March 3. In what might be the irony of the year, the Cornelius Town Board voted to spend $271,400 to quickly update the town’s IT/computer equipment Monday night. At the same time the town’s video streaming system crashed and burned.
“Apparently our servers are down,” said Town Manager Andrew Grant, explaining why the audio/video feed wasn’t working. Town Board meetings are here. But last night’s meeting says: THIS BROADCAST DID NOT AIR.
Mayor Woody Washam explained that the situation was urgent.
“At our strategic planning session Feb. 6, the town’s staff identified some pressing issues around functionality, reliability and security of our IT network and system,” he said. “While all of the items were important, some are critical and time sensitive and need to be acted upon now.”
The approved items include:
- EVORAIL Replacement. $228,400 ($202,000 one time and $26,400 recurring). EVORAIL is a server-based appliance used for combining computer, networking and storage resources into a single infrastructure system. It is designed specifically for small and mid-sized enterprises and municipalities.
- Microsoft Licensing. $38,000 ($34,000 one time and $4,000 recurring)
- Windows 2003/2008 R2 Server Upgrades – $5,000 (one time).
The funds had not been budgeted so the commissioners authorized that the town’s current budget be amended to cover the $271,400.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the commissioners:
- Approved agreements with NCDOT for several Cornelius projects including triple roundabouts on Torrence Chapel Road and the NC115/Potts St roundabout. The cost of the projects totals $23.9 million and is being paid for exclusively by the DOT.
- Authorized the town to accept a high bid of $671,050 from Michael Crum to purchase the former town public. works building on Starcreek Drive.
- Conducted the first of two public hearings on a request by Bluestream Partners, LLC to rezone and develop 13.5 acres of property located at 18375 Barnhardt Road and an adjacent parcel to the north on Barnhardt Road. The proposed development will include 11 single family homes and an amenity center. No decision was made and the rezoning will next be reviewed by the town planning board.
