HomeMy WebLinkAboutPub Prop June 15, 2010PUBLIC PROPERTY/TECHNOLGY COMMITTEE MINUTES
JUNE 15, 2010
The Public Property/Technology Committee of the Grant County Board of Supervisors met in the Grant
County Administration Building, Lancaster, WI, Room 266, Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 4:40 p.m. pursuant
to the adjournment of the May 26, 2010 meeting.
The meeting was called to order by Larry Wolf, Chair. Don Splinter, seconded by Dwight Nelson, moved
that the meeting was in compliance with the open meeting law. Motion carried.
The following committee members were present: Larry Wolf, Lester Jantzen, Donald Splinter, Dwight
Nelson, Carol Beals, and John Beinborn. Also present was John Patcle, County Board Chair.
Lester Jantzen, seconded by Carol Beals, made a motion to approve the agenda. Motion carried.
Larry Wolf, Chair, opened up the discussion with a statement that in order to maintain order throughout
the meeting, any person who wished to speak could do so with permission from the chair person. If this
was not followed; the abusing person would be asked to leave the room.
Springbrook Software: Jeff Anderson, IT Director, reported that the demo for the new Springbrook
software did not go well. The Counties wireless speed has been questioned since Springbrook’s
software did not work as fast as we thought it should’ve across the links. Springbrook has their team of
7 engineers working on the problem and are hopeful that they can correct this issue. They may be able
to make some adjustments in their software to correct the reaction time of the product. Springbrook is
working on software that is web based that would help, but to date; is not ready for use. Jeff explained
that the problem seems to be “latancy” which is in regard to the reaction time of the software in
conjunction with our system. It seems there are too many steps that the Springbrook software is pulling
into the process which slows the total time of the client/server requests. The Company is optimistic that
they can fix the problem but is it taking more time. Springbrook has given Grant County an extension
until June 30, 2010 on the contract in order to correct these problems. No added costs to the county
have been incurred to date with all the extra technical support that has been needed.
Hiring a Consultant: Larry Wolf, Chair, informed the board that a Consultant had been hired to assist
Jeff Anderson, IT Director, with investigating wireless issues. The proper procedures for hiring a
consultant were not followed in this case. Todd Infield, Interim Corporation Counsel; reiterated that the
hiring of the consultant should have come before the Public Property/Technology Committee first. Keith
Govier, Grant County Sheriff, had submitted a letter to John Patcle, County Board Chair, voicing his
concern on the potential security issues that could have happened in a situation like this. No security
clearances were in place for the Consultant, leaving the County fully exposed to any liability for damages
that could have been done to the very expensive technology system that operates the Sheriff’s Office.
The committee was in agreement that this has been an unfortunate situation for everyone involved and
nothing had been compromised at this point. That the protocol is in place through the Human Resource
Department on hiring but the checks and balances may need revising. This type of situation should
never have happened and it should never happen again in the future. Todd Infield suggested that the
Board needs to define better what the committees can do; who has the responsibilities, and have a
better understanding on what the full County Board can do or can’t do. State Statues state that it takes
a 50% majority of the Board to make any changes or decisions as a whole; this should be used as the
Board’s guide. A Board needs to work as a whole and not as individuals.
Carol Beals, seconded by John Beinborn, made a motion to have the County Attorney and John Patcle,
County Board Chair Person, work together with the Human Resource Department, to draft a policy on
the hiring of a “Consultant Position” for the County. Motion carried.
Carol Beals, seconded by John Patcle, made a motion that the Executive Committee should review the
definition of a committee and department head and define what authorities fall within the duties of a
committee and what authorities fall within the duties of the department heads. Motion carried.
Adjournment: Dwight Nelson, seconded by John Beinborn, moved to adjourn the meeting pursuant to
the meeting on June 23, 2010 at 9:00.