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Council awards contract for new point-of-sale system at Ellen Trout Zoo
Summary
The council approved a contract to purchase a new point-of-sale and online-ticketing system for Ellen Trout Zoo. The Friends of the Zoo will share 50% of the upfront cost; the contract runs three years with recurring subscription costs in years two and three.
The Lufkin City Council approved a contract to purchase a new point-of-sale (POS) system for Ellen Trout Zoo to replace an outdated system and introduce online ticketing and consolidated analytics.
City staff said the current POS is obsolete and unsupported by the vendor; the new system will decrease wait times, allow online ticket purchases and provide analytic data on visitor origin by ZIP code. Staff proposed a three‑year agreement; the initial first-year cost was presented as $30,790 as the city’s share (the total first-year cost presented was approximately $60,000 with the Friends of the Zoo paying half of the initial upfront cost). Staff listed estimated subscription costs for year two at about $12,680 and year three at about $13,450. The city would contract with the vendor and the Friends of the Zoo would pay half of the upfront first-year costs and share subscription payments thereafter as described.
Council discussion was positive. An unidentified council member said the change would make visitor operations easier and another council member described the plan as a "really cool thing." Staff recommended awarding the contract and the council approved the purchase after a motion and second.
The contract will be administered by the city; staff said the funds for the initial year would come from existing budget items by reprioritizing anticipated expenditures.
