HOUGHTON — During a special meeting of the Houghton County Board of Commissioners Thursday, board members questioned representatives from IT company VC3 about several issues with service in nearly every County department.

According to Theresa Hill, the Houghton County human resources and operations manager, the purpose of the meeting was to “communicate our ongoing concerns with VC3 services, and it’s mainly in regards to the responsiveness, the internal coordination, and how much it’s impacting Houghton’s current ability to function efficiently across all our departments.” South Carolina-based VC3 is a technology company that manages the county’s IT services and cybersecurity. The organization also services seven other Michigan counties.

The main grievances presented at the meeting were disorganized communication, lack of response to urgent issues, and unresolved security issues. The county’s contract with VC3, which began in early April, costs about $20,000 a month, or roughly $240,000 a year.

One of the most outspoken attendees at the meeting was county prosecutor Dan Helmer, whose office has been greatly impacted by the service issues. “I’ve had a computer now for two weeks that still isn’t working correctly,” he said during the meeting. “We were invoiced $600 to have it set up, and I’ve spent two hours getting it installed this morning, my officer manager’s probably spent forty hours working on it, and it’s still not working right,”

“That’s Computer 101,” Helmer added. “That’s something a high school kid could do … so I’m wondering why even the basic stuff is getting fouled up … it sure as heck isn’t six hundred dollars of labor or service.”

Several other departments, including the County Clerk and Register of Deeds offices, also experienced internet outages and interruptions to services. One of the main issues identified was VC3’s support calling outside of the courthouse’s hours of operation, despite being made aware of the offices’ schedules.

County Clerk Jennifer Kelly explained her own experience with this issue, saying VC3 tried to contact her nearly ten hours after her request for help, and after her office had closed for the day. When she called them back immediately, she received no answer, even after leaving a voicemail.

If the communication and service issues aren’t resolved in a timely manner, there could be serious consequences for upcoming August 5 elections. “I wouldn’t be able to get a media announcement out for election results. If it was a state election, I wouldn’t be able to get state reporting, which is huge. I couldn’t generate reports, I couldn’t do anything!” Kelly said.

Becky Wakeham, who works in the county proescutor’s office, pointed out for the amount of money the county pays for this service, it may be worthwhile to enlist local IT help. This suggestions was opposed by Commissioner Roy Britz.

“That’s not what we’re here for.” Britz said sternly. “That’s a future conversation, we’re here to try to figure out the problems right now.”

VC3’s interruptions have also caused issues with Houghton County Memorial Airport.

“I’ll echo the same concerns everybody else has,” airport manager Dennis Hext said. “We have problems where we’re on the phone, things are getting done … and then the answer is always the airport should fix it or [VC3] can’t do it … We’ve got stuff to do that’s important.”

Prosecutor Helmer echoed this, saying many felt disrespected by VC3 because their service seems to operate “around their schedule … and their convenience …” rather than the County’s.

Finally, Houghton County Sheriff Joshua Saaranen expressed his hope the issues will be resolved so the Sheriff’s Department can run efficiently.

“I look forward to meeting with the law board to look at options for the Sheriff’s Office in the future,” Saraanen said. “I don’t have confidence in [VC3] that we will be in compliance for certain things, including criminal justice information.”

In response to the Sheriff’s comment, Hill pointed out that VC3 has “inherited a massive problem, and what they’ve done until now is good … nobody is trying to harm or purposely sabotage anybody, so if we could work together, move forward, and get something done, that would be beneficial for everyone.”

In response to the disgruntled public comments on VC3’s service, Chairman Tom Tikkanen encouraged attendees to keep an open mind.

“Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater here,” he said. “There’s been a heck of a lot done to maintain cybersecurity and also our ability to function, not without bumps in the road, which we’re going to get straightened out here … it may sound like I’m defending VC3, I’m not. I just like black and white facts.”

Moving forward, the Board of Commissioners will work with VC3 to establish effective routes and methods of communication, with hopes to bring in-house IT personnel to the courthouse in the near future.