The Merrimack County Board of Commissioners on a series of voice votes approved a $63,000 purchase to replace an expiring computing cluster, a contract to upgrade the nursing home’s call‑system to add reporting, and authorized soliciting bids for paving a heavily used walkway for an amount not to exceed $40,000. Commissioners also voted to nominate new corrections superintendent Garrett Jewell to the New Hampshire Association of Counties’ executive committee and heard a briefing that corrections overtime is running above the current budgeted level.

The actions were taken during the board’s regular meeting; all formal motions recorded on the public agenda were approved by voice vote or roll call. The county will enter a nonpublic session afterward on personnel under RSA 91‑A:3 II(a).

Why it matters: the purchases and paving authorization affect county operations and resident care at county facilities now and through the winter; the corrections overtime briefing signals a budget pressure likely to reappear in next year’s budget process.

Thomas Trumbull Jr., a staff member who presented the technology request, told the board the county’s “scale computing cluster which is hardware and to support servers for the entire South Campus was going to be expiring this November.” He said the county had received vendor quotes ranging from $119,000 down to $63,000 and requested approval to buy the system at the lower price because the cluster supports multiple county offices, including the county attorney’s office, deeds, adult diversion, pretrial and human services. After the presentation a motion to approve the purchase was moved and seconded and passed by voice vote.

Heather Ross Johnson, identified in the record as a staff member involved with the nursing facility, asked the board to approve a contract to upgrade the facility’s nurse call system and add a software reporting feature. “It will help us in our quality improvement efforts for service and delivery of service timely,” she said, and added it would assist investigations when residents or families raise grievances about response times. She described the upgrade as an “objective source of data” that would complement video footage the facility already uses in investigations. The board approved the contract by voice vote.

Commissioners also authorized soliciting bids and contracting to pave the walkway in front of the McLeod Building and adjacent nursing facility, with a spending cap of $40,000 to ensure the work is completed before winter. Ross Johnson (staff) described the surface as stone dust that can be difficult for wheelchair users and asked the board to approve a competitive bidding process not to exceed the $40,000 limit. The motion to proceed with bidding and award within that cap passed by voice vote.

Corrections superintendent Garrett Jewell briefed the board on overtime. The county budgeted roughly $700,000 for corrections overtime; Jewell reported the department is currently at about $862,000 for the year. He attributed the increase to recruitment shortfalls and to an increase in minimum staffing levels for the county jail this January, and said the department is conducting a staffing analysis to stabilize future staffing and overtime levels. “We’re currently in the middle of doing a staffing analysis so we can stabilize the staffing plan,” Jewell said. Commissioners were told the overtime pressure will likely be an item in next year’s budget process.

Commissioners also moved and approved the nomination of Garrett Jewell to the New Hampshire Association of Counties executive committee and to the corrections certification board. The nomination was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote; commissioners congratulated Jewell.

On procedural items the board approved the consent agenda by voice vote and then voted to enter a nonpublic session under RSA 91‑A:3 II(a) for personnel matters; the roll call recorded Commissioners Tracy, Loveland and Shurtleff as voting aye to enter nonpublic session.

Other business noted for future action: the McLeod Building Renovation Committee added meeting dates on Oct. 16 and Nov. 13; county staff advised the board they are coordinating public notification and the timeline in advance of a Dec. 12 target for the county budget handoff and possible further action on the renovation. Staff finance remarks also noted proceeds received that morning would be held at TD Bank pending reinvestment decisions, with staff citing an aim to avoid arbitrage issues.

Votes at a glance

- Approve consent agenda — moved/seconded (not specified), voice vote; outcome: approved.
- Approve purchase of scale computing cluster for South Campus at $63,000 — motion moved/seconded (not specified), voice vote; outcome: approved.
- Approve contract to upgrade nursing-home nurse call system and add reporting software feature — motion moved/seconded (not specified), voice vote; outcome: approved.
- Authorize bidding and contract award for paving walkway in front of McLeod Building/nursing facility, not to exceed $40,000 — motion moved/seconded (not specified), voice vote; outcome: approved.
- Nominate Garrett Jewell to NHAC Executive Committee and Corrections Certification Board — motion moved/seconded, voice vote; outcome: approved.
- Enter nonpublic session per RSA 91‑A:3 II(a) (personnel) — motion moved/seconded, roll call recorded: Commissioner Tracy Aye; Commissioner Loveland Aye; Commissioner Shurtleff Aye; outcome: approved (entered nonpublic session).

Meeting context and next steps: staff will proceed with the purchases and with the walkway bidding as authorized, conduct the corrections staffing analysis and bring budget implications to the next budget cycle; the board will hold the nonpublic personnel session following the public meeting.