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TOWERS: To address some of the larger items, the original communications system design in 1993 envisioned the construction of two towers east of I-95 and the utilization of an existing tower in the western part of the County, possibly the BellSouth Tower on SR 60 near Twenty Mile Bend. As stated above, after the Ericsson engineers completed the propagation study, it was very clear that the BellSouth Tower was not in the location needed to provide adequate coverage to the Fellsmere and Turnpike area. Staff then began to search for a suitable tower site in this area. After contacting Mr. Patrick Leary of SunAg (Fellsmere Farms) and receiving a favorable response, a lease agreement prepared by the County Attorney was approved by the Board on August 22, 1995, for a suitable tower site on the Fellsmere Farms property. Funds for the construction of this tower site are included in the proposed contract. Staff was anticipating a substantial expense for the construction of the two towers east of I-95 and it was a major effort to locate sites which would provide the level of coverage necessary in this largely residential area. In an effort to reduce cost, staff contacted TALCOM, INC., a subsidiary of AT&T Wireless Services, to ascertain if the company was interested in assisting with the construction of the towers in a cooperative endeavor as they had done in Volusia County. After several months of negotiations, a proposed contract has been prepared wherein TALCOM, INC., will construct the free standing north and south communications towers for an approximate expense of $705,000 and other considerations, of which the County will contribute funds of $30,000 per site or a total of $60,000. The Contract will be submitted to the Board for consideration in the very short term. The $60,000 expense has been included in the funding requested in the proposed communications contract. The County will probably not have another opportunity such as this in the future. TOWER CONNECTION: The issue relating to the method of connecting the four towers became a sticking point during the negotiations. The choices available included microwave, telephone company provided T-1 circuits, or fiber optic cable. Staff spent a considerable amount of time researching and pricing each of these connection methods as well as the advantages or disadvantages of each with information as noted below: MICROWAVE - Microwave paths are commonly used in many communications systems today. Microwave dishes do add stress to tower structures, and the tower design engineer must know what size and type of a dish is to be mounted. This method was the second choice of the negotiating team since fog, rain, and wind can distort or interrupt the microwave path. Transmission of video signals was also a concern, since a large bandwidth is necessary for this capability. Concerns were also expressed regarding the licensing, .engineering, and strict FCC requirements for a public safety entity obtaining this amount of bandwidth normally reserved for cable television and television stations. Although not the preferred method, given the initial cost of fiber optic cable versus microwave and the already increased cost of the communications system, unless the fiber optic cable pricing changes or the Board directs otherwise, staff plans to utilize microwave as the connection method for the communications system two east towers. Funds for this equipment are included in the proposed contract. TELEPHONE LINES - This method was the least desired of the three options in terms of the two east towers, given the installation cost of $1,455 per T-1 per site, the recurring monthly charges of $1,125.70 per month on a month to month contract, the time frame for retaining use of the T-1 circuits in which pricing was the most reasonable, and the fact that the two east towers will be operating in a simulcast mode. Telephone lines have problems with down time due to interference from bad weather, lightning, and cable cuts. Three T-1 circuits would be required for each of the towers, however, as stated above, the T -1's would not be sufficient for the east towers due to the need for timing the radio signals to minimize overlap problems. The simulcast system requires the ability to time the simulcast system RF signal within five millionths of a second and staff is informed T-1 circuits cannot provide this capability. T-1 circuits are planned to be utilized between the south tower and the west tower. This is achievable because the west tower will not be simulcast, but rather it will operate in a multi -site mode. This will save additional microwave cost, however, recurring costs for the T-1 circuits will have to be funded each year. 53 December 19, 1995 BOOK 96 PA.n 82