Carroll County commissioners on Thursday approved multiple procurement actions and spending authorities within the adopted FY26 budget.
Key approvals included:
- A one-year renewal with Bridal Software Inc. (Asset Essentials) for facilities and Recreation & Parks software support, $47,771.53 (funded in FY26). Staff said the software manages work orders, asset forecasting and a forestry model used by Rec & Parks.
- Purchase of Cisco switch replacements from ePlus Technology Inc., $618,483.77, to replace end-of-support network switches across county facilities (staff said the devices are 5–8 years old and at the end of support).
- Spending authority up to $700,000 to Fire Chasers Inc. for structural firefighting turnout gear (Morning Pride brand), covering replacement every 10 years, volunteers, new hires and attritional replacement for 140 sets.
- Ongoing scrap-tire recycling to Austin Contracting Inc. via the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority contract, $113,850 (budgeted tonnage ~690 tons at $165/ton was cited by staff).
- Award of a real-estate brokerage contract to Homes and Farms Real Estate LLC of Mount Airy to market and sell surplus county single-family units; negotiated commission not to exceed 5% of each sale price (one-year contract with renewals).
- On-call user support and hosting services for the CityWorks asset management platform to EA Engineering (amount $44,500); staff said EA hosts the platform (due to firewall needs), hosts the GIS database used in mapping and provides on-call user support.
- Sampling, laboratory testing and reporting services to Maryland Environmental Service for water and wastewater facilities, $176,506.05; staff noted Hampstead costs are higher because of upcoming biological monitoring studies and quarterly PFAS sampling required under new permit conditions.
- Contracts to install water meter vaults and replace service laterals: Talon (Tallon) Lane (10 properties) to Mid Atlantic Utilities, $36,850; Windmill (Wimmer) Lane (20 properties) to HTI Contractors, $76,650. Staff said the county is transitioning indoor meters to outdoor vaults and proactively replacing aging 3/4"–1" copper service lines.
All procurements were reported to be within the adopted FY26 budget and were approved by voice vote or motions with seconders on the record.
Why this matters: The approvals replace aging infrastructure, continue asset-management services and fund safety equipment. Staff highlighted anticipated future testing costs for PFAS and biological monitoring under revised permits and noted some contracts (fire turnout gear) are for safety standards replacement cycles.