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December 14 2006 Board Meeting NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 20 North 4th Street Wilmington, NC 28401 Phone: (910) 341-4258 Fax: (910) 341-4038 E-Steve Smith mail: stsmith@nhcgov.com Director Memorandum To: Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board Members From: Steve Smith, Director Subject: December 14, 2006 Board Summary Date: January 19, 2006 A Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board meeting was held on Thursday, December 14, 2006 in the Emergency Operating Center, 220 Marketplace Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: Chairman Sterling Powell Brian Roberts, Excused Warren Lee Andre’ Mallette, Excused Steve Smith Jan Kavanaugh, Excused Robert Matheson Leslie Stanfield Larry Bergman Chief Billy Younginer Sgt. Michael Clemmons Officer James Conway Chief Dennis Cooper Chief Donnie Hall Asst. Chief Frank Blackley Lt. Travis Robinson GUESTS: Brenda Hewlett, New Hanover County Public Safety Communications Center Wayne Pearce, New Hanover County Emergency Management Lt. Cynthia Deacon, University of North Carolina at Wilmington David Welsh, City of Wilmington Police Department Tim Fuller, Mayor of the Town of Kure Beach Robert Llora, Motorola Engineer Bob Hamlin, Federal Engineering 2 Chairman Powell called the meeting to order at 10:07 a.m. Larry Bergman made a motion to approve the November 16, 2006 board summary, Travis Robinson seconded the motion. Motion passed. OLD BUSINESS: Recommended By-Law Changes: 􀁸 The Board of County Commissioners will need to approve the recommended by-law changes. 􀁸 The four recommended by-law changes are as following: o Set the Committee quorum at five instead of the majority. o Include the New Hanover County Department of Emergency Management and the Town of Wrightsville Beach Police Department as voting members of the board, since both agencies are dispatched by the Center. o Include the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNC-W) as a voting member of the board. 􀁸 The University of North Carolina at Wilmington uses the Center's equipment to dispatch their own people. 􀁸 Currently, there are 12 different public safety agencies represented on the Policy Board Committee. 􀁸 The three additional agencies would bring the total to 15 agencies. 􀁸 􀁸 The increase in agencies means that the quorum would need to be adjusted to eight people for the Committee to act on business matters. 􀁸 Currently, the quorum is a majority. 􀁸 After a lengthy discussion on the number of people needed for a quorum, Committee members agreed on six for the number of people needed for a quorum. 􀁸 Robbie Matheson made a motion to make six the number of people needed for a quorum. 􀁸 Chief Younginer seconded the motion. 􀁸 Motion passed. 􀁸 Larry Bergman made a motion to add the Wrightsville Beach Police Department to the Committee. 􀁸 Sterling Powell seconded the motion. 􀁸 Motion passed. 􀁸 Sgt. Clemmons made a motion to add the New Hanover County Department of Emergency Management as a voting member. 􀁸 Larry Bergman seconded the motion. 􀁸 Motion passed. 􀁸 Sgt. Clemmons made a motion to add UNC-W as a voting member. 􀁸 Travis Robinson seconded the motion. 􀁸 Motion passed. 􀁸 Staff will prepare the necessary documentation needed to present the recommended by-law changes to the Board of County Commissioners for their approval. Committee Responsibilities: 􀁸 Committee members discussed the original intent of the Committee and how it has escalated into a much larger group that has additional responsibilies and input on how issues should be managed and organized. 􀁸 Originally, the Committee was established as a governing body for the Public Safety Communications Center. 3 􀁸 The Committee has evolved into more of a steering committee for the overall public safety throughout the County. 􀁸 It was suggested that the by-laws be modified to reflect the additional responsibilies that the Committee has in the decision making process. 􀁸 Chairman Powell tabled further discussion on the issue until the next scheduled board meeting. Committee members were asked to review the current by-laws and recommend changes at the next meeting. Town of Wrightsville Beach Police Dispatch: Steve Smith updated Committee members on the Town of Wrightsville Beach Police Dispatch issue. 􀁸 Staff attended the Town of Wrightsville Beach Board of Alderman meeting on Thursday, December 7, 2006. 􀁸 The Board of Alderman passed a resolution granting permission to the Center to dispatch the Town of Wrightsville Beach Police Department. 􀁸 Staff has been reviewing the various types of calls that are received by the Wrightsville Beach Police Department. 􀁸 The calls are very similar to the calls received from Kure and Carolina Beaches. 􀁸 Staff will review the needs of the town before a decision is made on the best way to handle the additional responsibilities. 􀁸 Staffing issues have been discussed and it is undetermined at this time how staffing will be addressed. 􀁸 Implementation is scheduled to be completed before Easter and the beginning of the summer season. 800 MHz Radio System Improvement Project Update: Warren Lee updated Committee members on the 800 MHz Radio System Improvement Project. 􀁸 The project is running smoothly, the microwave link has been connected between the four sites and is running in a test mode. 􀁸 Motorola is waiting on obtaining additional information for the frequency coordinator requirements for the third site and the VHF simulcast. 􀁸 The work and equipment that has been installed at each of the tower sites is being finalized. 􀁸 The final piece of the fiber ring between the Emergency Operation Center and the Government Center tower will be completed next week. 􀁸 Staff is working with the FCC and “neighboring” users on the VHF simulcast paging part of the system. Field Testing: 􀁸 The field testing is completed. 􀁸 Due to rainy conditions, the test tile results from the Holly Tree and Greenville Loop Road area showed high error rating signals. 􀁸 Staff could transmit, but the signal coverage was not at the same level that the rest of the County was experiencing. 􀁸 That area will be retested to see if the rainy conditions affected the signal coverage. 􀁸 There were very few areas in the County where transmission was not clear. 4 R56 Standard Test: 􀁸 During the week of January 8, 2007, Motorola personnel will be conducting the R56 standard test. 􀁸 Motorola staff will be checking the system connections to make sure that the specifications that the County requires are in place and working correctly. System Acceptance Testing: 􀁸 The system acceptance testing will be done the week of January 17, 2007. 􀁸 It will be the same testing that Staff experience in Schaumburg at the Motorola warehouse. 􀁸 All agencies are encouraged to participate in the testing. 􀁸 The test results will be documented and signed by a Motorola technician. 􀁸 Once all the testing is completed, the County is scheduled to have full ownership of the system on February 1, 2007. Digital System: 􀁸 Committee members will need to decide which agencies should be moved over to the digital system. 􀁸 Several agencies already have radios that are compatible and can be moved over to the digital system. 􀁸 Agencies were informed to include digital equipment that is compatible to the system in their upcoming budgets. 􀁸 It was stated that some of the primary talk groups will be patched together on the system. 􀁸 Each telecommunicator console may be patched with up to 16 talk groups at any given time. 􀁸 Some of the primary dispatch channels (Sheriff’s Office, EMS, and Fire) will be permanently patched together, depending on the users’ needs. 􀁸 Hard patches will be installed at the Flemington and SeaBreeze tower sites. IV&D and HPD Equipment: 􀁸 A quote was received from Motorola on the installation of the IV&D and HPD equipment. 􀁸 The quote was approximately $1.2 million. 􀁸 Staff informed Committee members that there is contingency funding available from the 800 MHz radio project to purchase IV&D and HPD equipment. 􀁸 Committee members will decide how to utilize the available funding. 􀁸 Only three change orders have been done on the 800 MHz radio project. 􀁸 It was suggested that since funding is available, adding a third paging site might help resolve some of the building issues the County is experiencing. 􀁸 The paging site would not require any additional licensing fees and additional equipment was installed on the tower to accommodate the paging system. 􀁸 Paging will be available from three tower sites (Castle Hayne to Holly Shelter (Progress Energy) and Holly Shelter to the Government Center tower and SeaBreeze). 􀁸 The River Road tower site will be decommissioned. 􀁸 The City of Wilmington owns the piece of property (Southside Waste Water Treatment facility). 􀁸 The County owns the tower and the building that is on the city property. 􀁸 The River Road tower site requires a license to operate and if the County is not going to utilize the tower site it should not pay for the additional licensing fee to maintain it. Seabreeze Tower Site Power Outage: Warren Lee updated Committee members on the Seabreeze Tower site power outage. 5 􀁸 Mobile Data Transmission (MDT) combining work is scheduled to be completed at the Seabreeze tower site on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. 􀁸 The majority of the work includes combining the State Highway Patrol MDT system with other counties MDT information. 􀁸 The work cannot be completed while the tower is activated. 􀁸 Repairs to the system should take approximately two hours. 􀁸 If a big event occurs at the southern area of the County while the work is being completed, the work will be stopped and postponed until a later date. 􀁸 It was suggested that before the system is decommissioned that an announcement be made over the radio informing users that it will not be available and another announcement be made when the system is back up and available. Standardized Radio Template Discussion: Warren Lee updated the Committee members on the standardized radio template issue. 􀁸 Committee members were presented with a copy of the proposed template information. 􀁸 A new template is being proposed for the P25 system. 􀁸 The template will create standardization and interoperability among the agencies. 􀁸 The radios have a capacity of 254 channels. 􀁸 The Med TACT channels are used for medical calls; the other channels are available for the users to use at their discretion. 􀁸 The TACT channels may be programmed in CAD just like a resource monitor and be assigned to a call. 􀁸 Users can look at the TACT Channel and see which call is assigned to which event. 􀁸 The radio reprogramming costs were included in the 800 MHz project for existing equipment, once the project is completed, any equipment purchased after the project is closed will not be covered and each agency will be responsible for their own reprogramming. 􀁸 Robbie Matheson made a motion to approve the standardized radio template. Dennis Cooper seconded the motion. 􀁸 Motion passed. 􀁸 Every public safety radio is required to have a template. 􀁸 The primary dispatch channels will be in zone one and those highlighted in zone three will be available on every public safety radio in the County regardless of agency. 􀁸 A sub-committee will be formed to establish perimeters with Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, so there will be common functionality among the agencies. Plain Talk Protocol: Officer James Conway updated Committee members on the plain talk protocol. 􀁸 A meeting was held at the City of Wilmington Police Department to discuss the ten codes. 􀁸 A second meeting will be held after the holidays with law enforcement agencies. 􀁸 It was stated that the Public Safety Communications Center needs to be included in the meetings. 6 NEW BUSINESS: Information Technology Sub-Committee Report: Leslie Stanfield updated Committee members on the Information Technology Sub-Committee report. 􀁸 Several of the issues that the Center was experiencing with the CAD system have been resolved. Request for Proposals: 􀁸 The City of Wilmington and New Hanover County have put together a joint Request for Proposals (RFP) for cellular data service. 􀁸 Four vendors responded to the RFP. 􀁸 The vendor that was chosen was VERIZON Communications. 􀁸 Site licensing has been assigned for every agency except for the City of Wilmington, since they have their own license. 􀁸 The coverage testing will be done by VERIZON Communications. 􀁸 No new air cards will be issued until a contract is in place with the new vendor. Public Safety Network Analyst: 􀁸 The position for a public safety network analyst has been re-advertised. 􀁸 The analyst will be part of the Information Technology staff and will be involved in the public safety communications network with the Center and other public safety agencies. State Highway Patrol: 􀁸 The State Highway Patrol has moved their five-channel equipment from the Market Street location to the Flemington tower site. 􀁸 The State Highway Patrol is experiencing several issues with their MDT’s Board’s Relationship with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNC-W): Steve Smith discussed with Committee members the Public Safety Communications Center relationship with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. 􀁸 The University of North Carolina at Wilmington staff has been using the Center’s equipment to dispatch their own people. 􀁸 The telecommunicators do not dispatch UNC-W personnel. Public Safety Communications Center Report: Steve Smith gave the Public Safety Communications Center update and distributed the monthly reports to Committee members along with a schedule of the 2007 Policy Board meeting dates. 􀁸 Mr. Smith has been working with several vendors to obtain and move radio information onto the recorder. 􀁸 Particular talk group information can now be identified over the radio and stored in the recorder. 􀁸 The information will be a valuable tool when trying to locate calls on the recorder. 􀁸 The Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) will be an enhancement to the CAD system. 􀁸 The AVL equipment may be requested in the Public Safety Communications Center budget for next year. 􀁸 The County is requesting an estimated cost from OSSI for the AVL equipment. 􀁸 The AVL equipment and maintenance contract may be approximately $78,000. 􀁸 It was stated that the Center already has a maintenance contract. 7 􀁸 Staff will contact OSSI to discuss the AVL details. 􀁸 The City of Wilmington Police Department is also interested in obtaining AVL equipment. 􀁸 Several of the new digital radios are AVL compatible. 􀁸 Several options are available to receive the AVL information and transmit it back into the County network system. 􀁸 Once connectivity is available over the network, the AVL will become a valuable communication tool. Outside Agency Visits: 􀁸 Staff continues to meet with the outside public agencies. 􀁸 Meetings have been held with the Sheriff’s Office, EMS, City of Wilmington Police Department and Carolina Beach. 􀁸 The main objective of the meetings is to address any issues that the agencies may have with the Center. Miscellaneous: 􀁸 Sue Jaindl is leaving the Center; she has been offered a position with the County Manager’s Office. 􀁸 Ms. Jaindl will start her new job assignment on Tuesday, January 2, 2007. Community Action Team (C.A.T.) Report: Brenda Hewlett reported on the happenings of the Community Action Team (C.A.T.) 􀁸 A road side trash collection was held the first weekend in December. 􀁸 Center volunteers will be scheduling and visiting the local elementary schools to teach the children the proper procedure to dial 911. The next scheduled meeting will be Thursday, January 26, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in the Emergency Operations Center, 220 Market Place Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Chairman Powell adjourned the meeting at 11:30 a.m.