Summit County's Public Safety committee on Nov. 4 approved two procurement actions: a sole-source purchase of three industrial washing machines for the county jail and a 30% contract increase for on-site drug screening services for the Court of Common Pleas general division adult probation department.

Angela (Sheriff's Office) told the committee the current laundry equipment is about 20 years old (purchased in 2005), runs long hours — "11 hours a day during the weekdays, 8 hours a day on the weekends" — and must be efficient to handle linens and issues such as lice and bed bugs. The requested sole-source purchase from Balinky Inc. had an amount not to exceed $97,215.60 in committee materials.

The committee also approved Change Order No. 1 to the on-site drug-screening services contract with Aber Test LLC (doing business as Aber Health). David Magora, assistant court executive officer for the Court of Common Pleas, said the county exceeded the contract value this year due to higher testing volume and an uptick in the probation population, prompting a 30% increase for services through the end of the year. Committee materials show the cumulative contract amount after the change order not to exceed $280,566.

Both items were moved and carried by voice vote during the public meeting. Committee members asked operational questions (for example, how often linens are washed in different housing units) and received answers from staff.