Saturday, October 12, 2024
After more than a decade using the same equipment, the Hood County Emergency Operations Center is now set to receive a long-awaited upgrade.
In a 3:2 vote Tuesday, the Hood County Commissioners Court officially approved a $98,658 agreement with audiovisual consultant AVI-SPL to replace the end-of-life AV equipment at the EOC to enhance emergency preparedness.
During the meeting, Chief Information Officer Drew Wiederkehr and Emergency Management Coordinator Margaret Campbell explained to the court that the AV equipment had not been upgraded at the EOC since the building was constructed in 2013. Wiederkehr also noted this wasn’t the first time he and Campbell had presented the agenda item to the court, but previous attempts to secure the funding had been unsuccessful.
“It did not pass ... so we’re back again,” Wiederkehr said.
Campbell explained that as technology has progressed over time, the equipment at the EOC has started to become outdated — leading to more frequent malfunctions.
"It's becoming harder and harder to have the EOC function as it should, whether it's for an exercise, actual emergency, or even any of the various uses that the EOC is reserved for," she said.
Campbell noted that Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant uses the EOC for emergency exercises, adding that during this time, multiple monitors need to operate both independently and collaboratively. She explained that the monitors are needed to allow teams to display critical data such as GIS maps, dispatcher calls and resource requests. However, due to the outdated equipment, she said sometimes it takes a while to get everything configured properly.
"When we know we have a drill coming, we typically call IT and they're great. They come in and they help us, but it takes a couple of days to get everything configured correctly,” Campbell said. “My concern is that in an actual emergency, we don't have a couple of days to get everything working correctly."
“I'm a little torn on this,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Kevin Andrews said. “I hate to replace things that are working, but they also need to be working, for sure, when we need them. Being out of support is a big concern ... so I do understand that this is something that needs to be addressed."
Andrews suggested the court reallocate the American Rescue Plan Act funds from the generator grant to use for the EOC AV equipment instead, due to the various generator grant stipulations.
"Generator grants are so burdensome that we can just get them done outside of the grant for less money than it costs us to do that,” Andrews said. “Is there any objection to maybe reallocating those ARPA funds away from that generator grant, or to bring the EOC up to speed with appropriate use with the ARPA funds?”
Campbell noted it was a great option, especially since ARPA guidelines state that upgrading EOCs is an eligible expense. She mentioned that while the generator grant has been submitted for almost a year, it comes with numerous strings attached due to the federal funding process — making the overall project expensive.
"I think it would be wise to maybe look at an alternative,” she said. “We still need generators with our departments and the EMS, and we still have a priority list and how we would like to address them, but I think it would be wise to look at finding another way to fund them that is more cost effective than the generator grant."
Precinct 2 Commissioner Nannette Samuelson said while she agrees the EOC equipment needs to be available and working in case of an emergency, she has some concerns regarding the company AVI-SPL.
"AVI is the company that worked in this room and took an extremely long time with a lot of problems getting the cameras in here to work — almost a year to get those cameras working. My confidence in their skill set is pretty low based on that experience,” Samuelson said. “I just feel like we need some other options to look at."
Wiederkehr recounted past discussions with the county involving the AV equipment, noting he previously proposed a different company due to initial objections regarding the AVI-SPL vendor, but his second suggestion was also rejected.
"I presented a completely different company around the same price, and was still told, ‘No,’” he explained. “The reason I am submitting AVI is because they already have all the AV equipment in the county ... and I would rather just keep the EOC under that same contract with them.”
Hood County Judge Ron Massingill explained the delay was due to the effects of COVID-19, but Samuelson clarified that her communications during that period indicated issues that stemmed from poor planning rather than the pandemic.
"We also have an IT assessment that's starting soon with someone who's got a lot of expertise around different counties and how they operate with IT, so if nothing else, I would expect that, since we're paying this expert to do this assessment, we might want to wait and to see what their recommendations are,” Samuelson said.
Wiederkehr clarified that the assessment will primarily focus on network operations and procedural processes, stating that it won't directly address the actual AV equipment or other systems within the county.
“I’m not sure that their scope of work is that limited,” Samuelson responded.
“I’m for moving ahead,” Massingill chimed in.
He then made a motion to use the ARPA money that was set aside for the generators to update the EOC using AVI-SPL. The motion was seconded by Precinct 3 Commissioner Jack Wilson.
Andrews also noted the upgrades are expected to be completed swiftly, with Campbell confirming that AVI-SPL has assured Wiederkehr the work can be done before the critical election period in early November.
“So, you're saying that AVI will be completely finished with this by Nov. 5?” Samuelson asked.
“I can't promise that, but they believe they are going to be able to get it done by then,” Wiederkehr said.
“Because that's less than 30 days,” Samuelson added. “The worst thing that can happen is they're halfway done, and we have no EOC, not the old one or the new one.”
“They understand the severity of it," Massingill said. "I call for the vote."
The motion passed 3:2 with Samuelson and Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle voting “No.”
