LOCK HAVEN - The Clinton County commissioners entered into an agreement Thursday with Comcast for "fiber connectivity" accompanying last June's approval of a major telecommunications system upgrade for county facilities.
The board will pay a one-time, "non recurring" fee of $94,000 in connection with equipment, wiring and installation, and will pay about $2,600 per month for services.
Last June, the board awarded a contract for a new telecommunications array for county government to Morefield Communications at a price of $498,359.
Commissioner Joel Long said the wiring upgrade was necessary because it offered service that would have taxed the county's current system.
He likened the situation to "the need for a bigger pipe for information to travel through."
The commissioners noted the monthly fee is less than what is now paid by the county for telephone and Internet services, and Commissioner Tom Bossert said the board was "diligent' in negotiating for monthly fees, resulting in a figure "substantially lower" than what was initially offered.
Commissioner Adam Coleman said the board solicited for interest from local firms but Comcast was the only company that came up with a reasonable offer.
Officials said the new telecommunications system will be installed at the courthouse, prison, the Garden building, the Agricultural Extension Office, district attorney's office and the communications center, replacing seven different systems now in use.
The system would also deliver Voice over IP (VoIP) services to replace some 250 government telephones countywide.
VoIP is a general term for a family of transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications over networks like the Internet. The technology allows users to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.
The plans also call for the installation of redundant technology that will allow county employees to call out of a building in the event of an emergency outage.
Also, the board agreed to review a proposal from Johnson Controls to make the county's facilities more energy efficient. The company will conduct an energy audit of the county-owned buildings and equipment and come up with proposals for energy savings.
Commissioners hired Troy Etters, Russell Long, Mario Gentzyel, Dustin Newlen, James Durham and Joshua Cummings as full-time correctional officers at the Clinton County Correctional Facility, effective Aug. 30, at salaries of $28,336. They also approved payables of $772,112 and payroll in the amount of $336,190.
