowed cities to accept quotes for products or services that do not exceed $50,000. Since all the proposals came in under $40,000, all quotes were accepted. Staff also prepared a spreadsheet in order to fully evaluate each proposal, which was presented to the Committee. The following items were evaluated as part of the spreadsheet: Completeness of Proposal, Included/Optional Items, Adjustments (number of phones, required capabilities, warranties), and Trade-In. The current telephone system is also beginning to require expensive repairs. The voice mail system is crashing and is only being used on a limited basis. Staff is mostly taking paper messages or using the e-mail system to distribute telephone messages. Central Telephone, the City's current vendor was contacted and a repair technician confirmed that the hard drive was "going down". He estimated that it would be approximately $700 to fix the problem. Staff recommended that the Committee accept the proposal as submitted by McLeodUSA as the lowest, most responsible quote. This recommendation was based on the fact that the other proposals did not appear as inclusive, leaving several items as "optional", or not as thorough as expected. Staff is concerned that these other proposals may prove more costly once installation is underway. Councilmember Kurak inquired as to how long it would take to have the system installed. Assistant City Administrator Moore-Sykes replied four to six weeks. Councihnember Hendriksen requested that staff clarify the labor charge, if any, they are going to charge for bringing the dial tone circuits into the building and have them inform staff as to whether or not the wiring in the building is adequate in advance. Assistant City Administrator Moore-Sykes replied that she would insist they do that. Motion by Commissioner Kurak, seconded by Councilmember Zimmerman, to recommend that the City Council accept the proposal as submitted by McLeodUSA as the lowest, most responsible quote, based on the fact that the other proposals did not appear as inclusive, leaving several items as "optional", or not as thorough as expected, with staff verifying if there will be a charge for the dial tone circuits and if the existing wiring is adequate. Further discussion: Councilmember Zimmerman inquired if there was already wire going to the Police station from City Hall. Assistant City Administrator Moore-Sykes replied that she was pretty sure there was, but they need additional cable to receive caller id. Councilmember Hendriksen requested that staff verify that the Police Station will have the same capabilities as City Hall. Finance Committee/August 14, 2001 Page 2 of 7