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Meriwether County approves AT&T fiber for E-911 and implements monthly qPublic ownership updates
Summary
The Board approved switching E-911 telecommunications from a costly copper service to an AT&T fiber bundle that will cut monthly costs from about $11,000 to $798 (projected roughly $120,000 annual savings). The Board also approved monthly qPublic ownership updates at no extra subscription cost.
The Meriwether County Board voted Jan. 12 to replace the county’s existing copper-based telecommunications service for E-911 with a dedicated AT&T fiber internet and voice bundle, a change county staff said will reduce the monthly bill from roughly $11,000 to about $798 and yield approximately $120,000 in annual savings.
County Administrator John Gorton told the Board the AT&T proposal included written cost-savings confirmation in the meeting packet. The Board approved the agreement by unanimous vote.
On property records, Chief Tax Appraiser William (Will) Harris and Vice Chairman Jennifer Snelson briefed the Board on qPublic ownership updates. Harris said vendor-supplied ownership updates can be run monthly beginning Feb. 1 using the vendor ticket process at no additional subscription cost. Vice Chairman Snelson moved to implement monthly ownership updates; the motion passed unanimously.
Finance Director Tammy Lackey also reported that the County received $4.7 million from the Tax Commissioner's Office the prior week and that $4 million of that had been transferred to the County’s investment account. She noted the County’s SPLOST balance was negative $462,000 at the time of the report due to no General Fund advances and said the TSPLOST project balance was approximately $849,000. Lackey said the MaxAir plumbing jail chase project was complete and a sanitary line project was slated to begin Jan. 19.
The Board recorded votes for formal actions and asked staff to provide contract and vendor documentation for the AT&T transition and qPublic process details in follow-up materials.
