ADP Board Denies New Courthouse Audio Visual Plan
ADP Board Meeting - May 27, 2025
Meeting Details: The Automatic Data Processing Board (ADP) held a Special Meeting at 9:00 am on May 27, 2025 in the Geauga County Auditor’s Office Appraisal Conference Room at 231 Main St. Chardon, OH 44024. Virtual access was available via MS Teams, and the agenda was provided in advance. This Observer attended via MS Teams.
Public Comment: ADP does not have a written public comment policy. In practice, public comment is solicited at the end of the meeting.
Board Attendance:
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Auditor/Chief Administrator – Charles Walder
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Clerk of Courts – Sheila Bevington
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County Commissioner – Carolyn Brakey
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Engineer – Andy Haupt
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Board of Elections – Nora McGinnis and Scott Daisher for Michelle Lane
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County Prosecutor – Jim Flaiz
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Recorder – Celesta Mullins (absent)
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Sheriff – Tom Rowan for Scott Hildenbrand
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Treasurer – Chris Hitchcock (absent)
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Coroner – John Urbancic (absent)
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Common Pleas Court Judge - Observer Note - It was stated at the January 28, 2025 meeting that this seat will not be filled.
ADP Staff Attendance:
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Frank Antenucci – Chief Deputy Administrator
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Zach McLoed - Director, ADP Department of Advanced Research and Cybersecurity
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Joe Birli - IT Physical Security Analyst (virtual)
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Tracy Rahimi - Director, ADP Department of Advanced Technology and Applications (virtual)
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Joshua Holtz - Security Technician
Other Government Representatives:
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Matt Rambo - Court of Common Pleas Judge
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Amy Bevan - County Administrator
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Linda Burhenne - Assistant County Administrator
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Tom Huff - Court of Common Pleas, IT (virtual)
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Adrian Gorton - County Finance Manager
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Pam McMahan - Chief Operations Officer, Auditor’s Office
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Ashley Serraglio - Records and Archives
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Natalie Ray - Auditor’s Office
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Randy Taylor - Court of Common Pleas
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Katie Taylor - Engineer’s Department
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Dave Carlson - Assistant Superintendent, Board of Developmental Disabilities (virtual)
Others Present:
The meeting was called to order at 9:00 am by Mr. Antenucci.
Minutes: None presented.
The Board took the following actions:
APPROVED - Crowdstrike Renewal ($190,596) - Mr. Antenucci explained that the renewal is for the 3rd and final year of the existing agreement and runs from July 2025 to June 2026. Mr. McLoed described Crowdstrike as an advanced cybersecurity tool that enables the Department of Advanced Research and Cybersecurity (DARC) team within ADP to proactively identify and respond to potential cybersecurity attacks. He noted the key functionalities that the tool provides the DARC team, including ID protection, notification of suspicious activity, a sandbox tool with which ADP can investigate suspected phishing attempts, and daily logs of security events. Mr. Flaiz asked if it was reasonable to describe Crowdstrike as a “have to have” tool to maintain proper security across the county’s IT infrastructure, and Mr. Walder confirmed that it was.
APPROVED - Sheriff Department’s Record Retention Policy - Mr. Rowan explained that the Sheriff’s department retention policy was in need of an update. He said to prepare the new policy, they worked with Karen Murphy, Director at Geauga County Archives and Records. The new policy was approved with modification for a spelling error identified.
DISCUSSED - Developmental Disabilities Riverside Insights - Mr. Carlson explained that the Riverside tool has been used by the Geauga Board of Developmental Disabilities (DD) team to evaluate children with developmental delays for 15 years. He noted that the software license was about to expire as of May 31, 2025, and that when the DARC team reviewed the tool, they noted that it did not meet security standards, specifically the multi-factor authentication (MFA) requirement. The software company was contacted, but the vendor had not responded. Mr. Carlson confirmed that some confidential information was retained in the software. He pointed out that the Riverside tool was one of two approved by the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, and since there was no time to implement and train employees on the other tool, the most likely option short-term was pencil and paper. The cost of the tool is low, with individual licenses costing $180 and 10 users in DD, so the annual cost is $1,800. ADP was directed to work with DD to figure out a resolution.
DENIED - BOCC IT Plan for Courthouse Addition - At the April 28, 2025 ADP Board meeting, it was decided that Beincourt would arrange an onsite visit for Mr. Flaiz and other members of the County Prosecutor’s office to see firsthand the Beincourt technology solution operating in a courtroom. Observer Note: Beincourt is an end-to-end technology platform that supports in-person court operations and virtual hearings and also facilitates a hybrid setup. Mr. Flaiz and team visited the Summit County Court of Pleas in-person and also made available a Zoom call for remote participation by members of the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas. Mr. Flaiz expressed his disappointment that none of the Court of Common Pleas staff participated in the session. Mr. Flaiz summarized the visit by saying that he and his team were overall pleased with the solution they saw in action but would make a few adjustments to it, namely that the court bailiff have access to the tool at their desk. He specifically mentioned that the Crestron video tool worked well as set up in the Summit County court. Observer Note: The Crestron equipment has been an ongoing issue for ADP and the County Commissioners. See LWVGObserver report from the December 10, 2024 ADP meeting for more information. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Flaiz explained to the Beincourt representative who was on the Zoom call that overall he felt that the solution demonstrated for his team overall met their needs with a few tweaks necessary. The Beincourt representative then stated that this was not the solution configured for the Geauga County courtrooms. It was speculated that the solution provided to Geauga County was most likely a basic default version of the software. After some back and forth around who originated the discussions with Beincourt and possibly reviewed their proposal, the Board decided to deny both quotes for Beincourt technology - 2 Common Pleas courtrooms ($222,827) and 3 Magistrate Courtrooms ($242,474).
Regular Business:
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APPROVED - Metal Detector for new courthouse ($6,108) - A metal detector will be installed in the new courthouse, the cost of which includes assembly and set-up.
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DISCUSSED - Radio Booster for New Courthouse - Mr. Antenucci explained that the booster had already been purchased after test results by the vendor demonstrated the need for it to ensure radios inside the courthouse would be reliably operational. Mr. Rowan noted that the Sheriff’s experience showed that a booster wasn’t actually needed. Mr. Antenucci asked Ms. Burhenne to provide cost information on the booster purchase since it had not been provided.
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UPDATED - Mr. Walder inquired about the status of the installation of cameras in the elevators at the County Office Building, a condition to the Board of Elections’ move to the building. Mr. Antenucci explained that ADP staff had been trying to arrange for representatives from the elevator company, Schindler, to inspect the wiring in the elevator to determine if it was compatible with the cameras already purchased or if different wiring would need to be put in place. Schindler has been non-responsive, which is delaying the camera installation. It was noted that the Board of Elections has a short window for a move and cannot set a date until the cameras are installed.
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Mr. Antenucci introduced Amy Bevan, the new County Administrator, who attended the meeting.
Public Comment: Mr. Antenucci asked for any public comment/questions. There were none.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:59 am.
Next Meeting: The ADP Regular Meeting on June 10, 2025 at 2:00 pm was cancelled since there were no items awaiting approval to bring to the Board. The next scheduled ADP meeting is on September 9, 2025.
Minutes when posted are available here: Meeting Minutes | Geauga County Automatic Data Processing
Virtual Meeting Information: Contact Pamela McMahan at pmcmahan@gcauditor.com
Observer: Carol Benton
Editor & Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submitted: June 2, 2025
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