DECORAH — The Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors heard an update Monday from Jon Lubke, IT & GIS Coordinator, regarding the county’s copier contract, with discussions centering on cost, service reliability and the future of leased equipment.
Lubke informed the board that the county currently operates approximately 21 copiers across multiple facilities, including the courthouse, law enforcement center and public health department. He noted that while the county has been with Ricoh USA for several years, his department is now reviewing options for future contracts.
"I think if it's alright with the board, I'll just go ahead and table it for another week or two and then we'll take a little harder look at things and present it again," Lubke said.
Among the key concerns raised was the cost per copy for black-and-white and color printing. Lubke explained that while color copies have historically been more expensive, their prices have recently become more affordable. "We were paying, like, 5¢, 10¢... 8¢ for color. And those prices have come down… [So has] the per-copy price."
Service reliability was another major factor in the county's considerations. "Service is probably our other big concern. Just when the system is down, people can't work. We've had that [issue] a little bit in the last year or two," Lubke said. "That causes a fairly big headache."
Lubke also addressed security measures associated with leased equipment, particularly when handling sensitive information. "Because we [basically] copy and scan sensitive information, we have to make sure that those systems are wiped," he explained, adding that current machines are already configured to automatically delete scanned data. However, additional manual wipes are also employed on outgoing machines as a measure to ensure deletion.
The discussion also touched on efficiency and cost-saving measures, such as encouraging staff to default to black-and-white printing where possible. "I think one of the biggest cost savings when we get the new ones going; it's a good opportunity to educate the users to click the black and white," County Auditor Ben Steines noted.
The board tabled the discussion for now to allow time for Lubke to research options more thoroughly. Further discussion is expected to take place in "a week or two."