Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the It Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Stark County approves five-year leased phone system, authorizes initial $36,200 expenditure
Summary
The Stark County Commission on Dec. 2 voted to lease a new countywide phone system under a five-year contract and authorized an initial outlay of $36,200 to cover first-year and setup costs; commissioners debated networking, cloud options and long‑term costs before approving the amended motion.
The Stark County Commission voted Dec. 2 to enter a five-year lease for a countywide phone system and authorized an initial expenditure of $36,200 to cover setup and first‑year costs.
Jeremiah Kirkpatrick, the county IT coordinator, presented four vendor options from Consolidated, including an in‑house purchase, a lease with full networking, a lease stand‑alone vertical‑wave system and a cloud-hosted option. Kirkpatrick said the leased vertical‑wave stand‑alone option offered resiliency and vendor-maintained service and labor, while the cloud option would require additional wiring and PoE switches at an uncertain one‑time cost.
Commissioners focused on resiliency and long‑term cost. Commissioner Francik moved to select the leased vertical‑wave stand‑alone option. After discussion and a staff clarification of one‑time setup and recurring amounts, commissioners amended the motion to authorize an initial expenditure of $36,200 for the first year and related setup and to proceed with the five‑year lease. The commission approved the amended motion by roll call.
Kirkpatrick said the vendor quote for the five‑year lease totaled approximately $145,400; the approved initial amount covers the first‑year payment and setup fees. He told commissioners the vendor would perform maintenance and, if equipment reached end of life during the lease, replacement would be handled by the vendor under the lease terms.
County staff said budget lines will be adjusted in the 2026 budget to reflect the contract. The purchase vs. lease trade‑off discussed at the meeting included a roughly $37,000 difference between owning hardware outright and leasing, but commissioners concluded the lease offered better long‑term support and resiliency. The commission asked staff to provide more details about 10‑year costs and end‑of‑lease options before future decisions.
The commission recorded the motion and roll‑call approval at the Dec. 2 meeting. The county will schedule vendor programming and phased installation with staff meetings and user training weeks ahead of cutover.
