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Council hears multi-department software upgrades, WatchGuard migration and grant prospects
Summary
City IT and finance staff reported on a multi-year rollout of new financial, utilities, permitting, HR and court software, a WatchGuard bodycam migration to the cloud, FEMA cybersecurity grant prospects and a $15,000-per-school playground shade grant from the state public health agency.
City technology and finance director James updated the council on several concurrent technology and grant initiatives intended to modernize municipal services and save operating costs.
James said the new ERP financial system went live in October and staff are now migrating inspections/permits, utilities, HR/payroll and court software data. He explained the utility portal will add electronic check capability, Apple Pay and improved bill formatting; staff are running ‘‘parallel billing’’ tests to ensure the new system matches existing outputs before switching fully.
WatchGuard (vehicle and body camera) video is being migrated to a cloud server; James said about 75,950 videos must be moved and estimated continuous migration will take three to four weeks. He also outlined a FEMA cybersecurity grant opportunity administered through the state (estimated $47,000–$62,000 with no local match) and described an Alabama Department of Public Health playground-shade grant that would cover up to $15,000 per school to install covered seating and shade structures (coverage not for climbing equipment but for snack/consumable areas).
Council members asked for implementation timelines and noted the benefit to citizens that will come from an improved customer portal for utilities. James said staff would continue parallel testing and return updates as migrations proceed.
Ending: Staff will continue testing, complete WatchGuard data migration, and seek grant awards; council asked for continued updates.
