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BOOK Wl MGE' 1. Indian River County, under the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) has been utilizing fiber optic cable since 1994 for transmission of video, data and voice to various locations. The purpose of this form of connectivity is dependability, to enhance speed of data transmission, versatility of use and over all efficiency of communications. The County now has the start of a fiber optic backbone for a variety of telecommunications applications. There is now an opportunity to participate with the School District and City of Vero Beach in an expansion project that will link the North Indian River County Library with the Main Library, County Administration Building, Courthouse and other locations that are presently on the system. Staff participated in the planning of the expansion of the fiber optic network to meet the County's long term telecommunications needs along with the School District and City requirements for this type connectivity. This joint effort will result in lower costs for all participants and meet the various needs both now and in the future. For identification purposes the long range plans have been categorized into five phases. Attachment A is a schedule of the various phases. Phase I began with connecting the jail, courthouse, and administration building during construction of the new courthouse. It ended with connectivity of the 800 MHZ radio towers with the applicable control points. The City of Vero Beach and School District participated in this phase in regards to the 800 NM radio system and future connection with the Sebastian River High School. Recently, with funding from a grant, the Main Library was connected with the courthouse which allows telecommunications with the present network constructed in Phase I. Phase H of this long range project is designed to connect the North Indian River County Library into the existing backbone with the future opportunity to connect other County operations that are along the route of this cable which includes Fire Station 1 and EMS Station 1. It will also provide redundancy and diversity for trunking of the 800 MHZ radio system along with other telecommunication services This would be a joint venture with the City of Vero Beach and School District to allow connectivity of north county schools and City facilities along the route. The total cost of this Phase 11 is estimated to be $727,000. Under the Board of County Commissioners, the County's share of the total cost is $160,000. These prices are expense for the fiber optic cable backbone only. It does not include cost for electronics and cabling required for each location which will be incurred at time of connection. That cost would be determined by the application for use of the fiber and the expense paid by the owner or user of a facility being connected to the network- Fiber etwork Fiber optic connectivity is the answer to the ever increasing need for diversity and speed of telecommunication between the various County owned facilities. With joint participation of the BCC, City of Vero Beach, and School District the cost to provide fiber optic connectivity and meet the needs would be at a minimum for each entity. In anticipation of some type consortium between the BCC, City of Vero Beach and the School District, staff of the three entities has been working on a written formal agreement that will be presented to the governing bodies for execution. This will be brought to be Board upon completion. Staff has prepared an overview (see Attachment B) which gives a synopsis of the fiber optic network and includes an explanation of how the system will benefit the County. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends the Board approve participation in Phase II of the fiber optic cable backbone at a cost of $160,000 and authorize monies from the one cent sales tax November 3, 1998 24