Nelson supervisors consider ECC on‑call staffing; IT flags microwave antenna replacement and event‑logging budget

Nelson County supervisors on March 22 reviewed operational proposals for the Emergency Communications Center and information‑technology capital needs.

Emergency Communications Center manager John Adkins presented a request for four part‑time dispatchers to reduce overtime obligations caused by vacancies and coverage needs. Finance Director Linda K. Staton presented estimated costs for the positions: $26,086 per person (including FICA) for a 25‑hour/week role, totaling $104,344 for four hires; two part‑timers would cost approximately $52,172. Adkins explained the intent was to have a roster of part‑time/on‑call people who would be called in as needed rather than guaranteed hours; the Board agreed the concept of an on‑call roster made sense and staff noted vacancy savings might cover coverage without a formal budget allocation.

On IT infrastructure, Susan F. Rorrer, Director of Information Systems, revisited a proposed microwave network upgrade to replace eight antennas and waveguides, with a preliminary estimate of $292,900. Rorrer warned of long lead times (8–12 weeks) for antennas, tower crew scheduling constraints and warranty concerns if the county stockpiled spares. She recommended replacing antennas as they fail while planning to secure tower crews and engineer specifications to reduce downtime risk.

Rorrer also proposed an IT Network Event Logging solution to capture logs across endpoints and servers to meet state requirements and support insurers in the event of a cyber incident. She provided a placeholder estimate of $12,000 for configuration of servers using open source tools, while vendor solutions could run significantly higher (she estimated about $2,060 per month at vendor pricing). The Board agreed to leave $12,000 in the Capital Outlay budget to further explore options and procurement paths.

Supervisors emphasized the risk of multiple concurrent failures at microwave sites and the need to balance stocking spares against warranty/obsolescence and storage concerns. Staff will continue to refine cost, procurement and timing for both communications and logging solutions.