Orange County NC Website
ORD- 2013 -010 <br />ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: March 19, 2013 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 5 -f <br />SUBJECT: Public Safety Radio Replacement/Purchase and Approval of Budget <br />Amendment #8 -A <br />DEPARTMENT: Emergency Services PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />1) Radio Quotes Darshan Patel -919-245-6135 <br />Paul Laughton; 919 - 245 -2152 <br />1 <br />PURPOSE: To approve the replacement of twenty -seven (27) current Motorola portable radios <br />with the purchase of new APX model Motorola Radios, and approve Budget Amendment # 8 -A, <br />which appropriates $89,077 from the County's Unassigned General Fund balance for the <br />purchase. <br />BACKGROUND: The radios proposed for purchase were used at the 2012 Democratic <br />National Convention and returned to Motorola. They are full featured radios which carry the full <br />Motorola Warranty, are APCO -P25 compliant and are priced at a significant discount. The <br />current Capital Investment Plan (CIP) for FY 2013 -14 provides for the scheduled replacement of <br />seven (7) portable radios and the purchase of twenty (20) new portable radios to replenish the <br />disaster cache. These twenty -seven (27) radios would be removed from the CIP and <br />purchased this fiscal year in order to obtain the discount. The APCO P25 standard is an open <br />standard for digital radio developed in North America under state, local and federal <br />representatives and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) governance. The standard <br />was developed to foster the development and progress of the art of public safety <br />communications. <br />The current Motorola radios that would be replaced have been in service since 2006 and are <br />scheduled for replacement in the current CIP in FY 2013 -2014. This current fiscal year, <br />Emergency Services also replaced a total of thirty -six (36) radios with the new Motorola APX <br />model. <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: The standard price for these radios is $109,249, but with the discount, <br />the current purchase price is $89,077, which represents a savings of $20,172. After this <br />appropriation of fund balance, the current Unassigned Fund Balance of the General Fund is <br />$28,278,664. If this amendment is approved, the amount in the Manager's Recommended CIP <br />in the Communications Systems Improvements project for 800 Mhz radios in FY 2013 -14 can <br />be removed. <br />RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the replacement <br />of twenty -seven (27) current Motorola portable radios with the purchase of new APX model <br />Motorola Radios, and approve Budget Amendment #8 -A appropriating $89,077 from the <br />County's Unassigned General Fund balance for the purchase of these radios in the current <br />fiscal year. <br />