The Dallas County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.

During open forum, Russell Baugh of Schottenkirk Chevrolet in Waukee addressed the board in regards to the fact that the Supervisors approved vehicle bids from a dealership not located in Dallas County at last week’s meeting.  He mentioned that they want to be asked for bids in the future and compete for the County’s business.  Baugh stated that not purchasing locally may lead to a poor perception that the local dealerships are not of the same quality and service as other metro businesses.  In addition, he mentioned that an up to five percent bid preference is often available for municipalities.  Board Chair Brad Golightly encouraged Baugh to get in touch with the two departments that do the majority of vehicle trading, being the Sheriff’s Office and roads departments.  Supervisor Mark Hanson mentioned that the Conservation department also purchases vehicles.  In addition, at the last meeting when those bids were approved, he mentioned the desire to ask local dealerships to compete and offer bids.  Baugh mentioned that often times the state bid is something local dealerships cannot compete with but they feel the tax dollars and employing residents that live in the County can offset that.  Supervisor Kim Chapman says he has been in touch with department heads and they do intend to get in touch with local dealerships for future bids.

Payroll change notices were then approved for positions in the assessor’s office, civil court, treasurer’s office, emergency medical services department, sheriff’s office and attorney’s office.

A sales and maintenance agreement for a scanner for the attorney’s office was then approved with Mot Solutions in the amount of  $3,290.

A public hearing was then held in regards to the final plat of the Dawesome Ridge subdivision in Colfax Township, with an agricultural district and agricultural/floodplain/conservation district zoning.  Hearing no comments from the public, the plat was approved by the Board.

A New World System hardware and licensing request was then approved with IP Pathways in the amount of $69,636, far less than the original bid of $160,000 for the equipment.  Monies for the upgrade will come from forfeiture fund, once a budget amendment is approved at a future meeting

Next a second public hearing in regards to the EMS contract with Verizon was continued but quickly closed as director Mike Thomasson retracted the request.

Finally, a drainage district six bid letting update was shared by Engineer Jim George.  The County only received one bid for the project, which happened to be nearly twice as high as the engineer’s estimate.  That’s likely due in part to an overestimate to the amount of pipe needed for the project.  George says the contractor is willing to negotiate and so far they have brought the total price down to just over $90,000 more than the original estimate, to a price tag of around $480,000.  He feels there is still room to lower the price and he’s hopeful they can get closer to where they thought prices would be.  George adds that contractors for this specialty type project are very busy and the costs will likely be higher than intended.  The current plans for the project have an end date of March 2016.  After some discussion, the Board followed the recommendation of George to delay bid approval for another week in hopes that speaking with the contractor will continue to bring the bid closer to the original estimate.

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