Commission excuses two members, approves consent bundle including equipment purchases and grants

The Kalamazoo City Commission on Jan. 27 voted to excuse Commissioners Hoffman and Wilson from the meeting and approved a 15-item consent agenda that bundled purchases, grants, contracts and appointments.

The excusal motion was made by Vice Mayor Hess and supported by Commissioner Cooney; the motion passed on a voice vote. Later, Commissioner Pradel moved to approve consent items 1 through 15, with Commissioner Cooney supporting the motion. Clerk Bohrling called the roll; all voting commissioners recorded “yes” and the consent agenda passed.

The consent agenda included competitive and cooperative purchases, sole-source services, grant acceptances, and appointments. Key items listed by staff included a $113,756 purchase of a Cisco contact-center solution to support the city’s 3-1-1 call center; a $187,294.88 renewal of Salesforce licenses; purchases of emergency warning equipment, multiple police vehicles and other fleet vehicles through cooperative contracts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars; and a three-year sole-source agreement for cloud security services at $211,884.95.

Also approved were professional services for the 150 East Crosstown renovation ($337,020), bridge grants from the Michigan Department of Transportation, acceptance of a $70,000 source-water protection grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, and a MDOT contract for a West Main construction project ($725,400). The city clerk was authorized to sign election coordination agreements with local school districts and education entities, and multiple citizen appointments and a mayoral reappointment to local boards were confirmed.

Commissioners recorded the approval on the public record by roll call; Clerk Bohrling read each commissioner’s vote before the mayor declared the consent agenda approved.

Votes at a glance: the meeting recorded two formal motions with recorded outcomes: (1) excusal of Commissioners Hoffman and Wilson — motion passed; (2) approval of consent agenda items 1–15 — motion passed. No separate roll-call tallies beyond unanimous “yes” votes were recorded in the minutes for the consent bundle.

The city manager and commissioners did not delay the consent items for separate debate; the union of items moved as presented and were entered into the official record.