Indianapolis BNS board approves vehicle purchases, contract increases and shelter cleaning system

The Department of Business and Neighborhood Services board on April 24 approved a series of procurement and contract actions including two new trucks, a cargo van, increased payment to an outside veterinary vendor, renewals of administrative hearing contracts and the purchase and installation of an integrated cleaning system for the new animal shelter.

Board Director Abby Brands opened the meeting and led approval of the items. The board voted verbally in favor of each staff recommendation; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting transcript.

Staff presented seven separate agenda resolutions. For vehicle purchases, staff recommended outright purchase of two 2025 Ford F-250 Super Duty crew cab 4x4 (unit price stated as $56,724 each) and one 2025 Transit 350 cargo all-wheel-drive medium-roof van (unit price stated as $54,465) from vendors under citywide contracts. The presenters identified the truck vendor as Courtesy Ford Motors LLC doing business as Tom Kelly Ford and the van vendor as Heritage Ford of Indiana, a certified minority-owned business enterprise on a citywide contract.

On animal-services contracts, the board approved an amendment to the services agreement with Pet Vaccination Clinic LLC to increase the contract compensation “not to exceed” amount from $75,000 to $175,000 to fund the remainder of the contract term. Staff said the clinic has provided additional appointments and is handling more medical services because the shelter still does not have an on-site veterinarian.

The board also approved a contract amendment with Aegis BLN USA Inc. for infrastructure plan review, inspection and testing services to increase the contract’s not-to-exceed compensation limit; staff said that vendor provides a large number of reviewers and therefore uses its contract capacity more quickly. The transcript did not state the amended dollar amount for that contract.

Separately, the board renewed professional services agreements with two licensed attorneys to serve as administrative law judges and hearing authorities for nuisance and unsafe building hearings. Lacey Harney, administrator of the Bureau of Nuisance Abatement, said the department needs ALJs to oversee administrative hearings covering grass and mowing, trash abatement, illegal dumping and unsafe-building repair and demolition orders. The board approved an increase for John C. Krause’s not-to-exceed limit by $80,000 to a new $100,000 cap; the not-to-exceed limit for Mark Sullivan remained at $5,000. Harney noted pending state legislation would increase the number of repair-order hearings if enacted, prompting the higher estimate for Krause’s time.

On the shelter project, staff recommended and the board approved a purchase and installation from Assembled Products Corporation / SprayMaster Technologies for an integral cleaning system incorporated into the new Animal Care Services (ACS) shelter under construction. The supplier’s proposed cost was listed as $154,259.15. Jacob (last name not provided) explained the system is designed to standardize chemical dispensing inside the shelter and reduce volunteers’ need to handle and measure concentrated cleaning chemicals, which staff said should yield long-term savings.

Staff also clarified the organizational relationship between BNS and Animal Care Services: ACS is now its own organization with a separate board, but that board is not yet fully operational. While ACS will ultimately manage its own contracts, BNS remains the purchasing vehicle for some contracts and continued to present these items.

Votes at a glance

- Resolution 2025C10009 — Purchase of two 2025 Ford F-250 Super Duty crew cab 4x4 trucks (unit price $56,724). Vendor: Courtesy Ford Motors LLC d/b/a Tom Kelly Ford. Outcome: approved (voice vote).

- Resolution 2025C10010 — Purchase of one 2025 Transit 350 cargo AWD medium-roof van (unit price $54,465). Vendor: Heritage Ford of Indiana (certified minority-owned). Outcome: approved (voice vote).

- Resolution 2025C10011 — Amendment to professional services agreement with Pet Vaccination Clinic LLC to increase not-to-exceed compensation from $75,000 to $175,000 for spay/neuter and medical services. Outcome: approved (voice vote).

- Resolution 2025C10012 — Amendment to professional services agreement with Aegis BLN USA Inc. for infrastructure plan review, inspection and testing services; increase to not-to-exceed compensation limit (amended amount not specified in transcript). Outcome: approved (voice vote).

- Resolution 2025C10013 — Renewals of ALJ/hearing-authority agreements: John C. Krause (not-to-exceed increased by $80,000 to $100,000) and Mark Sullivan (not-to-exceed remains $5,000). Outcome: approved (voice vote).

- Resolution 2025C10015 — Purchase and installation of an integral cleaning system for the new ACS shelter from Assembled Products Corporation / SprayMaster Technologies (supplier cost $154,259.15). Outcome: approved (voice vote).

What board members pressed on or noted

Board members asked whether the infrastructure reviews covered drainage and stormwater; staff confirmed they do. Lacey Harney described the scope of nuisance-abatement hearings: “My team oversees all of the informal and administrative hearings conducted by the department, so that includes appeals of highways of grass, mowing, trash, abatement violations and fines, illegal dumping cases, and unsafe building cases like demolition and repair orders.”

On the shelter cleaning system, staff said the vendor was included after the system was specified during the shelter’s design phase and because only a limited number of regional providers supply the equipment. Jacob told the board the system will reduce staff and volunteer handling of concentrated chemicals: “staff are having to take chemicals to each kennel to clean and, you know, then volunteers are getting involved and we don't know are they mixing to the appropriate rates and things like that. So this would have a system that it just lives within the shelter that can be dialed in so they know exactly how much of the cleaner they're using.”

Meeting schedule and next steps

No votes failed or were tabled. The board’s next meeting was announced for May 22 in Room T260 of the City-County Building from 3 to 5 p.m.