Board approves multiple procurement awards, green-energy design and HVAC contract
Summary
The board received an RFP/ITB report covering fiscal-year awards (design work, janitorial supplies, routers, network and security testing) and voted to approve design services for district solar projects and a multi-year HVAC maintenance contract for all 18 district buildings.
Superintendent Thomas Anderson presented the district’s purchasing summary for the second half of fiscal year 2025, noting several administrative awards executed under board policy 3323 that did not require prior board authorization.
Awards detailed in the report included: RFP 1879-25 for design services for Norris Elementary School roof replacement (recommended firm: Friar Architecture; contract amount cited as $16,000), RFP 1885-25 for janitorial supplies and equipment (New England Industrial Supply; three-year contract with two optional one-year extensions), RFP 1875-25 for replacement core routers (Whaley Computer Associates; $84,068), RFP 1880-25 for network access control (Step CG; $17,950), and RFP 1882-25 for vulnerability testing (Janus Associates; $49,923). Anderson said the town of East Hartford is invited to use selected vendors for potential shared services.
Facilities presenter Jim proposed awarding design services for multiple solar projects (RFP 18-25) to Silver Petrucelli after evaluating four sealed responses and presenting the firm’s experience with school solar projects and state grant systems. Jim said the district prefers direct ownership rather than a power purchase agreement, pointing to state reimbursement (cited in discussion at roughly 76.43%) and federal tax incentives as factors that could reduce net cost. "This project conceptually could cost us $0," Jim said while describing the combined effect of state and federal incentives, adding that the district must plan for maintenance access and roof impacts.
The board voted to approve the design-award recommendation for the solar projects. Jim also presented a recommendation to retain incumbent Tucker Mechanical for routine HVAC maintenance across the district’s 18 buildings following competitive bidding; that contract was approved by voice vote.
No dollar amounts were provided in the meeting for the solar-design or HVAC contract totals beyond the RFP-specific figures reported earlier; board members asked no follow-up questions about the long-term financing package during the motion votes. The approvals move the design and maintenance procurements into the next implementation steps overseen by facilities staff.
Provenance for the procurement report and the design/HVAC approvals runs from the purchasing report presentation through the facilities contract motions later in the meeting.
