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MERCEDESINDEPENDENTSCHOOL DISTRICT

Mercedes, Texas

The Mercedes Independent School District Board of Trustees met in RegularSession onMonday, July 13, 2009.

Present:
Mr.Benjamin F. Castillo, President / Mr. George Cardenas, Member
Mr. Monte R. Churchill, Vice President / Mr. Ron McVey, Member
Mr. Oscar A. Hernandez, Secretary / Mr. Daniel R. Salinas, Member
Absent: Mr. Don H. Vogel, Member
Present from the District:
Beto D. Gonzalez, Superintendent / Coach Michael Uribe, Athletic Director
Maria J. Chavez, Assistant Superintendent / Sylvia Carlin, Student Services Coordinator
Olga Hinds, Chief Financial Officer / Barbara Hinojosa, Parental/Community Specialist
Lisa Cantu-Reyes, C&I, BIL Director / Suzanne Ramirez, Purchasing Supervisor
Cindy Cardenas, CNS Director / Delia Garcia, Accounting Supervisor
Paulita Guzman, Sp Ed Director / Attorney Michael Salinas
Roland Handy, Technology Director / Eva Cuadra, Administrative Assistant
Joel Quintanilla, Maintenance Director

Board President Benjamin Castillo called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Board Member George Cardenas led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance and Board Member Ron McVey offered the invocation.

Open Forum

No one signed up to speak in Open Forum.

Action Agenda

1.Discussion and possible action on the proposal for Security Guard Services

Mr. Gonzalez said a board member had requested a summary report on previous years’ counts of security guards per campuses and expenditures for security services. Mr. Gonzalez reviewed the information on the report for the 2004-05 through 2008-09 school years. He noted there had been dramatic increases in number of guards and expenditures for 2007-08 and 2008-09. Mr. Gonzalez asked if there were any questions about the report. Mr. Castillo asked how much was being budgeted for the 2009-10 school year. Mrs. Olga Hinds, CFO, said it would be approximately $350,000. Mr. Castillo asked about the length of the contract period. Mrs. Hinds said it was for one year with the option to renew the second year and that it was for sixteen guards, one for every elementary, three at junior, five at the high school. There was discussion that in the 2008-09 school year the high school had been directed to cut down the number of guards from eight to five but that it had not happened until March 2009. It was asked why the high school had had eight guards. The response was that the high school administration had communicated they needed the three additional guards. Mr. Gonzalez asked where the overages had come from - if they had come from 199 funds. Mrs. Hinds indicated they had come from local funds, fund 199.

Mr. Churchill commented the board budget committee and administration had discussed the matter and it was their opinion that security guards are being used to supplement administrative control. Mr. Salinas asked if the increase in guards in the past two years was in correlation to enrollment. Mrs. Hinds said it was not. Mr. Cardenas asked about the overtime, if it was due to the company not having enough guards and the same people being used for extra duty hours. Mrs. Hinds said there had been overtime at the beginning of the school year but it had stopped. She said this had occurred because the company was sending the same people to cover the after school and evening activities.

Mr. Castillo asked if the company the Administration was recommending had a good track record with the other two districts they served. Mrs. Suzanne Ramirez, Purchasing Supervisor, said she had called the references, one of them being a charter school and the references were both good. There was discussion if the company hadexperience with a district the size of Mercedes ISD and whether it hadsufficient personnel to serve Mercedes ISD and the other districts. Mr. Gonzalez asked Mrs. Ramirez to review the Administration’s recommendation and the rationale. Mrs. Ramirez said the Administration was recommending Cymez International Security because it provided the best value for the district. She said the company employed sixty guards, having been in business for fifteen years. She said the company had the same hourly wage for regular hours, overtime, and holiday time and no charge for vehicle usage for the roaming security guard that patrols districtwide in the evenings and weekends. It was asked if sixty guards were enough to cover three school districts. Mrs. Ramirez said what usually happened was that a new incoming company would hire the guards working for the present firm. She said in the past few years local residents have gone from one security company to the other as the contract has gone from one company to another. It was the consensus of the Board and Administration that it be requested of the company the board approves to continue with this practice of hiring local people who are familiar with the community’s children and the community’s culture.

Mr. McVey asked what the recommended company compensated their employees. Mrs. Ramirez said that information was not asked in the bid package; the bid proposal only stated what they would charge the District. There was more discussion on the hourly rates being the same for regular, overtime, and holiday time. It was noted the bid package specified no overtime was allowed without the specific instructions of central administration - the Maintenance Director, Superintendent or designee. Motion was made by Mr. Churchill to approve the Administration’s recommendation.

Mr. Cardenas said he had one more comment. He said he has said this every year: he did not want the security guards mingling with the students becoming too friendly with them, that they needed to conduct themselves professionally, to be on time to their job, and to be appropriately dressed. He said this needed to be emphasized to the company’s principals. Mr. Castillo asked where the company was based. It was noted that the company was from Hidalgo, Texas. Mr. McVey asked if any representative from the company was present. No one from Cymez International Security was present. Some of the board members commented they felt if a company was interested in doing business with the district they needed to come to the meeting in case there were questions. Mr. Gonzalez said in defense of the vendor not being present he felt it was the responsibility of the Administration to communicate to the bidders when their bid proposals would be presented to the Board and to tell them they are expected to be present. Mr. McVey said it was not that they were expected to be at the meeting, it was just that if anyone was interested in getting the business it would seem they would want to be present. Mr. McVey asked if any representatives of security companies were in the audience. They were a number of hands raised in the audience. Mr. McVey said this was just a concern of his regarding vendors being present when a recommendation was brought to the Board. Mr. Gonzalez acknowledged his concern; Mrs. Ramirez said she took responsibility for not informing the vendor that they needed to be at the meeting. Mr. Churchill said from now on the Administration needed to have the vendor that was going to be recommended vendor present at the board meeting because there have been problems where vendors have stated they were not asked to come to the meeting.

Mr. Castillo said there was a motion on the table by Mr. Churchill and a second from Mr. Hernandez to approve Cymex International Security as provider for security guard services for 2009-2010 school year. Motion carried.

2. Discussion and possible action on Drug/Alcohol Screening Services

Mr. Gonzalez said drug and alcohol testing was now being required statewide, not just for UIL purposes. He said Administration was recommending the proposal submitted by Med-Quik because of the District’s past relationship with the vendor and the price of $25.00 per student tested. Motion was made by Mr. Churchill and seconded by Mr. Cardenas to approve the recommendation. Mr. Salinas asked what last year’s price had been. The response was that it had been $35.00. Vote was taken on the motion. Motion carried.

3. Discussion and possible action regarding the Energy Conservation RFQ presentations to be made to the board committee alone or to the entire board

Mr. Salinas said he asked this item be placed on the agenda because the board construction committee had met with district staff to review the four RFQs that had been submitted. He said the question was whether the Board as a whole wanted to hear the presentations or did they prefer to have the board and district committee hear the presentations. There was discussion about narrowing down the presentations to two but Mr. Castillo pointed out that was not the question in this item. Mr. Gonzalez explained the board committee acted in an advisory capacity to the district staff and in the end the recommendation would come from the Administration. Motion was made by Mr. Churchill and seconded by Mr. Cardenas to have Board committee and district staff hear the presentations. Motion carried.

4. Discussion and possible action on Construction Project Expenses,

D. Wilson Construction - NorthElementary School

Mr. Gonzalez said this payment request reflected work completed through June 30, 2009 and Administration was recommending approval. Board members asked about the progress. Mr. Quintanilla, Maintenance Director, said the work was on schedule. Motion was made by Mr. Cardenas and seconded by Mr. Salinas to approve payment of $526,916.76 to D. Wilson Construction for Payment Application 8. Mr. Churchill asked if the construction was on target for District to move in by end of semester in December. Mr. Quintanilla affirmed that substantial completion was targeted for October with 100% completion in December. Vote was taken on motion. Motion carried.

5. Discussion and possible action on Construction Project Expenses,

Mata-Villarreal-Garcia Design Group - NorthElementary School

Mr. Gonzalez said this was payment request from the architect for invoices 2405-09 and 2412-09 and Administration was recommending approval. Motion was made by Mr. Hernandez and seconded by Mr. Salinas to approve payment of $21,726.00 to Mata-Villarreal-Garcia Design Group for architectural services as noted in invoices mentioned above. Mr. Churchill asked if this payment was for completed work or for future services. The response was this was for work completed. Vote was taken on motion. Motion carried.

6. Discussion and possible action on Construction Project Expenses,

Raba Kistner - NorthElementary School

Mr. Gonzalez said this was payment request included Invoices 019340 and 019405 for geo-tech services and Administration was recommending approval. Motion was made by Mr. Salinas and seconded by Mr. Hernandez to approve payment of $ 1,090.32 for above mentioned invoices. Motion carried.

7. Discussion and possible action on ranking proposals for North Elementary School off-site water and sanitary sewer line and to give authority to enter into construction contract

Mr. Gonzalez said staff had received proposals for the off-site utility work at the NorthElementary School. He said five sealed bids had been received ranging from $190,506 to $482,605. He said after ranking and reviewing the bids received the staff was recommending awarding the work to J.M. Construction, the lowest bidder, with the bidof $190,506. There were questions about how long the company had been in business, experience, and why such a disparity in the bidding amounts. Mr. Quintanilla said the company had been in business for twenty-nine years and had done work for the cities of Brownsville and Mercedes. He said a reason for the disparity in the bidding was the economic times; companies were being more aggressive in looking for work. Mr. Quintanilla said the decision to bid the off-site utilities separately was a good one because in choosing this bid the savings to the district would be approximately $378,000. In response to Mr. Churchill’s concern about something being left out of the proposal Mr. Alfredo Hernandez, Engineer, AGH Engineering and Surveying, said J. M. Construction was a local contractor that he had worked with for about twelve years. He said at present he had an ongoing project with them. He said during the bidding process very few questions had been asked and they were mainly related to specific state environmental quality requirements for which an amendment had been made to the bid package. He said it had been expected the bids would come in around $230,000, but it was obvious this company wanted to work. Mr. Hernandez said he had much confidence in Mr. Mendoza. Mr. Quintanilla said another reason J.M. Construction might have bid lower was the company had its own de-watering system and trenching equipment which saved him from having to sub-let much of the work. Motion was made by Mr. Hernandez and seconded by Mr. Churchill to approve J.M. Construction for the off-site water and sewer line at the NorthElementary School. Motion carried.

8. Discussion and possible action on Construction Project Expenses,

AGH Engineering & Surveying, LLC - Off-site utilities for North Elementary

Mr. Gonzalez said this request for payment was for the preparation of the separate bid package for the off-site utilities at the new campus. He said staff was recommending approval. Motion was made by Mr. Salinas and seconded by Mr. Cardenas to approve payment of $8,000.00 to AGH Engineering. Motion carried.

9. Discussion and possible action on Construction Project Expenses,

Journeyman Construction - High SchoolPE Locker Room Facility

Mr. Gonzalez said this request for payment was for work completed through June 30, 2009 and staff was recommending approval. Motion was made by Mr. Churchill and seconded by Mr. Cardenas to approve payment of $109,414.89 to Journeyman Construction for Payment Application 1. Motion carried.

10. Discussion and possible action on Construction Project Expenses,

Port Enterprises, Ltd - Phase II Roof Replacement and Repair, Application 11

Mr. Gonzalez said this request for payment was for work completed through April 29, 2009, Phase II Roof Replacement and Repair at MercedesHigh School and staff was recommending approval. Motion was made by Mr. Hernandez and seconded by Mr. Cardenas to approve payment of $15,621.31 to Port Enterprises, Ltd. for Payment Application 11. Motion carried.

11. Discussion and possible action on Construction Project Expenses,

Port Enterprises, Ltd - Phase II Roof Replacement and Repair, Application 12

Mr. Gonzalez said this request for payment was for the Retainage for Phase II Roof Replacement and Repair for MercedesHigh School and MercedesJunior High School and staff was recommending approval. Motion was made by Mr. Salinas and seconded by Mr. Cardenas to approve payment of $96,786.52 to Port Enterprises for Payment Application 12. Mr. Churchill said since this was for the Retainage if everything had been done according to specifications. Mr. Quintanilla said he and Amtech Services representatives had conducted an inspection of both roofs. He said there were some problems that had arisen but they were caused by building drains and had nothing to do with the roofs. He said what was pending were the certification and warranty documents. The motion was amended to approve payment pending submission of all project documents to the District. Vote was taken on the motion. Motion carried.

12. Discussion and possible action on Construction Project Expenses,

Amtech Building Sciences, Inc - Phase II Roof Replacement and Repair

Mr. Gonzalez said this payment request was the final payment for the services rendered through June 4, 2009 and staff was recommending approval. Motion was made by Mr. Churchill and seconded by Mr. Cardenas to approve payment of $5,989.22 to Amtech Building Sciences for Invoice 290500 pending submission of all project documents (roof certification, warranties) to the District. Motion carried.

13. Report, discussion, and possible action on scoreboard advertisement sales and appointment of board/administrative committee to promote sale of ads

Mr. Gonzalez made a general statement that this matter was being taken very seriously. He said BBVA Compass Bank had been approached and that he, Mr. Castillo, and Coach Uribe, who was actively working on this, will be attending the next bank board meeting to make a presentation. He said contacts had been made with SouthTexasCollege, Walsh Anderson law firm and others. Mr. Castilllo said there was a board scoreboard committee and he wanted the superintendent, athletic director, and business manager to continue working with the board committee to promote the sale of ads. Mr. Churchill asked that a report on the scoreboard be on next month’s agenda for the administration and board committee to report on their success. Mr. Salinas said as chairman of the board scoreboard committee and having been involved with the scoreboard since the onset he was volunteering his services and was available to be the board rep with the group making contacts or visiting potential sponsors. Mr. Gonzalez said that was noted and Mr. Salinas would be the first on the Board that would be contacted.