County staff recommend UPS maintenance contract and approval of statewide salt bid for winter supplies
Summary
Scott County staff recommended a five-year maintenance contract for jail and courthouse uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) with Vertiv for about $51,009, and asked the board to purchase up to approximately 1,600 tons of snow-and-ice salt from the Iowa DOT statewide bid (Compass Minerals at $88.25/ton, estimated $141,200).
Two routine operations procurement items were discussed at the July 1 meeting: a five‑year maintenance contract for uninterruptible power-supply (UPS) units at the jail and courthouse, and a recommendation to buy winter salt through the Iowa Department of Transportation’s statewide bid.
Tim (county staff) said the five-year UPS maintenance contract price from Vertiv is $51,008.64. He said Vertiv is the only vendor certified on the county’s proprietary UPS equipment and has provided reliable service; other vendors were not certified to access the necessary proprietary software. Tim noted that another agency (SAC) approved a related purchase order separately and that their cost is not included in the county figure.
On snow-and-ice materials, county staff reported the June 6 statewide letting produced a low bid from Compass Minerals America at $88.25 per ton. Staff estimated purchasing roughly 1,600 tons for a projected cost of about $141,200. The county currently stores about 500 tons of straight salt and 1,000 tons of a 50/50 sand-salt mix and can store up to roughly 2,000 tons total. The county’s fiscal 2026 budget includes $240,000 for snow-and-ice control materials.
Supervisors asked about prior bidders and delivery logistics; staff said other bidders sometimes focus on other markets and that deliveries are typically split across four to five loads per winter depending on needs. No formal purchase vote is recorded in the transcript excerpt.
