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City staff to seek grant and CIP funds to replace police and public-safety laptops
Summary
City Administrator said the city will apply for a governor-backed “Blue Shield” grant to replace aging laptops used by police and other public-safety and code departments and will return to the council at the next meeting with a resolution to move local funds if the grant is secured.
City Administrator said the city will apply for a governor-backed “Blue Shield” grant to replace aging laptops used by police and other public-safety and code departments and will return to the council at the next meeting with a resolution to move local funds if the grant is secured.
The grant application must be filed by Sept. 2, the Chief of Police told the council, and the department is seeking replacement of 28 laptops plus printers. "The laptops we currently have are reaching their 5 year lifespan, and it's recommended that we replace those every 5 years," the Chief of Police said.
The chief gave council a vendor quote of $131,000 for hardware; staff said the grant would cover $50,000 of that amount, leaving the city to cover the remainder — roughly $80,000. City Administrator told council the city could use capital improvement sales tax funds; staff reported about $640,000 available in that fund and said an $80,000 transfer would not deplete it. "If we did $80,000 out of there, it doesn't take a terrible amount out of that, and we still have a large amount," the City Administrator said.
Staff emphasized additional costs are possible for software integration, such as digital-ticketing and GPS programs. The City Administrator said the city will return with a formal resolution on the next council agenda (the nineteenth) so the council can vote to move local funds if they authorize the purchase.
Council members asked about disposal or donation of the existing devices. One councilmember asked whether the old computers could be donated; the Chief of Police replied, "I've not checked into that. I will check into that tomorrow, though." No formal vote was taken at the meeting; council directed staff to pursue the grant application and to bring back a resolution authorizing any local match if the grant is available.
The council scheduled formal action for the next regular meeting; staff will prepare a resolution and cost breakdown and provide details about disposition of surplus equipment.
