County tech gets upgrades

NORWALK — Multiple Huron County departments are getting technology updates. Joel Riedy, county IT director, gave the Huron County commissioners an update on current projects he's working on. Riedy said the county's Common Pleas Court on East Main Street is getting a new network switch and updates to WiFi and phones. The courtrooms will have wireless phones that will be connected to the WiFi. "They have three pieces of hardware that are all very big and they're starting to act up where their phone calls would get dropped," Riedy said. "We're trying to improve the capacity and efficiency of that, by having one device that replaces all of those." The juvenile court is also receiving network switch upgrades. "The juvenile court also has a server upgrade that monitors their case management system," Riedy said. "I'm working with them to get that in place for them." The Job and Family Services building also received a new WiFi router and firewall. Riedy said they've seen a noticeable increase in internet speed and the network is now in compliance with the county's cyber security policy. Through Huron County Mental Health and Addiction Services, Riedy has been helping them move forward with projects thanks to grants awarded. With the grant, the public defender and probation department will be fitted with new computers for their offices. The Huron County Sheriff's Office will be getting six new laptops and touchscreen computers will be installed in the judge's courtroom, the sheriff's office and at Job and Family Services. "Those departments, they share a lot of clients and it gives those departments the ability to work more efficiently," Riedy said. "This is huge for a lot of those departments that normally don't have the ability to take on such a massive upgrade and bring their equipment up so fast." Riedy said they are also moving forward with installing WiFi at the Huron County Fairgrounds. He said he hopes to have it installed before the fair. The commissioners renewed a contract with Rumpke Waste & Recycling for the landfill. Building and grounds supervisor Pete Welch said the contract's pricing is from 2018 and only has an increase of $0.36 per ton. Welch said work has begun on the roof replacement for Job and Family Services. The bathroom project at the Huron County Administration building is now waiting on a start date. Welch said based on the way the courthouse steps were built, the courthouse ramp project may need to redo the deck and stairs. "They're going to ask the state if they can include that," Welch said. "We won't know until the end of this week." The Huron County Jail's roof replacement is set to begin in mid-April. Welch said the county also needs to begin considering its plans to replace the floor of the Huron County Courthouse. Welch said the county would put together a scope of work, what they want to be completed and the contractors will return with bids and types of flooring. The commissioners said they would want the first floor, second floor and stairways to be redone. At 9 a.m. next Tuesday, the commissioners will meet in Meeting Room D in the Huron County Administration Building.