Medical Lake looks at new technology

MEDICAL LAKE – New laptops totaling close to $6,000 have been ordered for the city of Medical Lake to update some of its technology needs. The announcement was made during the April 19 city council meeting.

According to Interim Deputy Administrator Katy Allen, price research and comparison enabled the city to find the laptops at a much lower cost than initially anticipated.

“We had priced them through a couple of vendors and the total cost was upwards of $10,000,” Allen said. “So, we are happy to have found them for a lower price. They have been ordered and we are waiting to get them here and get the software installed.”

The new city website has continued to be a hot topic of discussion. Allen talked about a comparative model she put together showing different regional cities, including Airway Heights, Davenport, Cheney, and other nearby communities. It also offers the website designers each city uses and the costs associated with each web builder.

“We wanted to find out what everyone was doing for their website,” Allen said. “And we wanted to compare as we need a similar site.”

Allen said the city has been using a source called Welldressed Walrus for their web needs. The company charges nearly $9,000 for a startup site and $1,200 yearly to maintain it. Zipline is another company in consideration for the new website. It costs $5,800 to start the site and only $625 per year in upkeep costs.

Allen explained that because they are currently operating through Welldressed Walrus, the city would only need a contract extension as the current one expires in the fall.

“If we were to switch, we couldn’t for some time,” Allen said. “We would have to fulfill the current service contract through September.”

According to Allen, you can’t compare website add-on packages because each city is so unique in its needs.

“Comparing our add-on needs to the other cities is comparing apples to oranges,” she said.

Internet speeds were also part of the technology talks, as slow web speed, Allen said, impacts the ability to get things processed efficiently.

“Before we tackle the website, we want speeds we can be confident in,” she said. “And I’ll be honest with you, it really affects us every day.”