Commission approves electronics, access-control and cabling quotes for new county building — $299,384 total

McPHERSON, Kan. — The McPherson County Commission approved contractor quotes totaling $299,384 for electronic infrastructure, access control and data-cabling work for the new county building, acknowledging $82,000 had already been budgeted and that roughly $217,384 represented additional expenditures.

IT coordinator Jeff Bumber and county staff detailed changes to the original design that increased wiring, data runs and access-control needs. Jeff said the original access-control estimate of roughly $95,000 had been reduced to $60,000 after redesigns, but other additions '1 data drops, IP-phone wiring and additional camera and termination work '1 raised the final figure.

"Originally there were 70 access control blocks. So, we lowered it down... The original quote on just the access control was 95,000. So that's down to 60,000," Jeff said. He explained the county sought to keep systems compatible with existing installations so staff and law enforcement could use a single access card across county facilities.

Commission discussion focused on cost increases, trade-offs in design and the desire to future-proof wiring with Cat6 and fiber to reduce long-term replacement costs. Commissioners asked for clear accounting of what had been budgeted and what would represent an additional outlay.

The motion approved acceptance of the vendor proposals from Electric Inc. and Hammocky Electric for electronics, infrastructure, access control and data-cabling work, with a total of $299,384 and the commission noting $82,000 was already included in the building budget. The chair instructed staff to notify the contractor to proceed via email.

Ending: Staff will notify contractors to proceed with orders for equipment and coordinate install schedules and any future change orders.