A $15,000 federal grant for police computers in one Monongahela Valley city slipped unnoticed past council and was awarded without competitive bids to a firm run by the son of then-Mayor Ken Cole, city officials said today.

The contract is one of dozens under scrutiny by federal investigators who are looking into defense firms with ties to U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown. Mr. Murtha, who chairs the powerful House Appropriations defense subcommittee, was instrumental in securing millions of dollars in grants through the Department of Justice to upgrade communications systems for small towns.

In one of those towns, Monongahela, the current mayor and police chief contend that their predecessors did not inform the city council of a $15,000 grant in 2005 and spent the entire amount with one firm -- J.K. Networking, which was co-owned by Ken Cole Jr., the mayor's son.

"It should have gone through council," said Bob Kepics, a councilman who succeeded Ken Cole Sr. as mayor of the Washington County town.

Mr. Kepics said suspicions were raised after agents from the Inspector General's fraud detection unit served a subpoena on police chief Brian Tempest last fall, asking for any records concerning MountainTop Technologies, a Johnstown company hired to administer millions of dollars in federal grants to police departments. MountainTop, which once held the federal contract to oversee the John Murtha Airport in Johnstown, has received $36 million in earmarked defense contracts through Mr. Murtha.

Mr. Kepics and City Clerk Carole Foglia said they learned the grant was handled through Mayor Cole and then-Police Chief Dennis Mendicino.

"One thing I don't do is I don't lie to anybody. Was this bid? No, I believe not, no," said Mr. Tempest. "Did we get computer equipment? Yes. Did we get $15,000 worth of computer equipment? I don't know. I most certainly hope so."

Another council member, G. Thomas Caudill, said council did not become aware of the grant because the police department kept a separate checking account.

"This [separate account] certainly wasn't necessarily for grants, from what I understand," Mr. Caudill said. "When we found out about this whole thing we made changes which have to come through us."

Ken Cole Sr., the former mayor, acknowledged that the contract was given to his son's firm without a bid, but said it was not necessary because Pennsylvania law requires bids on contracts above $10,000.

"We did that in steps. I think the first one was like $6,000 or $7,000 and then we turned around and go the other a year after," Mr. Cole said. "If it's under $10,000 you don't have to bid it."

A copy of the bid from J.K. Networking, dated July 28, 2005, shows two separate bids for equipment. The first, for $7,048.32, is for three Dell personal computers. A second, for $7,951.66, covers the cost of a main server for the police department.

Mr. Tempest yesterday said federal investigators are also aware of the computer contract. He said they told him federal regulations require bids for any federal monies in excess of $5,000.

Ken Cole Jr., whose firm won the contract, said he did an internal audit of the department's equipment needs because his company already held the contract for Internet Technology service to Monongahela.

He said he was unsure whether he heard about the available grant money through his father, the then-mayor.

"I gave them a bid and we provided the services," he said.

Should the contract have been competitively bid?

"I guess that would be a question for the city," Mr. Cole said.

Mr. Kepics, who unseated Mr. Cole's father in the 2007 Democratic Primary for mayor, said the contract should have been subject to competitive bids.

"Council was never aware of it," he said.

The younger Cole and the city have been at odds for nearly two years over the domain name for the city's web site. As IT director, Ken Cole Jr. set up cityofmonongahela.com, listing it as the city's official web site. After the 2007 elections, JK Networking was displaced as the city's IT provider and Mr. Cole has since argued that his firm, not the city, owned the domain name for the site.