Thursday, February 8, 2007

County Commission works to get phone deal

by Kenneth Lassiter

County commissioners got somewhat firmer numbers from representatives of Cingular Wireless Monday regarding cellular phone service for county employees but the commission still is holding out for more information from the company.

Jill Young of Cingular met with commissioners Monday to discuss the idea. Representatives of both Cingular and Verizon Wireless made their pitch to the county at the Jan. 29 meeting.

The county currently spends $23,000 combined for the use of 53 phones and personal data assistants by county employees on plans by both Verizon and Cingular. The sheriff’s department is the only county department using Verizon Wireless for a county-funded calling plan.

Kellie Reese of Verizon quoted the county a cost of $19,502 annually for the use of 46 phones and five Blackberry PDAs with unlimited broadband Internet access available on the devices for an additional $1,166 annually and 100 text messages monthly for an annual cost of $645. The total of annual costs from Verizon was $21,315 when quoted Jan. 29. Commissioners did, however, have concerns regarding Verizon’s signal coverage in the county.

Young met with commissioners initially Jan. 29 and quoted a preliminary figure of $1,907.47 per month for a combined 23,850 minutes of cell phone access for the county pool. County officials pointed out that annual cost of $22,889 wasn’t much less than the $23,000 already being spent by the county annually on cell phone use. County officials said they only needed about 13,000 minutes combined and Young received a week to retool the numbers.

Young on Monday quoted the county a cost of $17,817 annually for the use of 64 phones for a pool of 13,000 minutes and said several free brands and styles of phones would be available to the county. In addition, personal data assistants would be available for $599.88 annually plus the cost of purchasing the PDAs with a Blackberry costing $199.99 and a Treo 680 costing $224.99. Broadband access would be available through Cingular at an annual cost of $599.88 with text messaging available for $4.99 monthly for 200 messages and $9.99 monthly for 500 messages. Those prices reflect a 20 percent discount that would be available by the county signing on through the Western States Contracting Alliance deal with Cingular.

Commissioner David Christy asked for time to meet with the sheriff’s department regarding the effect of the change on the department. Undersheriff Jeff Herrig, who was present for the appointment, asked if more of a discount could be offered on the Treos as that is the brand of PDA used by the sheriff’s department. He said the department has in-car Treo chargers and would need to replace 15, as he said the Verizon Treos currently in use wouldn’t be convertible for use with Cingular.

Christy asked what deal the county could get on the Treos and Young said she would have to ask her superiors at Cingular before quoting any different prices. She said she would send the county a full price list of all the phones offered by Cingular as well. Christy asked that Young give the county “the best deal (she) can” and said the commission would likely make a decision on the matter in the next couple weeks. Young said she would try to revise the numbers as approved by Cingular and get back in touch with the county.

Commissioners also brought back three candidates for the emergency management director position for second interviews Monday. Devan Tucking, Brian Ebert and Doug Schmitt each met with commissioners for 45 minutes in executive session. Paula Phillips, Douglas County emergency management director, county fire chiefs Daryl Chess of district No. 8 and Ron Davis of district No. 12 and Jan Hayes, county counselor, also sat in on the interviews. Commissioners made no decision on the matter after the final interview Monday.

In other business Monday, the commission:

• Heard an update from Eloise Tichenor, planning and zoning director. Commissioners accepted George Wright’s application for a building permit on lot five of Jefferson County Farms No. 2 subdivision south of Meriden along 62nd Street.

• Heard an update from George Pogge, road and bridge superintendent. Pogge updated the commission on on-going bridge projects and fuel additives.

• Met in executive session with Susan Newell, 911 director, for 20 minutes to discuss matters of non-elected personnel with attorney-client privilege. Hayes also was present for the session.

• Heard an update from Mark Richards, auxiliary services director. Richards said the county was in need of $1,600 in additional equipment to install a security system on the doors in the courthouse. He said he was trying to contact somebody involved with the grant that allowed the county to buy equipment on-hand for the system to inquire about the needed equipment. Richards also inquired about raising the emergency call-in pay for his department from $10 to $13 or $15 for employees called in on nights or weekends to address a facilities situation. Commissioners said they would look into the issue.

• Approved a resolution authorizing the transfer of $25,000 from the register of deeds’ technology fund to the general fund.

• Approved a request for Linda Buttron, county clerk, to apply for admission to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s course for advanced public information officer training in Maryland. Expenses will be paid by FEMA.

• Signed vouchers and a notice to the township board for a cereal malt beverage license for the McLouth Threshing Bee.

• Met in executive session with Duanette Baker of geographic information systems for 20 minutes. Hayes was also present.

• Met in executive session with Newell, Hayes and Pogge for 10 minutes to discuss matters of non-elected personnel and attorney-client privilege.

• Met with Hayes in executive session for 15 minutes to discuss matters of attorney-client privilege.

• Met with Mike Hayes, county attorney, and Jan Hayes in executive session for 30 minutes to discuss matters of attorney-client privilege.