Langley weighs tech overhaul as aging systems pose security risks

Staff at Langley’s wastewater treatment plant still could not access the city server, while City Hall kept schedules on a paper calendar at the front desk, a sign of how far behind the city’s technology had fallen and why officials said the overhaul could no longer wait.

Mayor Kennedy Horstman told the council that the city’s current system was in rough shape. The server is so old that Microsoft will stop providing security upgrades next year, a deadline that raises the stakes for a city that stores records, coordinates staff work and handles utility operations. Councilmember Craig Cyr responded with surprise at how outdated the setup was, joking that the city seemed stuck in a time warp.

The problems go beyond inconvenience. Langley had no shared digital calendar, no mobile access to digital tools, no shared contacts and no chat function. Staff also had only limited governance, compliance and security automation, leaving the city more exposed to data-management problems and cybersecurity risks if the existing server keeps running beyond vendor support. Horstman said the city was weighing either a $40,000 replacement server or a move to the cloud, and she said either option would be a meaningful improvement. A shift to softphones would also simplify communications and could reduce annual IT expenses.

The impact is especially clear at the wastewater treatment plant. Washington Department of Ecology records show the City of Langley operates a 0.15 million gallons per day sequencing batch reactor facility that discharges treated effluent to Saratoga Passage in Puget Sound. Reliable communication between that plant and City Hall matters because the city’s daily operations depend on fast document sharing, timely coordination and secure recordkeeping. When the plant cannot reach the server, basic back-office delays can spill into essential utility work.

The contrast is striking because Langley already uses public digital tools in other places. The City of Langley Open Data Portal makes public datasets and maps available online through an ArcGIS site, showing that the city has some digital infrastructure in place even as its internal systems lag behind. Officials now face the task of bringing the behind-the-scenes machinery up to the standard residents would expect from a city handling public records, utility service and routine communication across town.