A Charleston committee on Monday approved four resolutions authorizing contracts and purchases for the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center, city parks and the Kanawha City Community Center.

The measures, each approved by voice vote, cover a five-year software renewal and hardware provision for the Coliseum’s point-of-sale system; purchase of concert-style crowd barriers; installation of security cameras at 11 parks; and replacement of sports lighting at the Kanawha City Community Center tennis courts.

The resolutions matter to patrons, event operators and park users because they fund equipment and services used daily at public venues and aim to improve operations and safety. Committee members discussed device counts and costs for the point-of-sale (POS) system and the number and placement of park cameras before voting.

Mr. Michelle, a city staff member who presented the POS item, said the city’s current Clover point-of-sale system is approaching the vendor’s end of life after about seven years and that the recommended contract would include hardware. "They will be providing all of the hardware necessary to run the system, which is about 90, dedicated point of sale devices plus 10 handheld mobile devices at no charge," Mr. Michelle said. He told the committee the first-year software cost in the proposal is $44,328, and years two through five are budgeted at roughly $37,500 per year (about $3.75 per device per year), based on an assumed 100 devices.

The committee next approved a competitively bid purchase of a concert-style crowd barrier system from Mountain Productions for the Coliseum and Convention Center. Mr. Michelle said the city’s current temporary barriers are basic bike-rail style pieces and that the new system is a more professional, industry-standard product used at concerts and touring events.

For park security, the committee approved a contract with Motorola Solutions Inc. to install cameras at 11 city parks. Mr. Michelle said Homeland Security Director Chad Jones had worked on the project over the past year and that the new cameras are intended to match existing city camera systems for seamless integration. The presenter listed planned camera counts by park: Beatrice Park (4), Biggie (10), David McBoon (7), East End Park (4), Davis Park (5), Hadad (7), Hunter Park (1), Magic Island (8), Oakmont Park (5), Riverview (6) and Safety City (9). Mr. Michelle said some four-camera mounts will contain four cameras pointing in different directions; the total is roughly 60 cameras across the listed sites.

Committee members asked whether the program’s goal was to ultimately cover all city parks; a committee member responded that the approved list covers larger parks and that small neighborhood pocket parks are not part of this purchase. Mr. Pepper asked about camera counts per park; Mr. Michelle provided the figures listed above. Mr. Michelle also cited past instances where cameras assisted investigations, saying cameras at one site helped locate stolen copper and led to an arrest.

The final resolution approved a contract to replace sports lighting at the Kanawha City Community Center, including tennis courts identified as the Schoenbaum tennis courts. Committee member Miss Seffert noted that money from the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation tied to the Schoenbaum name might have been used for previous court work and suggested the city check the foundation’s terms before spending any remaining funds. The presenter said staff would check the funding details.

After the four votes the meeting returned to a facility update: Patrick Leahy, general manager of the building, reported that Coliseum seat removal is complete and crews had started mounting new rails for the replacement seats.

Votes at a glance: Resolution 25-81 (POS software renewal and hardware for Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center) — adopted; Resolution 25-82 (crowd barrier system purchase from Mountain Productions) — adopted; Resolution 25-83 (camera purchase and installation with Motorola Solutions for 11 parks) — adopted; Resolution 25-84 (purchase and installation of sports lighting at Kanawha City Community Center) — adopted.

The committee adjourned after the final item and a short facilities update.