Board approves routine consent items and several infrastructure and technology contracts
February 05, 2026 | Coldwater, Branch County, Michigan
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The Coldwater Board of Public Utilities approved a package of routine and project-specific items at its Feb. 4 meeting, including passage of the consent agenda and a series of infrastructure and technology procurements.
The board approved the consent agenda covering minutes of the Jan. 7 meeting, the Michigan South Central Power Agency minutes from Dec. 4, 2025, departmental operation reports, December 2025 financial statements, bills through Jan. 31, 2026, and power supply cost projections. President Stevens called for the motion; no substantive discussion was recorded.
Separately, the board approved a lease restructuring for equipment on the Bishop Avenue water tower and forwarded a staff recommendation (resolution 26-11 and agreement 26-05) to city council. The proposed lease starts at the current rent ($32.35 per month) and uses a five-year initial term with four five-year renewal options.
The board also approved replacement of fleet truck number 4 (a 2015 pickup with about 47,000 miles) at a low-bid price of approximately $58,015 and awarded purchase and contract actions for utility infrastructure: Bennett Substation fence replacement (Justice Fence Company, $103,051), Garfield Substation animal-mitigation fencing (TransGuard solution, $62,885), and SCADA/substation switch upgrades to support network isolation (Aspen/partner, $59,634).
Multiple cybersecurity-related procurements funded by awarded grants were approved, including IT staff training ($5,925 to StormWind), cybersecurity awareness training ($8,399 via DuPoint/KnowBe4), penetration testing/assessments (Plante Moran, $25,000), and a network monitoring/asset discovery platform (Auvik, $33,105.50). The board also approved a Microsoft government-cloud migration and multifactor-authentication implementation to CoreTech for $188,767.12.
After a closed-session discussion, the board authorized participation in the DG Marshall Michigan solar generation project and forwarded that recommendation to city council; a roll-call vote for that motion recorded affirmative votes from Vice President Ohm, Member MacKinnon, Member Smoker and President Stevens.
The board took no public comment and set its next meeting for Wednesday, March 4.
The board approved the consent agenda covering minutes of the Jan. 7 meeting, the Michigan South Central Power Agency minutes from Dec. 4, 2025, departmental operation reports, December 2025 financial statements, bills through Jan. 31, 2026, and power supply cost projections. President Stevens called for the motion; no substantive discussion was recorded.
Separately, the board approved a lease restructuring for equipment on the Bishop Avenue water tower and forwarded a staff recommendation (resolution 26-11 and agreement 26-05) to city council. The proposed lease starts at the current rent ($32.35 per month) and uses a five-year initial term with four five-year renewal options.
The board also approved replacement of fleet truck number 4 (a 2015 pickup with about 47,000 miles) at a low-bid price of approximately $58,015 and awarded purchase and contract actions for utility infrastructure: Bennett Substation fence replacement (Justice Fence Company, $103,051), Garfield Substation animal-mitigation fencing (TransGuard solution, $62,885), and SCADA/substation switch upgrades to support network isolation (Aspen/partner, $59,634).
Multiple cybersecurity-related procurements funded by awarded grants were approved, including IT staff training ($5,925 to StormWind), cybersecurity awareness training ($8,399 via DuPoint/KnowBe4), penetration testing/assessments (Plante Moran, $25,000), and a network monitoring/asset discovery platform (Auvik, $33,105.50). The board also approved a Microsoft government-cloud migration and multifactor-authentication implementation to CoreTech for $188,767.12.
After a closed-session discussion, the board authorized participation in the DG Marshall Michigan solar generation project and forwarded that recommendation to city council; a roll-call vote for that motion recorded affirmative votes from Vice President Ohm, Member MacKinnon, Member Smoker and President Stevens.
The board took no public comment and set its next meeting for Wednesday, March 4.
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