This study session was held on Monday, February 2, 2026, at 11:00 AM (though the transcript indicates an evening start). Council discussed several agenda items including supplemental appropriations, technology upgrades, vehicle purchases, a road intersection feasibility study, and a senior center project. No public comments were received. The session concluded with a unanimous vote to enter executive session regarding pending litigation and employment of a public official.
Supplemental Appropriation Ordinance (C Means Agenda): Mrs. Lider (Finance) presented a supplemental appropriation covering multiple funds: $34,440 for the Brown School Road and Little York Road intersection feasibility study; $22,668.10 for police operations and $17,810.65 for fire operations (both for MDT modems and antennas with 5G capabilities, offset by a Verizon rebate); $1,000 for fire division (donation from VFW Post 5434 for a treadmill); $3,043 for the opiate fund (new wellness service for city employees); $27,150 for facilities improvement reserve fund (first phase design of a Public Safety Training Center Master Plan); and $47,680 for the senior center (conceptual designs for remodel/update). Council asked no questions.
Storage Area Network (SAN) Upgrade: Mr. Davy (IT) explained the need for a five- to six-year upgrade of the city's SAN, critical for data storage and disaster recovery. The 2026 budget allocated $210,000. After evaluating proposals via a cooperative purchasing agreement (Omnia Partners), staff recommended a proposal from SHI for $196,735.30, providing the lowest cost and greatest storage capacity. Remaining funds will cover connectivity components. This item is scheduled for the February 16 council meeting for approval and waiver of bidding.
Vehicle Modem Update Project: Mr. Davy reported that police and fire departments have experienced connectivity issues with their 4G mobile data terminals (MDTs). Verizon and AT&T FirstNet were evaluated; both offer public-safety-grade 5G networks. After rebates, the total cost for Verizon is $22,228.75 (initial outlay $40,478.75 with a 45% manufacturer discount). Service cost will be $10 less per car per month, saving $3,000 annually, with payback in 7.5 years. This project is included in the supplemental appropriation.
Criminal Investigation Section (CIS) Vehicle Purchase: Captain Krim presented the purchase of a 2026 Ford Explorer to replace a 2008 Mercury Sable (90,151 miles, failed transmission, repair cost exceeds value). Three quotes were received; the lowest from Bo Townsend Ford was $37,845 (MSRP $44,840). The approved 2026 budget allocated $48,000 for this replacement. The old vehicle will be declared surplus and disposed of.
Building Inspector Vehicle Purchase: A new vehicle will be purchased for the building inspectors using capital improvement funds. The lowest quote from Bo Townsend Ford was for a 2025 Nissan Pathfinder S (319 miles) at $34,000, with a $5,000 trade-in allowance for a retired police cruiser, net cost $29,000. Staff confirmed the vehicle is suitable.
Little York / Brown School Road Intersection Feasibility Study: Mr. Cron (Public Works) discussed engaging Choice One Engineering for an informal feasibility study of the intersection, which currently operates at Level of Service D/E. The study will evaluate a no-build option, minimum improvements (keeping Level D), and options to raise service to Level A (e.g., signal upgrade or roundabout). The study cost of $34,440 is part of the supplemental appropriation and will be used to apply for OPWC funding in fall 2026.
Senior Citizens Center Project: Mr. Althouse (City Manager) noted membership has grown to over 860, straining space. The city proposes a project development agreement with Energy Systems Group (ESG) for $47,680 to evaluate expansion or new construction, possibly co-locating with the recreation center. Keith Balquette (ESG) explained they will provide programming, schematic designs, and renderings to be presented at the council retreat. Funding is available from the facilities infrastructure reserve fund.
Legislative Calendar: Council briefly discussed the upcoming legislative calendar with no questions or comments.
All right, good evening. We'll go ahead and get started with our study session for Tuesday or Monday, February the 2nd, 2026. First thing is do we have any items on the C means council meeting agenda that need discussed? Council. We'll need to add an executive session at the end of the study session if time permits. Okay. And we have one item on the C means agenda that needs to discuss an ordinance for a supplemental appropriation. Mrs. Lider. Thank you. Good evening. Finance is requesting the approval of the following supplemental appropriation ordinance for the following reasons. And the street fund, an increase of $34,400 and forty dollars for the additional costs related to the feasibility study for the Brown School Road and Little York Road intersection improvements. And the police both in the police operations and fire divisions. And the police is an increase of $22,668.10. And then the fire division an increase of $17,810 and 65 cents, both to account for the additional expense related to the purchase of MDT modems and antennas for city patrol cars and for fire and EMS vehicles. This new service on each modem will be issued by Verizon and include 5G capabilities. Verizon is offering a credit rebate to offset the total costs, and it will be split evenly between both the fire and the police divisions. Also in the fire division, an increase of a thousand dollars to account for the donation received from the VFW post 5434 for the purposes of purchasing a treadmill. And the opiate fund, an increase of $3,043 to account for the additional expense related to the new wellness service being offered to all city employees citywide. And then it's titled one morning. And finally, in the facilities improvement reserve fund in the fire division, an increase of $27,150 to account for the additional expense of the first phase design of a new project, Public Safety Training Center Master Plan. And finally, in the senior center, an increase of $47,680 to account for the additional expense related to the preliminary plans for conceptual designs and drawings for remodel slash updated senior center. There are a few of these uh entries or requests that you will be hearing here soon from various different departments for a little more explanation. But I'd be happy to entertain any questions you have at this time. Okay, thank you. Any questions? All right, thank you. Thank you. And that takes us to our Monday, February the 16th meeting. We have one resolution for discussion, a storage area network upgrade. Mr. Davy. Good evening, council. Um the city utilizes what's called a storage area network uh SAN as a core component uh for our file servers and network infrastructure, and this stores our our critical data and uh support our city applications and it provides off-site replication as part of our disaster uh recovery and backup solution. Um the equipment is upgraded every five years, five to six years. Um, and for 2026, we budgeted 210,000 uh for the upgrade. Um the last one we did was in 2020, and then for this upgrade we looked at a couple different solutions uh looking at performance, longevity available and storage capacity. Um due to the sensitive nature of this infrastructure, uh the specific details aren't displayed on the screen, but they are in your packet if you need to review those. Um all of the systems we looked at are part of a cooperative purchasing agreement through uh Omnia Partners IT solutions, which is very similar to uh the source well cooperative purchasing contract. Uh and using the Omnia pricing, the city received two proposals from SHI and one proposal from ABTC. Uh the recommended proposal from SHI, uh which was the first one, provides the lowest overall cost and the greatest storage capacity for a total cost of 196,735, 196,735 and 30 cents. Uh based on this, we recommend approval of this and waive bidding as part of this cooperative purchasing, and then the remaining funds will be used for uh pieces and parts to connect the the system. And this will be on the uh February 16th council agenda. Thank you. Any questions from Mr. Davy? All right. And that brings us to our first discussion item, which is a vehicle modem update project. Also, Mr.