Kennebec County commissioners on Tuesday authorized the chairman to sign a contract with Siemens to replace the jail’s fire monitoring panel, a county presenter said. The presenter told commissioners the proprietary upgrade is necessary because the current system is tied into the jail’s HVAC controls and is more than 30 years old.

The presenter said the price increased "by about $6,000 to $68.04 20" for the work and asked that the county pay for it from the jail capital improvement account, which a county official said had about $247,000 available.

Commission discussion noted the system’s age and electrical issues and that Siemens was the sole vendor able to perform the work because the replacement must integrate with the existing HVAC and control system. A commissioner asked whether the amount had been budgeted; the presenter replied it would come from CIP funds rather than the current operating budget.

A commissioner moved to authorize the chairman to sign the contract with Siemens for the fire control board upgrade; a second was made and the motion passed with the vote recorded as "Aye." The presenter said the upgrade will consolidate systems under a single vendor and reduce maintenance complexity.

The county will proceed with the proprietary Siemens installation and draw the funds from the jail CIP account. No implementation timetable for the work was stated during the discussion.