Bids for security cameras at the concert stage and events center and the Phoenix Park tennis complex were reviewed by the city council Monday night.
Darren Dunkle, parks director, presented five bids to the city council administrations/operations committee. The low bid of $9,055 was submitted by Electric Unlimited.
Other bids included Teletron, $12,867; Dynamic Controls, $16,472; Hackett Security, $17,266.22; and Ra-Comm Security, $23,170.
The bid proposal includes 12 cameras to monitor the two areas, with seven at the main stage and five at Phoenix Park.
The parks staff recommended acceptance of the low bid.
Councilman Steve Sullentrup asked if the city could look at securing bids for other areas in the parks department, street department and public works.
“Nine thousand dollars is a pretty good price,” he said. “If we catch one person (vandalizing) it would pay for it.”
Tim Brinker, councilman, asked Dunkle if he was concerned that the bid was so low.
Dunkle said that he went over the scope of the project and the company said they fully understand what needs to be done.
Other council members asked if other projects should be done at the same time, rather than piece by piece.
“I would think the sooner we get these two parks with cameras the better,” said Brian Boehmer, assistant city administrator, adding that he would like to work with other departments to get cameras as needed.
“We had, at Phoenix Park, a port-a-potty burned down to the ground. Through good police work, they were able to catch (the vandal). I think it would have been a little bit easier if we had cameras, or it may not have even happened because people know we have cameras there,” Boehmer added.
The need of cameras for other departments will be discussed at a future meeting.
The recommendation to approve the low bid was forwarded to the council to be voted on at a later meeting.
