At its meeting, the Burke County Board of Commissioners approved multiple procurement and sale actions covering communications, road materials, facility painting and the sale of county equipment.

Phone system: Staff reviewed roughly 20 bids for a cloud-based Voice over IP (VoIP) phone system and recommended True IP based on a scoring matrix that weighed hardware, experience, municipal client size, implementation time and cost. The board approved True IP’s three-year proposal with a total cost of $122,964, including an $8,700 implementation fee, $30,744.31 in hardware costs and an annual service cost of $27,840 (noted as approximately $10,000 lower annually than current costs). Commissioner Bridal moved to accept True IP; Commissioner Lively seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Culvert pipe: The board approved a bid award for culvert pipe to Cherokee Culvert of Macon, which submitted the low bid of $26,001.66. Staff recommended Cherokee based on prior positive experience and reliable supply.

EMA station exterior painting: Two bids were received for exterior painting of EMA stations 8, 9 and 12. Titan Commercial Painting was the low bidder at $30,600; the board approved the Titan contract.

Road-striping paint: Three bids were received for road-striping materials (yellow and white paint, glass beads). Staff recommended Ennis Flint as the low bidder based on prior satisfactory use; the board approved the award to Ennis Flint.

Sale of county equipment: The board accepted a sealed bid from Reams Construction of Valdosta for the sale of a 2020 CAT elevated pan at $705,000. Commissioner Nicks moved to accept the bid and the motion passed.

Why it matters: these approvals cover core county operations — communications, road maintenance materials and facility upkeep — and the equipment sale generates non-operating revenue for the county.

Next steps: staff will finalize contracts and purchase orders and proceed with the equipment sale and phone system implementation according to the timelines in the approved proposals.