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County delays Windstream contract; judge says vendor absent and agreement needs clarification
Summary
The court reviewed a proposed Windstream agreement for phone/fax/circuit services but did not approve it. County leadership said Windstream representatives were invited but did not appear; staff expressed concerns about committing to an additional circuit before engineering review and audit reconciliation.
Freestone County officials discussed a proposed contract amendment with Windstream for telecommunications services but declined to sign the agreement at the meeting, saying the vendor's representative did not attend and the draft needed clarification.
County leadership expressed concern that Windstream's most recent requested change would commit the county to an additional circuit to support digital fax conversions before an engineering walk-through and final scope-of-work were completed. The judge said the county already has an existing circuit under contract and questioned why the county would pre-commit to another.
Staff described the contested item as a digital conversion for existing fax machines that would cost roughly $10 per device per month once installed, and said Windstream had suggested signing a broader circuit agreement to enable billing adjustments later. Commissioners said they were not comfortable signing without the vendor present and a confirmed engineering scope and therefore did not act on the item.
The judge asked staff to continue discussions with Windstream and to schedule a meeting with Windstream staff and county IT to resolve scope and billing questions before bringing the agreement back to the court.
