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7 <br /> The FY2022-23 CIP recommends $300,000 to perform shared professional services with the <br /> Town of Chapel Hill Fire Department. The exact location of the shared facility is being <br /> determined based on call volume and service demand. <br /> The FY 2022-23 Recommended CIP also includes $110,000 for improved paging and antenna <br /> systems to be added to the Waterstone substation that is shared with the Orange Rural Fire <br /> Department and the new stand-alone station located in Efland. <br /> • Communication System Improvements-$210,000 <br /> New technology is mandating the phased implementation of Time Division Multiple Access <br /> functionality to improve the overall capacity of the State's emergency responder radio <br /> system. This technology allows multiple users to share the same frequency by assigning them <br /> time slots. Funding is included through FY2025-26 for these radio upgrades. The cost of each <br /> radio is escalated by a 5% inflationary factor based on recent history. <br /> • Emergency Responder Radio and Paging System -$440,195 <br /> The County's emergency responders use a State operated and managed radio system for <br /> emergency communications. This system lacks reliable coverage in certain areas of the <br /> County but also has difficulty penetrating the interior of large critical facilities. The initial cost <br /> estimate for a substantially expanded system was over $45 million. The Radio Work Group <br /> which is composed of representatives from law enforcement,the fire service, and Emergency <br /> Medical Services has prioritized investments in the system and has identified new technology <br /> to greatly improve building penetration. The County will continue to engage with system <br /> engineers to qualify sites, obtain additional information, and narrow the scope to create a <br /> refined cost estimate for the larger system wide project. <br /> For FY2022-2023,funding of$62,695 is recommended to replace and upgrade existing paging <br /> equipment which is at end-of-life. This upgrade will maintain the ability to alert emergency <br /> responders and provide a foundation for future paging improvements. In addition, $30,000 <br /> is being recommended to perform an engineered assessment of the Eno Mountain tower site <br /> which is a necessary to determine whether additional equipment can be added to that tower <br /> to improve coverage. <br /> To improve building penetration, $47,500 is recommended to test schools and other critical <br /> facilities (total of 30) to assess the need for internal bi-directional antenna (BDA) systems. <br /> These BDA system are an essential component to achieving interior coverage which will <br /> reduce the number of towers that would have been be necessary to achieve countywide radio <br /> coverage in future years. Based on the results of this study, $300,000 is recommended to <br /> initiate the installation of BDA systems within schools and other critical facilities. <br /> County Facility and Infrastructure Projects <br /> The FY2022-23 CIP is continuing to recommend repair and improvements to County facilities and <br /> infrastructure. These investments are intended to improve resiliency, extend the life of facilities, <br /> and improve service delivery to residents. <br /> Page 15 <br />