Minutes 10-03-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chief Jones said he would like to bring up an item for discussion regarding the possibility of having a stand alone system. He said this is a discussion that has been ongoing for a number of years. He said that the County is about to invest significant money into improving tower coverage and thus improving the VIPER system. He said this helps the state by adding infrastructure to their system. He said there are problems with the state VIPER system, including building penetration and the fact that the system is not controlled at the local level. He said there is now an opportunity to make a change, and this might be the most efficient time to look at their own systems. He said that a 700Mgz system with its own controller could use the same towers and radios. He said this system could still be compatible with VIPER for disaster situations where statewide communication is needed. He said this would mean investing money into our own system instead of a state system. Chief Jones said Durham County has gone this way and is still open to the possibility of working with Orange County. He said this provides a possibility of combining systems to improve cost and coverage. He suggested that radio consultants do the extra work to look into what it would take to convert to 700Mgz. He said it is already known that existing towers and new towers can be used. He said there would be some cost to add controllers. He said the added advantage of this is the ability to add public works, transit and other agencies to the system, which the state would not allow with VIPER. He said he has approached the city manager about this, and he has suggested governments in Orange County come together as a partnership to build this system. He suggested that the Board of County Commissioners could instruct staff to direct the consultants to go to this next step of looking at options. He said perhaps discussions could then be opened with Durham. He said this would mean that there would still be compatibility with VIPER; but there would no longer be a dependency or need to wait on the state infrastructure. Chair Jacobs said the Assembly of Governments (AOG) meeting with all the governmental entities is being held in November. He said this issue can be raised at that meeting, but he would like to see where staff stands first. Michael Talbert said he and Jim Groves have had some discussions about this, and there are benefits for the County. He said inter-operability with all of the other agencies is a huge plus. He noted that the state is dragging their feet in making improvements, such as adding channels, and there are definite limitations with the VIPER system. He said this route does provide more potential. He feels that Orange County staff could explore this option. Chair Jacobs asked if people would be interested in bringing this to the AOG meeting for discussion. Matthew Mauzy expressed his support and said this is a great time to look at this option. He said one limiting factor in the potential tower site location search was the conflict with existing state VIPER tower sites. He said a clean slate to develop tower locations would create the potential to put more green on the maps. Chief Jones asked if he understands correctly that 700 MHz has better building penetration than 800 MHz. Matthew Mauzy said yes. Chief Jones said there is currently a terrible problem with building penetration, which is a serious safety issue for fire fighters and police officers working indoors. Matthew Mauzy said switching to 700 MHz will not solve all problems such as schools and malls; however it could lead to better penetration into larger houses and into areas of the map where 800 MHz signals trail off.