Dec 14 2023 Board Meeting
/
Department Of 911 Communications
230 Government Center Drive, Suite 185
Wilmington, North Carolina 28403
Telephone (910) 798-6915
Fax (910) 798-6925
hdowns@nhcgov.com
Hope Downs
Director
Memorandum
To:
Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board Members
From:
Hope Downs, Director
Subject:
December 14, 2023
Date:
April 3, 2024
A Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board meeting was held on Thursday December 14, 2023 at 10:00 am at 230 Government Center Drive, GC Conference Room 136, Wilmington, North
Carolina.
MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Jerry Brewer Steven Still
Sam Profitt Alan Griffin
Jason Bishop
Matt Davis
Hope Downs
Steve Mason
Alanna Williams
David Squires
Charles Blankenship
Participants
Sunny Hwang, NHC IT Karen Benton, NHC 911
John Heysel, NHC 911 Gia Long, NHC IT
Todd Richardson, NHC IT Keven Baldwin, NHC IT
Richard Lawson, Motorola Joseph Knox, Motorola
Jennifer Smith, NHC Fire
The meeting was called to order at 10:25 am.
Hope Downs discussed the Steering Committee and its purpose. The purpose of this Committee is to assist with the strategy/big picture of the center and identify items or ideas for future
initiatives. They also serve to help advocate for those initiatives. This committee is made up of agency heads or designee.
The DRC is the Dispatch Review Committee; this is a sub-committee of the Steering Committee. This sub-committee is a working group driving the operational recommendations and decisions
of how field units are dispatched and how the 911 center handles calls. This is made up of units still in the field or familiar with their department’s daily operations. They review
quality assurance reports, both positive and negative, working towards improvements. They make training recommendations based on the data and their observations and feedback.
Hope stated that the By-Laws were voted and approved by this Committee and now no longer has to go before the commissioners to change, edit or update. One of the By-Laws state each
member of the Committee serves a 2-year term, and Hope requested each agency provide the names of their current committee representatives to ensure we have an updated member list.
Elections
Chairman Mason stated he would open the nominations for Chair and Vice Chair.
Hope did state the By-Laws noted these were elected every year and the Chair and Vice must be from different disciplines. Hope also mentioned at the previous meeting (which did not have
a quorum) that there were nominations for Jerry Brewer as Chair and Sam Proffitt as Vice.
Chairman Mason asked if there were any further nominations for Chair and Vice Chair. Chairman Mason asked if all were in favor of Lt. Jerry Brewer for Chair; all in favor, Motion passed.
Chairman Mason asked if there were any nominations for Vice Chair. Chairman Mason nominated Sam Proffitt. Chairman Mason asked if there were any other nominations for Vice Chair; none
mentioned. All in favor of Sam Proffitt as Vice Chair, Motion passed.
Meeting Dates
Chairman Mason asked about the meeting dates, and Hope stated that there were some conflicts with the Thursday meetings for all members to attend. The committee decided to change the
meetings to the second Tuesday of each quarter. Hope stated that it would be beneficial to meet in January, April, July, and October. The timing would allow the center to provide timely
updates to the Committee. The center would be able to provide timely quarterly updates on the center’s key performance indicators and other data rather than it being several months
behind. This would also enable the Committee to make recommendations and support initiatives prior to the center’s budget submissions, and then in July, the center can
report out on what was approved or not approved by the Board of Commissioners for the fiscal year.
All members were agreeable to these changes of month and day; time will still be 10:00 am.
OLD BUSINESS:
Chairman Mason asked for an update to start the discussion of the Radios and Tower projects.
John Heysel stated that IT had hired a new Radio Administrator and introduced Kevin Baldwin to the members. Kevin will be taking the lead role and John will be assisting during this
transition to ensure Kevin is up to speed. The upgrade to Motorola is about 98% complete. This includes the consoles and software. There were a few glitches. There is still testing
to be done with Purvis. IT is currently working on the South End reception issues. TDMA is completed for 911 and Emergency Management. Jerry Brewer stated they will have their staff
confirm their radios are complete and he believes the Sheriff’s office is more than 50% complete at this time. There is an issue with Purvis and automation through the CAD system.
This is being worked out with Motorola and Purvis.
Hope asked a follow up question regarding Motorola’s ticketing system. When staff has tried to call and initiate a trouble ticket, Motorola Support is not recognizing our center as a
supported agency. John stated that this was one of the items being worked on. The tickets were being put in with incorrect site ID’s. Karen Benton asked if these Towers and the center
will be updated so that it is not an issue going forward. Richard Lawson with Motorola stated they were going to provide the correct site ID’s today to prevent this issue during the
reporting process. Hope asked when the IDs were changed. Joseph Knox with Motorola stated that they changed during the move across the parking lot to the new building. Richard stated
anytime they had an issue to ask for a conference with CSA. Tammy Clark with Motorola stated that she could assist if there are any issues if she is contacted directly. Her number
will be added as an emergency contact with issues with Motorola.
Hope gave commendations to Karen Benton and John Heysel reporting to the center within 15 minutes after being called at 3:00 am regarding the radio failure. Joseph Knox did state his
and Richard’s phone numbers are always available if there is another occurrence and to give them a call anytime this arises.
Chairman Mason asked if he could get clarification on the TDMA as this is a significant budget item for City of Wilmington Fire; is TDMA a feature that they must add for them to connect
and use Viper for the state? Hope stated yes, that is correct and this committee voted that each agency would implement the common template into their radios by July 2023. If it is
not programmed into your agency’s template, it could create issues for your agency during equipment failovers or mutual aid situations. The requirement from the state is July 2025.
Sunny Hwang stated that the DC to AC upgrade was successful, and IT will continue to improve the system upgrades.
Sunny also stated they received a quote last night from Motorola in reference to the South End tower issues. The intention is to have redundancy and resolve radio coverage issues; this
information will be given to the County Management Team as part of the upcoming budget process. If this is approved, the project has a scheduled timeline of six to seven months. Jerry
Brewer asked if this would be a full site; Joseph Knox stated it would be a full simulcast site using fiber.
John Heysel asked that any radios needing to be added for access to submit requests to NHC IT, and the agencies will have to sign off to give permission for access to their channels.
It was discussed that MCA is willing to do urgent requests such as during an activation, but other requests are usually completed during the normal workweek and within 48 hours. Hope
stated this will allows each agency to have oversight into who should have access to their channels. John stated that he has started an audit yearly of the radios.
Chairman Mason asked if there were any other questions; there were none.
OTHER ITEMS AND REPORTS
9-1-1 Center
Chairman Mason asked if Hope would update the Committee with 911 Center items.
Hope updated the group that she is working on the upcoming budget. Hope will have a report ready as well as the KPI’s for the committee for the next meeting.
Hope stated that the 911 Centers goal for improving Quality Assurance is improving percent of compliance and decreasing non-compliance. Hope also mentioned that there is a State Assessment
being done in the center in February.
Hope informed the group that there were interviews in progress for Spanish English Interpreters for the 911 Center. Hope also stated that the new CARE team has been receiving calls.
The CARE team can connect agencies or citizens with resources available to them.
Chairman Mason asked if anyone had any other items or questions; no one had any.
IT
Chairman Mason asked if there were any updates from IT. Sunny stated that IT may be looking at a new CAD implementation by early 2026.
Hope stated that the county was looking at consultants to help with the CAD selection process.
Chairman Mason asked if there were any other items; there were none.
Meeting adjourned 11:47 am