Geary County to seek sealed bids after emergency equipment grant falls short of vendor pricing

Gary Burgess, Geary County emergency management director, told commissioners the county’s AirPaks award of $711,987 cannot cover the vendor pricing returned to the county. "We got the grant award, the amount of $711,987," Burgess said, and vendor quotes for the air packs were roughly $45,000 over that figure. Burgess said the county requested 69 air packs and that the two dealers in the state treat pricing uniformly, so he proposed soliciting sealed bids from both dealers to encourage competition and try to reach the grant amount.

Burgess said he had contacted Sen. Roger Marshall’s and Sen. Jerry Moran’s offices to request discretionary assistance and was coordinating with the vendors’ regional representatives. He added the Scott manufacturer is U.S.-made and that matching equipment across local departments helps with interoperability and shared spare parts: "So we want to keep them all the same," he said.

Commissioners discussed timing and the possibility of reaching a price near the grant total by running bids between the two dealers. Commissioner (S4) moved to allow staff to issue a sealed-bid solicitation to the two dealers mentioned in the meeting; Commissioner (S3) seconded. The motion passed by voice vote. Burgess said sealed bids will be due by Friday, February 27 at 4 p.m., with the commission opening proposals the week of March 3 during a regular meeting.

The action directs staff to follow county purchasing policy and to continue coordination with federal and congressional contacts; Burgess said he expects the competition and vendor negotiations to bring the total cost near the original award. The commission did not record an individual roll-call tally in the transcript; the decision was captured as a voice vote to proceed with sealed bids. The next procedural step is the sealed-bid opening at the commission meeting in early March.