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New Castle County technology update: AI policy near final, security operations center using AI, and two cell-tower sites move toward BOA review
Summary
Chief of Technology John Yearley told the subcommittee a new AI policy is nearly complete, the county is using AI in its security operations and call-center agents, and two cell-tower sites (Back Creek and the old Corbett Road) have leases and applications submitted; the project is valued at about $750,000 and BOA scheduling is pending.
John Yearley, the county's chief of technology and administrative services, briefed the subcommittee on major information-technology projects: a completed data-center server and storage infrastructure, migration of help-desk and inventory systems to SaaS, a redesigned multilingual county website, and a security operations center now using an AI-enabled platform to correlate logs and events.
Yearley said the county is finalizing a comprehensive AI policy developed with the law department and human resources and expects to publish it soon. He described in-house AI agents deployed for help-desk and assessment call-center functions and reported that the assessment agent handled about half of incoming calls in its first week. "AI is here to facilitate. Our goal is to help make things more efficient, not replace users," Yearley said.
On enterprise systems, Yearley noted contract kickoff for the Hansen replacement (Acela) with a projected completion around calendar year 2028, and work on a tax and sewer billing platform (Harris) with phase 2 expected by about September 2027. He said asset-management and recreation platforms are moving to SaaS spaces to improve mobility for field staff.
Yearley provided a detailed update on cellular infrastructure: site surveys for Back Creek and the former Corbett Road (MOT) location are complete, ground and tower leases were signed and returned to Wireless Edge, and the county has submitted the permanent applications; Barnes & Thornburg is handling legal representation for the project. Yearley said he is pursuing Board of Adjustment scheduling and expects information soon. "We have $750,000 in this project," he said, and described the work as a "2 for 1" effort that would be cost-efficient compared with prior single-site builds.
Councilman Carter said he heard mixed feedback in a recent Back Creek community meeting and reminded colleagues that health and safety concerns would be handled through the Board of Adjustments' permitting review. Several members raised site-specific concerns, and Councilman Street pressed for transparency about who selects outside counsel for projects; he also expressed an equity concern about a previously approved $12 million allocation for outside legal work. Councilwoman Patrick and other members responded that providers sometimes select attorneys for site-specific work and that, in typical county practice, the county attorney has a role in selecting outside counsel.
Members also questioned third-party transcription and meeting tools; Yearley said ReadAI had been blocked for security reasons and that Otter is under evaluation. He noted IT's work to block high-risk AI models and untrusted jurisdictions and said the department will continue vetting tools to protect county data.
Yearley closed by saying he will share updates as he receives them — particularly about Board of Adjustment timing for the tower applications and further rollouts of planned enterprise systems.
