DATE: November 2, 2016
TO: Board of Mayor and Aldermen
FROM: Eric Stuckey, City Administrator
Deborah Faulkner, Police Chief
Rocky Garzarek, Fire Chief
SUBJECT:
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Consideration Of Resolution 2016-81, A Resolution Authorizing Funding Of The City Of Franklin’s Portion Of The County-Wide Public Safety Radio System Project And Support For The Contractual Agreement And Addendum Between The Williamson County Joint Communications Network Authority And Motorola Solutions, Inc. (11/08/16 WS)
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Purpose
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information to the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) concerning the consideration of Resolution 2016-81 which authorizes the funding of the City of Franklin’s portion of the County-wide Public Safety Radio system and supports the contract between the Williamson County Joint Communications Network Authority and Motorola Solutions, Inc. for purchase, installation, and implementation of the County-wide Radio project.
Background
Since 2006, the City of Franklin has utilized an 800 MHz digital trunked radio system to provide vital communications services for City departments, especially Police and Fire. The 10 year old system has served the community very well providing consistent, dependable service to the City’s first responders and public safety personnel. Due to age, the Franklin system is in need of upgrade. At the same time, Williamson County and the City of Brentwood, who have used an older technology for their respective radio systems, have identifies both the need to upgrade their systems and the opportunity to partner with the City of Franklin to create a true County-wide public safety radio system.
In August of 2014, the City of Franklin entered into an Interlocal Agreement with Williamson County and the City of Brentwood to create the Williamson County Joint Communications Network Authority (“Network Authority”). The expressed goal of the Network Authority is to build a county-wide 700/800 MHz digital trunked radio system to serve public safety and public service’s needs. The intent is to build off of the City of Franklin’s existing 800 MHz trunked radio system to serve all of Williamson County with an opportunity to further “tie-into” the Metro Nashville radio system and other similar systems in the region. Over the past two years, planning has advanced to a point that the Williamson County Joint Communications Network Authority (“Network Authority”) is working toward implementation of the County-wide radio system project over the next two fiscal years.
The initial phase of the project will involve a system software upgrade of the existing Franklin radio system, the build-out of radio towers in key locations, and the purchase of radios for users. The estimated cost of the project is approximately $22.4 million with approximately $13.9 million coming from Williamson County, $4 million from Brentwood, and $4.5 million from Franklin.
Over the past two years, the Network Authority has facilitated a detailed review of Motorola’s project plan by bringing together technical experts, system users, and the expertise of Tusa Consulting. The Tusa Consulting group has worked with the Franklin system since its original build-out in 2006. In addition, Tusa has worked with multiple other jurisdictions across the United States that have implemented similar digital radio systems. Based on their complete review of the current Motorola proposal, both the Network Authority’s technical working group (comprised of “in-house experts” from both cities and the county) and the Tusa Consulting team have recommended the Network Authority accept and implement the Motorola project proposal.
In addition to the project costs and funding needs to be provided by the partner jurisdictions described above. The Network Authority will be required to enter into a contractual agreement (plus and addendum) with Motorola. The current draft of this agreement and addendum is attached for your review. The proposed resolution authorizes both the project funding and the support for entering into the appropriate agreements related to the implementation of the project by the Network Authority. The City of Franklin is represented on the Network Authority board by Police Chief Deborah Faulkner, Fire Chief Rocky Garzarek, and City Administrator Eric Stuckey.
Financial Impact
The City of Franklin’s component of the County-wide Public Safety Radio System project is $4,517,449. The radio project was included in the Phase I projects in the 2017-26 Capital Investment Program adopted by resolution by the Board on October 25, 2016. This project is also incorporated in the Bond reimbursement resolution currently being considered by BOMA. City staff will continue to work with our financial advisor to identify the optimum financing strategy for this project. It is expected that a medium term borrowing in the 5-10 year range will be identified.
Recommendation
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Approval of Resolution 2016-81 authorizing the funding of the City of Franklin’s portion of the County-wide Public Safety Radio System project and support for the Network Authority entering into appropriate contractual agreements with Motorola is recommended.