The Cole County Commission at its Dec. 31 meeting approved a slate of procurement actions to support county operations in 2025, including several sole-source vendor contracts and an urgent purchase of mechanic tool sets.

County staff (Speaker 5) described the items and recommended approval of sole-source arrangements for medical-grade oxygen (Airgas), security supplies for the sheriff's department (Accurate Controls), HVAC maintenance for the sheriff's department (CNC Group), EMS needles and compatible supplies (Teleflex), and programming/printing of election ballots with the vendor identified in the transcript as Henry m Atkinson/Adkins and Son. "This is the first renewal with Airgas on medical-grade oxygen for EMS," Speaker 5 said in presenting one of the contracts and noted a 1.5% price increase for the oxygen renewal.

The commission also approved a sole-source purchase and an equipment quote of $27,430.30 for new access-control equipment at the Public Works facility; staff said the equipment and installation are one-time costs and that ongoing servicing would be handled under the county's IT contract with SWC of Kansas City. Speaker 7 clarified the quote covered equipment and installation.

Separately, the commission renewed the county's maintenance agreement for the courthouse clock tower with S and N at $12,000 annually, payable quarterly, and approved the sole-source arrangement for security-supply compatibility in the sheriff's department. The meeting record shows motions to approve each sole-source form and, in each case, a voice vote in favor.

On a time-sensitive purchase, Public Works presented a Sourcewell quote from Snap-on Industrial for mechanic tool sets totaling $49,462.28. "We will start off at 2 sets in 2025 and add a third in 2026," Speaker 7 said, noting that the quoted price was valid through the end of the day and would increase the following day. Speaker 3 moved to approve the purchase and Speaker 4 seconded; the motion passed by voice vote. Officials said providing county-owned tool sets will reduce the out-of-pocket expense for mechanics and support recruitment and retention.

The transcript records motions, seconds and voice approvals for each contract but does not provide a detailed roll-call tally for most items. Where recorded, the meeting used standard motion-and-second procedure and passed the items by voice vote.