According to the memo, Frederick Motor Co. submitted the second lowest of six bids the city received.
Hagerstown Ford bid $23,850, but did not have the right specifications. Its truck had the gear shift in a console between the front seats - space the fire department needs for communications equipment and controls for emergency lights, according to the memo.
"Just so the public knows, I don't bid on these vehicles," Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II, who works for Hagerstown Ford, said during last week's council meeting.
Police will use space at university system
The city's police department will use space at the University System of Maryland building on West Washington Street for three years, under a contract the city council approved Tuesday.
The contract, which the city council unanimously approved, runs from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2009.
Starting July 1, 2007, the police department will pay about $1,000 per month in rent for a 667-square-foot classroom and $315 per month for a 210-square-foot training office.
The police department also will have a ground-floor room with phones and copiers to use as a substation, at no extra charge.
The contract calls for police to regularly patrol the campus and respond to emergency calls there.
Housing project mitigation plan OK'd
The Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday approved a developer's mitigation plan for a North Burhans Boulevard housing project.
The plan includes a public road from Mitchell Avenue to Burhans Boulevard and the extension of Mineral Avenue.
The city's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance required the developer, Revere Development, to submit the plan because the project is in an area in which schools are over capacity.
The project, known as Deerfield Knolls, calls for 82 town house units, according to the plan.
The council voted 4-1 to approve the plan. Councilwoman Kelly S. Cromer voted no.
Engineering services contract is rescinded
A $512,625 contract for engineering services was rescinded by the city Tuesday.
The Hagerstown City Council approved the contract with Gannett Fleming on March 28, according to a memo from the city's Department of Utilities. The contract was for engineering work at the city's R.C. Willson Water Plant.
The city council rescinded the contract Tuesday because, according to the memo, the bidding process didn't meet the requirements for minority and women business enterprises.
The city had to follow the requirements in order to get federal funding through the Maryland Department of the Environment, City Administrator Bruce Zimmerman said.
