Adams County commissioners directed IT staff to begin facilitating vendor meetings and to develop firm proposals to shift day-to-day IT support for non-law-enforcement municipal systems to outside vendors, and asked IT Director Mike Brown to return with a written proposal for a new county phone system.

At the meeting, commissioners reviewed earlier council action that approved startup funds for a phone-system switch but noted that the commissioners must authorize any county-level switching and contractual changes. Mike Brown summarized vendor outreach, saying private firms — including Allstar and ESI — told county staff they would support municipalities by hosting services in the county data center or building separate cloud-based phone systems. Brown said vendors indicated they could assist with number transfers, firewalls, backups and other technical tasks while the county would charge back for space, power and services.

Commissioners pressed on timing and responsibilities. One commissioner said the sheriff had reported losing a substantial share of inbound, nonemergency calls on the existing system, calling the phone issue “unacceptable” and creating urgency for a fix. Brown told the board he could return with a written proposal that lists implementation steps, monthly charges and timelines. Several commissioners said they wanted to review the Allstar proposal before committing to a full migration and asked staff to coordinate direct presentations between the vendors and the towns of Decatur and Geneva.

The board framed the next steps as direction rather than final approval: staff were asked to convene vendor-county-city meetings, supply pricing and contract language for review, and return with the Allstar phone proposal for consideration at the next meeting or sooner. Commissioners reiterated that municipalities retain choice; the county would offer data-center space and technical capacity while vendors or the municipalities would assume day-to-day management under interlocal or vendor agreements.