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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-05-2001-8i ~ ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: June 5, 2001 Action Agenda Item No. __ ~~ SUBJECT: Bid Award: County Building Fiber Optic Cable Installation DEPARTMENT: Purchasing and PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Information Systems ATTACHMENT(S): Bid Tabulation IT Committee Recommendation INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Jones, 245-2652 ,Dick Taylor, 245-2276 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider awarding a bid for underground installation of fiber optic cable between a number of County buildings in downtown Hillsborough. BACKGROUND: With the impending relocation of the County's Purchasing and Central Services Department from leased space to a recently purchased building at 129 East King Street, an opportunity has arisen that would improve the speed and security of the County's information technology (IT) infrastructure at a substantial cost savings. The report from the Space Needs Task Farce includes a recommendation that the County's computer center (equipment, not IS staff) be relocated from the Government Services Annex to space at 129 East.King Street. With a monthly savings of $1,400 ($16,800 annually) achieved by the elimination of leased telephone lines, the $36,746 installation of fiber optic cable between various buildings in the downtown Hillsborough campus would achieve payback in a little more than two years. Under the. County IT Plan, staff has deployed a wide area network connecting all County facilities. The network provides access for users of the County mainframe computer, a-mail, the Internet and Intranet, State computer applications, and document management systems. For connecting County buildings, the telecommunications services required far this network, called "Frame Relay" services, are purchased from BellSouth at the rate of about $7,600 per month in .operating costs. Same smaller facilities in downtown Hillsborough are connected using leased lines from Sprint. A portion of the existing network would be replaced using fiber optic cable to provide connections between 129 East King Street and offices of the Purchasing and Central Services, Elections, Economic Development, Arts Commission, Human Rights and Relations, and Child Support Enforcement Departments. The County-owned fiber would eliminate about $1,400 of the $7,600 monthly data network telecommunications cost. The Information Technology Committee reviewed and endorsed the fiber optic installation at its April 24 meeting (see the accompanying recommendation from IT Committee Chair Joel Dunn). Among the outcomes expected from this move would be: • provides for a generator powered computer center • moves the computer center to higher ground above the Eno River and away from potential flood hazard • places the center of the data network closer to the Sprint telecommunications central office on East King Street, through which the data network connects to the State and to the Internet • improves performance and reliability of the data network services to downtown Hillsborough departments • replaces older wiring connecting some of these offices that has proven to be less reliable than is needed for critical operations and to support the connection of the new State Elections Information Management System (SEIMS) to the rest of the State network • establishes network connection to the Clerk of Courts building, allowing elimination of a current phone company network circuit to Child Support Enforcement and a dialup Internet connection used in the Veteran Services office • establishes high speed Internet access for Offices of the Superior Court Judge in the Old Courthouse • facilitates use of the network for future Internet, voice and video applications in the Old Courthouse • serves as the beginning of potential sharing of network connectivity with the Orange County Schools network, and perhaps beyond (the IS Department and the IT Committee are also exploring shared network resources, a concept called "OCNet", with the two library systems; the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools; the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough; and UNC-Chapel Hill) • takes advantage of the timing of the move of the Purchasing and Central Services Department to make network infrastructure upgrades that would be made eventually as part of the IT Plan's "Network" initiative (staff believes this improvement would be logical in any case, following the BOCC directed organizational assessment of the IT Plan implementation over the past four years) Specifications developed by staff were designed to address Orange County's needs. Proposals were sent to seven prospective vendors. The bid was advertised on the County's Internet Site. A pre-bid conference was held and attended by four vendors. Four bidders responded to the bid call. Bids were evaluated by staff. S.F.M. Company Inc. of Whittier, California (the apparent low bidder) has closed its North Carolina operation and subsequently withdrawn their bid. Integrated Communication Service (ICS) of Raleigh, North Carolina submitted the lowest responsible bid that was responsive at a cost delivered, installed and tested of $36,746. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Total cost of this action, if approved by the Board, would be $36,746, Sufficient funds are available in the IT Plan capital project in the adopted 2000-2010 CIP. $1,400 per month in network circuit operating casts now paid to BellSouth and Sprint will be eliminated by this fiber optic installation project. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board award the bid to . Integrated Communication Service of Raleigh, North Carolina in the amount of $36,746; and authorize the Purchasing Director to execute the necessary paperwork. BID TABULATION BID # 1219 BID FOR: Fiber Optic Cable BID AWARDED TO: CLOSING DATE: 03-02-01 BID PRIG: CLOSING TIME: 3:00 PM BUDGETBD AMOUNT: VENDOR ADD #1 ADD #2 TOTAL BID DELIVERED AND INSTALLED SFM BID WAS WITHDRAWN ICS YES YES $36,746.00 GLOBE COMMUNICATIONS YES YES $65,540.00 KEY SERVICES YES YES $107,196.66 4 ORANGE COUNTY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE At the ITC meeting on April 24, 2001, the committee discussed the planned fiber optic cable installation far the downtown Hillsborough government campus. The committee is enthusiastic about this project. These fiber connections will dramatically improve network bandwidth between the County facilities and will also generate significant cost savings. The savings in monthly telecommunications charges will provide a payback period of approximately two years, at which time the fiber infrastructure will still have many years of economic life remaining. However, the biggest benefiit is not the direct cost savings but in the flexibility that the County Information Technology staff will have in efficiently locating central computing resources without concern for the location of end users. This will facilitate further "server farming," locating equipment at a central point for manageability and maintainability. The ITC encourages the Board to act affirmatively on this request. Joel Dunn, Chair 'oel dunn unc.edu