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The Washington County IT Department is looking to completely redo the County's website.

Rene Hurd sought approval from the Washington County Commissioners on Monday morning for a software service agreement with Monsido, Inc. for fiscal year 2022-2023. Hurd says this is a piece of software she wants to run on the County's website before completely changing everything. She says the software will help make the site more ADA compliant.

If Washington County were to pay someone to upgrade the website now, Hurd says they would just take everything that already exists and move it to the new site. She says she wants to make everything on the website compliant and functional now before that transition takes place.

Hurd says the website will be ADA compliant by, for example, making it accessible to those who are blind. She says pictures would have audible descriptions and texts will be read aloud.

This one-year license was approved unanimously. Hurd says she does not believe she will have a need to renew the agreement after the first year.

Also in the meeting, the Commissioners would approve a resolution regarding IRS regulations concerning compensation procedures required by the Fair Labor Standards Act for the Washington County Election Board. This is an annual agreement that receives approval by the Commissioners. This allows the mechanism for the County Treasurer's Office to deposit funds into the County Election Board's general fund account when they are reimbursed for election costs. It also allows the County Clerk's Office to appropriate the monies back into the Election Board's for part-time work.

Later in the meeting, the Commissioners would approve a license agreement with Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) for temporary staging in Washington County. PSO's Michael Gordon says the one-year renewal ensures that they have local areas where they can stage crews and materials during storm events. He says they like to have these arrangements in place ahead of time so they can be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws our way. There are six temporary staging locations throughout northeast Oklahoma that PSO utilizes.

Other items approved by the Commissioners are as follows:

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• Claim for salary and benefits in the amount of $4,911.98 for the Washington County Election Board Secretary for May 2022
• A report of officers from the Washington County Health Department for May 2022
• A report of officers of depository accounts from the Washington County Treasurer's Office for May 2022 in the amount of $34,801.67.
• The Washington County Clerk's report of depository accounts for May 2022 in the amount of $62,589.08.
• A report of Washington County Election Board of depository accounts for May 2022 in the amount of $15,872.38.
• The holiday schedule for calendar year 2023.

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The Washington County Commissioners will meet again on Monday, June 13, at 9:30 a.m. on the second floor of the Administration Building, located at 400 S. Johnstone Avenue in Bartlesville.