FARMINGTON — An accidental power shut-off at the Franklin County Regional Communications Center has spurred commissioners to consider options for an urgent replacement of the backup power system protecting the county’s computer and dispatch network.

The issue arose after an HVAC contractor “inadvertently shut off the wrong breaker” in the dispatch center, IT Director Jake Nichols told commissioners Oct. 7.

“Power in the network room was cut and our battery backup only had five minutes of runtime, which was insufficient to maintain service,” Nichols said. “As a result, the county network was down for several hours.”

Nichols told commissioners that while the current unit had been scheduled for replacement next budget year, “this kind of opened our eyes that we really shouldn’t wait until the next budget year.”

“We had some contract work done at dispatch about two weeks ago; they made a mistake in turning off a certain breaker, which then led us to discovering that our battery backup was not up to par and where we want it to be,” he added.

The replacement system is expected to cost more than $10,000.

“Thirty minutes is the minimum,” Nichols said of the new system’s expected runtime. “Typically we should never have to go more than five or 10 seconds while the generator kicks on — that just kind of gives you some additional leeway should there be a fire issue with the generator.”

Waiting another 10 months, Nichols said, would pose “an added risk,” especially heading into winter when power issues are more likely.

“It’s a major hindrance to (dispatchers’) capabilities without it,” he said, adding that the outage also delayed installation of new dispatch consoles. “Without having a battery backup capable of holding longer, we don’t feel comfortable proceeding with those new consoles either.”

Nichols estimated delivery and installation would take about a month once a vendor is selected.

“Depending on what manufacturer we end up getting it from, most of them are telling me anywhere from like two or three weeks before the hardware would come in, and then it might be another week or two depending on their scheduling,” he said.

County Administrator Amy Bernard recommended authorizing Nichols to draw from the IT reserve account to fund the purchase.

“We didn’t budget for this, and then we would budget next year to replenish the IT reserve account,” Bernard said. She noted that “we have spent quite a bit of money out of there, given the deductible for the cyber incident and now another $50,000 for this.”

Bernard said the account balance is “a little scary because we have software that tells us how many times they’re attacking us,” referring to ongoing cybersecurity threats. “This is not an if, it’s a when kind of situation, and we probably need to be setting aside more funds for that.”

Franklin County’s computer network was hit by a ransomware attack in February that briefly disrupted operations but caused no permanent data loss. The county reallocated nearly $60,000 this summer to cover the deductible and uncovered expenses from that event.

No vote was taken as Nichols said he is still waiting on quotes.

“I hope to have quotes for you at the next meeting,” he said.