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Staff has met and communicated with Mr. Jon Hamilton. General Manager for Central Education Broadcasting Inc., (WSCF 91.9) on several occasions regarding this matter. He has been very cooperative and agreed with staff regarding the need for this capability in the County. Mr. Hamilton has agreed to allow emergency broadcasting on WSCF 91.9, for any emergency deemed necessary by the Director of Emergency Services. The station transmitter is located in Vero Beach and provides county wide radio coverage. Mr. Hamilton has signed the Emergency Broadcast Agreement and has previewed the equipment planned for purchase (provided by School District Teacher/Contract Engineer Craig Jerome) which will provide the capability for staff to broadcast emergency information from an auxiliary studio in the County Administration Building. Using WSCF 91.9 (Christian Radio), radio broadcast transmission equipment will be installed in the room behind the Chambers where existing television broadcast equipment is located. This equipment will allow the Department of Emergency Services to interrupt normal broadcasting on WSCF and provide immediate protective action information throughout the County. Operationally, the primary transmission method will be to broadcast from the County Administration Building to the WSCF studio (via ISDN phone line) then to the Route 60 West tower site. Should the primary transmission to the station main studio fail, the radio broadcast will be from the County Administration Building or the Vero Beach High School directly to the WSCF tower site via microwave. The transmission will then broadcast over the 15,500 watt WSCF transmitter to the general public. The cost of equipment. engineering, and installation are as follows: Equipment & Shipping $63,000.00 (equipment worksheets attached) Engineering $ 2.000.00 FCC License $ 1.000.00 Antenna Installation6$ ,000.00 TOTAL $72,000.00 Other than a monthly phone line charge, no recurring costs are associated with this purchase or the WSCF Emergency Broadcast Agreement. Staff asserts that a limited broadcast capability can be achieved within 10 days and the full implementation can be completed within 30-45 days, if the Board approves this request. Staff submits that this capability will greatly enhance the dissemination of information to the public via battery powered radio during crisis events when no cable capability is available and or no electrical power is available to the citizens. The radio station has a generator for emergency power and inherent within the tower structure area and studio is a very good grounding system. As to the tower structure itself. Mr. Hamilton has advised staff that it is wind rated at 200 mph and should withstand category five storm force winds. It should be noted that Central Education Broadcasting, Inc., is providing this service to the County at no charge and they should be commended for this substantial public safety service. A mutually agreed upon set of Standard Operating Procedures will be developed by the management of the radio station and emergency services staff so that all procedural issues are addressed regarding activation, use. and deactivation of the broadcast capability. August 1, 2000 0 0