Committee approves county IT shared-service agreements for Trenton and Hartford; staff warn capacity limits

The Washington County Public Works Committee approved two resolutions authorizing the county Information Technology Department to provide shared IT services to the towns of Trenton and Hartford.

Eric Mesa, who identified himself as representing the county IT team, said both towns had met with IT staff and expressed interest in onboarding. He told the committee Trenton is a smaller municipality that staff expect to integrate relatively easily, and Hartford is likewise a small user base and will become the ninth municipality in the county’s IT shared-service program.

Chairman Schleif and other supervisors noted a typographical error in the Trenton resolution — a missing word in line 42 that should read "Washington County executive" — and the committee directed staff to correct the text prior to final execution. Supervisors also discussed capacity: staff cautioned that the county’s current personnel and funding levels will be stretched if several larger municipalities (Village of Richfield, Village of Germantown, Village of Jackson) join. County budget staff said the shared-revenue grant program and sales-tax allocations that are currently underwriting these shared services will need reevaluation in upcoming budget discussions if demand increases.

Supervisor Vespalic moved to approve the Trenton resolution (with the correction); Supervisor Hartwig seconded. The motion carried. The committee then approved the Hartford resolution on a separate motion.