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Smith County approves 1-year renewal with TECO Safety for fleet upfitting after service concerns
Summary
The commissioners approved a one-year renewal and amendment with TECO Safety Inc. for contract 05/22 to continue vehicle upfitting. Commissioners and department staff discussed recurring wiring and light-bar issues, the need for central reporting of service problems, warranty handling and a plan to survey end users before future renewals.
The Smith County Commissioners Court voted to approve a one-year renewal option and amendment with TECO Safety, Incorporated for contract 05/22, the county’s nonexclusive contract for fleet vehicle equipment and installation.
The motion to approve the renewal was made by Commissioner Gurry and seconded by Commissioner Harrott; the court carried the motion by voice vote.
County staff and law-enforcement officials used the renewal discussion to raise recurring installation and warranty issues with upfitted vehicles, and to ask procurement for better tracking before future renewals. County purchasing staff told the court the contract covers upfitting for law enforcement, road-and-bridge and other county vehicles, including lights, sirens, cages and related IT equipment, and that the original award included a one-year base with four one-year renewals.
Sheriff Smith said TECO has responded when contacted and that problems have generally been fixed; “I am 100% completely satisfied with TCO,” he said. Fire Marshal Hogue reported four county vehicles had required follow-up work for wiring issues but said TECO has fixed those problems, and that TECO will collect and return vehicles for service for a nominal charge.
Multiple commissioners and department staff recommended establishing a single, shared reporting system so all departments log upfitting problems in one place. The court discussed options including a shared spreadsheet, Microsoft Teams or a ticketing system to centralize warranty claims and repair requests so purchasing can assess vendor performance before future solicitations. IT staff noted the growing technical complexity of modern patrol vehicles and said the county has added an IT employee to manage vehicle-related technology issues.
County staff said 11 vehicles are currently awaiting upfitting under the contract, with an aggregate upfit cost cited in the discussion as $129,813.49. Road-and-bridge staff said most of their work through the contract involves light-bar installations and that the shop logs repair work and can provide historical counts when purchasing requests that data.
Court members also discussed an unrelated vehicle fire under investigation; the Fire Marshal said the official cause was undetermined but believed to be electrical in nature and that the investigation had not attributed the fire specifically to a TECO install.
The court approved the renewal but directed staff to collect user feedback and to centralize reporting on installation and warranty issues ahead of the next renewal period.
