St. Francois County approves using TIPS procurement to add ADA-access door at justice center

St. Francois County commissioners voted to use the TIPS cooperative purchasing program to pay for exterior concrete adjustments and an automatic storefront-style entry door at the county justice center.

The commission discussed the TIPS process before the vote. A county staff member explained the TIPS process requires an RFQ tied to an existing contract number and that the program can speed procurement because many vendors submit annual contracts to the cooperative. "It's very similar just like with when we buy the cars here. You do a quote to all the vendors and then they get back to you," an identified county staffer (Amber) said during the discussion.

Commissioners outlined the proposed scope: remove a two- to three-inch exterior concrete lip at the justice-center entrance to provide wheelchair access, remove a brick column and left-side windows, and install automatic ("storefront") entry doors. Staff recommended performing the concrete removal late Friday and replacing it Saturday so the surface could cure by Sunday and be ready when adjacent businesses and the justice center open Monday.

A commissioner moved to approve using the TIPS program for the justice center entry door project; another commissioner seconded the motion, and the commission approved it by voice vote. The motion included both the concrete work for wheelchair access and installation of the automatic entry door; no formal roll-call tally or individual vote names were recorded in the transcript.

Why it matters: using TIPS is intended to shorten procurement lead time while maintaining compliance with bidding requirements; county staff said the cooperative approach would allow the county to solicit quotes from vendors already on state or cooperative contracts. The work is meant to improve ADA access at the justice center and to replace an entry column and glass storefront on the facility.