Council approves consent items including $12.1M Port City Transit contract, ProTech services and $2M museum exhibit contract

The Mobile City Council approved a series of procurement actions and contracts as part of the meeting’s consent agenda, including an annual contract with Port City Transit to operate the city’s transit system, an exhibit-design contract for the National Maritime Museum paid with a GOMESA grant, and several equipment and services purchases.

Clerk-read items included purchase orders and authorizations for vehicles, surveillance systems and software renewals. Notable approvals listed by the clerk included: a contract with Port City Transit to operate the city transit system at $12,100,000 per year; a $695,000 authorization for ProTech Video for technology training and consulting services; a $2,000,000 contract with Tinkert Imagineers for exhibit design, production and installation at the National Maritime Museum; and multiple equipment purchase orders, including surveillance cameras ($51,502), a solar-powered security camera trailer ($38,417.45), and a UKG Kronos timekeeping renewal ($44,022).

Councilmember Chan asked for more information about the Maritime Museum contract. A city staff member said the project is funded entirely by a GOMESA grant received in 2023 and that the contract will redo the museum’s third floor to create an immersive walk-through of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta; staff provided a projected completion date of April 2027. The clerk’s list also included a contract with SPV Associates (listed in the clerk’s readout as 01/5000) for services related to the city’s project management program; the transcript did not specify the dollar amount for that item.

Council members asked about the ProTech Video contract and how funds would be used. A staff speaker said the ProTech funds would continue existing services and would fund training on equipment and systems currently in use. The staff member also said portions of the ProTech work support Project Shield and that some consulting details would require executive-session discussion, which the council would hold if needed.

Other items in the clerk’s readout included contracts and purchase orders for vehicle procurements, public-safety equipment, park services, and a transfer from the mayor’s discretionary account to the Mobile Convention Center to assist with a Hall of Fame Walk event. Several routine appointments, appropriations and call-for-public-hearing items were also listed and approved as consent items.