The Auburn City Council on Oct. 7 approved its consent agenda, authorizing a series of contracts and purchases for public safety, parks, public works and technology. Council members voted on a slate of routine items that were discussed briefly during the meeting.

Key approvals included:

- A funding agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for a fiber installation project; the full project was described as about $880,000 in trenching and cable work, with the City of Auburn providing a local match of $176,000 (federal funds cover the remainder). Staff told Council the fiber will be used for traffic signal network expansion — "to continue network and expansion of our connection through a fiber network to all of our signalized intersections" — and not for residential or commercial internet service.

- A sheltering services agreement with CARE (Care) Humane Society for fiscal year 2026 in the amount of $228,408. Staff said the city brought about 917 animals to CARE in the last fiscal year (staff noted the year with an illness reduced the count and the typical average was about 1,043 animals).

- Purchase of UKG (formerly Kronos) compatible time clocks and related hardware for $188,595. HR staff explained that Kronos migrated to UKG and the city's existing time clocks (about 10 years old) must be replaced to remain compatible. The approved clocks are a base model that supports fingerprint scans and integrates with payroll software.

- Purchase of one custom pumper fire truck from Sunbelt Fire for $873,071.

- Purchase of one LifePak 35 monitor/defibrillator from Stryker Medical for $58,350.70; staff said opioid‑reimbursement funds will be used and the unit will be assigned to a fire department Advanced Life Support (ALS) apparatus.

- Two tennis court resurfacing contracts at the Arbor Tennis Center: Heatley Construction for resurfacing 16 clay courts ($127,000) and Ely Construction to resurface 12 hard courts ($98,000). Parks staff said clay courts are typically resurfaced every three to five years and hard courts every seven to 10 years.

- Interchange landscape maintenance contract (Exits 50 and 57) with Evergreen Landscape Company for $80,000. Staff said this consolidation of two previous contracts reduced the combined price compared with prior separate contracts (previous combined value was cited around $96,000–$97,000).

Council members and staff asked several clarifying questions during the item reviews — for example, staff confirmed the fiber project will support traffic signal timing and deficiency monitoring only, and the HR director explained vendor comparisons and why clocks must be replaced as part of software migration. Residents and council members also raised the recurring concern that some specific contract line items are consolidated in the budget book and therefore not shown as discrete line items.

All items on the consent agenda were approved by voice vote with no recorded opposition during the meeting.

Votes and follow‑up: staff indicated that some of the contract amounts are part of larger capital or operating totals in the budget documents; council members asked for clearer crosswalking of agenda items and the budget book and for periodic reports on partnership outcomes where applicable (for example, CARE Humane Society reporting on animal intakes).