Agenda

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County Attorney's Report 10. 2.

BCC Regular Meeting

Action

Meeting Date:	02/06/2020
Issue: Pursuing Available Legal Remedies for Breach of Agreement Relating to Microfilm and Microfiche Digital Conversion Services (PD16-17.037)
From:	CHARLES PEPPLER
Department:	County Attorney's Office
CAO Approval:

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommendation Concerning Pursuing Available Legal Remedies for Breach of Agreement Relating to Microfilm and Microfiche Digital Conversion Services (PD16-17.037) Arising from the M.C. Blanchard Water Damage Event.

That the Board approve and authorize the Office of the County Attorney to pursue all available legal remedies arising from the breach of Agreement Relating to Microfilm and Microfiche Digital Conversion Services (PD16-17.037), including making demands for return of all microfilm and microfiche delivered to Imagenet, LLC, and terminating the agreement for cause.

BACKGROUND:

The M.C. Blanchard Building sustained water damage on November 29, 2016, resulting from a gasket failure in the sprinkler system. The leak caused a large amount of water to be discharged onto the floor of the Clerk's records room, which was adjacent to a vault that housed microfiche and microfilm records maintained by the Clerk. Elevated humidity and heat created detrimental conditions for the storage of the microfiche and microfilm in the vault and led to its deterioration.

As a result of this damage, Escambia County entered into an agreement for converting the microfilm and microfiche to digital media so that the Clerk can fulfill its duties of maintaining court records and responding to public records requests, including fingerprint records for those persons from whom fingerprints were taken as part of their court proceedings. The contract specified a performance period of fourteen months from the commencement date. Conversion was to be completed no later than March 18, 2019. The contract contained detailed requirements for the scope of work (SOW) and, in particular, paragraph 6 entitled: "Digital Conversion," required that the conversion to the digital image be readable and identifiable with certainty by the human eye. In particular, the court records were to be scanned at a density of 300 dots per inch (DPI) with an enhanced density of 600 DPI for fingerprints. All images were to be scanned using grayscale and to be produced in both .PDF and .TIFF format so that the images could be printed. The SOW also contains other requirements for quality assurance. However, as the contract progressed, the Clerk has not received digital images that meet the specifications outlined in the SOW despite repeated consultations and meetings with the contractor.

Moreover, because the film was exposed to high humidity on November 29, 2016, it continues to degrade on a daily basis. Time is of the essence to ensure proper archival quality of the images. Furthermore, the Clerk is concerned that the microfiche may have been damaged during the digitizing process. If the protective carriers for the microfiche are not sealed properly, the film would be exposed to detrimental environmental conditions, thereby increasing emulsion of the microfiche film and further jeopardize the quality of the archival image.

Accordingly, this Office requests authorization to initiate legal proceedings and to demand from Imagenet the rescission and termination of the contract and return of all microfilm and microfiche that have been delivered to Imagenet, LLC. Contrary to the terms of the contract, the microfilm and microfiche were transported to the main office of Imagenet in Kent, Washington as opposed to the agreed upon location of Tampa, Florida. It will likely be necessary for the Clerk to retain and engage a transport company to pick up the microfilm and microfiche in Kent, Washington and transport it to the Clerk's offices here in Pensacola, Florida at the Clerk's expense. County would later seek reimbursement of these expenses from Imagenet.

BUDGETARY IMPACT:

N/A

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS/SIGN-OFF:

Deputy County Attorney Charlie Peppler will represent the County and pursue all available legal remedies.

PERSONNEL:

The Clerk's Office will provide the necessary support and testimony to pursue legal remedies.

POLICY/REQUIREMENT FOR BOARD ACTION:

N/A

IMPLEMENTATION/COORDINATION:

N/A

Attachments
No file(s) attached.