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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 26 2003 Board Meeting A regular scheduled meeting of the Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board was held on Thursday, June 26, 2003, in Room 501 of the County Administrative Building, 320 Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North Carolina. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: Chairman Frank Blackley Steve Smith, Excused Andy Atkinson Lt. William Hoehlein Bill Clontz Doug Hewett Robbie Matheson Donnie Hall Warren Lee Brian Roberts Sterling Powell Dennis Cooper Ed Gibson Debora Cottle, Representing New Hanover County Public Safety Communication Center GUESTS: Jan Kavanaugh, New Hanover County Information Technology Larry Godley, New Hanover County Public Safety Communications Center Chairman Blackley called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. Chairman Blackley introduced Sterling Powell and Warren Lee. Mr. Powell will replace Everett Ward as the Wrightsville Beach representative and Warren Lee will replace Dan Summers as the Emergency Management representative. The March 6, 2003 summary was not approved due to not having a quorum. The summary will be reviewed at the July meeting. OLD BUSINESS: No old business was discussed. NEW BUSINESS: Election Information:  In accordance with the Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board by laws, an election will be held during the July board meeting to elect new board officers.  Chairman Blackley encouraged all Committee members to attend the July meeting. 800 MHz Issues: Warren Lee reported on 800 MHz Issues.  After a lengthy discussion, Committee members agreed to let Mr. Lee pursue the two requests from the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services and 2 the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to install UHF repeaters at the Flemington tower site with the stipulation that if New Hanover County needs additional tower space in the future, the two agencies will have to remove their equipment.  New Hanover County would provide space but no funding.  Installation of the repeaters on the Flemington tower would allow the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services County-wide coverage for two of the med channels, which will help aid in implementing a State-wide network.  Funding for the two repeaters would be the responsibly of the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services. No County funding would be required.  The North Carolina State Highway Patrol will use the repeaters to help complete the smart zone system that will provide State-wide communication coverage capabilities along the entire I-40 corridor.  The North Carolina State Highway Patrol is also requesting permission to install two microwave links, one at the Flemington tower and one at Hill Valley Walk.  Currently, there is only one microwave link installed at Delco  The North Carolina State Highway Patrol is working in conjunction with Charter Communications to get authorization for the additional microwave links.  Charter Communications is requiring that an engineering study of Flemington tower be conducted to see if the tower can support the necessary equipment.  The North Carolina State Highway Patrol will be responsible for the costs associated with the engineering study.  The North Carolina State Highway Patrol has agreed to give New Hanover County a talk group channel for Carolina and Kure Beaches in addition to a talk group in the State smart zone system.  The Hill Valley Walk tower equipment for Carolina and Kure beaches will be a duplication of the equipment currently on the Flemington tower.  New Hanover County would be responsible for installing a microwave link from the Public Safety Communications Center to the Flemington tower. The microwave link would replace the landlines currently being used now.  The permanent solution to the issue is to install a Simulcast system.  Motorola has been asked to update its quote on the microwave link system taking into consideration the equipment the North Carolina State Highway Patrol is willing to purchase.  It is estimated that the quote will be between $2.5 and $3 million with a lease option for ten years.  Staff is researching several grants for funding resources. Communications Contingency Sub-Committee: Chairman Blackley reported on the Communications Contingency Sub Committee.  The City of Wilmington Fire Department is currently working on finalizing their templates.  Warren Lee will meet with them to make sure the information is correct before it is implemented. 3 Information Technology Sub-Committee: Bill Clontz reported on the Information Technology Sub-Committee.  The Public Safety Communications Center is currently experiencing two major problems.  One problem is with the servers and the other problem involves the workstations. Server Problem:  There are two servers in the Public Safety Communications Center. One is a primary server and the other is a non-primary or backup server.  When a failover occurs, the processes are being transferred from the primary server to the non-primary server, but the telecommunicators are not being notified that the switch has been made (via the console).  When the system malfunctions it creates recording errors in the log, and may cause data to be lost.  Microsoft, IBM, and OSSI are working on trying to identify the problem, but resolving it is hard when the cause is unknown. Workstation Issue:  When the console workstations lock up error messages are received. It may affect one workstation or a group.  The symptoms and the time periods vary. The cause is unknown and OSSI is trying to resolve the issue.  The problem is either with New Hanover County’s network or the hardware.  The problem affects the service ability of the Center.  OSSI has contacted Dimension Data, an organization that specializes in network problems. The company is highly recommended by OSSI.  Jan Kavanaugh would like a representative from Dimension Data to evaluate the County’s network to determine if it is causing the problems.  The Committee agreed to have Jan Kavanaugh make contact with Dimension Data and inquire about the amount of funding needed to get the problems resolved.  Funding for the project will either come out of the Public Safety Communications Center budget or Information Technology’s budget. County Addressing Project: Bill Clontz reported on the County Addressing Project.  The unincorporated area of the County should be completed by the end of June.  The City of Wilmington and the entire project should be finished by the end of August.  The work being generated has been very accurate and precise.  Only about five percent of the addresses collected so far have not been resolved. 4 Addressing Exception Report: Bill Clontz reported on and distributed the Addressing Exception Report. Please refer to the handout for detailed information.  The method for resolving addressing exceptions is working very well. The information is recorded in a database, it is tracked until it is completed and then the Public Safety Communications Center verifies that it is correct.  A letter along with a copy of the Addressing Standards & Procedures has been sent to each of the beach communities requesting that they consider adopting the procedures. No responses have been received.  The Addressing Standards & Procedures is a database that lists the official names and correct spellings of every street in the incorporated area and City of Wilmington. Dictaphone Networking: Bill Clontz reported on the Dictaphone Networking project.  A new Dictaphone voice logging equipment system has been installed in the Public Safety Communications Center to reduce the time needed to make voice recordings.  The old way of recording tapes was very laborious and required the operator to leave her workstation to retract the various information needed to produce a tape recording.  The new system allows the operator to access all the information needed to make a recording at their workstation.  An added feature of the system will allow the outside agencies with the aid of a resource monitor the capabilities to produce their own tapes without having to interact with the Public Safety Communications Center.  The outside agencies will only have access to their channels and not the other channels.  A meeting will be held with Dictaphone to discuss what additional equipment is needed besides a resource monitor for the outside agencies to produce their own tapes.  Training will be provided to the outside agencies. Fire Hydrants: Bill Clontz reported on the fire hydrant project.  The Information Technology Department is working in conjunction with County Fire Services, to record all the fire hydrants in the County into the GIS database.  The project is only half completed. CAD Changes: Jan Kavanaugh reported on the process for CAD changes.  The agencies are not following the correct procedure for submitting changes to the CAD system.  The two agencies that generate the most changes are the Sheriff’s Office and City of Wilmington Police Department. 5  The Standard Operating Procedure (Article III; Section 3.04; Title: CAD Change Management Process) establishes the correct procedure for requesting changes to the CAD system.  A two-week notice is needed for the CAD changes.  The Mobile Data Terminals have not been changed. Public Safety Communications Center Telephone Issues: Larry Godley reported on the telephone issue at the Public Safety Communications Center.  The telephone issue at the Public Safety Communications Center has been corrected by installing new styles of telephone jacks and headsets. Public Safety Communications Center Job Applicants: Andy Atkinson reported on the Public Safety Communications Center Job Applicants.  There are several telecommunicator job openings in the Public Safety Communications Center Department.  Applicants must pass a typing test.  It was stated that out of 23 applicants, eight passed the typing test and four passed the pre-test.  Majority of the time, a person with no experience is better to train than a a person with experience because they can be trained the correct way and not resort back to the way they have been trained.  The Public Safety Communications Center staff in conjunction with the Human Resources Department will review the job applicant procedure to help eliminate the high turnover rate. The next scheduled meeting will be held on Thursday, July 24, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. in Room 501 of the County Administration Building, 320 Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North Carolina. Andy Atkinson made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Ed Gibson seconded the motion. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:57 a.m.