Colona official asks council to waive bid for one police vehicle; Axon five-year taser offer discussed

Council member Clinton Palace told the meeting he will ask the council to waive the formal bid process to allow a one-stop purchase and upfit for a police vehicle, citing an offer from Princeton Auto Group to handle procurement, upfitting and trade-in logistics.

"I'm asking to waive the bid process be a turnkey, one-stop shop," Palace said, explaining that Princeton Auto Group offered competitive pricing for a Dodge Durango and would also accept the town’s out-of-service K9 vehicle as a trade-in. Palace said $60,000 is budgeted for the purchase and that only one squad is planned for this fiscal year.

Council members discussed the current multi-step upfitting timeline—removing decals and equipment at local shops, transferring equipment, scheduling upfits and decaling—and expressed hope a single vendor could reduce delays. The transcript includes concern that some equipment from older vehicles may not fit newer models.

Palace also outlined a five-year offer from Axon for taser equipment and training that would lock pricing for five years and include a discount. Cost figures in the transcript were given as "about 800 per year" and "just under eight," which the meeting clarified as roughly $800 annually, or about $4,000 over five years; Palace said training funds are budgeted to cover the expense.

Palace said the out-of-service K9 vehicle will be placed on the surplus list. He asked the council to approve moving forward with procurement when the vendor’s order window opens; no formal vote on the procurement requests is recorded in the provided transcript.

Later in the meeting a motion to move into executive session to discuss personnel was proposed; the transcript records the motion but does not include a vote in the provided segments.