Committee approves $49,419 contract to upgrade DOT conference room AV

The Lake County Technology Committee on April 3 approved a joint resolution authorizing a contract with CTI Itasca (Itasca, Illinois) to upgrade audio/visual components in the Division of Transportation main conference room at a cost of $49,419.

Chair called the item (8.2), and Shane Schneider, director of the county Department of Transportation, said the current system is “pre pandemic and somewhat limited” and that the upgrade will let any user plug in with an HDMI cable and access the room’s full AV capabilities across Zoom, Teams and Webex.

The committee discussed whether the county should pursue a single, countywide procurement to standardize conference‑room equipment. Member Frank asked whether other rooms have the same technology and whether combining purchases across buildings would yield savings. Schneider and Chris Blaney, the county CIO, said the county uses the same vendor where practical but typically upgrades rooms as needs arise; a comprehensive countywide upgrade would be more expensive and prioritized based on department need.

After discussion, a motion to approve the CTI Itasca contract (motion by Robert; second by Kasvin) was called, the committee voted in favor and the motion carried.

The committee did not specify an implementation schedule in the meeting minutes; staff said the equipment selection had been vetted with the county’s EIT and procurement teams.