Mathews County supervisors voted to approve an emergency procurement contract for interim information-technology services and authorized a formal request for proposals (RFP) to select a permanent provider.

Why it matters: county officials told the board the county's backup, data and connectivity were at risk and needed an interim vendor while a competitive procurement is completed.

Emergency procurement and termination

County staff said an emergency contract was necessary to maintain functioning internet, backups and critical services while the county prepares a new competitive procurement. The board approved awarding an emergency contract to CNC Enterprises (Fairfax, Virginia) as a temporary measure; the board directed staff to advertise an RFP for IT managed services.

The board also voted to send a termination notice to the county's incumbent provider. After a motion, supervisors recorded a roll-call vote approving issuance of a termination letter to the incumbent, which the county attorney said was appropriate given procurement irregularities discovered in the existing contract file.

Scope of the forthcoming RFP

Supervisors approved the RFP language as submitted with one change: on-site support will be specified as 32 hours per month at variable intervals, "each interval not to be less than 8 hours," instead of a fixed weekly day. The RFP will request managed services proposals that include routine on-site coverage and emergency response provisions; staff said an RFP will follow standard procurement rules and allow the current provider to compete.

Votes and next steps

Board roll-call votes in the meeting recorded approval of the emergency procurement, the motion to send a termination notice to the incumbent provider, and authorization to issue the RFP. Staff said they will issue the termination notice and publish the RFP, and that a formal competitive process will select the longer-term provider.

Ending

The board emphasized continuity of services and transparency: the emergency contract buys time for a public RFP that will allow multiple firms to bid for county IT work. The board asked staff to return with procurement timelines and any required transition plans.