4/28/1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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APR 2 8 1994 goon 92 FacF317 Commissioner Macht asked whether the alternatives include contributions of municipalities and agencies towards the cost of the infrastructure. Director Wright responded that the municipalities and agencies will pay only for their own user equipment. Consideration was given to asking the municipalities and agencies to contribute to the cost of the infrastructure, but given the availability of sales tax money to which everyone in the community contributes, staff determined that this would be an appropriate use of those funds. The portion of the sales tax revenues that are returned to the municipalities can be used to fund their user equipment. Director Wright mentioned that the Mosquito Control District does not want to participate in the project at this time because they rent their own 800 MHz equipment, but he pointed out that the Mosquito Control District could have recovered their capital costs in a 3 -year period and eliminated that recurring expense by purchasing the equipment. Lengthy discussion ensued concerning specific items in the cost estimates. Captain John Gisler, Director of Administration at the Sheriff's Department, urged the Board to purchase a county -wide 800 MHz system. He reported that on 58 occasions during 1993, the Sheriff's Department lost communication on one or more of its channels. He stressed that it may not be possible to evacuate people who live on the barrier islands in the event of a hurricane because of the shortcomings of the existing system. He was fearful that the Sheriff's Department might lose a deputy because of the inability to call for backup. Mark Pallans, Pallans and Associates, gave a slide presentation demonstrating the advantages of an 800 MHz system. He related that a major advantage would be the 2 backup towers, which would be needed in the event the primary tower is knocked down during a major disaster. Mr. Pallans then gave a technical explanation about how calls would be prioritized so that non- emergency calls could be bumped by emergency calls if necessary. Mr. Pallans stated that 800 MHz systems are extremely reliable, and that after Hurricane Andrew hit Miami the only communication systems working in that area were the 800 MHz systems. Commissioner Bird expressed concern that the system would be obsolete after a few years, because technology in the communications industry keeps changing rapidly. Mr. Pallans explained that since the inception of the 800 MHz trunking system technology about 10 years ago, industry standards 12 �1