Crook County reviews draft core‑service descriptions for IT, GIS and Facilities; staff set metrics and next steps

Crook County officials convened a special meeting Dec. 9 to review draft core service descriptions for the county’s Information Technology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Facilities departments, county manager Will Van Bacter said.

The presentations outlined missions, core duties, performance targets and funding needs for each department. Will Van Bacter told commissioners the special meetings are intended to produce a unified countywide set of core services that will guide planning and resource allocation once formally accepted at a regular board meeting.

Blaine Cheney, the county’s IT director, said the IT department’s mission is “to enhance the department in community services by providing reliable, secure, user‑friendly technology.” Cheney walked commissioners through major IT service areas — infrastructure and operations, security and privacy, data and application management, project and vendor management, and strategy, governance and compliance — and listed performance targets including 99.9% uptime for critical systems, high‑priority incident response within 30 minutes, and a goal of resolving 80% of help‑desk tickets within two business days. He said IT is continuing projects that had been queued under previous leadership while reassessing priorities where needed.

Cheney also described GIS work that supports emergency response, planning and public transparency. “The mission of our geographic information systems team is to deliver accurate and accessible geographic data that supports informed decisions, efficient county operations, and public transparency,” he said. Cheney said GIS maintains parcels, addresses and road centerlines, supplies layers used by 911 and emergency management, and provides public map portals and downloadable datasets to reduce staff workload and improve access to information.

On population data, a commissioner asked whether the county should rely on Portland State figures. Van Bacter said the county’s billing team had exchanged data with Portland State and GIS is providing additional information to support the county’s population estimates.

James Bruce, facilities director, presented the Facilities core service description, saying the department’s mission is to “manage and maintain county owned buildings, landscaping, and parking lots to provide safe, functional, cost‑efficient spaces for public service delivery.” Bruce described daily operations and maintenance, long‑range facility planning and asset management, vendor contracting and internal cost allocation. He listed targets including achieving 55% of facilities rated as “good” on the facility condition index, maintaining a 60% ratio of scheduled to unscheduled maintenance and achieving 90% internal customer satisfaction for facility services.

Van Bacter closed the meeting by previewing the next steps: departmental reviews will continue on Dec. 19 with the clerk, assessor and road departments, with remaining departments to be completed in early January. Once staff incorporate suggested revisions, the countywide set of core services will be brought to a regular board meeting for formal acceptance, he said.

A motion to adjourn was made and seconded; commissioners voiced a majority in favor and the meeting was declared adjourned.