Commissioners approve library hotspot grant and switch from mobile app to website chatbot

The Harnett County Board of Commissioners approved two digital-access items: acceptance of an $18,000 Mid Carolina digital inclusion grant for lendable hotspot devices for the Harnett County Public Library and a budget modification to replace a proposed county mobile app with a website chatbot service.

Library representative Miss Kuehle told the board the $18,000 award (no county match required) will purchase lendable hotspot devices to expand digital access across all eight library locations and fund one year of service. The board approved the acceptance by voice vote.

County administration proposed reallocating the previously budgeted $10,000 mobile-application line to a website chatbox. Desiree (county administration) said research of peer counties showed low long-term adoption of stand-alone apps and recommended a chatbot integrated with the county website to provide 24/7 routine answers, language translation and consolidated search across county sites. Chief Information Officer Ira described technical safeguards: the vendor (Polymorphic) uses OpenAI in a “fenced playground” that pulls data only from the county’s public sources to reduce the risk of extraneous information and provides reporting capabilities to help staff refine responses. Commissioners approved the change; the transcript records an initial prorated FY cost of $10.83 and an ongoing FY cost of $13,000 to be paid from the IT budget.

The approvals were recorded as motions and carried by voice vote. Staff said they will proceed with procurement and report back as needed.