Abilene council approves $1.25M cyber purchase, publishes $837,000 TWDB notice and clears multiple rezoning requests

The Abilene City Council on Sept. 11 approved a revised not-to-exceed figure of $1,252,000 for a city cybersecurity and network infrastructure purchase, authorized publication of a $837,000 Texas Water Development Board financing notice for lead service-line work and voted to approve a series of zoning changes and a conditional-use permit affecting multiple properties.

Councilman Clayton Price moved to amend the resolution on item 8 to reflect the newly negotiated not-to-exceed contract amount of $1,252,000; Councilman Lynn Beard seconded the motion and the council approved it. Troy Swanson, the city’s information technology director and chief information officer, told the council the purchase is related to gear replacement after a recent cyber event and that an existing annual IT refresh budget of roughly $360,000 was used to replace older devices alongside the cyber-related buys. Swanson said some previously loaned equipment was returned but that a portion of gear remains unrecovered and must be replaced.

Finance director Marjorie Knight told the council the city was approved to access $837,000 through a Texas Water Development Board program for lead service-line work. Knight…