Minutes - 20060302 - Laserfiche WebLink

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f. Accept COPS Interoperable Communication Technology Grant Program Award The Board considered accepting a regional grant award in the amount of $1,014,870 from the United States Department of Justice, and committing matching funds in the amount of $338,290 for the purchase of interoperable communications console equipment for the 9-1-1 Center and for portable 800MHz radios and approve the Contract with the City of Durham, pending final review by staff and the County Attorney, and authorizing the Manager to sign and authorizing the staff to administer paperwork and project reports as required by the grant guidelines. Commissioner Gordon said that this has been in the works for a while. She asked EMS Director Jack Ball to come forward and she commended the staff. She said that this is a very important step in interoperable communications. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Carey to: - Accept the grant award; - Approve the contract with the City of Durham, pending final review by staff and the County Attorney, and authorize the Manager to sign it; - Authorize staff to designate the matching funds from the fund balance and the Emergency Telephone System Fund; - Authorize the purchase of associated equipment from State Contract up to the amount of the total project of $1,564,156 as allowed by the grant guidelines; and - Authorize staff to administer paperwork and project reports as required by the grant guidelines. Chair Jacobs said that they have had discussions about the stream of homeland security money going away in the middle of the transition to the VIPER system. He asked Jack Ball to address where they are in the process. Jack Ball said that they have received most of the infrastructure and it has been paid for. The only costs incurred from this point are user equipment from individual departments and municipalities. As far as the homeland security funding drying up or getting harder to obtain, this will have an impact, but it will not have a significant impact on the whole process. Commissioner Halkiotis asked how many millions of dollars were still unmet for total implementation. Jack Ball said that he does not think it is a tremendous amount for Orange County's portion. He could not give a specific amount. He said that he built two 800MHz regional systems in Virginia and it cost $21 million. They will come back with a report identifying all of the costs and personnel. He said that Orange County has a minimal amount invested, but will have a tremendous gain in the process. Commissioner Halkiotis said that initially they were looking at a bill of $15-$18 million. He wants to know what is still left after all of the money goes back to the big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, etc. Jack Ball said that on homeland security grants, the upcoming grants would all be competitive grants and each state will get a base amount. Commissioner Gordon said that she wanted to highlight that this was a competitive award and this is good news, and they will look forward to the report. Rod Visser said that they met with a lot of Orange County agencies and the State Highway Patrol and they asked these same questions about the grant. It was indicated that there is reason to believe that future volumes of homeland security money are likely to go to the larger cities, but this project's infrastructure is rock solid. The staff will bring back the numbers as soon as possible. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he has lost faith in Raleigh and Washington. John Link said that he totally supports what the County Commissioners are saying and as staff, they need to start with the report that was generated two to three years ago that cites the multi-million dollar amount. He recalls that this was for all of the jurisdictions and he also recalls that this number would be the ultimate plan. VOTE: UNANIMOUS