Danbury City Board of Awards approves contract renewals, locks half of school-bus propane at $1.35 per gallon

The Danbury City Board of Awards on July 10 unanimously approved multiple contract renewals and procurement decisions, including a price lock that covers half the city school bus fleet’s annual propane use.

Chair Trick Bolt opened the meeting and said the board had a full agenda and would move Health & Human Services items to the top. The board awarded an annual RFQ for eviction services to Shepherd’s Moving and Storage after receiving a single bid; the firm’s storage rate was announced as $1 per square foot and a $60 fee to release stored goods. The award was made contingent on execution of the prepared agreement.

Hernandez Carvallo, the board member identified as the director of health and human services, moved to renew an advisory contract for Ed Surgi to serve as department adviser to the Lake Kenosha Commission at the prior billing rate of $45 per hour; the motion passed unanimously.

On a multi-part decision about propane for the Danbury school bus fleet, the board confirmed that Norman E. Mitchell had offered two pricing options: a lock-in price and a differential tied to the daily rack price. The board ratified locking in 190,000 gallons — roughly half the estimated annual usage of 380,000 gallons — at $1.35 per gallon and agreed to purchase the balance at the rack price plus $0.25 per gallon; the contract includes an option to lock additional volumes if market prices decline.

The board also renewed several vendor contracts after receiving sole-source justifications or renewal offers. The police department’s annual communications contract with Motorola Solutions was renewed at a stated annual cost of $49,256.92; the public buildings department renewed a work-order/building operations software maintenance contract with Brightly at $59,210.79; and United Alarm Services was renewed for alarm monitoring and related services and separately for annual fire alarm inspection and cleaning for public school buildings (not to exceed $39,300). Liberty Hill Investigations was renewed to continue providing polygraph exam services to Human Resources, and Modern Mechanical’s annual burner maintenance contract for public buildings was renewed (lump-sum amount previously $43,174 with a stated hourly rate for additional work).

Board members recorded unanimous votes on each motion. Dan Garrick (finance director, attending remotely) joined the roll calls and votes; other named participants who voted included Robin Edwards (Assistant Corporation Counsel) and Jenny Warner (director of human resources), among others. Several motions were moved and seconded on the floor and then carried without discussion.

What the board approved (votes at a glance): - Eviction services RFQ to Shepherd’s Moving and Storage — awarded, contingent on agreement execution (unanimous). - Renewal of Ed Surgi as Health & Human Services adviser to the Lake Kenosha Commission at $45 per hour — renewed (unanimous). - Propane pricing for Danbury Board of Education bus fleet — ratified locking 190,000 gallons at $1.35/gal; balance at rack + $0.25/gal (unanimous). - Renewal of polygraph services to Liberty Hill Investigations — renewed (unanimous). - Danbury Career Academy additional architectural services to Fyre Architecture for lead testing — approved for $3,003.55 (unanimous); funding source recorded as DCA-2022-3040-7000-0813. - Renewal of Motorola Solutions communications service for Police — renewed at $49,256.92 (unanimous). - Renewal of Modern Mechanical burner maintenance for public buildings — renewed (unanimous). - Renewal of United Alarm Services for alarm monitoring and for school fire alarm inspection/cleaning (not to exceed $39,300) — awarded (unanimous). - Renewal of Brightly building operations/work-order system maintenance and support — renewed at $59,210.79 (unanimous).

Why it matters: The approvals lock in service continuity for public safety, school facilities and human services and reduce short-term market risk for the school bus fuel budget by locking a portion of propane usage at a fixed per-gallon price. Several renewals were processed under sole-source justifications, which the board recorded in the requisitions.

The board adjourned its action items after recording unanimous votes on the listed renewals and ratifications.