Behind just about every transaction that can occur with Indianola’s city hall is a software system and a hardware server, both of which City Clerk Angela Goodwin would like to see replaced.
The city has been utilizing Delta Computer Systems apparently since 2006. Since late summer, Goodwin has been advocating for a switch to a newer, Cloud-based software system called Sage.
And a series of half measures by the board of aldermen may be putting the city’s entire operation at risk, Goodwin said.
The board apparently voted to purchase the Sage software at some point in 2023. Since then, more purchases have been deemed necessary to ensure a smooth transition from Delta, but over the course of the last few months, some aldermen have questioned the benefits of switching the software and are unclear as to the entire scope of the project.
Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi has primarily led the charge in favor of keeping Delta, a software that is more common in county and municipal government than that of Sage.
Sage is currently being used by one or two other municipalities in the state.
Goodwin said that although the city has paid for its annual subscription to Delta through September, the city is scheduled to go dark on the software at the end of this month.
Fratesi has maintained that the board was offered a solid quote for the Sage purchase, but the bills have continued to add up as more subscription services have been required.
During Monday night’s meeting, Mayor Ken Featherstone delivered a comparison of the two software systems and the pros and cons for both.
He’s in favor of switching to Sage.
“It would behoove the city to move to a more progressive and updated system,” he said.
Featherstone noted that Delta is a DOS-based program, which is tied into a server he and Goodwin said is on its last leg.
Sage is a Windows-based Cloud program that comes with unlimited storage, he said.
If the city sticks with Delta, it will have to purchase a new server, and fast, Goodwin said.
“We’re in the critical stage,” she said.
Goodwin said she received a quote for replacing the server and all components that came in at just under $100,000.
If the city goes with Sage, it will be more expensive annually, but the city sheds the cost of buying the new server and the cost of future maintenance.
Delta’s annual subscription will cost $30,250. The city will also have to continue paying external sub components Harmony, at $1,900 per year, Heartland, which is a credit card processing vendor and Jantek, the city’s time clock vendor ($3,000-plus).
With Sage, the upfront cost will be $41,240, plus the annual subscription of $41,000.
The city will likely have to purchase a MyGov subscription estimated at $21,084 per year, which comes with an implementation fee of $27,276.
The city recently advertised for bids for the utilities software, and Goodwin opened the sealed bid on Monday night and announced that gWorks was the lone bid at a total for the first year of $74,999. That includes a $28,500 one-time install fee and an annual subscription of around $46,000 a year.
The board apparently approved the purchase of MyGov back in December, but on Monday night elected to table paying the invoice of $27,276, as well as the one-time implementation fee of $16,640.63 for Sage’s Cherry Beckaert software.
Some board members seemed unsure if bid and quote laws were followed properly in the purchase of all of the software.
Purchases above $75,000 require an advertisement for bids.
Purchases below that threshold require two competitive quotes.
It’s unsure whether auditors would view Sage’s implementation and sub fees as all-in-one or separately, the first putting it above $75,000 and the latter below that amount.
There apparently was no advertisement for bids for Sage back in 2023.
The board could readvertise for bids for a new software system to reconcile that, or if it does not meet the $75,000 threshold, could get a second competitive quote.
In the meantime, Goodwin told The Enterprise-Tocsin on Tuesday that the servers are showing signs of a looming crash.
The board held a special called meeting on Tuesday, and the MyGov item was on the adopted agenda. The board had a quorum for about 30 minutes, which was consumed by discussion on current municipal projects. They never had an opportunity to vote on the item.
Also during Monday’s meeting, citizen Richard Noble addressed the board regarding his recent experience with a busted water main near his home near Seymour Drive. This is related to the recent construction project that is repairing the bridge over the bayou near Seymour and Main Street. The contractor on the job apparently hit a water main, according to Public Works Director Elvis Pernell.
This affected Noble’s water for several days, as it was brown and had gravel in it due to infiltration during the leak.
Noble said his water went off at around 8:30 a.m. the morning of the leak, and pressure returned late that afternoon, but he said it was several days before his household could use the shower or bath or drink the water.
Pernell said samples taken of the water showed no contamination.
Noble was very complimentary of the city and Pernell. He did ask the city if the contractor had called 811 (Know Before You Dig hotline) prior to starting work.
Pernell said there is a record of an 811 call weeks prior, and city crews did go out and flag the pipe, but he said the two-week window between marking the pipe and starting construction had expired, and he has no record of the contractor making a required second call to have it marked again.
The board heard a presentation from Nick Boone with Affordable Employees Benefits, an independent health insurance company. Boone told the board that he would like the opportunity to quote the city’s health insurance prior to renewal time. He said his company currently represents the City of Greenwood and Leflore County, among others in the state.
The board approved to pay law firm Carroll, Warren & Parker for services rendered regarding the city’s ongoing annexation litigation in the amount of $12,606.85.
The board approved the payment of the city’s tourism tax in the amount of $42,635 for the month of March.
City Clerk Angela Goodwin asked the board to approve recommended procedures by audit firm Brown & Ewing, based on findings from the September 2018 audit that was recently completed. City Attorney Kimberly Merchant told the board that they needed to have the proposed procedures in writing prior to approving them. Four motions were tabled related to that.
The city will contract with Brown & Associates in the amount of $2,500 a month to assist the City of Indianola with the responsibility for keeping the board updated on administering and handling of planning related matters for city projects. The matter has appeared on the agenda twice before, and during the previous regular meeting, the city had all but committed to hiring Brown & Associates, but there were some things in the original proposal that needed to be deleted or clarified for contractual purposes.
The city paid South Delta Planning & Development $35,000 for services rendered on a drainage improvement project.
The board balked once again when asked to update the city’s signature cards on a Planters Bank account related to the municipal airport board. City Clerk Angela Goodwin made her case once again for the mayor, vice-mayor and clerk’s signatures to be on the account, emphasizing once again that the city was not interested in managing the airport. Goodwin said she has been asked to verify the account in prior situations, and she is unable to because no city officials’ signatures appear on the account.
Goodwin said she has also been asked to sign checks related to the airport and that account, and she is unable to do so until she is a signatory. Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder motioned in favor of the request, but it died for a lack of a second.
Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi and Ward 5 Alderman Sam Brock both brought up the fact that they are still receiving phone calls from city employees and department heads who say that payroll issues that started on January 1 still have not all been resolved. Goodwin told the board members to have those individuals contact her office when there are problems with wages, deductions and other payroll matters.
Fratesi suggested the board look into hiring a private contractor to start fixing water leaks around the city. He said that many of these leaks are causing deterioration of streets and other infrastructure and need to be addressed more quickly than perhaps public works can do it given the department’s workload.
Featherstone brought up the notion of improving some of the city’s parks, like Fletcher Park, to bring back little league baseball and softball.
Featherstone said the city is working to continue its Indian Bayou restoration project, but he said the citizens are going to have to meet the city in the middle and stop throwing trash out of their car windows and onto the streets. Much of that ends up in the bayou at some point. Featherstone is pleading with the people to stop littering and to help beautify the town.
After an executive session, the city voted to hire Chauncy Battle in the public works department. The board also accepted the resignation of Assistant City Inspector Pearlstine Watson.
