Lou Harter, Butler County IT director, told commissioners the county issued an RFP to replace aging wireless LAN infrastructure that had reached end of support and failed to meet modern security and performance standards. Four vendors responded; staff eliminated two proposals on security and integration concerns and recommended Venue Wireless, which proposed an Arista‑based solution.

Harter said Venue Wireless’ proposal scored highest on enterprise security, integration with the county’s Cisco environment and long‑term scalability. The total project cost is $71,309.25 and includes five years of service and software subscriptions; staff recommended using the county’s general reserve fund and noted legal counsel had reviewed the agreement.

Commissioner Herzet moved to approve the purchase and to authorize the chair to sign purchase documents; Commissioner Masterson seconded. The motion passed 5–0.

Why it matters: the county’s wireless system was at end of support and posed security and reliability risks for county networks. The selected solution includes multi‑year subscriptions intended to keep the system patched and supported.

Ending: staff will execute the agreement and schedule the deployment with minimal disruption to county operations.