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Fulton County commissioners approve temporary generator rental after outages disrupted dispatch systems
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Summary
After recent outages and a compounded switch/firmware failure left dispatch and county servers vulnerable, commissioners authorized a short-term generator rental while vendor repairs continue; staff cited multi-week repair timelines and parts costs.
Fulton County Commissioners voted to authorize staff to secure a short-term rental generator after recent power interruptions and related equipment failures disrupted dispatch, the server room and county operations. The motion, approved 3–0, authorizes procurement contingent on council funding and allocating costs from identified county sources.
Maintenance staff described the problem as both a generator failure and separate networking/switch firmware issues that prolonged outages. "They found bacteria in the fuel," maintenance reported, and technician tests showed damaged injectors; "The injectors run about $1,800 to $2,000 a piece," the maintenance report said. Vendor Everpar told county staff it could begin reassembly on Jan. 27 and expected to have the generator running in roughly three to four weeks.
County staff offered a short-term rental cost example for commissioners: $4,730 for a four-week rental, an $875 round-trip delivery/setup fee and a $170-per-hour hookup charge, which staff said would produce a projected short-term outlay of roughly $6,000 depending on hookup time and any added charges. An earlier, separate remark mentioning a $56,000 figure was not reconciled during the meeting; commissioners directed staff to reconcile final costs with the council before final payment.
Officials said the rental is intended to protect officer safety and maintain critical connectivity for mobile data terminals and dispatch. One county IT/operations speaker explained that a firmware error in network switches compounded the outage: "It wasn't only the generator...it was also our switching at various locations," the speaker said. The board recorded the motion as carrying 3–0, with council approval and identified fund sources to be confirmed in the follow-up.
Next steps: staff will finalize vendor pricing, coordinate payment sources with the council at its next meeting, and proceed with the rental and deployment as authorized.
