Coffee County waives bidding, approves $25,470 purchase of Cisco network switches

The Coffee County Commission on March 30 waived competitive bidding and approved a $25,470.48 purchase of two Cisco 9300 PoE network switches, associated software licensing and three years of maintenance.

IT Director Brad Shymire recommended the purchase and told commissioners the quote from ConvergeOne covered the two switches, perpetual software licensing and three years of maintenance. "The maintenance is they if it dies, they have one here in 4 hours," Shymire said when describing the vendor service agreement. The commission voted 5-0 to approve the purchase, to be funded from the 2026 technology training and equipment line item.

Commissioners asked practical questions about the equipment and deployment. When asked what the switches do, Shymire described them as "main network switches" that connect office computers and form the county's backbone. He said the hardware has reached "end of service" after about 10 years and parts and support become scarce, which factored into the recommendation to replace them now.

The motion explicitly waived competitive bidding "as to competitive bidding" citing government pricing and an existing working relationship with the vendor. The board did not place conditions on the purchase beyond noting the funding source.

The county will circulate the procurement paperwork for signatures and proceed with ordering and installation under the approved funding line.