Gage County Meetings

By Don Schuller Meetings were rescheduled to accommodate the Nebraska Association of County Officials annual conference held December 13-15, 2023. I was in attendance.12/8/23 Committee Meeting:Due to a prior commitment, I did not attend.12/12/23 Regular Meeting:Consent agenda was reviewed by the board. Supervisor Gary Lytle asked to pull items listed for services by Applied Connective, the company we hired to perform the county information technology (IT) tasks.The proposal includes:Security server and maintenance of the serverWi-Fi managed services for the courthouseAccess control and managed services (network door control, etc.)Update panic button/hardwareMultimedia managed services/equipment for the boardroomHighway department security cameras and equipmentThese items had been tabled at the 11/29/23 meeting. Mr. Lytle’s concerns centered on not providing local companies the opportunity to compete for this business. I agreed with Lytle and added that for the $225,000 in equipment and services we should be looking for competitive prices.Supervisor Emily Haxby said she doesn’t want a “hodge-podge” situation where we buy from one company and have the IT staff servicing it from a different company. I understand this too. The problem is that the proposal values were listed in the minutes and the agenda. Anyone wanting to provide a proposal knows the Applied Connectives proposal amount. This was unintentional.Diode technology representatives were present to speak. Mr. Lytle yielded the floor to them for comment. They are disappointed they were not given a chance on the project. They have provided many county services over the years in time of need.The items, having been pulled from the consent agenda, were voted on one at a time having been moved to the regular agenda.Applied Connective’s proposals for a security server and maintenance, $25,030.04; and courthouse Wi-Fi management, $18,099.00; were approved unanimously.Motion by Haxby, seconded by Swavely, to approve access control and managed services (network door control, etc.) $65,270.93. Discussion followed. Lytle said it was a mistake to publish the costs but to proceed is a mistake too, if we don’t allow a local company to provide a quote. Motion failed with a tie vote. Supervisor Jurgens is absent. Voting nay were Lytle, Tiemann and myself.Haxby moved to approve the proposal for updating panic buttons/hardware in the amount of $10,612.40. This was seconded by Swavely. Motion carried with four in favor. Lytle and I voted nay.Swavely moved, seconded by Haxby, to approve multimedia managed services equipment for the boardroom in the amount of $86,570.88. In discussion I said perhaps we should hire a consultant to review the equipment and services that have been proposed. Haxby said Applied Connective is our consultant. I replied it is this consultant that is proposing to sell us the equipment and services. I think, due to the lack of knowledge with the technology by board members and staff, we should have someone knowledgeable give us some guidance. There were no comments. Motion did not carry. Tiemann, Lytle and I voted nay.Motion by Swavely, seconded by Haxby, to approve replacement of additional cameras and equipment at the highway department in the amount of $20,535.00. Motion failed with Tiemann, Lytle, and me voting nay.Since the meeting I called the county attorney’s office for clarification on the misunderstanding of the need for bids. As explained to me; bids are not needed for professional services, such as accounting, legal services etc. It was thought the items Applied Connective provided us a proposal for were for professional services. The county attorney’s office clarified the proposed items could be installed without professional services therefore was not exempt from the bidding process. A professional service is who operates the equipment.I am not aware how this issue will be resolved or how it will affect the votes.I have provided the link to complete the survey to assist in completing the grant application for hard surface road overlaying projects and bridge funds. It includes the Blue Springs River Bridge. This is a different survey from what was taken at the outreach meetings. Therefore, if you completed it at a meeting please complete it again. Please take the time to help. https://s.surveyplanet.com/64sh4h1tDue to Christmas the next committee meeting will be Friday, Dec 22, 7:00 AM. The regular meeting will be the 27th as scheduled.This highlights the portions of the county meetings I feel are most relevant to my constituents. Use the link below to view the actual minutes and hear audio of the board meeting, when posted.https://gagecountynebraska.us/board_meetings/enhanced_minutes.aspxCheck out my Facebook page: Don Schuller – Public Servant.dschuller@gagecountyne.gov 402-674-3187

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