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Aldermen approve vehicle, equipment purchases

Mayor Keith McDonald reads a proclamation declaring April 22, 2022, Blue and Green Day, encouraging people across the Mid-South to wear blue and green in recognition of organ tissue donors and health providers who save lives with organ transplants.

The Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen made budget adjustments Tuesday, April 12, so it can buy equipment, vehicles and make needed repairs for the Police, Public Works, Parks and Recreation and other departments.

The board passed a resolution to couple $887,000 from reserves in the General Fund with an excess of $1,200,000 in local and state sales tax revenue the City of Bartlett has collected this fiscal year to make $2,087,000 in purchases.

A little more than $1 million will be transferred into the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) fund to buy equipment and vehicles needed now, but that have a longer lead time for delivery.

The move, officials said, would avoid delaying the purchases and could reduce CIP budget needs in the next fiscal year and limit bond issues for capital purchases to $5 million next year.

“These funds are pretty much coming from the sales tax that are above and beyond what was anticipated,” said Alderwoman Emily Elliott, “so Bartlett people are shopping in Bartlett. Keep it up.”

Seven 2022 Dodge Charger Police Pursuit Vehicles will be purchased for the Police Patrol Division.

The department will buy the vehicles through a State of Tennessee vehicle contract with Columbia Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram at a state contracted price of $29,412 per vehicle or $205,884 total. Columbia CDJR estimates a delivery time of one to six months.

The purchase includes seven in-car video cameras from Watchguard at a total cost of $44,310.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen also approved funding for three police vehicles from a Drug Enforcement Fund budget that has $180,000 in it for four vehicles.

The three Dodge Durango police vehicles are estimated to cost $40,000 each or $120,000, and will be purchased through the same state contract with Columbia CDJR. The FY 2022 Drug Enforcement Fund budget was previously approved by the board.

Waiting to purchase the patrol cars could mean paying more later and delivery could be delayed by eight months or more due to the worldwide computer chip shortage, according to a report from finance director Dick Phebus. The cars themselves are $33,483, according to the state contract, before being outfitted.

Among the other purchases approved Tuesday night were:

– 80 wireless routers for Police and Fire emergency vehicles. The wireless routers and multi-function antennas are required to support the city’s upcoming Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Records Management System (RMS) upgrade. These devices will be installed in emergency vehicles to allow the use of mobile digital computers with gigabit-class Long Term Evolution connectivity, Ethernet and WiFi capabilities.

This purchase will be made at the State of Tennessee contracted price of $851 per unit from AT&T/FirstNet at a total cost of $68,080.

– 40 Sig Sauer M400 rifles with associated optics and stream lights from Accurate Law Enforcement, with each rifle and accessory set costing $1,332.06 for a total cost of $53,282.40.

In other business, the board approved the appointment of Jason Sykes to the Family Assistance Commission to fill out Paul Foree’s term, which expires Dec. 31, 2022.

At the beginning of the meeting, aldermen were informed of an emergency purchase for a force main pipe on Old Brownsville Road. Core & Main was paid $31,426.55 for the pipe.

On the consent agenda, the board approved accepting the lowest bid from ENSCOR LLC to do the force main relocation on Old Brownsville Road.

The city’s Engineering Department recommended awarding the contract to ENSCOR, which bid $95,247. With a contingency of $10,000, the total comes to $105,247.

White Construction & Associates Inc. submitted the only other bid at $138,726.25.

ENSCOR has done work for the city before and funds are available for the construction project.

The board also approved a special permit for Faith Baptist Church’s “Faith Family Fireworks” to be held July 3 at the church’s athletic facility, Buckhead Creek, at 8300 Highway 70. The event will go from 4:30-10 p.m. and include a fireworks show. It’s an annual event held by Faith Baptist.

Alderman Bobby Simmons voted no in a call to approve the minutes of the last board meeting, saying he had a question about the minutes. Simmons also abstained from voting on the ENSCOR and Faith Baptist consent agenda items, but after being questioned about his vote by Mayor Keith McDonald, changed his vote from abstain to yes.

Below is the full list of purchases broken down in the operating and CIP budgets:

Operating

City Shop – Fuel Increase, $250,000 total

Police – Urban Patrol Rifles ($50,000), Cell door, locks, Intercom, Camera & Monitoring System ($70,000), $120,000 total

Fire – Station 1 Repair, Breathing Air Compressor, 1 Vehicle $127,000 total

Code Enforcement – 1 Vehicle, $40,000

Public Works – Kubota Tractor ($32,000), Kubota Zero-turn Mower ($16,000), $48,000 total

Engineering – Replace worn carpet ($45,000), 2 Vehicles ($90,000), $135,000 total

Parks – Two 60-inch Hustler mowers ($29,000), Bobcat T66 ($68,000), 15 Cycle Bikes ($41,000), Carpet Replacement ($29,000), Inflatables ($13,000), Splash Pad Drains ($13,000), Access Ramp/Gate ($11,000), Pool Lane Lines ($8,000), Magnetic Door Access ($4,000), Front entry doors ($18,000), 1 HVAC unit ($9,000), Re-screen wood floors ($9,000), $252,000 total

Performing Arts – Lobby cove lights ($7,000), HVAC#12 ($8,000), Parking lot lights ($9,000), Awning ($3,000), Banquet chairs ($7,000), $34,000 total

Total Operating $ 1,006,000

CIP

Police – 7 Patrol vehicles, including equipping $400,000

Public works – 2 F-150 Animal Control trucks with kennel compartments ($99,000); general

maintenance John Deere backhoe ($121,000), $220,000 total

Parks – RTU 6 & 7 ($238,000), Fire system upgrade ($100,000), ADA transition improvements ($50,000), Replace ADA ramps in front hall ($25,000), Restrooms – ADA remodel ($48,000), $461,000 total

Total CIP $ 1,081,000

Total Expenditures $ 2,087,000

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