911 Building Committee Meeting - May 29, 2026
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911 Building Committee Meeting - May 29, 2026
The 911 Building Committee met on May 29, 2026, at 6:02 PM, via WebEx and in person at the police community room. The meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM and adjourned at 6:33 PM. The committee received updates on the design and construction of the new emergency communications center, reviewed exterior renderings, discussed procurement strategies for sole-source equipment, and approved two payments for completed work.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the public hearing portion; committee closed that segment and moved to business.
Discussion Items
- Director Grauer Update: Director Grauer reported that the survey and geotechnical reports are complete and in the hands of Tektron (the design firm) for engineering review. He proposed bringing sole-source and bid-waiver contracts (e.g., Motorola radio system, municipal fire alarm dispatching system, consoles) to the committee for approval in order to lock in prices before the new purchasing ordinance takes effect. Committee members asked clarifying questions about documentation and the rationale for sole sourcing. Director Grauer explained that the city invested $12 million in a Motorola radio system in 2017, making it cost-prohibitive and incompatible to switch vendors. The committee agreed to proceed, with the understanding that each contract would require a memo from Purchasing Director Donna Formato and approval from the Common Council.
- Tektron Design Update: The design team presented progress over the past month, including intensive programming meetings for HVAC, IT systems, and radio infrastructure. Upcoming milestones include a site walk with Eversource on June 2, an interior design charrette on June 4, and a 100% design development deliverable on June 12. A refined cost estimate is expected for the July committee meeting. The team is still targeting September 4 for 100% bid documents. The committee asked about adjustments made after meetings with Director Grauer; the design team noted minor refinements to the number of cameras and access control points, and a change to make the new building the IT hub (rather than the existing building) for better security and infrastructure. No major cost or scope changes were expected.
- Exterior Renderings: The design team presented two renderings of the building exterior from different angles. The proposed materials include a cast stone base (resembling brownstone but more durable) and brick above. A pre-manufactured canopy marks the main entry, and a security gate (crash-rated) controls vehicle access. A small covered porch outside the fitness room was shown. The committee discussed window placement for the training room — the current rendering shows windows on the presentation wall, which the committee suggested relocating to the south side to allow natural light while preserving wall space for presentations. The committee also inquired about availability of materials for future maintenance; the design team confirmed all materials are readily available. The committee praised the renderings and noted that the visual helps inform design decisions.
- Building Naming: During the Tektron update, a committee member mentioned that the first public hearing for naming the building “George Dunn Central Communications Center” is scheduled for the next Common Council meeting (first week of June). The committee requested that a presentation or history of how the name came about be included at the resolution hearing the following month.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to approve $17,000 payment to GeoDesign for geotechnical work performed through May 3, 2026: The purchase order was for $19,000; the remaining $2,040 will be retained for potential pre-construction and construction consultation. Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously.
- Motion to approve $23,990 payment to Tektron (Tekton) for work performed through April 30, 2026: This covers the majority of the schematic design and the start of design development. Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously.
- The committee directed Director Grauer to bring sole-source and bid-waiver contracts to future meetings with appropriate documentation from the purchasing department and justification for council approval.
- Meeting adjourned at 6:33 PM.
Meeting Transcript
You are all set. All right. Welcome everyone to the 911 Building Committee Committee meeting. It is 602. I call the meeting to order. At 603, we are located on WebEx and also in the police community room. Next on the agenda, I believe is the public hearing session. That is correct. All right. Is anyone from the public who wishes to speak at this time in the community room and our WebEx, please uh use the hand raise function on your device or raise your hand in the public in the police community room, you'll be acknowledged. Please state your name, your address, and try to keep your comments to five minutes or less. Is there anyone who wishes to speak from the public with this time? No one online or no one in person. Okay, I'll close this portion of the meeting and move on. I'll hand it over to uh director Grauer. Uh good evening, everyone. Um, so we had a busy month. Uh we completed our survey report and our geotechnical report. Everything is in the hands of Tecton now to work with uh their engineers to make sure uh the building is sound and good for us. So we'll be talking about that shortly. Uh the one thing that I wanted to bring up and ask the committee is um would it be all right next month if I start bringing in some of the uh sole source or bid waiver contracts to the committee for approval with the new ordinance for purchasing, it's gonna take a couple months to go through that process, and if we can lock in the price now uh for those uh purchases, such as the municipal fire alarm dispatching system, the consoles, uh Motorola for the radio system stuff, I think it would be beneficial because that's gonna take you know an extra month or two. So I just wanted to get the committee's uh opinion on that. Okay, I'll ask. Uh Director Grower, for uh the bid waivers and this being sole source. Are we when you bring them forward? Are we actually going to have documentation to show that they are actually sole source uh entities and things that we need to use, uh justifying a bid waiver? Yeah, uh so everything would be an extension of what we're currently using, which would uh you know cause it to be sole source or bid waiver uh material. Um, and the consoles would be under the uh cooperative purchase agreements. So I need to do some more research on that, but I don't think that would need to go in front of the council, but I'll verify that one just because the cost of the I'll stop. No, the only concern I have is that you know some of the stuff like equipment that by the time we actually get it, it's not obsolete. Yeah, so it we wouldn't be taking delivery of everything, anything, we would just be locking in the price for something that is to be built. Yes. In a time in a manner that's that's timely, in other words, we're not buying something off the shelf now. Correct. Okay. The cost. So uh, you know, like motor roll is gonna be like 250,000. Um, you know, part of the new purchasing ordinance that would need to go uh technically out to you know referendum for the cost, but because Motorola is a sole source, they can only supply motorola equipment. Another vendor can't. We would have to get the approval of the council to move forward with that as a sole source uh uh sole source vendor. And I just want to just for the record, just to make sure I'm clear. The reason why we're staying with Motorola because the attempt to change or have all of our equipment, you know, link in with the systems that we're using currently would just be an enormous cost. It wouldn't be cost effective or efficient, correct? Yeah, so the city purchased uh Motorola radio system in 2017 for 12 million dollars. Um, so I think it would be cost prohibitive to go anywhere else at this point. Okay, just I have no further questions. Just for me to make clear something you said. You talked about referendum. I don't believe this needs to go out to refer to not reference um not referendum, uh bid a bid, sorry. Yeah, right.
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