Board mulls pact renewal, $21,000 savings

By STEPH TAHTINEN

Mt. Pleasant News

Before the managed services contract with Solutions Inc., expires on July 1, the board of supervisors will need to decide whether or not to renew the contract, potentially saving the county $21,000.

?I don?t see the benefit of paying them to do the managed services,? said Derek Wellington, who spoke to the board of supervisors about the contract on Thursday. The cost of services recently went up by $12,500, making the cost to the county $21,060.

The managed services keeps everything up-to-date on the county?s computers, such as updates, patches on servers and firewalls. Wellington questioned whether the cost was worth it for the county.

?I actually currently am doing 90 percent of that,? said Wellington, who has network administrator as part of his job description.

All of the county?s software has been built by them, and even if the county discontinues the managed services contract, it would still get its software from Solutions Inc., a cost of $2,400.

?No matter what we?re going to pay the $2,400. It?s just a matter of whether we want to pay the $21,000,? said Wellington.

Also, the county has a 100-hour contract with Solutions Inc. that could be used if needed.

?If I have problems with something that I cannot fix, that is above my head, we can contact them,? said Wellington.

Wellington plans to discuss this issue further with County Auditor Shelly Barber next week, and then it will be brought to the supervisors to make a decision whether to renew the contract or not. Supervisor chairman Marc Lindeen commented that he would like to have Barber?s opinion on this issue.

The supervisors also approved a contract with Windstream for the county?s phone and Internet services.

?Basically our phone and Internet is now one package, one company,? summarized Wellington.

The new services include upgraded Internet lines and cheaper long distance phone service.

In addition, the computer system is now connected to the generator so in case of a power outage it will not go down. The 911 and dispatch system will also be backed up.

In other business, the supervisors signed several contracts for mental health and developmental disabilities services. These contracts are an agreement between the county and the service providers.

?Whenever there?s three or more [clients served by a provider] we require a contract so we can set rates,? explained Sarah Kaufman, Central Point of Coordination.

The county has contracts with 16 different service providers that serve three or more clients.