Demorest approved a $148,945 utility-controls upgrade, but its progress remains unknown

Demorest City Council unanimously approved a $148,945 quote from J.K. Duren for a SCADA-system upgrade on Sept. 3, 2024, selecting the utility-controls proposal after considering a lower-priced alternative. The 4-0 vote is the latest documented council action on the project, while its subsequent progress remains unclear.

The decision directs a significant public expenditure toward the system used in city utilities operations. SCADA—short for supervisory control and data acquisition—is the system council chose to upgrade, making the vote more consequential than a routine equipment purchase: it set the city’s chosen path for work on a utility-related control system and identified federal pandemic-relief money as the planned funding source.

Earlier that same day, officials reviewed two prices for the upgrade: one for $133,000 and J.K. Duren’s $148,945 quote. Staff recommended the higher proposal, saying it would be funded with ARPA money. That recommendation carried into the regular council meeting, where members formally accepted the J.K. Duren quote by unanimous vote.

City staff backed the $148,945 option rather than the $133,000 quote during the work-session discussion. The council then adopted that recommendation, with four members voting in favor and none opposed in the recorded vote. The work-session discussion also noted that the recommended quote excluded a possible Toccoa addition, leaving that potential addition outside the approved proposal as described in the minutes.

Council approval is a completed act: it accepted J.K. Duren’s $148,945 quote. But approval of a quote is not, by itself, confirmation that the city paid that amount, signed a later contract, installed the upgrade, tested it or put it into operation. The cited minutes do not resolve whether work began, was completed or is operating.

The next concrete public milestone would be city documentation linking the approved proposal to a contract, payment, installation report or completion update. Until such a record appears, residents cannot determine from the documented council action when the work was scheduled, whether it proceeded under the approved quote, whether the cost changed, or whether the upgraded SCADA system entered service.