Unexpected Expenses Found in Pulaski County 911 System Project

Pulaski County Commissioners Larry Brady, Vice President Terry Young, and President Tracey Shorter
Pulaski County Commissioners Larry Brady, Vice President Terry Young, and President Tracey Shorter
RB Walters from DeGroot Technology told the Pulaski County Commissioners this week that the 911 system project is going to be a bit more expensive than they had anticipated. Walters said he has received a number of change notices from CenturyLink which stated that they were making changes to their quote.

Walters explained that the first notice was an increase of $15,000, which was more than what they had anticipated to begin with. Walters said Sheriff Michael Gayer told him to sign it and send it back, then just a few days later, Walters said he received another notice that they were increasing the expected cost by $7000. He then spoke to the sheriff again, who told him that he would need to speak with the commissioners about the increases.

Walters presented a breakdown of the overages and said that the system does need to be moved, and when you calculate the cost of work involved in moving cabling and equipment, that explains the increased cost. The fire marshal previously told county officials that the 911 system would need to be moved for regulation compliance.

The commissioners approved a motion to accept the additional expenses pending council approval, and Walters said the equipment should be moved in the third week of June. After that, he said the system will go live and sheriff’s department employees will begin training.