Commissioners waive bids for kitchen equipment and approve replacement laundry machine for county facilities

Carroll County commissioners on April 21 approved two procurement actions that county staff said are needed to maintain jail and nursing-home operations.

Why it matters: County staff told commissioners both purchases address operational needs at county facilities. Commissioners approved waivers of the county’s normal bid process, citing existing vendor relationships and the equipment suppliers’ service history.

Food-service refrigerator: The board voted to waive the formal bid process and accept the lowest of three quotes for a commercial “air curtain” refrigerator for the jail food-service operation. County staff said the low bidder has a long history of servicing county kitchen equipment. The board approved the motion without recorded roll-call tallies; the outcome was announced as “all in favor.”

Washing machine for nursing-home laundry: Facilities Director Murray explained the county’s washing machine on the nursing-home corridor is 26 years old and increasingly costly to repair. Murray asked to purchase a Unimac-brand commercial washer from Daniel’s Equipment, the vendor that services the jail’s Unimac units. Murray said the county had budgeted $12,000 for a replacement but that the Unimac quote exceeds the budgeted amount.

Murray asked permission to cover the overage from the county’s capital reserve if necessary or to offset it with savings expected from an upcoming mattress purchase. Commissioners voted to waive the bidding process and approve the Unimac purchase. One commissioner noted there are relatively few Unimac dealers and that the company chosen has provided ongoing service to county facilities.

What was not specified: The meeting transcript records the purchase motions and that three quotes were solicited for the refrigerator, but it does not provide a complete written contract number, the vendor’s full corporate name for the refrigerator bid (appears as “Plankard”/similar in the record), nor an exact final dollar amount for the Unimac machine in unambiguous form. Murray said the Unimac “is gonna cost 12, $16.00. 8 70 5” in the meeting record; county staff said they budgeted $12,000 and would use capital reserves if needed.

Staff directions and next steps: Murray said the Unimac can be moved to the new facility when the nursing-home laundry moves; commissioners asked staff to proceed and finalize purchase paperwork. For the food-service equipment, staff proceeded with the low bid from a vendor the county has used for repairs.

No formal protest or dissent was recorded. Commissioners approved both waivers and purchases by voice vote.