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Finance committee backs $4.3M equipment schedule, awards roadway contract and rejects high equipment‑rental bid
Summary
On Feb. 4, the finance committee reviewed a $4.3–$4.4 million equipment‑replacement plan, recommended awarding the township's roadway materials contract to Glasgow Inc., voted to reject a single high highway‑rental bid to rebid quickly, approved a five‑year ECM extension at a negotiated 3% annual increase, and adopted a tax‑collector exoneration; committee members also amended and approved a proposal to hold Belmont Hills pool fees for 2026.
At the Feb. 4 finance committee meeting, township finance and public works staff presented the 2026 equipment‑replacement schedule and several contract recommendations.
CFO Adam Chumsky said the equipment fund is an internal service fund used to finance vehicle and major equipment replacements. He said the 2026 replacement schedule calls for roughly 43 vehicles and pieces of equipment, with total purchase estimates between $4.3 million and $4.4 million. "The equipment fund ended last year, 2025, with about $3.6 million of cash net of accrued payables, and we on top of that had $2.3 million of outstanding orders, leaving about a $1.3 million operating balance," Chumsky said.
Public Works Director Paul McElhenny reviewed the specific items planned for replacement and explained why staff proposed six hybrid vehicles this year rather than battery electric vehicles: vehicle availability, manufacturer discontinuations and charging‑infrastructure limits. "We weren't able to bring forward any recommendations for EVs this year," McElhenny said, noting staff is analyzing building power capacity and charging needs for future procurement.
On procurement votes, the committee recommended awarding the annual roadway maintenance materials requirements contract to Glasgow Inc. (low bidder on competed items). The committee also approved a motion to reject the single, substantially higher bid submitted by DePaul & Company for annual highway equipment rental and to rebid to solicit competition.
The committee approved a five‑year contract extension for the township's enterprise content management system (OnBase via Paperless Solutions/Highland) with a negotiated 3% annual maintenance increase, staging a five‑year total of $931,672.68 — a lower growth path than the vendor's initial notice of steeper increases.
The committee also adopted a routine resolution exonerating the township tax collector from collecting uncollected 2025 real estate taxes and returning nearly $400,000 in uncollected amounts (including penalties) to the county tax claim bureau; the vote carried with one abstention from Commissioner Gilda Kramer.
On recreation finance, staff proposed modest fee increases for Belmont Hills pool to meet a 2006 board policy of recovering operating costs. After debate, Commissioner Bernheim offered and the committee adopted an amendment to hold Belmont Hills fees unchanged for 2026; the amended motion then passed. President Sinai estimated the Belmont Hills membership base at around 2,500 and calculated a roughly $16 per‑member difference that, at that scale, would amount to about $40,000 — an approximate figure discussed during committee deliberations.
Committee members asked staff to continue examining EV options and charging‑capacity solutions, and to revisit pool‑fee policy with Parks and Recreation staff after the 2026 season.
