Gilbert council approves consent agenda including infrastructure contracts, employee MRI screenings and enterprise Grammarly subscription

The Gilbert Town Council voted 7–0 on Jan. 28 to approve the consent agenda (items 8–23) and to adopt resolutions authorizing acquisitions and easements listed as items 5–7.

Key items approved on the consent calendar and during public hearings: a contract with James Cook & Hobson to replace a large pump at the Crossroads Lift Station (the town’s largest lift station) at a cost of $160,000 funded from the wastewater replacement fund; contracts with ASR Construction for rehabilitation work at Well Site No. 5 and for related tank replacement tied to the site’s arsenic treatment; two contracts (ASR Construction and TriStar Engineering) to rehabilitate two stormwater pump stations funded from the environmental compliance fund; a job-order task with Talus Construction for trip-hazard and concrete repairs on the Western Power Line Trail paid from the general fund; and a contract with Brown and Caldwell for SCADA and control-system integration for the North Water Treatment Plant project funded from the water fund.

Item 8 — a preventative MRI screening contract with SMI Imaging for town employees — was discussed briefly by staff, who said a prior pilot program with the fire department caught several treatable conditions early and saved the town money in avoided long-term treatment costs. Council members asked for public clarification about health and fiscal benefits; staff said early detection had led to treatment at lower cost.

Item 20 requested procurement of 675 Grammarly for Enterprise licenses. Eugene Mejia, Chief AI Strategy Transformation Officer, said the request totals approximately $73,000 per year on a two-year contract; the town can reduce license counts or opt out of the second year. Mejia said a pilot of 150 users reached 100% adoption and that the procurement uses an existing cooperative purchasing agreement. Council member Chuck Bongiovanni asked how the town will drive ongoing usage; Mejia described department-level engagement and organizational-development partnerships to support adoption. Council member Young Koprowski asked about an apparent discrepancy between the contract end date shown in the agenda and the two-year subscription term; staff explained the cooperative agreement vehicle extends beyond the town’s fiscal subscription term (cooperative agreement ends July 2028; subscription budgeted through fiscal year ending June 2027).

All consent items and the three easement items were approved by roll-call-style voting as part of two motions recorded during the meeting. Council members and staff emphasized these purchases and replacements are funded from enterprise replacement funds (water, wastewater, environmental compliance) or the general fund as noted in staff presentations.

Why this matters: The approved contracts fund routine infrastructure replacement and maintenance of water, wastewater and stormwater systems, address trail safety repairs, continue an employee health screening program and fund a townwide communication tool to standardize external and internal writing.