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County declines $200,000 cybersecurity grant over procurement and deadline concerns
Summary
Meriwether County staff recommended, and the Board approved, declining a $200,000 cybersecurity grant because the grant specified a vendor, the project deadline was August 2026, and the County could not complete required competitive procurement within the timeframe.
Meriwether County officials told commissioners on July 13 that staff recommend declining a recently awarded Cybersecurity Grant because the project timeline and procurement requirements made compliance infeasible.
County Administrator John Gorton said the award was for $200,000 but identified a specific vendor in its documentation and that an extension request had not been approved; under county procurement rules the project should have been competitively procured through an RFP and staff could not achieve that within the grant’s August 2026 deadline. Gorton noted the County already uses VC3 and ThinkGard for cybersecurity services and has not experienced breaches. The Board voted unanimously to decline the grant and to notify the granting agency.
