Council defers IT contract decision after members raise concerns about replacing longtime technician

Council members reviewed a recent multi-phase proposal from Buckeye Technology to implement the village's newly adopted cybersecurity policy but agreed to return the vendor proposal to committee for additional review rather than approve it at the meeting.

The proposal described four phases: an inventory and analysis of existing systems, gaining control of accounts, policy drafting, and employee training; it also included per-device and per-email-account monthly charges. Council members described the scope as solid but said they needed more detail on pricing and the practicalities of service delivery before authorizing a contract.

Members raised operational concerns about whether an outside vendor could match the village's existing local technician for on-call responsiveness. The transcript records speakers noting that Joel Davis, the village's current IT technician, "comes out at 2:00 in the morning" for urgent calls and is familiar with police systems such as Axon and taser integrations. Council discussed whether a hybrid approach (vendor for security, Joel Davis retained for some operational support) would be possible and agreed to explore options in finance and committee meetings.

Next steps: council members instructed committees to consider the vendor quote, cost structure and how any vendor arrangement would interact with existing staff responsibilities; the IT/cybersecurity implementation was referenced for further committee review and potential ordinance or contract action.

Sources: meeting transcript of Lordstown Village Council meeting.