Miami County commissioners authorized the purchase of an automatic vehicle location (AVL) system to track county vehicles, approving a three-year agreement that uses an existing Kansas state contract to procure the solution.

Eric Sandberg of Road and Bridge told the commission the county previously used an AVL system to show snowplow progress and sought to restore that capability. He said the county tested multiple vendors and narrowed the choice to one company on the state contract. Sandberg described AVL as a GPS-based fleet-management tool used by public-works and transportation entities.

Sandberg presented pricing for a three-year term: $19,733.20 for year one and $18,447.00 for each of years two and three, for a total of $56,687.20. He said he did not go to a separate bid because the solution is available via a state contract that has already completed a competitive process — a procurement method commonly called "piggybacking." "It utilizes GPS and their technologies to track the location and move them to vehicles in real time," Sandberg said.

Commissioners approved the purchase 4-0. Sandberg told the commission the system should help document professional driving behavior and potentially aid liability or insurance outcomes.