Wagoner County approves cameras, door-access expansion and panic-alarm replacement to cover North Annex and courthouse

Wagoner County commissioners approved a package of facility-security upgrades Oct. 27, voting to install cameras in the North Annex meeting room, expand interior door access for the county clerk and court clerk, and replace the county’s outdated panic-alarm system to allow coverage of the new annex location.

Mark Kitchen, the county’s director of communications, presented the camera proposal, describing six cameras (interior and exterior) that will tie into the county’s existing server and network for a quoted cost of $8,555.21. "It will expand the current door access to the system slash camera system servers that we have in place today," Kitchen said when describing how the new cameras and access points will integrate with existing infrastructure. Commissioners and staff cited familiarity with vendor VIP as a reason to keep consistency with existing installations.

Kitchen also presented a $17,519.80 proposal to add door access for three county-clerk doors and two court-clerk doors; no additional server hardware would be required because the work ties to the existing access-control system. Laurie (county clerk) described the doors as the two exterior west doors (land records and administrative entry) and a hallway door into human resources. Commissioners confirmed the purchase would add electronic access but would not replace door hardware unless required later.

On the panic-alarm system, Kitchen said the current system (installed circa 2005) cannot accept another repeater and therefore cannot be expanded to reliably serve the North Annex. SecureTech provided a sole-source quote of $20,315 for a full replacement that includes a repeater capability and 50 new panic units. Kitchen explained the system uses 900-megahertz technology and is tied into public-safety radio dispatch features in the security area; the replacement would permit additional repeaters and expanded coverage.

Each item was the subject of a separate motion and roll-call vote and passed. Funding sources identified in discussion for the panic-system replacement were courthouse-renovation funds; the camera and door-access items were approved from commissioner use-tax or department capital lines as presented. No audio recording changes were proposed for the meeting room camera installation; commissioners noted the cameras would not capture meeting audio.