Board approves Hart Technologies bid for Northside technology and cabling; staff expects credits to offset cost

The board approved a technology and cabling contract with Hart Technologies for the Northside facility, a package district staff said was priced higher than some earlier bids because the district carved the cabling work out of the general construction bid to avoid duplicative work.

District staff explained that previous projects had required rework when cabling and infrastructure did not match the installed servers and equipment. To avoid repeating that effort, the district sought a separate quote from Hart Technologies for cabling and the technology infrastructure so Hart — which installed cameras, server racks and security equipment in other district facilities — could reinstall or repurpose existing equipment and avoid additional licensing or hardware changes. Staff said they expect at least $65,000 in credits from coordination with the general contractor and possibly another $10,000 as negotiations continue to offset the contract amount.

A board member asked whether the scope should have gone out to open bid; staff replied that technology services of this nature are exempt from the Illinois open-bid requirement and that using a vendor familiar with the district’s existing equipment would avoid disruption and higher costs caused by switching systems and licenses.

Ending: The board approved the contract and staff said they will pursue the available credits and provide further detail on reutilized equipment values and remaining credits as they finalize project accounting (see “Votes at a glance”).