Sandwich Council OKs IT contract initially delayed by mayor's resignation

SANDWICH – An information technology contract with a local business is one of a couple of matters that have been delayed for the city of Sandwich following the resignation of Mayor Richard "Rick" Olson in May.

The Sandwich City Council voted, 8-0, to approve an IT contract with Custom Computer Repair Services of Sandwich for $24,500 during the council's meeting July 22. Billing will be retroactive to May 1 upon approval of the contract.

According to the contract, the total amount includes IT support for 31 desktop computers and nine laptop computers across the city's departments. It also includes tech support for 12 police cars and support for the city wastewater treatment plant's site control and data acquisition, or SCADA, system.

Ward 4 Alderman Fred Kreinbrink said the contract actually ended April 30. He said getting this contract approved took a little longer than city officials wanted.

"With everything going on with the past mayor, it was kind of in limbo," Kreinbrink said. "It was kind of in his court to try to get things going, as far as I understand it.”

Ward 3 Alderman Pete Dell said the $24,500 total price seemed a little high, specifically for the 24 desktops and four laptops at the police department.

“My question isn’t really so much with the pricing as it is to make sure that we’re accurate,” Dell said.

As an additional point of clarification, Dell said, the $24,500 total amount in the contract is the total amount over a 12-month period starting May 1. He said the city will start payments of nearly $2,050 a month to the company starting Thursday, Aug. 1.

The update comes after Olson resigned as mayor May 13, after he was charged with soliciting sex from a woman he thought was a sex worker in LaSalle County. Olson, who also was the city's former police chief for 16 years, pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this month after his resignation as mayor and will have to pay a $750 fine and serve one year of court supervision.

Rich Robinson, who is also a Ward 1 alderman for Sandwich, was sworn in as the city's current mayor during a special meeting May 20 and will serve until April 2021.

Sandwich City Clerk Denise Ii said another matter that was delayed because of the situation surrounding the former mayor was a contract with Newkirk and Associates Inc. of Plano to be the city's new independent auditor. She said that bid was approved during the City Council meeting July 9.

Ii said the city is working on setting dates for the actual routine audit with the firm to come in and take a look at the city's books. She said the actual sit-down for the audit usually is in June every year.

"This year, I’m hoping we can get it in at the end of August," Ii said.

Along with that, Ii said, the city has had to schedule some special meetings here and there to try to keep up with other deadlines following the former mayor's resignation and Robinson's appointment by the City Council.

Aside from those two main matters, Ii said, the only other issues delayed by the previous mayor's resignation that she could immediately think of include changing the names on various contracts and changing bank signatories. She said the city still is working its way through everything a couple months later after Olson's resignation.

“It’s a daily challenge – there’s no argument there," Ii said. "But I think it’s moving along smoothly in a positive direction. I just hope it keeps going that way.”