MANSFIELD — The City of Mansfield plans to upgrade the technology its employees utilize to a cloud-based Microsoft 365.
The city’s Board of Control on Tuesday morning approved a $113,681 expense for licensing, hardware and software, which will include a new email system.
Mark Huckleberry, who oversees the city’s IT department, made the request, which will utilize state-contract pricing via carahsoft, a Virginia-based company that provides technology services to governments around the United States and Canada.
Mayor Jodie Perry put funds for computer system upgrades into the 2025 budget, which was approved by City Council in March.
The IT-improvement proposal must still come before City Council, possibly at its next meeting on Nov. 5.
“We are a legacy, on-premise kind of operating system framework. It’s what the city has always been on,” Huckleberry said, adding Microsoft is no longer providing “patch upgrades” to such servers.
“By embracing the cloud infrastructure, we will get over that hurdle and then we also, obviously, get the best software from Microsoft on an ongoing subscription basis,” he said.
“Ultimately, legacy systems are not gonna be maintained by Microsoft going forward,” said Huckleberry, adding that security around the system, including Outlook email, will be enhanced with the improvements.
The improvements would also provide email for every city employee. Huckleberry said about 20 percent of city workers currently do no have email access.
Safety Service Director Keith Porch, a Board of Control member, said initial pricing for the transition project was closer to $170,000 to $180,000.
“Mark (and his team) beat the bushes to get to where this price is. When you look at $113,000, it’s still a chunk of change, but it could have been way worse,” Porch said.
Huckleberry said work on the transition should begin in January 2026, if City Council approves it. Typically, Microsoft 365 includes programs such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Teams and others.
The cloud-based system means officials will also be able to access the operating system remotely, Huckleberry said.
“It’s a mobile world,” he said, “and it will be secure.”
Change orders reflect largely cheaper costs
The Board of Control also approved final change orders related to four recent projects, totaling a net of $45,296 in reductions.
City engineer Bob Bianchi said most of the reductions came because less materials were needed for the projects.
The biggest reduction of $50,007 came on the recently completed multi-use concrete connector between the B&O Trail and the tunnel beneath Trimble Road. The work was done by the Adena Corporation of Mansfield at a revised cost of $1,958,234.
The second-largest reduction of $5,683 was for the Middle Park pedestrian box bridge that connects the park to Park Avenue West. The work done by Mid Ohio Land Worx LLC was done for $195,066.
A third reduction of $1,032 was approved for the new multi-use trail along Millsboro Road from Trimble Road to Marion Avenue. That work, done by Smith Paving & Excavating, was completed for $598,853.
The only change order with a cost increase was for work done on the Municipal Building for $11,426. That addition was requested by the city to added a kitchenette on the third floor.