Purchasing committee recommends waiving competitive bids for multiple contracts, including dam work and AI redaction

The Purchasing Committee voted to recommend the council waive competitive bidding and award seven procurement contracts, ranging from final design work on the Andy Pond Dam to an AI redaction tool for police body cameras.

The chair called the meeting and led votes on each item after staff presentations and questions. The DPW director asked the committee to extend PAR Engineering’s contract for the Andy Pond Dam to complete final design work, saying, “I’m here to request that the contract be extended for PAR Corporation… it’s for a $140,000” and that $135,000 is budgeted while the town has applied for up to $50,000 from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank to offset costs. Committee members asked whether the town would seek the full $50,000 grant or just the $5,000 shortfall; staff said the full $50,000 was requested and the town was awaiting selection notice. A committee motion to recommend a waiver of competitive bidding and award the $140,000 contract extension was approved.

The panel also recommended awarding $25,823.40 for carpeting to Authority Flooring Inc., which staff said had previously done the town’s carpet and matched existing tile; the committee discussed price variation tied to furniture-moving and logistical costs before approving the recommendation. For multifunction printers, the committee approved a five-year lease but then reconsidered after staff noted a cover-sheet error: the original packet listed Dell as the vendor, but the correct vendor is Bay Business Machines; the committee amended the award to Bay Business Machines and approved that amended recommendation.

On HR and payroll systems, staff described a proposal from ADP (through an MPA) offering benefits integration and onboarding features. Staff said ADP offered conversion assistance and hands-on training and that the cost presented was $64,437.90 per year; after questions about timing and the transition, the committee moved to recommend awarding the contract to ADP.

The committee reviewed a five-year, $51,006.14 proposal for an AI redaction add-on to the police body-worn camera system (vendor listed in the discussion as Axon Enterprise). Staff said the tool would reduce manual redaction work by over 90 percent. A committee member raised a key legal concern: “Mister Mishra, does this come with the company assuming liability? Should they mess up and not redact information?” The chair and others asked that approval be conditioned on checking indemnification and liability language; the motion recommending the sole-source SPO contract with that caveat passed.

Finally, purchasing staff presented a direct purchase of deicing salt from Martin Salt, noting the town is obligated to a minimum tonnage (reported as 2,000 tons). The transcript includes conflicting dollar figures for this line item (a $100,280 figure was stated, and later discussion suggested $148,280); the committee voted to recommend accepting Martin Salt’s bid while the exact contract total remained unclear on the record.

The committee heard no public comment, completed its votes, and adjourned. The items recommended by the committee will proceed to the full council for final action.