[2:39] Turn your microphones on.
[2:43] I just did. And Lacy?
[3:20] Kim, is this for you?
[3:24] I don't want to lose it.
I'm good at losing things or taking
[3:27] things home that I shouldn't.
Huh?
[3:30] So what? We sign that personally, is
that it? Yes. Yeah.
[3:35] You know what?
I I do all the hard work for you.
[3:38] I see that.
Cuz I didn't know, really. I thought you
[3:41] wanted it.
Yeah, that's why I asked her to do it.
[3:45] She does all the hard work. We are. I
don't know about that.
[3:47] Put my name on something.
>> They're all a little bit different, too.
[3:50] That's all right.
All right.
[3:53] You want that one?
[3:55] All right, it is 5:00. Let's get this
special meeting going.
[4:00] Is everybody ready?
Okay. Um special meeting on software. Um
[4:05] you know, we
had the rep in here
[4:08] a few meetings ago and went over the
ins and outs of it. Um Can I have them
[4:14] close that door?
Which one?
[4:20] I don't think that it's a closed
meeting, is it?
[4:23] Huh? No, it's public. Public meeting.
Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Um you know,
[4:27] basically, you know, it's expensive.
There's a couple of advantages to doing
[4:31] it right now.
Um
[4:34] they did waive the transition fee. I
believe that's what they called it. So
[4:37] right now, basically, you would be
paying for the software, which is
[4:41] roughly around 45,000.
Which sounds really expensive.
[4:46] But let's take a look at what we're
paying now and what we would eliminate.
[4:50] Do we have that number or close?
Uh it's just shy of 16,000 now for the
[4:55] software.
>> so
[4:56] » Yes. it goes from 45,000.
So we're knocking 16,000 off of it,
[5:03] basically.
So
[5:07] advantages
Like Jesse and I were talking, we're
[5:11] operating on basically like Windows 98.
You know what you compared it to, Jesse?
[5:15] Uh my computer
It's old. Um Ken, you just went to
[5:20] cybersecurity.
I did. Um it sounds like this would take
[5:24] care of all of that.
So we would not get
[5:28] Cuz right now we really have no backup.
Right. Um if we had a fire in here, we
[5:34] would lose everything we have.
Yes. Um when was it this week that
[5:40] things went down? We were what, 3 and
1/2 hours without any
[5:44] Yeah, so that I can let Amber talk about
it a little bit. We had meter readings
[5:48] this week.
So because of Neptune has gone to the
[5:53] web-based software,
which is where how we do our meter
[5:56] reads, then that has to be imported into
our system that we have now that is
[6:01] antiquated and 30 years old, and it does
not read each other well. It does not
[6:06] transfer. And every little thing that
might go in causes
[6:11] things to not work correctly.
At that point, the only thing on that
[6:16] the only option we have is to call in
help from one of either Neptune or Boys,
[6:20] which I ended up needing both. Which
when you call the Boy system, then you
[6:25] have you're on their list of people to
call back, so it can be two, which this
[6:28] time it was By the time I got done with
everything and got them the reads, which
[6:33] should take me 5 minutes to import, I
was three over three over two and a half
[6:39] hours to three hours in. And it was just
because the
[6:43] um
the systems do not work well together
[6:47] now because we have one that's doing it
one way and another that's so old that
[6:51] it just They had to go in and change the
programming on the on our um software to
[6:58] get this one to work. And it happens
periodically.
[7:01] So Jesse and I talked about with this
new system, it looks like we would be
[7:05] able to send out work orders straight to
the guys in the trucks. They wouldn't
[7:09] have to come in and pick them up.
Um they should be able to close them
[7:13] without coming back in. Is that correct,
Jesse?
[7:16] Yes, that's what I understand.
Get them straight in the field, be able
[7:20] to get them, and then also any weekend
or after-hours work
[7:24] should be on that system and go to
them in the office, so they get a call.
[7:29] You know, tomorrow morning, "Hey, I need
my water back on. It's off."
[7:33] They've already got an idea of what's
going on.
[7:36] They're not just blind and getting blind
calls, I guess.
[7:40] What other input do you have on it,
Jesse?
[7:44] On your side.
[7:47] Um one of one big thing might be
documentation. Like right now, we fill
[7:51] out the paperwork.
And if
[7:54] say we get a lawsuit or something, and
they say, "Well, what documentation do
[7:58] you have?" We give them this card, they
say, "You could have filled it out
[8:01] yesterday."
We had a big leak on Dewey Street a few
[8:04] years ago.
Yeah.
[8:07] So the line was frozen. I turned it on.
I stayed there, made sure it didn't run.
[8:11] That's when it broke, is that right? We
left, yeah. It thawed out, it filled
[8:14] their basement full of water.
So when do you fill that out, then? In a
[8:18] laptop you'd have in the truck, you
could do it there, or you come back here
[8:21] and do it, or what? You have the tablet
in the truck that she's got.
[8:25] » out right then. You do it then.
You've got
[8:29] Right. Like the documentation like the
Dewey Street thing, that's just kind of
[8:32] on
on me or the guys. We kind of just have
[8:36] to think ahead and say, "Hey,
we might want to
[8:39] make note of this." And
whereas if we had this, it
[8:42] would help that.
How many issues do you have? Is it just
[8:47] water meters or electric or both?
Both. Both. Because the Neptune system
[8:52] reads both. When when he goes out to
read, they're both imported into the
[8:58] computer at that point. I have to go
from from one from the other. He takes
[9:02] it out, and then we pull it back in.
And there are glitches that when I
[9:06] talked to Ben from Neptune yesterday, he
said those who have already gone to the
[9:11] BS&A
um web-based, he said this has never
[9:15] happened on that. This is only the old
system going through that. And
[9:20] it would not happen again
that he has seen um if if we were able
[9:25] to switch.
[9:28] Speaking of security, and
I know the gentleman was here said that
[9:33] everything would be all of our
customers'
[9:36] information would be a lot more secure
on this new site, correct, versus what
[9:39] we have now, where it could be
backed Yeah.
[9:43] Yeah. Yeah, it would be backed up on
there.
[9:46] Microsoft Azure, I think is what they
call it.
[9:49] So yeah, they would take care of the
security part of that.
[9:57] And I got a few You want me to
read off some things or okay.
[10:00] » do. Okay.
Um
[10:03] so it would help shorten audit times. I
got an email from State Board of
[10:07] Accounts the other day. We're going to
get audited soon.
[10:10] Um
so having the web-based software, the
[10:14] new one
um they would be able to go in access
[10:17] whatever they need. It would be called
read-only access so they couldn't change
[10:20] anything. So they go in there and get
whatever documents they need.
[10:24] So now they usually come on site.
They'll come in and give me a list of
[10:28] stuff they need and so I'll have to go
find it upstairs in a box or
[10:33] you know, takes time to research it. So
they're here longer and they charge
[10:37] more money the longer they're here.
So
[10:40] um so that would help with that um give
us easier access to records.
[10:44] And like disaster recovery if there was
a fire, flood
[10:49] that ruined the computers.
Right now we have no
[10:53] There would be no information left.
Um so if we have it backed up on their
[10:58] Microsoft Azure
then it would be there
[11:01] no matter what happened here.
So
[11:04] so that's a that's a
>> That would be worth it right there.
[11:07] » deal. Um Actually.
And just there yeah, there's just like
[11:12] you know, right now if we're looking at
a account at the front computer
[11:16] nobody else can look at that account. It
locks it out. So just stuff like that
[11:20] and we have to back up on a flash drive.
And so that takes time. Everybody's got
[11:24] to get out of the program.
Got to back it up. Um
[11:28] there's just a lot of little
things like that.
[11:31] » two two separate programs. You could be
doing something and they would be doing
[11:34] something.
If on the cloud, the new yeah, oh yeah.
[11:39] But you could also look at that like say
if you were at home and look at it the
[11:42] same stuff at home on your tablet or
anywhere you can log in. Yeah, if you've
[11:47] got internet you can log in.
Um
[11:50] so that's that's a good thing. Uh we and
we had like a payroll issue a while
[11:54] back. I can't
I don't know. Suzanne was working on
[11:57] payroll and something happened with the
software. She had to call Voice and took
[12:02] them like 2 hours to get back to her.
And payroll's not something
[12:05] you really have a whole lot of time to
to delay. It's you know, you got to get
[12:09] it done
um by a certain time to get it to the
[12:11] bank, you know, all that stuff. Um and
get your taxes paid and
[12:15] um so
[12:18] um
[12:23] Is there anything else?
Oh, I guess the employee side of it too.
[12:28] They have the employee portal so they
can log in and
[12:31] see pay stubs, vacation days, whatnot.
Um like you probably I have that. Yeah,
[12:35] it's a real benefit I can look and see
exactly
[12:39] what time did I leave last week? Did I
miss an hour or
[12:42] » Yeah. what you know, schedule vacations.
Mhm. Yeah, so they can access their
[12:47] information. I think you can even change
tax information if you if they needed
[12:50] to.
Um
[12:53] and that's and another thing with
payroll is we have to print a ton of
[12:56] reports every time we do payroll. We put
them in a binder and we put it up. Only
[13:00] can time you use I think is when you get
audited. We don't use those reports in
[13:04] the office. Like it's just for State
Board of Accounts so
[13:07] we wouldn't have to print a ream of
paper every 2 weeks to you know, keep
[13:11] that on hand. They would be able to
access it when they do the audit. Now
[13:15] you said they could do the audit
offsite, is that correct? Yeah. They
[13:18] wouldn't have to come in here anymore?
Yeah, we would give them that read-only
[13:21] access and they could get in there and
look at whatever they wanted to
[13:25] look up documents. Um
so that would be a time saver.
[13:31] Um
[13:35] and it'll probably reduce IT expense
because they would handle all the
[13:38] back-end maintenance, the updates
software patches. We wouldn't have to
[13:43] worry about that.
Um
[13:46] payroll integration. We could get a time
clock system where actually talks
[13:50] to the program. Right now we use a
separate one. We use ADP
[13:53] where they clock in and out and then we
just print those timesheets manually,
[13:59] put that information into the payroll
software now. So
[14:02] switching would just it would just flow.
It would streamline that. So it'd be
[14:06] more efficient.
So
[14:09] um
and just continuity of operations too if
[14:14] like I think if anyone younger than me
were to come into office and use this
[14:18] software, they wouldn't know how to use
it because it's so old. I mean I had to
[14:21] like unlearn what I knew to use this
software because it's
[14:26] utility is like from 1996. I know.
Uh fund is probably the newest but it's
[14:32] not much better.
Um
[14:34] so I think if
yeah, like I said, somebody come into
[14:38] office, they would be they wouldn't know
how to use this software.
[14:41] It's it's ancient.
Yeah. Troy? I've got
[14:46] There's also
right now we have our deposit book which
[14:50] is the old
deposit book that looks like it's from
[14:53] the 1800s which I write all in. It's the
line ledger. Um with this system when we
[14:59] have somebody come in that's moving here
and they're going to pay their deposit
[15:03] we can on that computer all in one one
setting
[15:09] pay their deposit get their deposit
refund, have it integrated into their
[15:12] utility side where they can see where
their deposit is in there and um how
[15:19] long it's going to be held. We can have
all those notes put in there. So it
[15:22] would be easier and I could
start phasing out the great big huge
[15:27] binder thing that we have to. This way
when we
[15:31] Oh, there well I've got one right now
for just what we have for right now but
[15:35] there's tons of them upstairs. But when
when I have to search for somebody who's
[15:40] now moved out but they've been here for
20 years, they've changed their name
[15:42] three times
that has happened and I've had I have to
[15:46] go back in that binder and look on each
category and go all the way through. On
[15:51] this system I can quickly just type in
the name. It's going to pull it up. It's
[15:55] going to tell me if they had a deposit
or not and it's going to help us pay it
[15:58] back out just as easy I think to to be
able to to send that to her um to go out
[16:04] through the uh for you guys to approve
and then those deposits to go out. So
[16:08] that would make a big difference too
because again, right now if we had a
[16:12] fire or a flood in that book, that is
the only thing
[16:17] at all with any record of any deposit
paid. We would not we would first I mean
[16:22] we do have some but if that's lost that
that's on our computer is going to get
[16:25] lost too. We would not know if somebody
paid their $400 deposit whether or not
[16:29] we could even refund it if we lost that
binder and the computers.
[16:34] Otherwise we would be able to track
that.
[16:38] Well to me personally guys, I think it's
something we just got to go forward
[16:41] with. I mean especially since we don't
have to pay the
[16:44] transition fee right now.
>> So where are you getting the funds for
[16:47] this?
Well, it could be since it's
[16:51] involves utilities, it can be split. So
>> I wanted. Um you can split it up however
[16:56] you want it really. If you wanted to
take some out of general and like um
[17:01] I don't know if it's on for tonight but
we're doing that additional
[17:03] appropriation.
Well, we went ahead and did the
[17:05] additional appropriation in case the
sign had to be paid for and the fencing.
[17:09] So we have that um because I did talk to
Pittman. We wrote a check from TIF for
[17:14] the fencing and
um the sign should be fine too. He's
[17:18] going to send a letter
for all that stuff. But um so you know,
[17:22] you can split between general and the
utilities.
[17:25] And however you want it.
[17:29] » If you take out the yeah, the regular
fee. Take the other off. They were going
[17:32] to eliminate [snorts]
Yeah. And you gain a ton of security.
[17:36] A ton of benefits.
[17:41] Is there any chance of the annual fee
going down any as you use it year after
[17:47] year?
From what he said the last meeting, I
[17:49] don't believe so.
I understand.
[17:53] Not from what he said. So we can easily
get the money to pay now.
[17:58] Yeah, I mean it's there. So how much
>> just however you want to split it. front
[18:02] money right off the bat? What what do we
need? Um I don't know if he's got it
[18:05] split out on this.
[18:09] Cuz I think you can pay a portion or
Let's see.
[18:15] I don't know where it's set up.
That's just the schedule when they're
[18:18] setting up.
Now that migration fee would have been
[18:21] 45,000
but they're discounting that. So that's
[18:25] going to be zero.
Um
[18:29] Ah, okay.
So
[18:32] $1,000 to be invoiced upon execution of
the agreement
[18:36] 46,640
to be invoiced at activation of customer
[18:41] site
and then the third payment
[18:44] of 24,500 to be invoiced upon completion
of training. But that number could
[18:49] change because
they're um they provide you with so many
[18:53] training hours but if we don't need all
those training hours then
[18:57] it won't be that much.
So the faster we learn the cheaper
[19:01] that'll be.
[19:05] That's 70, yeah.
Well yeah, that's the training hours
[19:09] won't be continued year after year. So
and then how much yearly fee?
[19:16] That that is
45
[19:19] Yeah, something like that.
45 what? Thousand? Yeah. A year? Yes.
[19:26] But it's not really that much because
we're paying
[19:30] 16 now on
Oh.
[19:34] Annual fee okay, yeah, here. 4
Uh he's got to
[19:39] I don't know what that is.
[19:42] Okay, so it's
So he's got 43 two
[19:47] for the annual and then they have an
add-on for
[19:51] uh public records search and online bill
pay, but I'm not sure that we would need
[19:54] that. They've got that at 3,040.
So, that's where the 40
[19:59] 66 comes in if we were to get that
um
[20:03] added-on module.
[20:11] Basically, they just waived the first
year's
[20:17] um annual fee.
Basically, we went with that 45. No,
[20:22] that that 45, the migration fee, is what
that that's the fee that they would
[20:27] charge for them to come in here and take
all of our information and put it into
[20:32] the system.
So, they're they're going to take all of
[20:35] our accounts, all of our account
numbers,
[20:38] all the payments, all the history of all
of that, and they're migrating it to the
[20:41] new system. So, that's what that fee
would be for, but they're waiving that.
[20:47] You're looking at about 27,000 $200 a
year.
[20:53] Right? That's the difference.
So, we're already paying Troy, we're
[20:56] already paying a little over 16,000 now.
Yeah. Which will be which will go away.
[21:02] So, the difference you're looking at is
about 27,000.
[21:06] Yeah. And and even the old software
upgrades, it was going up each year. I
[21:10] think when I first started, it was like
10 or 11,000. So, it's gone up to that,
[21:14] now [clears throat] almost 16.
And it's outdated.
[21:19] Well, that's it.
It's outdated and outdated.
[21:37] Yeah.
[21:44] Well, electric's pretty well
solid in the black, right?
[21:49] They both I don't know about water and
sewage. They're
[21:53] up a little.
[21:56] Yeah.
What? What?
[22:01] Oh, we had money then, right?
[22:06] So, my other question is what about this
new house bill that number one?
[22:12] How much do you anticipate getting cut
on that? Which what What's that? The
[22:16] house bill that they passed in where
they're cutting funding for
[22:19] » Yeah. Oh, the like the property taxes?
Yeah. That will affect um that could
[22:24] affect general fund, but we don't know
how much.
[22:29] That's what I want to know.
Cuz I think now, I mean,
[22:33] we pay it now between general and the
utilities.
[22:37] I don't know I don't have the split in
front of me, but
[22:41] So,
[22:50] Yeah.
[22:54] We had one.
[23:00] How old is it?
[23:03] It's old if that's the original.
[23:16] Probably didn't know.
Well, $500
[23:22] How much is the new one?
$37,852.
[23:28] Oh.
Let me see.
[23:35] Well, I think we need to go forward with
this.
[23:42] What else you learn about?
Besides change your your you need to
[23:46] change your password every 60 days.
Really?
[23:50] I've been doing the same one for years.
Me, too.
[23:53] I change mine on the fire department
every And you're not supposed to put 1 2
[23:57] 3 4 and then change it 1 2 3 5.
Don't do that.
[24:02] Huh?
I know I always do. Our address 50 68
[24:07] We're online.
Yeah.
[24:14] You don't know what it is, though. 50
68.
[24:17] It's okay. We wrote it all down.
Got to be reported or or It's on YouTube
[24:21] forever.
I changed it.
[24:25] » [laughter]
>> Sure.
[24:26] I did.
I wrote it on my billfold.
[24:32] I wrote it on the wall in the bathroom.
Just like my sister lost internet. She's
[24:37] been trying to change it.
[24:42] Well,
[24:45] well, as far as security and fire,
flood, and tornadoes, and all that.
[24:50] I don't suppose there's any other
companies that'd be less money, either,
[24:53] right?
I
[24:55] Everybody uses them. I don't know. I
mean, cuz yeah, I know Attica
[25:00] Yeah, Attica was using something called
Fry software, but they're switching to
[25:04] this this summer. Okay.
So, So, who has this system? Did you say
[25:09] Attica? Attica's getting it uh I think
in June or July they're going to start
[25:13] using it.
So, um and I think there's there's been
[25:17] several cuz we have a like an email
listserv where you see emails from
[25:21] clerks all over the state. And so,
a lot of them are switching.
[25:26] Well, I suppose if you got the funding,
that's fine.
[25:29] Right. I think we can wrap this part of
the meeting up till we get ready to
[25:32] start the next
Okay. You want to make a motion now or
[25:36] later? Let's go make it for the regular
meeting. Okay.
[25:39] All right.
I mean, yes, we could do it now.
[25:45] We need to wait right back. Can we do it
now?
[25:47] Cuz I haven't really called the meeting
to order or anything. Okay. You can
[25:50] wait. I don't care.
Make sure we're good.
[26:09] You got my email?
Just sent
[26:16] Okay.
So, Okay.
[26:20] So,
that's like what the price they quoted.
[26:23] So, now,
have you got Aldridge's number by any
[26:27] chance?
[26:32] Kim, you have Aldridge the bricklayer's
number? I don't know. He actually came
[26:36] and worked for her cousin and
[26:40] I got his number. Yeah. I don't think
Jess actually has his number.
[26:45] Mr. Booth said he's got his number. Do
you want the number?
[26:49] Uh well, I mean, if we're going to put
pillars on that thing, need somebody to
[26:53] lay them up.
[26:55] Not Ernie.
You see what I
[26:58] You got Bill Miller.
[27:01] Bill Censor.
What's the total price so
[27:09] Kim, you Yes.
[27:14] Do we have the pillars and
brick
[27:17] and all that stuff if you want to do it.
He just sent the file. Okay.
[27:20] Supposed to be sending a blueprint as to
the physical size
[27:26] of the foundation and all that stuff.
Tell you what, if you look where Hershey
[27:29] sign is, I don't think we can anything
do it wrong.
[27:33] So, except I'm just
All right.
[27:41] Yep.
All I'm saying is
[27:45] contingent on state approval, after you
get the depot
[27:50] on that, their approval, permit to do
it. I don't have a problem with it.
[27:55] Okay.
Well, like I said, he's sending
[27:57] dimensions, and you and I can both stake
it out.
[28:01] Takes two stakes.
I have the dimensions yet.
[28:06] Yeah.
Yeah.
[28:09] How old are you?
It all been tore down today.
[28:25] I saw them up there today, the pickup
truck.