Danbury Board of Awards declares Ellsworth Avenue School roof emergency, approves series of procurement renewals and awards

Danbury, Conn. — The Danbury Board of Awards on July 2 declared an emergency for the Ellsworth Avenue School roof and unanimously approved a package of procurement actions and contract renewals, including an immediate on-call contractor engagement expected to keep initial costs below $800,000.

Purchasing Agent Trick Bokey opened the meeting at 10:02 a.m. and said the engineering department submitted a June 30 proposal from Silver Petrucelli for $6,000 in additional architectural services to modify roof plans and help obtain construction costs; the board amended the firm’s existing contract by $6,000 and approved the award. A public works official told the board a preliminary contractor proposal received that hour was “gonna be under $800,000,” and the board declared the roof replacement an emergency, authorizing staff to use an on-call contractor through the cooperative procurement process so work can proceed quickly.

Why it matters: School roof emergencies disrupt building operations and can require expedited procurement outside standard bid timelines. Board authorization lets city staff start work immediately and later formalize a contract once costs are finalized.

In a series of routine procurement votes the board also approved a number of purchases and one-year renewals:

- School furnishings and equipment for the Danbury Career Academy: an award to School Specialty for $117,093.53 under Connecticut state contract 21PSX0001; the board noted an anticipated 8% state reimbursement.

- Lockers and shop equipment for the academy: an award to Grainger for $22,860.90 under state contract 24PSX0069, with an expected 80% state reimbursement for the equipment.

- Interim operations for the new fats, oils and grease facility at the Water Pollution Control Plant: staff requested and received approval to continue temporary operations pending negotiation of a longer-term five-year agreement with Veolia; staff said labor is running about $21,000 per month plus pass-through utilities while the new facility is brought into full operation.

- GIS technical-support services: a sole-source professional services agreement with CAI Technologies not to exceed $20,000, justified because CAI developed and currently maintains the city’s GIS system.

- A 12‑month subscription to OpenGov for permitting deployment: $32,256, presented as a sole-source addition to the city’s existing OpenGov master agreement and approved by the board.

- Extension of an annual heavy-equipment rental and trade-labor bid for one year at current prices, following confirmation from nine vendors they would hold pricing and provide updated insurance.

- Road-treatment salt purchase for the Danbury region awarded to Martin Salt at $89.66 per ton delivered, down from roughly $93.65 per ton last year.

- Additional tractor-truck repair work: the board authorized an extra $5,771.86 to C N Wood Environmental to complete repairs discovered after work began so the vehicle could return to service.

- Glass replacement services renewals for automotive and building needs: Glass Pro (auto) and Cayman Glass (building); the board approved the renewals and noted Cayman requested a labor-rate increase for building work from $150 to $175 per hour.

- Tree services RFQ extension to Bart’s Tree Service for one year at current rates.

- HVAC and water treatment services renewal to Clearwater Industries for another year at the prior annual price of $19,200 ($1,600 per month).

- Generator preventive maintenance renewal to A & J Generators for another year at held pricing.

- Annual network security appliance support and upgrade awarded as a change order to Computer Integrated Services (CIS) for $37,391.08; the board was told the software upgrade is mandatory for firewall clients to continue functioning.

All listed motions were seconded and carried by voice vote, with no recorded dissent. Several items were approved under sole-source or emergency procurement justifications presented during the meeting.

What’s next: For the Ellsworth Avenue roof project, staff said they will finalize the contractor proposal and generate a contract for board records. For other renewals and awards, staff will issue purchase orders or change orders as appropriate.

Speakers quoted in the meeting include Purchasing Agent Trick Bokey; a public works/engineering official who reported the preliminary roof proposal was “gonna be under $800,000”; Assistant Corporation Counsel Robin Edwards participated in votes and confirmations. The meeting adjourned after the final vote.