IT staff reported Aug. 1 that renovation work in the county IT space is complete, an iFiber-related final payment is pending an IRS refund, and the department is continuing a planned computer replacement rollout.

John, IT staff, told the committee the fire suppression and office-floor renovations are finished and praised Kevin, a maintenance worker, for designing a rack-raising solution that avoided more invasive lifts. “Kevin came up with this idea on how to raise the racks,” John said, describing a unit-strut-and-bolt solution that allowed the floor work to be completed without moving critical equipment.

During the renovation, IT staff removed a substantial amount of abandoned or “dead” cabling from beneath the floor and installed grommets in six tiles with 6-inch holes to accommodate desk cabling. One original carpet tile adjacent to a circuit box could not be removed without risk to live wiring; John said he plans to replace that tile with a matching vinyl piece to avoid a visible mismatch.

John also said the department is waiting for a final iFiber payment that, he said, is “somewhere between $100 and $200,000” and is delayed while the county waits on an IRS refund check. He noted the county received most project proceeds and that the outstanding payment is a relatively small portion of the project closeout.

On future capital planning, John told members the building’s structured cabling is under warranty with vSEC through 2032, but added that when the warranty ends the county should expect a large cost to recable the building. He estimated a recabling for the building could range from several hundred thousand dollars to near or above $500,000 and suggested budgeting or setting aside proceeds in advance.

IT staff are continuing a PC-replacement rollout; John said about 40 units remained in the backroom and the goal is to have them deployed by the end of the fiscal period in November, ideally at a pace the department estimated as up to about 10 computers per week when schedules and support-ticket volume permit. The department bought new software to speed imaging and deployment, and a vendor picks up old machines after IT removes hard drives. John said the county sends hard drives to Schroder Unlimited for shredding at about $3 per drive.

The committee accepted the IT report and approved related bills by unanimous voice vote. John said routine billing procedures for MediaCom and AT&T will be shifted to county property review after the next fiscal year starts so those invoices will be seen and approved by county properties staff rather than being hand-drawn from IT’s accounts.

No formal policy changes were adopted; members asked clarifying questions about timeline and costs and directed staff to continue rollouts and complete post-renovation cleanup and inventory ahead of moving staff back into the renovated area.