The Fort Madison City Council approved a contract with Cure Solutions worth $75,600 to update the city’s computer and network equipment at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
City manager David Varley presented a report to the council detailing the need for an update to the city’s outdated network equipment, and upgrades for many of the computer systems in use by the city. Varley said at the council meeting that the city’s computer system has been neglected for a long time, and has not received proper maintenance and upkeep. He said that network equipment such as routers and switches are outdated, and many computers do not have proper virus and malware protection.
The city received quotes from two local IT companies to fix the numerous issues, and Varley recommended a contract with Cure Solutions at Tuesday’s meeting. The up-front cost to purchase needed equipment and pay for the labor, hardware, and software will be $40,800 dollars, with a one-year contract for $2900 per month for maintenance and upkeep.
Varley says that the cost will be divided among city departments, and along with underspending in certain accounts he believes that the cost can be absorbed within the current budget.
Also at Tuesday’s council meeting, an ordinance was approved to change council meeting times to 5:30 on the first and third Tuesday’s of the month, from the current time of 7:00, The second reading of an ordinance to amend parking regulations for commercial vehicles was approved, and the city gave consent to the North Lee County Historic Society to sublet a parking lot to Matt’s Greenhouse for three months from April until June of this year.
The Fort Madison City Council will next meet at 5:30 PM on Tuesday, March 7th.
