Owosso adds $12,473 patrol car camera swap to Monday agenda
A late addition to the Sept. 21 consent agenda would waive competitive bidding and hire a Holt company to pull the old Axon cameras out of all ten Owosso Public Safety patrol cars and install the new ones.
Every one of Owosso Public Safety's ten patrol cars would get its in-car camera system torn out and replaced under an item added to Monday night's city council consent agenda. The work would go to Mid Michigan Emergency Equipment Sales and Service L.L.C. of Holt for an amount not to exceed $12,473, paid out of the police equipment fund, 101-301-978.000.
The item is an addendum — item 12 — attached to the regular agenda after it was first published. It asks the council to waive competitive bidding requirements, authorize the contract, and pay the vendor once the work is done to the city's satisfaction. The draft resolution says the waiver is sought because "professional services are exempt from competitive bidding," and states the city has determined the company is qualified to do the work.
The reason for the changeover, according to a Sept. 15 memorandum to the council from Kevin Lenkart at Owosso Public Safety, 202 S. Water St.: the council approved a contract with Axon Inc. in June 2026 for new in-car and body-worn cameras, and the old Axon in-car units now have to come out of the fleet before the new ones go in. Axon certifies Mid Michigan Emergency Equipment to install its in-car cameras, the memo says.
The attached estimate, dated Sept. 14, breaks the price down line by line: $250 per vehicle to strip out the current camera system and all its cabling, ten vehicles, $2,500; $550 per vehicle to install the new system, ten vehicles, $5,500; nine 5G antennas at $455 each, $4,095; and nine slotted adapter kits for those antennas at $42 each, $378. No tax. The quote holds for 30 days. The packet does not explain why nine antennas cover ten cars.
If approved, the mayor and city clerk are authorized to sign the contract. The resolution form in the packet carries the date line "this 19th day of September 2026," though the addendum is filed for the Sept. 21 meeting.
Consent agenda items pass together with a single vote unless a council member asks to pull one out for separate discussion.
What happens next: The council takes up the addendum with the rest of Monday's agenda. The Current reported earlier this month that the same Sept. 21 meeting carries a public hearing on an ordinance letting the city tow vehicles over unpaid parking tickets, and the council is also scheduled to take up a ban on camping on city property. We will report the vote and the roll call.
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