ORD-2014-037 VIPER Radio System Capital Project revision

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Emergency Services proposes to re- purpose the existing funds to address the immediate needs of emergency responders. As part of this proposal, the name of the VIPER Radio System Capital Project would change to the Orange County Radio /Paging Systems Upgrade. The existing $3 million identified for building radio towers would not change and would not be re- purposed as new towers are still needed to improve coverage and building penetration in various areas of the County. The primary change of the proposal is to use the $543,750 that is currently identified for VIPER channels, and re- purpose it for building the VHF paging and radio infrastructure (as identified in the revised Orange County Radio /Paging Systems Upgrade Capital Project). This would enable the County to enhance the existing VHF paging system by building a robust and resilient multi - site simulcast paging and radio system that would provide robust and stable coverage throughout the County for Fire, Rescue, and emergency medical services (EMS) paging and communications. It would also enable the County to provide station alerting for EMS stations, provide new pagers for EMS personnel, and provide for back -up radios for each unit. Enhancing the VHF paging capability also enables the County to develop a backup communications capability countywide. If VIPER operation fails again (it has failed twice in the past year), the VHF systems can function as a backup radio system for Fire, Rescue, and EMS. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact for this proposal. It only changes the use of funds from VIPER to a more immediate and practical use of existing funds. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the revision of the VIPER Radio System Capital Project to the new Orange County Radio /Paging Systems Upgrade Capital Project, as proposed by Emergency Services.