MANSFIELD — Richland County commissioners on Tuesday approved seeking proposals for a significant portion of an effort to upgrade security at county-owned buildings.
The decision came after Mike Hill, the IT specialist in county auditor Pat Dropsey’s office, asked for the OK to seek proposals for the $900,000-plus project, rather than accept offers found through state-contract pricing.
Hill and Dropsey met with commissioners in March to discuss the project, which would be paid for via the county’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“After receiving one of the quotes that was on state term, I kind of decided maybe (requests for proposals) is the way to go. Get some more people (and) more businesses submitting for this,” Hill said.
“I wasn’t 100-percent happy with the quote I got, but it would’ve done what we needed. I think the best thing to do is to see if you guys are OK with us submitting this out for an RFP and probably drum up some quotes from different companies,” he said.
The plan includes installing new security cameras and doorway access systems at the courthouse, People’s Building, Longview Center, the prosecutor’s office and the dog warden and adoption center.
It would also add new handicapped accessible door buttons at three entryways to buildings, including the Richland County Board of Elections.
The RFP would include primarily the security cameras and doorway access systems, as well as the software to accompany the hardware.
“So pretty much the meat and potatoes (of the project),” Commissioner Tony Vero said.
Hill, who began work on this project in February 2022, said he didn’t know if the RFP would produce lower and/or better bids.
“I guess that would be the purpose of the RFP, right?” Vero said. “The request for proposal is to hopefully bring in additional proposals.
“And it’s not always about costs. It’s also about maybe some new vendors who may offer some additional services that weren’t included. We’re pretty comfortable with the original bids we got in early March. They’re on state pricing.
“But again, there could be some local companies that who aren’t on state pricing who may have interest,” Vero said. “We believe there are local vendors who have inquired into the project.”
The RFP would be offered on May 1 and likely remain for four weeks.
“If for some reason, we don’t get a better bid than the state bid, we would still be eligible for the state bid?” Commissioner Darrell Banks asked.
County administrator Andrew Keller replied, “If the state bid is lower, we would still be eligible (to accept it.)”
During the meeting in March, Hill said the current security system, including the cameras, is old and outdated.
“We’re on a system that … there’s no upgrade to it,” Hill said.
During the same meeting, Dropsey said, “Just to remind everybody, this originally started out because the federal government had put out three years ago that in purchasing cameras for security (using federal funds), you were not allowed to purchase cameras made in China.
“That’s what started this whole avenue for IT to start researching about how we were going replace equipment when it became end-of-life. It morphed into security with the doors, with generators, things of that nature.”
