Elkhart City Board of Public Safety approves K-9 training grant, software licenses, hires and vehicle purchase

The Elkhart City Board of Public Safety on March 10 approved a package of equipment purchases, software licenses, personnel conditional offers and a vehicle procurement that board members said will support police and public safety operations.

Chief Dan Milanese told the board the department had been awarded a $3,900 grant to buy what he called a “core training system” (a sealed container with training odors for K-9s) and a Garmin Pro tracking system to locate dogs separated from handlers. “Our dogs are very important to us... if something would happen to where they would get separated from the handler, we can be able to locate them,” Milanese said. The board approved the grant and gave Captain Snyder permission to sign the agreement.

Milanese also asked the board to approve purchasing 20 parallel remote application licenses to speed officers’ remote access to the RMS when working from laptops via air cards. He said the purchase would be through Sourcewell as contract number 121923. The board approved the two-year contract for $3,641.70 by voice vote.

Dustin McClain of the communications center presented the February month-end report and asked the board to approve conditional offers of employment for three candidates — Braxton Gonzales, Ashley Evans and Reagan Ostrop — so they can proceed to drug screening and onboarding. The board approved the conditional offers.

Board members also approved continuing the ambulance billing services contract with EMS/MC ambulance after the billing company changed its name. A separate procurement request to purchase three hybrid police utility vehicles was presented by a representative of the Center Garage; three quotes were received, and the lowest responsive bidder was identified in the meeting record alternately as “EV Ford” and “EB Ford.” The board moved and approved awarding the purchase at a total shown in the motion as $122,809.39.

The claims and allowance docket was read and approved; the amount entered into the record was transcribed as "$260,000.449 and 53¢ consisting of 8 pages" — the reading in the minutes appears to include a transcription or formatting error and the precise figure should be confirmed in the official docket.

Votes at a glance: - K-9 training and Garmin tracking grant, $3,900: motion approved (permission granted for Captain Snyder to sign). - Purchase of 20 parallel remote application licenses (contract #121923), $3,641.70: motion approved. - Conditional offers for three communications hires (Braxton Gonzales; Ashley Evans; Reagan Ostrop): motion approved. - Continue ambulance billing services contract with EMS/MC ambulance: motion approved. - Purchase award for 3 hybrid police utility vehicles to lowest responsive bidder (record alternately lists “EV Ford”/“EB Ford”), $122,809.39: motion approved. - Claims and allowance docket: motion approved (amount as read in record appears to contain a transcription formatting error).

The board handled these items by unanimous voice votes without extended debate and moved on to departmental reports and other agenda items. The meeting adjourned after a brief public-participation period with no speakers.