Commissioners approve agreement for IT support at HCSO
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward told The Highland County Press he will recommend Wednesday, July 21 that the Highland County Board of Commissioners pass a resolution authorizing him to enter into an agreement with Greystone Systems Inc. for computer system maintenance.
The request comes two weeks after the city of Hillsboro gave the county 12 hours' notice they were terminating an intergovernmental agreement in which the city's systems administrator handled the computer network maintenance.
"(Greystone Systems) is willing to take on our support and maintenance at a cost that is less than what we were paying the city," Ward said. "They stepped up to the plate when all this occurred. They contacted me, made an offer that if there were emergency situations, they would address them. We decided, after looking at a proposal from them, it was a good deal. They are a reputable company, a local company, and I anticipate the commissioners passing the resolution."
Hillsboro Mayor Dick Zink told The HCP that while he agrees that notice for terminating the contract was short, the budget situation with the city, which has resulted in layoffs of three employees, left the city with having to restructure responsibilities for the remaining workforce, and some of the workload had to be decreased.
As previously reported in The Highland County Press, the county received a July 8 letter from Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt, which read: “Dear Commissioners: This letter is in regards to the intergovernmental service agreement between the city of Hillsboro’s systems’ administrator and the Highland County Sheriff’s Office for maintenance of the sheriff’s computer network and facilities. I regret to inform you that as of July 9, 2010, the city of Hillsboro will no longer be able to provide this service.”
The commissioners responded with letter, stating “Your action left the county with no support for these critical systems. This not only placed a hardship on the county, but its citizens as well, for such an act could have placed them in danger had there been a technical issue with the 911 system.”
Ward told the HCP this week that the short notice of terminating the contract could have left the county, and the cities that utilize the 911 system, in a vulnerable position.
"Every system we have is a necessary system," Ward said. "The ones that are vital systems are the computer dispatching system and the 911 system. What they did left me in a very bad situation, but I am not even going to address that. At this point, it is water under the bridge. It was not very professional how they handled the termination of the contract, but that is neither here nor there. Ideally, they would have given us 30 to 60 days of transition, but that wasn't the case."
Zink said that one of the layoffs the city made earlier this month was a public access station employee, who did IT work with the systems administrator. Each employee who was laid off was given 30 days' notice; however, this employee was able to secure work and left two weeks early. Zink said that employee's last day fell on the first day of a pre-scheduled two-week vacation by the remaining IT person.
"It was short notice, I won't deny that," Zink said. "But even if we had given them 10 or 15 days' notice, it wouldn't have mattered because there wouldn't have been anyone here to cover it."
Zink said that previously the county has paid the city for the services on the first of January and the first of July. However, according to Zink, the July payment was not made.
The Highland County Sheriff's Department allowed the Hillsboro Police Department to share quarters at the Highland County Justice System at no charge for more than three years, commissioners said, after the city closed the former safety building on North High Street due to safety concerns regarding electrical wiring.
"I'd do it again," Ward said. "But I found out about this via a fax. I didn't even receive a courtesy phone call. I called (Zink and Holt) and requested 30 days' notice. I said, 'Don't do this to me, and don't do this to the people of this county, to the people of this city you are trusted to serve and protect.' But that request was denied."
Zink said that while the HPD was stationed at the Justice Center, the city's systems administrator did not charge the sheriff's office for IT work "that would have cost them $85,000 had they been charged his hourly rate. The city also gave the county the land to build the Justice Center and $400,000 to build the municipal court. I don't think we've been too bad to the county."
Ward said that for the most part, the new situation should world out well, because the city IT employee who was laid off, now works for Greystone Systems, and is familiar with the sheriff's department systems they will be maintaining.
"We didn't have any breakdowns of critical systems during this period," Ward said. "I don't appreciate how it was done, but now it's just par for the course."
The Highland County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Wednesday authorizing Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward to enter into an agreement with Greystone Systems Inc. for computer system maintenance. The request came two weeks after the city of Hillsboro gave the county 12 hours' notice they were terminating an intergovernmental agreement in which the city's systems administrator handled the computer network maintenance.
The resolution was passed two weeks after the city of Hillsboro gave the county 12 hours' notice they were terminating an intergovernmental agreement in which the city's systems administrator handled the computer network maintenance.
"(Greystone Systems) is willing to take on our support and maintenance at a cost that is less than what we were paying the city," Ward told The Highland County Press. "They stepped up to the plate when all this occurred. They contacted me, made an offer that if there were emergency situations, they would address them. We decided, after looking at a proposal from them, it was a good deal. They are a reputable company, a local company, and I anticipate the commissioners passing the resolution."
Hillsboro Mayor Dick Zink told The HCP that while he agrees that notice for terminating the contract was short, the budget situation with the city, which has resulted in layoffs of three employees, left the city with having to restructure responsibilities for the remaining workforce, and some of the workload had to be decreased.
As previously reported in The Highland County Press, the county received a July 8 letter from Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt, which read: “Dear Commissioners: This letter is in regards to the intergovernmental service agreement between the city of Hillsboro’s systems’ administrator and the Highland County Sheriff’s Office for maintenance of the sheriff’s computer network and facilities. I regret to inform you that as of July 9, 2010, the city of Hillsboro will no longer be able to provide this service.”
The commissioners responded with letter, stating “Your action left the county with no support for these critical systems. This not only placed a hardship on the county, but its citizens as well, for such an act could have placed them in danger had there been a technical issue with the 911 system.”
Ward told the HCP this week that the short notice of terminating the contract could have left the county, and the cities that utilize the 911 system, in a vulnerable position.
"Every system we have is a necessary system," Ward said. "The ones that are vital systems are the computer dispatching system and the 911 system. What they did left me in a very bad situation, but I am not even going to address that. At this point, it is water under the bridge. It was not very professional how they handled the termination of the contract, but that is neither here nor there. Ideally, they would have given us 30 to 60 days of transition, but that wasn't the case."
Zink said that one of the layoffs the city made earlier this month was a public access station employee, who did IT work with the systems administrator. Each employee who was laid off was given 30 days' notice; however, this employee was able to secure work and left two weeks early. Zink said that employee's last day fell on the first day of a pre-scheduled two-week vacation by the remaining IT person.
"It was short notice, I won't deny that," Zink said. "But even if we had given them 10 or 15 days' notice, it wouldn't have mattered because there wouldn't have been anyone here to cover it."
Zink said that previously the county has paid the city for the services on the first of January and the first of July. However, according to Zink, the July payment was not made.
The Highland County Sheriff's Office allowed the Hillsboro Police Department to share quarters at the Highland County Justice Center at no charge for more than three years, commissioners said, after the city closed the former safety building on North High Street due to safety concerns regarding electrical wiring.
"I'd do it again," Ward said. "But I found out about this via a fax. I didn't even receive a courtesy phone call. I called (Zink and Holt) and requested 30 days' notice. I said, 'Don't do this to me, and don't do this to the people of this county, to the people of this city you are trusted to serve and protect.' But that request was denied."
Zink said that while the HPD was stationed at the Justice Center, the city's systems administrator did not charge the sheriff's office for IT work "that would have cost them $85,000 had they been charged his hourly rate. The city also gave the county the land to build the Justice Center and $400,000 to build the municipal court. I don't think we've been too bad to the county."
Ward said that for the most part, the new situation should world out well, because the city IT employee who was laid off, now works for Greystone Systems, and is familiar with the sheriff's department systems they will be maintaining.
The commissioners voted 3-0 to passed a resolution approving the contract, which is for three years of tech support at the Justice Center, at a cost of $19,020, which will be paid quarterly from the concealed carry fund. The agreement will also include off-site data storage. It was said in the meeting the county must have 30 days' notice if the contract is going to be terminated.
The commissioners voted 3-0 to passed a resolution approving the contract, which is for three years of tech support at the Justice Center, at a cost of $19,020, which will be paid quarterly from the concealed carry fund. The agreement will also include off-site data storage. It was said in the meeting the county must have 30 days' notice if the contract is going to be terminated.
"We didn't have any breakdowns of critical systems during this period," Ward said. "I don't appreciate how it was done, but now it's just par for the course."
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