South Jacksonville is making upgrades to several areas regarding internet technology.
Trustees approved the purchase of four new IT services at last night’s meeting. Those services include Sikich Technology, Thirdwave Data, Civic Systems and Lowry Solutions.
Board member Paula Stewart expressed concern over the Civic Systems, which will cover water sewer billing.
“The one I was concerned about is Civic, and in the past, there were questions with water sewer billing. So certainly anytime you’re moving forward to some different type of system, you want to make sure that you have the past system properly backed up. So I wanted to make sure tonight that in the motion we had that in there and I also don’t want TIF funds to be released for payment until we have that backup in hand because I’ve had several people in the public tell me they’re concerned about those records becoming lost, and they have valid points. I felt it was my job as a Trustee to make sure I can tell them ‘yes, we do have a backup,'” says Stewart.
While there was one resident who shared opposition to the IT upgrades, Stewart believes the new systems will in fact benefit the entire village.
“Some people have questioned the use of TIF funds. Personally, I feel that TIF funds will benefit. We had a speaker earlier say it was maybe 12 or 13 people using it, but I think you forget that we are servicing 3,000 or 3,500 people in our Village, so in essence, those people will be benefiting from this new system. I’m comfortable that even though it is a big expenditure and it’s costly, if we would’ve been doing it a little over time, possibly we wouldn’t have this now. At this point, I feel like that’s what’s best for the Village,” says Stewart.
Estimates for the combined cost of the IT upgrades comes to approximately $130,000, with about $80,000 coming from the Village’s tax increment financing.
Other action items included the approval of a sanitary sewer extension at Southbrooke and Magnolia Drive, as well as rezoning Lot 5 of Love’s Travel Stops.