TAMMY TEFFT
WESTFIELD – The Finance Committee and several other City Council members attending the budget review meeting last night questioned a $326,167 line item in the proposed 2015 fiscal year budget of the Purchasing Department.
Purchasing Director Tammy Tefft said that money is the first year of a five-year contract with Siemens, the energy consultant which recently completed a $23 million upgrade to the energy systems in school and municipal buildings.
“We’ve spent all of this money, and that $23 million doesn’t include the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s funding for schools, but we’re still not maintaining all of the stuff,” Tefft said. “There are 1,500 pieces of major equipment in 23 facilities under energy management.”
Tefft said there is no commitment with Siemens for years two through five.
“All of that is contingent upon funding,” Tefft said.
Finance Committee member and Ward 5 Councilor Robert Paul Sr., questioned how the city could proceed with the maintenance contract without advertising that work for competitive bids.
Tefft said that much of the energy efficiency control systems are proprietary to Siemens, but that it has been an issue within her own department.
“We’re still going back and forth on those years two through 5,” Tefft said. “I want to see the cost go down, but as the age of the equipment increases, the cost of maintenance will go up.
“We have not been able to fund maintenance,” Tefft said, noting that many departments “are reactive, not proactive and contact a vendor only when there is a problem.”
Tefft said the Siemens contract will be cost avoidance for a municipal department.
“Those are maintenance costs departments will not need to have (in their individual budgets),” Tefft said. “This is the best course of action to get us up and running. My preference is to have a facilities department in-house.”
Finance member Ward 6 Councilor Christopher Crean said that the “$326,000 is sticker shock, but look at the number of buildings they will be maintaining. In hindsight that (Siemens contract) number is high. But not that high and Siemens is one of the premier companies doing this.”
Tefft said that the cost of maintaining municipal building is about $99,000, while the cost of maintaining the energy systems in the school district buildings is about $227,000.
