Agenda - 01-20-2011 - 8a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1. Paging and other communications upgrades for the Emergency Services and Sheriffs Departments, 2. Direct line-of-sight communications for the Information Technologies Department for back-up communications should land lines fail from offices in Hillsborough to out-lying facilities, 3. Field communications from central offices (i.e. West Campus office building) to staff (i.e. building inspectors, planning staff, environmental health staff, etc), and 4. Communication capabilities for rural bus service. Staff is continuing to work with Orange County Emergency Services and the Sheriffs office to identify communication needs and prioritize those areas of the County for service provision. Once the technological solutions are finalized, the comprehensive assessment of public safety communication needs completed, and the fiscal ramifications are quantified, the County may wish to send out Requests for Proposals (RFP) soliciting partnerships with providers to build/locate tower facilities on all, or some, of the BOCC-approved tower sites. The RFP would prescribe not only the general specifications for each tower facility, but also which entity will be responsible for the financing,of the equipment and how future cash flow to the County will occur. As the Board may recall, in December of 2009 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ATM was approved to facilitate the development of telecommunication facilities within the County. Grain Communications is currently proposing a similar arrangement. In staffs opinion, the County is now at a point where it needs to re-examine the viability of the existing MOU, determine if additional partnerships are warranted or if existing relationships need to be re-defined, finalize efforts in identifying communication needs, and determine if the aforementioned RFP process is necessary. Attachment Two provides a synopsis of the rough timeline for the possible commencement of telecommunication tower construction activities. II. TELECOMMUNICATION PLAN TOWER SITE MAP. Section 6.18.5, Master Telecommunications Plan and Article 8.8.17a Telecommunications Towers allow for the adoption of a Master Telecommunications Plan Map (MTP) that identifies sites within the County where Telecommunications Tower facilities already exist as well as where other potential telecommunication towers could be located on either: • Public sites (i.e. County or government owned property), • Quasi-publicly owned property (i.e. volunteer fire departments, public utilities, etc), and • Property where current owners have expressed a desire or an interest in locating telecommunication towers. The purpose of the MTP is to readily identify properties within the County where wireless telecommunications providers are encouraged to locate/develop facilities, or where co-location opportunities exist, prior to submittal of an application to site a new wireless telecommunications facility. Should the BOCC adopt the Telecommunications Plan Tower Site Map (ATTACHMENT ONE), the County may consider additions or modifications to the MTP at its annual February Quarterly Public Hearing. Applications to add to, withdraw from, or otherwise modify the MTP shall be filed