Shawnee County commissioners approve $3.8 million in vouchers, award multiple contracts and defer $54,090 equipment purchase

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners approved roughly $3.8 million in voucher payments and a series of procurement actions during its Jan. 30 meeting, and deferred one equipment purchase for further review.

The board, chaired by Commissioner Aaron Mays (District 3), approved voucher payments totaling $3,800,856.79 that included a $490,000 payment to Bettis Asphalt for street projects in the Sherwood Improvement District; $364,232.04 to Foley Industries for Public Works equipment (paid from the Public Works Special Machinery Fund and the Capital Outlay Fund); $154,629.75 to CDW Government for renewal of county computer security monitoring and awareness software; $449,828.67 to Cine Companies for courthouse renovations funded by ARPA; and $207,760.61 to Motorola Solutions for the sheriff’s system upgrade agreement, funded by 9‑1‑1 funds.

Why it matters

The vouchers include capital and operating spending for road work, information-technology security, courthouse renovation and public-safety systems. Several of the approved items are funded from restricted accounts (for example, Sherwood Improvement District funds, a Public Works machinery fund and 9‑1‑1 funds), meaning they are not discretionary general-fund expenditures.

Key approvals and discussion

- Traffic paint bid: The board authorized Public Works to award a bid to Diamond Vogel Incorporated of Orange City, Iowa, for 6,000 to 9,000 gallons of white and/or yellow traffic-line paint. Courtney House, director of public works, told the commissioners the low bid came from Diamond Vogel and said the county will apply the paint in-house. "The lowest best bid was from Diamond Vogel, and I'd like to move forward with the award of that bid," House said. The motion passed 3–0.

- Dump truck purchase: Commissioners approved contract C31-2025 to buy a replacement dump truck from Rush Truck Center of KCMO, funded with $200,000 from the risk-management reserve fund and $18,412 from the Public Works Special Machinery Fund. Courtney House said the county lost a dump truck in a December snow incident and needs to replace it to maintain about 300 center-line miles of county roads; the vote passed 3–0.

- Kubota utility vehicle purchase deferred: The Department of Corrections requested approval to buy a Kubota utility vehicle on state contract from Canequip Inc. for $54,090.53, to be paid from the inmate benefit fund and the detention facility projects fund. Department of Corrections presenter Bridal Colt described multiple uses for the machine — snow removal, grounds maintenance and use by inmate crews — and Major Tim Phelps said the model chosen matched equipment in use by other county departments. Several commissioners raised concerns about frequency of use and whether the county should instead bid out snow-removal contracts or share equipment from Public Works or Parks and Recreation. Commissioner Kevin Cook moved to defer the item for one week so staff could coordinate with facilities, finance, public works and parks and rec; the motion to defer passed 3–0.

- Noxious-weed herbicide solicit: The board approved a request from the Noxious Weed Department to solicit bids for herbicides for the 2025 season. Director John Landon said about 90% of the herbicides are sold to the public and about 10% are used in-house; he noted vendors expect price increases for 2,4‑D products. The motion passed 3–0.

- Fleet lease for weed department: The board approved contract C36-2025 with Enterprise Fleet Management to lease one Ford F-350 truck with plow and sander. John Landon said the department plans to transfer an older 2015 truck to the Health Department and use the leased vehicle for herbicide deliveries and winter parking-lot maintenance. The motion passed 3–0.

- Parks and Recreation on-call consulting RFP: Parks Director John Bell received approval to solicit proposals for on-call consultant services (architects, engineers and related professionals) for projects under the county's competitive threshold (roughly $25,000 or under). Jennifer Sauer, the county’s financial administrator, said the county could expand the arrangement countywide later if the commissioners direct it; commissioners approved the solicitation 3–0.

- Casaubon Tennis Center design: The board authorized Parks and Recreation to negotiate a design-phase contract with Mammoth Sports Construction LLC for four new tennis courts at Casaubon Tennis Center; the design scope will include sidewalks, lighting and electrical work and may include resurfacing of existing courts as part of cost estimation. John Bell said his department and the professional services committee evaluated proposals and recommended Mammoth; the motion passed 3–0.

What was only discussion vs. formal action

The Kubota purchase was discussed at length and then deferred for further coordination; that was a direction to delay a decision rather than a purchase approval. By contrast, spending on the vouchers, the paint award, the dump-truck contract, the Enterprise lease, the herbicide solicitation, the parks on-call RFP and the tennis-court design authorization were formal actions recorded as passing by unanimous voice votes.

Meeting context

The meeting included routine consent items and a series of department procurement requests. Commissioners asked staff to check alternatives in several cases (for example, whether snow removal could be contracted rather than buying equipment) and requested more cross-department coordination before finalizing the Kubota purchase.

Ending

The board closed with administrative items, noted a Jan. 30 work session will host the Topeka Area Sports Commission, and adjourned. No public commentators were registered at the meeting.