The Elkhart City Board of Public Safety on Oct. 28, 2025 approved a package of routine financial and procurement items, most notably awarding a contract to upfit police squad cars and renewing software used by the police canine team.

The board voted to award the upfitting contract (referenced in the meeting transcript as bid 25-02 and, elsewhere in the same discussion, as 225-02) to the lowest responsive bidder, listed in the bid record as Move Over Outfitters, with a contract price of $154,087.59. Dan Milenix, chief of the Elkhart Police Department, presented the recommendation and told the board the lowest bid was being recommended for acceptance. The contract award was made with two conditions recorded in the motion: the contract must not be signed until a performance (labor and materials) bond is received, and Captain Snyder was authorized to sign the contract on the city’s behalf.

Chief Milenix also asked the board to approve a renewal of the canine-team software that the department uses to track training and usage. "They use the software to track training, usages, things like that," Milenix said. The board approved the renewal at a cost recorded in the meeting as $1,199; city legal approval of the vendor contract had been completed, according to Milenix.

The board accepted the claims and allowance docket, presented by finance staff, totaling $236,189.17 (docket prepared 10/22/2025 at 09:25 AM). No individual roll-call votes were recorded in the transcript; actions were recorded by voice vote with members responding "Aye." The meeting record shows four board members present, and the minutes reflect that the voice votes carried.

Other routine items approved included placing on file the Police Merit Commission and Fire Merit Commission minutes from Sept. 22, 2025, and accepting the communications department’s September 2025 month-end report. On building and code enforcement matters, Tim Bisteen, the city’s building commissioner, reported that the bid for 1253 Columbian Avenue will be put back out for rebid and the board left the item tabled for rebidding.

The meeting contained no extended debate on any item. Where the transcript did not record individual roll-call votes, the board approved items by unanimous voice vote as indicated in the minutes. The meeting adjourned after the final clerical items were handled.

Provenance (selected excerpts from the meeting transcript):
"I have 2 things now for you. 1 is gonna be the request that we renew our software for our canine, teams." — Dan Milenix, chief of the Elkhart Police Department (segment starting 03:15)

"We're requesting that that contract be awarded to move over outfitters in the amount, $154,087.59. That was the lowest bid..." — Dan Milenix (segment starting 04:11)

"Make a motion to accept the claim and docket in the amount of $236,189.17, consisting of 8 pages." — motion recorded in the transcript (segment starting 02:42)

Notes and clarifications: (1) The bid number was inconsistently recorded in the audio/transcript as both "25-02" and "225-02"; the board motion and award language in the transcript reference the same upfitting item and the $154,087.59 contract price. (2) Vendor names and some vendor spellings are recorded as spoken in the meeting transcript (e.g., Move Over Outfitters; dog team pro pro). The city’s contracting file should be consulted for final vendor legal names and completed contract documents.