County staff outline Workday rollout, CAD/RMS replacement, fiber and Lake Creek Annex needs
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Summary
Technology Services and the county auditor updated the court on major capital IT projects including Workday (staggered go-live), CAD/RMS replacement with a funding gap, countywide fiber funded with ARPA and CIP, additional radio tower sites, and Lake Creek Annex programming and potential CIP requests.
County technology and finance officials briefed the Williamson County Commissioners Court on a multi-pronged slate of technology and facilities projects, detailing schedules, funding status and next steps.
Richard Sample of Technology Services summarized several capital projects, opening with the county-wide Workday implementation that will replace finance, procurement, asset and HR systems. "We are going live on December 14 for HR, payroll, a lot of the other modules, and then January 1 for all the financials," Sample said, describing a staggered rollout and ongoing configuration and testing phases.
Sample and County Auditor Julie Kiley also updated the court on an upcoming law-enforcement CAD/RMS replacement (dispatch and records-management) purchased from Hexagon/Octave. Sample said configuration and early testing are underway and that the project will go live next year, but he noted additional funds will be required; commissioners discussed a potential $500,000 CIP allocation to close a gap.
Other projects discussed included:
- Countywide fiber: Sample said about $8,000,000 in ARPA funds and CIP will support a fiber build that should be largely complete by Dec. 1; the project originally estimated about $16,000,000 for broader county needs.
- Public Wi-Fi: The county will roll out public Wi-Fi to the square, the Expo Center in Taylor and ball fields in May, with the Southwest Regional Park expansion planned afterward.
- Radio towers and coverage: Technology Services is planning up to five additional tower sites and study work for specific locations, funded at $3,000,000 in CIP for sites and land; Sample said smaller footprints (100x100 feet) may suffice depending on tower type.
- Lake Creek Annex: The county purchased the Lake Creek Annex to provide space including a 9-1-1 training center; Sample said the building is funded at $10,550,000 with an additional CIP request of $575,000 to finish out training space and optional funding for other occupants.
Sample also described a domain migration from wilco.org to wilcotx.gov and challenges around IT hardware lead times, noting vendors are quoting longer lead times for components.
Why it matters: These projects affect core county services from payroll to emergency dispatch, with multi-million-dollar implications for capital planning and operations. Commissioners asked about budgeting authority, the threshold for court approval on job-order-contracting (JOC) work orders, and coordination with cities and school districts for fiber connections.
What the court decided: No final votes were taken on the major projects in this update; staff said formal solicitations and approvals will be brought back to the court as needed, and commissioners asked for further information on budgets and timelines.
Next steps: Staff will bring the JOC solicitation to the court for approval, provide more detail on CAD/RMS budget needs and Lake Creek final costs, and continue Workday configuration and testing.
