Danbury City Board of Awards unanimously approves vehicle purchases, radio equipment, senior-center repairs and software maintenance

The Danbury City Board of Awards on Oct. 30 unanimously approved a slate of purchase orders and contract awards covering vehicles, communications gear, building repairs and software maintenance.

Purchasing Agent William Chikolkin told the board the police department sought two 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe 4x4 vehicles from Ingersoll Auto of Danbury at $52,000 each, for a total of $104,000; Chikolkin said the purchase is ARPA-funded and that a second quote from Northwest Hill & Chevrolet was slightly higher. "This is an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded request," he said. A motion to award the vehicles under the Connecticut state contract, subject to ARPA auditor approval, passed unanimously.

The board approved a $34,553.47 purchase of seven Motorola APX 6000XE portable radios and accessories for the fire department under the Connecticut master contract. Chikolkin said the fire department submitted a sole-source justification noting that "they have standardized on Motorola radios for frontline firefighters," and that Northeastern Communications is the area representative. The purchase was approved as an ARPA-funded request.

Airport Administrator Michael Sefranik moved to award a sealed-bid procurement for two zero-emission sport-utility vehicles to Danbury Volkswagen, following Hoyle Tanner’s recommendation that Danbury Volkswagen be found the lowest responsive bidder. The award is for $51,000 per vehicle (total $102,000); Chikolkin said a federal grant will reduce the city’s net cost by roughly $1,200 per vehicle. The award was approved and conditioned on proper finance paperwork.

The board also approved a $39,120 purchase of a 2025 Chevrolet Traverse for the public utilities department, and authorized an open purchase (not to exceed $17,250) for Class 5 cold patch material with fibers from Metcalf Asphalt Paving for the highway department (delivered cost $158.79/ton).

On employee training, the board rescinded a prior award to New England Tractor Trailer School after staff raised instructor and health-and-safety concerns at the Bridgeport training site. Chris Gardner said the city would rescind that award and instead awarded CDL class A training for four employees to Allstate Commercial Driving at $16,910.

Several capital and repair projects for the senior center were approved. Garland DBS was awarded replacement of the lower canopy roof and skylight at $43,319 (Omnia cooperative contract) and the masonry cladding/waterproofing exterior work at $56,470; second quotes from JA Rosa Construction were higher. The board noted both items are ARPA-funded.

Technology-services requests included a sole-source annual maintenance and licensing agreement with OpenGov Inc. for the community development and permits system ($86,801.69), and annual support and usage licenses for Google email and apps through NewMind (a Google value-added reseller) at roughly $120,003. Both motions were carried.

Chikolkin opened the meeting and read attendance, noting a dozen agenda items and that item 3 had been removed from today’s docket. All presented items 1–12 (except the removed item) were approved by voice vote with the board voting in favor on each motion. The meeting adjourned after all items were acted on.

Votes at a glance

- Item 1 — Two 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs for police (Ingersoll Auto of Danbury): $104,000; approved unanimously.
- Item 2 — Seven Motorola APX 6000XE radios (Motorola Solutions/Northeastern Communications): $34,553.47; approved unanimously.
- Item 4 — Two zero-emission SUVs for the airport (Danbury Volkswagen): $102,000 total; approved unanimously (federal grant offsets local cost ~$1,200/vehicle).
- Item 5 — One 2025 Chevrolet Traverse (Ingersoll Auto of Danbury): $39,120; approved unanimously.
- Item 6 — Rescind award to New England Tractor Trailer School (prior CDL training award); approve CDL training for 4 employees to Allstate Commercial Driving: $16,910; approved unanimously.
- Item 7 — Cold patch Class 5 with fibers (Metcalf Asphalt Paving): not to exceed $17,250; approved unanimously.
- Item 8 — Sports lighting for Rogers Park Field No. 3 (Musco Sports Lighting): $44,484; approved unanimously.
- Item 9 — Lower canopy roof and skylight replacement at senior center (Garland DBS): $43,319; approved unanimously.
- Item 10 — Masonry cladding and waterproofing at senior center (Garland DBS): $56,470; approved unanimously.
- Item 11 — Annual maintenance/licensing for community development/permitting software (OpenGov Inc.): $86,801.69; approved unanimously.
- Item 12 — Annual Google email/apps maintenance and licenses (NewMind as reseller): approx. $120,003; approved unanimously.

What it means next

Most approvals were for purchase orders or contract awards that will be processed by finance; several items are funded with ARPA or other grant sources. The rescission and re-award on CDL training address reported instructor and safety issues at the originally selected provider’s training site. The board did not take a vote on the item that was removed from the agenda.

Sources: Danbury City Board of Awards public meeting transcript, Oct. 30, 2024.