Danbury purchasing meeting approves series of equipment, service and paving contracts; one vending bid rejected

Chip Volpe, Danbury’s purchasing agent, opened the Feb. 19 meeting and the purchasing panel approved a slate of contract awards and change orders covering city operations, school equipment and capital paving work.

The most costly single approval was furniture, fixtures and equipment for the Danbury Career Academy engineering department: a $591,134.07 purchase from Interscape Commercial Environments through two Connecticut state contracts, which staff said the state has reviewed and that the city expects to receive 80% reimbursement. Dan Petrovich, the assistant city engineer who submitted that requisition, told the panel, “The state has reviewed and approved the purchase, and we do anticipate receiving 80% reimbursement.” The board approved the purchase unanimously.

On public-safety and plant equipment, the group approved a $38,727.12 purchase of Mohawk lifts for the fire department and a $21,475 pass-through purchase to Veolia for a replacement shredder at the wastewater plant; the City said Veolia’s quote came from original-equipment manufacturer Franklin Miller. The panel also approved two change orders for audiovisual work at an alternate emergency operations center previously awarded to Red Thread Spaces: change order 1 adds $33,982.33 and change order 2 adds $9,389 to an original $102,992 award under Connecticut’s state contract.

Airport staff won approval to add a third zero-emission sport-utility vehicle to an earlier award to Danbury Volkswagen after receiving Federal Aviation Administration grant approval for a third unit. Airport administrator Mike Sefranick, participating remotely, noted the FAA funding and moved to add the third vehicle at the same unit price of $51,000; the motion, made contingent on meeting grant requirements, passed.

The meeting also concluded several routine procurement matters: an annual unit-price bid for flowers and plants to Downs Garden Center ($16,890.30); a time-and-print management system for libraries from Today’s Business Solutions ($20,481, with $2,815 annual maintenance after year one); and multiple unit-price paving and reclamation awards for the 2025 season to American Paving Specialist, Asphalt Repair Solutions, Reliable Excavating and Earth Movers, all contingent on contract, bonds and insurance.

Not all bids were accepted: Gastronomia Patty Patty’s bid for the volleyball-court vending location in Rogers Park was judged nonresponsive for missing required qualification documents and a business plan. The panel voted to award the other two Rogers Park locations — Tacos y Antojitos for the softball-field lot and J & E Ice Cream for the spray-park/playground location — and to rebid the rejected location.

All motions on the agenda carried; where recorded, votes were unanimous and staff recorded the outcome as “motion carried unanimously.” The meeting adjourned after completing the agenda. Next steps include completing agreements that are contingent on grant or state approvals and reissuing the rebid for the rejected vending location.