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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: June 5, 2012 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 7 <br />SUBJECT: Recommendations from the Emergency Services Workgroup for VIPER Radio <br />System Improvements and Communication System Improvements <br />DEPARTMENT: Emergency Services PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) I No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />1. County Capital Investment Plan for <br />Emergency Services <br />2. Revised Capital Investment Plan for <br />Communication System <br />Improvements <br />3. VIPER Tower Sites Worksheet <br />4. VIPER Tower VHF Antenna Sites <br />Map <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />F. R. Montes de Oca, 245 -6100 <br />Michael Talbert, 245 -2153 <br />PURPOSE: To receive recommendations from the Emergency Services Workgroup for VIPER <br />(Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders) Radio System Improvements and <br />Communication System Improvements included in the Capital Investment Plan for Fiscal Year <br />2012 -13 and incorporate the recommendations as appropriate into the approval of the Fiscal <br />Year 2012 -13 Annual Budget. <br />BACKGROUND: At the May 15, 2012 regular meeting, the Manager presented the Board with <br />the Recommended Fiscal Year 2012 -13 Annual Operating Budget and 2012 -17 Capital <br />Investment Plan. <br />VIPER Radio System <br />On April 10, 2012, Mike Hodgson, Manager of the VIPER system for the North Carolina State <br />Highway Patrol, met with the Emergency Services Workgroup. The best option for Orange <br />County to eliminate busy signals is by placing an optimum number of channels on each existing <br />communications tower. Equipment and hardware on the existing towers in Orange County as <br />well as the surrounding areas would need to be upgraded to allow for increased system <br />capacity to reduce busy signals received by field units during times of high demand. Channels <br />and additional equipment would need to be added to the following locations based on the most <br />current information from the state: <br />• Chatham Site: 3 channels /1 combiner <br />• Hillsborough Site: 2 channels /1 combiner /1 antenna package. The tower is <br />currently full and may require additional work to allow channels to be added. <br />• Laws Site: 3 channels <br />• UNC Site: 2 channels. Site is maintained by UNC and may require additional <br />work to add channels. <br />