During its July meeting, the Burke County Board of Commissioners approved several procurement actions, awarding multiple construction and equipment contracts and accepting a sealed-bid sale.

The board accepted a low bid of $569,000 from Arrant's General Contracting of Savannah for an addition to the county animal shelter after staff said they had reviewed the bid and confirmed it included the required work. County staff acknowledged the county will reallocate capital funds to cover a $69,000 difference between budgeted and bid cost.

For the road department, commissioners approved a low bid from Cherokee Culvert of Macon for culvert pipe at $26,001.66; staff recommended Cherokee based on past positive experience and reliable supply. The board also awarded the exterior painting of emergency management agency stations 8, 9 and 12 to Titan Commercial Painting at $30,600, and accepted Ennis-Flint (road striping paint) as the low bidder for yellow/white paint and glass beads for road striping.

The county approved the sealed bid sale of a 2020 CAT elevated pan to Reams Construction (Valdosta) for $705,000.

On technology infrastructure, the board approved a cloud-based Voice over Internet Protocol phone system from True IP. Staff reported they had received approximately 20 bids; True IP scored highest in a matrix that weighted hardware, relevant experience, implementation time and cost. Staff said the three-year total cost with True IP is $122,964, including $8,700 implementation and $30,744.31 in hardware; annual service cost is $27,840, which staff noted is about $10,000 lower than the county's current annual cost.

Separately, the board tabled consulting services for a radio system upgrade at the request of the 911 director, who asked for more time to review proposals. The board approved the other bid awards and directed staff to manage budget reallocations where needed to complete the projects.

No protestations or formal bid appeals were recorded during the meeting.