City of Sturgeon Bay, County of Door End Tech Support Services Contract

A technical support services agreement that’s been in place since 2008 between the City of Sturgeon Bay and the County of Door is coming to an end.

After the county served notice last August that it no longer wished to provide technical-support services to the City of Sturgeon Bay, City Administrator Josh VanLieshout said both parties agreed to a one-year extension, giving the city until the end of this year to find a new provider.

“Though the contract for technical support with the County of Door will expire on Dec. 31, 2022,” he said, “components of the technology services the county currently provides to the city’s protective-services departments will remain in place, along with the specialized protective-services–related software.”

In response to the city issuing a request for proposals, VanLieshout said the only bid submitted was from Heartland Business Systems (HBS) of Little Chute, which he called a “very reputable company.”

“The County of Door currently works with HBS, and IS [information systems] staff was pleased to see their bid,” he said.

To transition from the county to HBS, the company proposed a five-phase information technology workshop process consisting of interviews with city staff to determine the city’s needs and goals, which will help HBS to create a transition strategy. The city will also have an assigned, dedicated sales and engineering team to contact within HBS.

Though there will be no fiscal impact this year because the city will be able to reallocate its current computer-budget dollars, VanLieshout said the switch to HBS next year will result in a $60,000 increase in the current computer budget to an estimated $200,000. He said the contract includes about $9,500 in monthly expenses for recurring services.

Sturgeon Bay’s Finance/Purchasing and Building Committee recommended the technical support services contract July 12 for final approval July 19 by the Sturgeon Bay Common Council as part of its consent agenda.