Welcome to the latest edition of the IT Newsletter, your central source for all IT-related information. Our goal is to keep you informed and empowered as we continue to evolve our organization’s technology landscape together.
Photo: Courtesy of Pitkin County Drone Program, Snowmass Falls Ranch
We are pleased to announce the upcoming launch of Gemini Notetaker for Google Meet, a tool designed to enhance meeting productivity through automated summaries, action item tracking, and searchable transcripts.
💡While this tool offers significant efficiency gains, its deployment comes with critical responsibilities. Because these AI-generated outputs become part of our official records, it is imperative that all staff operate with strict adherence to our legal and privacy protocols.
To ensure we maintain organizational standards, please adhere to the following requirements for all meetings:
Public Records Compliance (CORA): All AI-generated summaries, action logs, and transcripts are legally categorized as public records under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) and are discoverable. Please maintain high professional standards in all recorded discussions.
Data Privacy & Sensitivity: While our environment meets enterprise security standards, we must limit the recording of sensitive information. Avoid capturing PII, PHI, or CJI unless absolutely necessary for the meeting's purpose.
Data Retention Rules: All files will follow a 6-month automated purge lifecycle. If you need to preserve specific records beyond this period, you must manually update the file label in Google Drive to "Retain".
Mandatory Consent: You must obtain explicit verbal consent from all participants before activating the tool. Please use the tool purposefully, pausing it for casual banter, breaks, or sensitive discussions.
Operational Directives: The "Auto-Attend" feature is strictly prohibited; Gemini (and all other AI-notetaking tools) must never be configured to join meetings automatically. Furthermore, hosts are required to verify the accuracy of all notes before distributing them as official decisions.
📃Policy Update: Our updated Artificial Intelligence Policy (6.30a) is now published in the Policies and Procedures Manual.
💻Upcoming Training
To ensure a smooth transition, we are hosting two hybrid training sessions to walk staff through essential settings, controls, and best practices:
Roaring Fork - Monday, August 17, 2026: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Roaring Fork - Wednesday, August 19, 2026: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
As part of our ongoing Network Modernization Project, IT, in conjunction with IEG and ANM, will replace access layer switches across the organization during the week of August 17th after normal business hours.
During this upgrade, technology connected through the affected network equipment will be temporarily unavailable. This may include:
Internet access
Wi-Fi
Network drives
Printers
Desk phones
County applications
Conference room technology
Other network-connected devices
Once the replacement is complete, services will gradually return as testing is completed. No action is required on your part, although some users may need to reconnect to Wi-Fi or restart their computers if connectivity does not automatically return. As always, if you run into any issues, please reach out to the Help Desk (help@pitkincounty.com) or (970) 986-4502).
📅Our tentative replacement schedule follows:
Monday, 8/17: Solid Waste Center - After 4PM
Monday, 8/17: Jail - 10PM
Tuesday, 8/18 & Wednesday, 8/19: Admin - After 5PM (Floors 2 & 3)
Note: We are aware that some late meetings are currently scheduled in the BOCC room. We will not touch any equipment on the first floor until we verify all meetings have concluded.
Tuesday, 8/18 & Wednesday, 8/19: Library - After 7PM
Wednesday, 8/19 & Thursday, 8/20: Airport - After 11PM (or last flight)
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
In support of Pitkin County's Climate Action Plan, IT has improved the E-Waste bins in our Admin Building based on feedback from our friends at the Solid Waste Center.
There are now 4 bins, designated for different types of waste. Please note the flyers when you drop-off your equipment.
Huge Blue Bin - General E-Waste, Laptops, Computers, Monitors, Keyboards, etc.
Tall Black Bin - Cables of all kinds including: USB, power, A/V, etc.
Tall Blue Bin - Non-electronic accessories like monitor stands, mousepads, etc.
Small Black Bin - Batteries
Please follow these guidelines:
📣🗑️Important! You must return Computers and Phones to IT, do not place them directly in the bins.
IT will wipe them before disposal to protect sensitive information
Monitors, Docking Stations, Cables, etc. (anything without memory) can be dropped off without notifying IT
Unsure of which bin or have damaged equipment? Stop in the IT Office and ask; we're happy to help. Damaged equipment can pose a safety hazard, so you must notify IT.
Please, NO personal E-Waste Disposal: The program is designed for equipment provided by Pitkin County IT to Staff only.
Pitkin County GIS has launched a revised Data Download site. The site contains over 50 real-time datasets, ensuring you get the most current and authoritative GIS data. Customers will easily find the data they need through streamlined catalogs, including Land Records, Recreation, Imagery, and much more.
The site aligns with the new standards set by the County's Communication team. Our data download page continues to provide flexible file downloads in standard spatial formats (GeoJSON, KML, Shapefile Zip), tabular data (CSV), and raster grids (GeoTIFF, PNG). For discerning customers, the site allows filtering attributes or clipping spatial areas to ensure they get exactly what they need. New curated web applications that let you explore and visualize multiple datasets on a single interactive map are coming soon.
For inquiries, please contact: gis@pitkincounty.com
