County commissioners authorize direct purchase of specialized electrical equipment for Catalyst wastewater plant

County commissioners at a special called meeting Sept. 22 authorized staff to pursue the direct purchase of specialized electrical control equipment for the Catalyst wastewater treatment plant after no firms responded to a formal request for proposals.

The item matters because the equipment is specialized to the membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment system, must meet grant funding limits and the project schedule, and—according to staff—only a small number of manufacturers can supply the required motor control and electrical distribution components.

County project staff said there were no responses to the electrical distribution RFP and recommended using the purchasing-policy exception to seek quotes directly from manufacturers. "So per policy, the board can just bypass and we can award to—we'll probably go to the manufacturer like we did with the Veolia and the wastewater treatment plant itself, making that purchase directly from the manufacturer," said Mr. Furrier, county project staff. Furrier said staff was talking to Square D and Eaton for quotes and that the county would aim to get several quotes to check "every box" of plant requirements, timeline and cost. Furrier added a rough cost expectation: "probably in, you know, under a million, hundreds of thousands of dollars." Those figures were presented as approximate.

Commissioners and staff said the detailed equipment specifications were prepared and vetted by the project's subconsultant, Barge Engineering. "We have a subconsulted group, Barge, which is a huge engineering company who's been very specific on all of these parts to make sure every part lines up with what we need in the end," Furrier said.

The board approved a motion to allow staff to negotiate with vendors and pursue a direct purchase, with the explicit plan to return to the commission to ratify the transaction once a vendor and price were identified. "I hate for me to make a sole decision without informing the rest of the board," the chair said during discussion, acknowledging concerns about authority and transparency. Staff said they would aim to present the procurement for board approval at a later meeting (transcript: "the January. The 20 ninth").

Commissioner Perkins moved to authorize staff to pursue negotiations and direct purchase as described; Commissioner White seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote recorded as 4-0, with Commissioner Mobley noted as not present.

Officials emphasized the purchase must stay within the grant budget and that subconsultants would vet pricing and technical compliance before any contract is finalized. Staff said they will return to the commission with the selected vendor, a final price and documentation of vendor vetting and compliance with the grant requirements.

The commission's action allows staff to seek and negotiate manufacturer or authorized-representative pricing for the motor control and electrical distribution equipment required to operate the plant, with final contract approval to come back to the board.