High Point finance committee approves contracts, equipment purchases and infrastructure studies

High Point Mayor Ciro Jefferson convened the city’s finance committee and the panel approved a series of contracts, purchases and engineering task orders affecting housing, public works, fleet, IT and human services.

The measures approved include a one-year renewal of the city’s Washington, D.C., lobbying contract; a multi-year lease to replace core IT infrastructure; multiple fleet vehicle purchases; housing program administration and community repair event contracts; relocation and equipment purchases for landfill operations; several engineering task orders for wastewater and water-plant projects; and continued funding for social-work staffing at the library. Committee votes were taken after staff presentations and questions; motions were made from the dais and seconded before the chair called for voice votes. The committee approved each item presented at the meeting.

Why it matters: the approvals allocate budgeted money for near-term capital and operating needs and start design work on multi-million-dollar water and wastewater projects that the city said are intended to support system reliability and anticipated growth. Several items also fund direct services for residents (housing counseling, community repairs and on-site social work at the library).

What the committee approved (selected items and key details):

- Item 2025-272: Agreement with Ferguson Group (Washington, D.C.) to continue federal lobbying services for July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026. Staff requested authorization for an amount not to exceed $97,610. Managing Director Jeron Hollis told the committee the firm has helped secure “over $12,000,000 in federal funding” for the city since 2022. Motion approved.

- Item 2025-273: Leasing contract with First Citizens Bank for replacement of three end-of-life Nutanix infrastructure clusters used for core city services (online payments, permitting, records, 911 dispatch). Director of IT Adam Ward presented a total lease amount of $2,309,792.45 with a 59-month term and annual payments of $461,958.49; Ward said the lender change from KS State Bank to First Citizens was required when the lease was revised to a non-bank-qualified loan, which raised the interest rate from about 4.759% to 4.99% because of the city’s tax-exempt bond structure. Motion approved.

- Fleet purchases (multiple agenda items): the committee approved several vehicle purchases for street, electric and environmental services, including dump trucks (single-axle and double-axle units) from XL Truck Group (total $449,532), an Altec-equipped truck for the electric department (funding and delivery estimates provided; contract under Sourcewell), a Ford F-550 refuse chassis under North Carolina contract for environmental services (price cited in staff materials), and three Dennis Eagle residential-collection trucks with New Way bodies from Piedmont Truck Center (total $1,245,886.92). Deliveries were estimated at under 365 days for each buy. Motions approved.

- Item 2025-279: Contract with Housing Consultants Group to administer the city’s affordable housing programs (pre- and post-purchase counseling, home-buyer education, loan underwriting and outreach). Staff recommended awarding $99,700 from the FY25–26 budget. Motion approved.

- Item 2025-297: Contract with Community Housing Solutions for operational expenses for the city’s Operation Inasmuch event (fall 2025). Staff requested $100,000 for the November 1 event in the Macedonia–Pershing neighborhood; staff said the city has used volunteers in prior events (about 1,800 volunteers assisting 206 households to date). Motion approved.

- Items 2025-286 and 2025-287: AT&T fiber relocation reimbursement ($373,005.69) related to landfill expansion and purchase of two GPS-guidance systems for landfill compactors ($124,795) to improve compaction, reporting and compliance with state airspace reporting. Both items were approved; staff said AT&T requires its contractors perform the relocation and that the GPS supplier was the only bidder for the compactors’ guidance/software package.

- Engineering task orders and studies: the committee approved multiple task orders under existing master agreements to proceed with condition assessments and design work: • Hazen — East Side Wastewater Treatment Plant condition and operational assessment, $350,000; staff said the assessment will inform CIP planning to better predict equipment and facility upgrades. • Hazen — tertiary filtration study for filters 1–4 at the East Side plant, $140,000; filters date to about 1985 and have reached end of useful life. • HDR Engineering — design for the Shady Brook lift station and associated sanitary sewer work, $2,106,000; staff noted the lift station has capacity issues and the project could increase capacity beyond the current 1.7 million gallons per day. • HDR Engineering — Ward Water Plant filters rehabilitation (construction administration and on-site project representation), $736,500. All task orders were approved.

- Item 2025-289: Contract amendment with Evergreen Solutions to complete phase 2 of the city’s classification and compensation study (about $117,000). Director of Human Resources Angela Kirkwood said phase 1 covered 398 employees and 138 job titles; phase 2 will cover roughly 1,016 employees in 375 job titles. Motion approved.

- Items 2025-290 and 2025-291 (development and public-safety purchases): the committee approved a right-of-entry and release plus a deed of no-build easement to facilitate redevelopment of Showplace West into roughly 130 apartments and about 9,000 square feet of commercial space. Staff and the developer proposed a 15-foot, 1-inch no-build easement measured from the property line to meet building-code separation/sprinkler-wall options; staff said the easement would still allow recreational use of the deck area outside the no-build zone. Also approved: a purchase of training and duty ammunition from Vista Outdoor (Keisler Police Supply) not to exceed $134,763. Motions approved.

- Item 2025-295: Contract with Mental Health Associates of the Triad to provide social-work services at the library for a second year, $156,344.18. Library Director Mary Sizemore reported the provider logged more than 577 resident interactions over the prior year and performed crisis de-escalation and assistance with housing, benefits and transportation. Motion approved.

Votes and procedure: staff presenters described the requests, committee members asked clarifying questions on scope, cost and schedule, and the mayor or the chair moved each item; most motions were seconded by Councilmember Andrew or Councilmember Peters and carried by voice vote with the chair announcing “the ayes have it.” Where staff noted procurement specifics, they cited state or cooperative contracts (see list below).

Next steps and budgeting: staff repeatedly said funds are available in the FY25–26 budget for the presented items. Several engineering task orders were approved to begin design and studies that will feed the capital improvement plan (CIP) and future budget decisions.

Ending: the committee concluded the meeting after brief announcements about upcoming downtown events and adjourned to prepare for the full City Council meeting on Monday at 5:30 p.m.