Commissioners approve procurement, leases, personnel hires and grants in consent items
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Summary
The board approved a slate of consent items including vehicle and equipment purchases (including an ambulance and 20 sheriff vehicles), sole-source medical equipment and staffing contracts, multiple leases, LGEM grant applications, community organization funding priorities, a hire for Chief of Surveys, and planning commission appointments; most motions carried by unanimous voice votes.
The Board of County Commissioners approved a series of consent and procurement items spanning fleet replacement, public-safety equipment, capital upgrades and grant applications.
Key procurement approvals included a 2026 Ford F350 with snow plow for Buildings, Grounds & Facilities ($64,836.20), an award for pool and wastewater treatment chemicals (PUR 1774) for a one-year term, paving work at the wastewater treatment plant ($100,155.08), and an intergovernmental purchase of three vehicles for Water Quality ($183,903.45). The board authorized purchase of a Wheeled Coach ambulance for the Division of Emergency Services ($402,431) to maintain EMS coverage and approved purchase of 20 Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office ($1,128,486) to replace aging units and outfit new deputy positions.
The board approved a sole-source contract with Motorola Solutions for customized combiners and multi-couplers to replace an unserviceable legacy P25 public-safety radio component ($1,442,756) and authorized a matching budget adjustment to cover the unanticipated cost. A sole-source purchase of two Stryker LP 35 monitor-defibrillators ($105,501.50) for emergency services and a sole-source award to Potomac Community Services for three staff positions supporting the Recover, Rebuild and Reconnect program ($83,600) were also approved.
Other actions taken included approval of a 5-year lease with Western Maryland Consortium for office space at 3335 West Washington Street (rent at $9/sq ft with county-paid utilities), a 5-year no-rent lease for Federal Little League to operate a local field, a 4-month extension of the District Court Commissioner’s Office lease while the State finalizes new leases, and authorization to apply for two Maryland Energy Administration LGEM grants (a noncompetitive AOI-1 formula block grant up to $4,246,663 and a competitive AOI-4 project grant up to $1,390,000 that requires a 50% local match for a county office building project).
The board approved community organization funding priorities totaling $1.2 million for FY27, authorized an offer for Alex Shifler as Chief of Surveys, and appointed Douglas Wright Jr. and Laura Lane Unsworth to the Planning Commission for five-year terms. Each item recorded in the meeting transcript carried a motion and a voice vote, and votes were recorded as favorable by the board (generally 4-0 on the record in this session).
