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City staff preview police contracts, federal grant for real-time intelligence center and housing-authority MOU on consent agenda
Summary
At the April 9 agenda briefing, staff described consent-items for April 14 including an APD background-checks contract, a federal Community Project Funding award to upgrade the real-time intelligence center (amount unclear in transcript), a sole-source radio-software purchase, an MOU with the Housing Authority to offset APD presence costs, an audit contract and water system revenue bonds. No votes were taken at the briefing.
Assistant City Manager Jade Dundas walked council through the April 14 consent agenda at the April 9 agenda briefing, highlighting several public-safety and finance items that will be presented to council for formal action at the regular meeting.
Dundas said the Asheville Police Department will seek a contract with a vendor identified in the briefing as the US ISS agency to perform background checks and polygraph testing to support recruitment. She also described a federal Community Project Funding award secured "through Congressman Chuck Edwards' office" that would be used to update and enhance the city’s real-time intelligence center used by police; the transcript lists the award amount as "1,141,2556" (amount unclear in the briefing and therefore not specified here).
On equipment, Dundas said a sole-source purchase is proposed for proprietary "smart connect" software that links radios to Wi‑Fi and cellular networks, enabling expanded coverage and interoperability under an existing state cooperative purchasing agreement.
Dundas described a memorandum of understanding with the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville to increase APD presence at housing-authority properties. "This agreement allows for contributions from the housing authority to help offset some of the costs of the APD presence there," she said.
Other consent items previewed include a renewal/audit contract with Cherry Beckett (authorized annually rather than multi-year), a resolution authorizing the finance director to issue water system revenue bonds to support ongoing water-system improvements (with a refinancing element), and a resolution to set a public hearing on a voluntary permanent closure of a portion of an unopen roadway along St. Dunston's Road.
What it means: These are consent agenda items staff expects to bring forward for council approval at the regular meeting. The briefing is an informational review rather than a vote; council members raised no substantive objections but did ask for accessibility to the lease agreement referenced in the agenda (a staff follow-up was promised).
Next steps: The items will appear on the April 14 consent agenda for formal action; staff will provide the lease document link and any additional requested materials at the regular meeting.
