Shelton — The Shelton City Council on Sept. 16 agreed to advance resolutions related to public-works equipment purchases and surplus property to the Oct. 7 action agenda, and approved a separate resolution to contract for replacement of the civic center’s fire alarm panel.

Assistant Public Works Director Aaron Next outlined a package of heavy-equipment replacements budgeted in 2025 to replace assets some more than 25 years old. The equipment list includes a backhoe, a crack-sealing machine and a hook-lift truck with accessories. The items were originally budgeted at about $640,000; using state contract procurement, staff said, the updated purchase total is about $504,000 — roughly $136,000 less than budgeted. Next said the purchases are proposed to be funded from the city’s Equipment Maintenance/Revolving (EMR) fund, which the city uses to collect rental/lease charges from user funds for equipment replacement.

Council moved and seconded resolutions to place Resolution No. 1399-0825 (authorize PM&R equipment purchases) and Resolution No. 1400-0825 (declare surplus equipment) on the Oct. 7 action agenda for further consideration; both motions carried.

Separately, staff asked the council to bypass the municipal three-touch procurement delay to award a services contract to Guardian Security Systems, Inc., to replace the civic center fire alarm panel and more than 100 associated sensors. Staff reported the work is overdue, that the existing panel was installed in 1999, and that the vendor quote is about $126,000 (budgeted at $147,000). The council approved Resolution No. 1402-0925 authorizing the city manager to execute the contract and to bypass the three-touch rule so the work can proceed before winter.

Councilmembers noted that much of the procurement was done through state contracts to obtain lower pricing and that the EMR fund is designed to pool equipment replacement costs across user departments. Staff said expected delivery of new equipment would be early next year for some items and that demonstrations for council could be arranged once equipment arrives.