County public‑works office outlines FEMA reimbursement status and approves two‑year GWorks contract

Joyce Hall, public works office manager, briefed commissioners on two items: the county's pending FEMA reimbursements for a 2019 flood event and a proposed two‑year contract with GWorks for cloud operations and asset management migration.

FEMA reimbursement timeline: Hall said the county's 2019 flood reimbursements have totaled more than $1.9 million in submitted damage and that earlier recoveries came in multiple checks over time. "We don't get just one check," Hall said, noting prior FEMA reimbursements arrived in installments (July 2020, November 2020 and May 2021) and that the county's FEMA application deadline for the recent event is January 2026. Hall also summarized the expected reimbursement share: "FEMA will reimburse us 75%, but we also get 10% from the state," for a combined potential reimbursement of about 85% of eligible costs if approved.

GWorks contract and migration: Hall presented a cost breakdown for GWorks, the vendor proposed to replace the county's PubWorks system. She said GWorks' list price is $15,000 per year, the county qualified for a loyal‑client price of $11,064, and the vendor offered a 50% first‑year discount, bringing the first‑year operations charge to $5,532. Hall said the vendor also charges a one‑time implementation fee of $8,000 to migrate PubWorks data into the GWorks "hyperweb" system; Hall summarized the year‑one total as about $13,532 (implementation fee plus discounted first‑year operations), with recurring annual costs around $11,064 and an estimated 5–7% increase in later years.

Commission action: A commissioner moved and the board approved entering into a two‑year contract with GWorks (cloud operations/enterprise), described in the meeting as a two‑year commitment for a total amount of $24,596; commissioners authorized Jesse Walton, public works administrator, to sign the contract. The vendor will invoice the county the $8,000 implementation fee first and then invoice the remainder after migration and go‑live. Hall said migration work would proceed while staff continued using PubWorks; the vendor estimates two to three weeks to transfer data and additional meetings to verify datasets before a go‑live date.

Operational notes and staff capacity: Hall warned that her office is handling multiple deadlines, including an open transportation grant with a Nov. 20 deadline, and that she is covering extra duties while a staff member moved into planning and zoning responsibilities. She said she will coordinate implementation meetings and training (train‑the‑trainer) and recommended setting the county's renewal date to the GWorks go‑live date.

What commissioners asked: commissioners sought clarity on year‑one and ongoing costs, contract terms including the vendor's implementation schedule, and confirmation that data migration would be verified before go‑live. Hall said the county would be invoiced for the implementation fee once the contract is signed and that any prorated credit from the existing PubWorks contract would be applied to the migration charge.