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Tazewell County finance committee clears IT equipment, fiber ring and squad car purchases
Summary
The finance committee approved an annual procurement for laptops and PCs with Hart Technologies, authorization to replace a squad car through risk management and an agreement to install a downtown fiber ring; some members raised concerns about competitive bidding and disposal of old equipment.
The Tazewell County finance committee voted to approve routine purchases including an annual workstation procurement with Hart Technologies, a resolution to replace a crashed squad car funded by risk management, and an agreement with Hart to install a redundant fiber ring between downtown county buildings.
Staff explained the workstation purchase covers procurement and deployment services for laptops and PCs; the vendor would also oversee e‑waste disposal coordination. One board member who reviewed online prices said he found roughly a $50,000 difference on comparable hardware and expressed concern that the county had not sought a competitive bid; staff replied that Hart is the county’s contracted IT vendor and that deployment work and security requirements factor into the total cost.
On the fiber ring, staff described the project as creating a loop among county buildings (justice center, courthouse, McKenzie Building, annex) to provide redundancy and improve connectivity for streaming court services and internal systems. Members asked whether the planned ring excluded buildings the county expects to sell; staff said the design excluded buildings slated for disposal and that provisions were made to feed future buildings once the new justice center is in place.
The motions passed in committee (workstations, squad car replacement and the fiber installation) by committee vote or voice vote as recorded in the finance meeting.
