Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Digital Records topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Valley Stream trustees defer training decision for vendor-run cloud document system
Summary
Trustees discussed a proprietary cloud document-management contract that the village has been using to digitize decades of building records. The board asked staff to obtain a revised, shorter training quote from the vendor and deferred final action to a future meeting.
Valley Stream trustees at a recent work session discussed the village's ongoing contract with a vendor that has been scanning building files into a proprietary cloud document-management system and deferred a final decision on the vendor's proposed training schedule.
Trustees said the vendor has already scanned a large volume of records dating to the 1920s into the system, but the vendor's initial estimate of five days of on-site training appeared excessive for the village's small building department. Michael (staff member) told trustees the village has only a handful of employees who use the permitting system and that staff has asked the vendor to reduce the training to two or three days, with a possible option for the third day.
The board emphasized why the digital conversion matters: scanned records let residents and staff retrieve building histories without pulling paper files from the basement. But trustees also questioned sole-source implications and cost. Kevin (trustee) recalled prior concerns about the price — trustees referenced an earlier estimate of about $1,400 per training day and a roughly $7,000 figure cited in the discussion — and asked whether the village could seek competing proposals. Michael responded that the vendor has already done the scanning and that other firms would be unlikely to provide proposals for work they did not perform.
Trustees clarified that the contract term is multi-year; Michael said the village is about three years into a five-year arrangement with the current vendor. Because the system is proprietary and the vendor is hosting scanned records, trustees emphasized the need to balance continuity of service with cost control.
Action and next steps: trustees asked staff to request a written, revised quote from the vendor reflecting two or three days of training, with the revised quote to be provided to the board for the upcoming meeting. Until staff presents the revised, written estimate, trustees deferred final approval of the training schedule.
The board separated discussion from decision: this session recorded direction to staff to obtain a revised quote and to present it at the next board meeting; no final training contract amendment was adopted during the work session.
Michael (staff member) will bring the vendor's written revised quote back to the trustees for formal consideration.
