Rock Island Today

Rock Island County Emergency Telephone System Board met Feb. 6.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Beswick, Landi, Meyers, Seiver, VanKlaveren

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Anderson, Gault, Ramsey

OTHERS PRESENT: Rebecca Anderson, Matt Franks, Rock Island Police Department; Scott Ryckeghem, Margo Sparbel, Stacy Houzenga, QComm; Travis Noyd,

Moline Fire Department; Curt Champion, Rock Island County; Chelsea Noe, Arsenal; Stacey Bollinger, SECC; Tara Polek, RACOM; Tom Helbing, FirstNet; Jim Uskavitch; Rich Schipper, Wayne Mooney, Christine Cary,

Bi-State Regional Commission

1. Approval of the January 16, 2024 Minutes. VanKlaveren moved that the minutes of the January meeting be approved as presented. Beswick seconded, and the motion was approved.

2. Financial Reports. Cary distributed the February Accounts Payable totaling $530,206.83. Landi moved that the February accounts payable be approved for payment. Meyers seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously by roll call vote. The following financial report was presented:

POOL Balance: $ 2,363,000.00

Checkbook Balance: $ 202,653.67

TOTAL $ 2,565,653.67

Jan ‘24 Surcharge: $ 153,827.42

3. PSAP Reports.

a. County – Meyers reported 2 TCs are in training, a 12th position is open, and testing will be open at the end of the month. She stated G2 testing worked; the volunteer fire departments are on.

b. Rock Island – Franks reported they are currently in the hiring process and have 11 full time TCs. He stated the hiring process orientation is scheduled for February 20, and it is mandatory for all applicants. Testing will be at the end of this month or early next month.

c. QComm – Ryckeghem stated they have 24 TCs, 2 spots open, and testing is set for the end of this month or the beginning of next month. He went on to state that Mercer County completed their paperwork with regard to Reynolds. As of February 1, the three agency acquisitions are complete.

d. Arsenal – Noe stated they lost a TC, have 4 fully trained, and 2 in training. A new trainee was supposed to start Monday, but backed out. She stated they are looking to hire a few more in the next couple of months. She reported a QComm transfer last weekend, one scheduled for this coming weekend, and there will be a handful more scheduled throughout the next six-week period.

e. SECC – Bollinger reported everything is going well.

4. Secondary PSAP Reports.

a. AMT EMS – No Report.

b. Medic EMS – No Report.

5. Technical Report.

a. CentralSquare Pro Field Ops – Schipper stated we are making a request for 6 licenses at $120 each to even out the distribution. He stated it was discussed in RMS, and they had no issue with it. The renewal may be $120 or 30%, whatever their maintenance is. VanKlaveren made a motion to approve the additional 6 licenses for $720. Landi seconded, and the motion passed by a roll call vote.

b. Heartland Business Systems – Schipper stated it is time to renew our Barracuda backup, which is an onsite appliance with cloud redundancy. We did a 4-year term in 2020, which cost $46,638. The renewal is due at the end of the month, and the quote is $49,032 for the next 4 years. He stated the Barracuda email gateway is also up for renewal. This renewal went from $5,998 to $10,725.50 for a 3-year term. He explained the reason for the increase is Barracuda gave us a preferred vendor when we first entered contract, and that vendor is unavailable. Therefore, we need to use Heartland, and Barracuda will not give them the same discount. Schipper stated we need it, and we can’t let it lapse, but he will evaluate who we use for email security over the next 3 years. Seiver inquired if there was an ongoing maintenance charge for Barracuda, and Schipper stated it is a flat fee. Beswick moved for approval as stated for the 4-year backup and the 3-year email gateway. Landi seconded, and the motion passed by roll call vote.

c. Computer Upgrades – Schipper reported that he and Mooney are in the process of upgrading all the dispatch computers. The 9 at QComm were finished a few weeks ago; they replaced the 5 at RICOMM last week, the Arsenal was upgraded last year, and County will be done by end of this week or next week at the latest. Houzenga mentioned an open ticket with CentralSquare regarding mapping and, Schipper stated that part of this process in upgrading these workstations is a map reinstall.

6. Other Business.

a. CentralSquare Invoices – Cary reported there was a CentralSquare renewal totaling $30,121.42, which includes $11,927.40 for the State’s Attorney’s that needs approved. Seiver inquired about the discussion in RMS, and Cary explained there are $68,046.84 in add-ons that have never been included in the RMS ProSuite billing. Cary recommended adding them to the RMS 30% that is billed annually ($428,805.91) minus the State’s Attorney ($11,927.40) and CopLogic ($3,534.90), since those subscriptions will be billed back to the appropriate agencies. Seiver asked Cary how she would make a motion. Cary stated she would make a motion to approve the renewal of add ons in the amount of $30,121.42 and would have the Board approve adding the additional subscriptions, minus CopLogic and State’s Attorney, to the RMS ProSuite billing. Seiver stated we could make a good argument on the 70/30 split on most things, but the State’s Attorney’s office falls out of the initial emergency notification and public safety case preparation and is strictly the criminal justice system. He stated while we hold the contract and cut the check, we need to have a revenue source to match up against that payment, other than telephone surcharge. Seiver asked for a motion as per Cary’s phrasing. Beswick made the motion as stated, and Meyers seconded. The motion was approved by roll call vote. Beswick asked if there would be further discussion with the State’s Attorney. VanKlavern stated the State’s Attorney, Dora Villarreal, requested to be at the March meeting to address her concerns regarding the fees billed to the State’s Attorney’s Office.

b. CentralSquare Contract Renewal – Seiver stated he will begin discussion with them and get preliminary pricing. He is hopeful to have something for the Board at the March meeting.

c. CrowdStrike – Schipper stated we have two license categories: our current that is under contract, and the state-provided licensing to which we have been migrating. The ETSB contract ends on April 10. Schipper asked if it was ok with the Board if we let that contract expire because Heartland Business Systems needs to know if we are officially declining renewal. He stated we paid a $15,000 set-up fee with CrowdStrike, and he is going to ask CrowdStrike if we can keep that active in case something falls through with the state over the next few years. He wanted to make sure the Board was aware that if something falls through with the state, we would likely be responsible for another set-up fee. Landi asked what difference it makes that we are transitioning over from private to the state. Schipper stated it doesn’t other than we would have to pay the membership fee because there is a good chance they will delete us, and we will have to start from scratch in the future. Beswick asked if there are concerns with the state holding the contract. Schipper stated no, they had long discussions with the state regarding our expectations, but didn’t inquire about the length of the state contract. The state seemed confident they could meet our expectations, and they have a strong relationship with CrowdStrike. Seiver asked if it was an option to hold on to a few licenses to keep the account open, and Schipper stated it is a 300 license minimum. So, it would be $40,000 a year just to keep from paying another $15,000 set-up fee. Schipper stated he just wanted to make everyone aware that there is always a possibility that we start over and have to pay the fee again. Seiver stated there is no need to vote on it, just record it in the minutes that it is an accepted risk. Schipper stated we have about 58 licenses left to remove, and we are in good shape for our contract to end.

7. Public Comment – Bollinger reported SECC is still ready to partner if we wanted to move over. He stated we could work something out where SECC is the host we share. He stated he thought we would be happy with the product; they have done nothing but improve the product since it was new. Seiver stated when we first evaluated the proposals, one of the advantages to Tyler was the operable platform with SECC and thanked him for the offer.

8. Executive Session. There was no executive session.

9. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 10:33 a.m. The next monthly meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at the Rock Island Police Department.

https://www.rockislandcountyil.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03052024-963