Council members voted 7-0 to enter into a 10-year agreement with the Virginia-based CGI Group. The agreement calls for the city to spend $610,780 in the first year and then $102,000 annually for the remaining nine years for subscription costs. There also is a first-year contingency fund of $61,078 for unexpected expenses.
The money will come from the city’s information technology fund. All of the city’s funds, such as the general fund and the water fund, pay into the IT fund. The general fund will provide about a third of the funding for the project. A city report states the city spent more than a year researching how to replace the current budget software system.
In other action, the council:
- Recognized Chris Guptill, Darin Jesberg and former Councilman John Gunderson for their efforts to improve the Tuolumne River Regional Park
- Approved establishing a whistleblower hotline for employees and the public to make anonymous tips and hired Pennsylvania-based Lighthouse Services at an annual cost of $1,256.60 to operate the hotline. The hotline can be accessed by calling 844-670-0005 or going to www.lighthouse-services.com/modestogov. Moss-Adams, the consulting firm the city hired as its auditor, will investigate the complaints under its current contract with the city.
- Heard from several residents who are upset with the city for allowing a cellphone tower to be installed at Mancini Park and collecting rent for the land the tower sits on while, the residents said, failing over the years to make improvements to the park. City officials said the issue is complicated because while the park is in the city it is part of the Tuolumne River Regional Park, which is administered through a joint powers agreement among Modesto, Ceres and Stanislaus County. In March 2015, the council approved an agreement between the city and Sacramento-Valley Limited Partnership that calls for the partnership to pay the city $1,700 in monthly rental payments plus a one-time payment of $10,000. The agreement is for an initial five years and could be extended for as long as 20 additional years. Deputy City Manager Brent Sinclair will meet with the residents. One of the residents said the tower is under construction.
- Adopted the 2015 master and strategic plans for the Modesto Fire Department.