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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDecember 8, 2005 PSCC Minutes Steve Smith Director NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 20 North 4th Street Wilmington, NC 28401 Phone: (910) 341-4258 Fax: (910) 341-4038 E-mail: stsmith@nhcgov.com Memorandum To: Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board Members From: Steve Smith, Director Subject: December 8, 2005 Summary Date: January 5, 2006 A Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board meeting was held on Thursday, December 8, 2005 in Room 501 of the New Hanover County Administration Building, 320 Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North Carolina. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: Chairman Frank Blackley Leslie Stanfield, Excused Steve Smith Sgt. Mike Clemmons, Excused Donnie Hall Mary Ann Hinshaw, Excused Warren Lee Dennis Cooper, Excused Sterling Powell Sgt. Tim Karp, Excused Brian Roberts Dave Weaver, Excused Jan Kavanaugh Robert Matheson Billy Younginer Larry Bergman, Representing City of Wilmington GUESTS: Bob Hamlin, Federal Engineering Wayne Pearce, New Hanover County Emergency Management Brenda Hewlett, New Hanover County Public Safety Communications Center Debora Cottle, New Hanover County Public Safety Communications Center Chairman Blackley called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. The summaries from the July 28, 2005, August 25, 2005, and October 27, 2005 meetings were approved with the following corrections. 2 On page five; the first bullet should read “The telephone bid is scheduled to go out November 21, 2005. It was typed as “The telephone bid is scheduled to goout November 21, 2005. On page three; the first bullet under the second arrow should read “New Hanover County uses Sprint as its air card provider because they are DCI certified and they have encryption capabilities. It was typed as “New Hanover County uses Sprintas its air card provider because they are DCI certified and they have encryption capabilities.” Brian Roberts made a motion to approve the summaries with the above corrections. Donnie Hall seconded the motion. Motion passed. OLD BUSINESS: 800 MHz Radio System Improvement Project: Warren Lee updated Committee members on the 800 MHz radio system improvement project and distributed a calendar that Motorola provided which outlines the schedule of events for the project. 􀁸 The five channel analog system that will be installed at the Seabreeze Tower Site will be the first item to be completed in the project. 􀁸 The equipment building is scheduled to arrive on December 23, 2005. 􀁸 Currently, equipment is being installed in the building (battery packs, etc….) to make it functional. 􀁸 The generator for the equipment building will not be shipped until the third week in January. 􀁸 The concrete pad that the equipment building will be placed on will need to be expanded. 􀁸 Coastal Electronics is in the process of completing preliminary site work. 􀁸 One of the big satellite dishes that are currently on the site will have to be relocated. 􀁸 A complete testing of the system will take a few weeks, but the system should be functional the first week in January. 􀁸 Once the Seabreeze tower project is complete, the antenna configuration at the Flemington Tower Site will revert back to an omni antenna since there will no longer be a need for the signal to reach the southern end. 􀁸 All the antenna configurations in the County are scheduled to be changed in either June or July, 2006. 􀁸 Once the configurations have been completed, communications should improve. 􀁸 The agreements with Charter Communications have been finalized. Flemington Tower Site: 􀁸 Federal Engineering did testing at the Flemington Tower Site with the current system. 􀁸 Several changes were made. 􀁸 The tower type print was changed. 􀁸 A new cable line was installed and inspected. 􀁸 A “dummy” load was installed on the line for testing purposes. 􀁸 The antenna was also tested, no abnormalities were noted. 􀁸 A “node” was found at the 294 foot level. 􀁸 Cingular Wireless had installed an antenna at the 294 foot level, which may be causing the interference. 3 􀁸 Cingular Wireless has been contacted about temporarily shutting down its system to help identify whether that system is causing the interference on the transmission line. 􀁸 Cingluar Wireless did do some modifications to the tower during the year. 􀁸 The antenna array was reconfigured, additional coaxial were added, and some antennas were removed. 􀁸 If the cell company is not the problem, then the line will need to be replaced since everything else has been tested. Rebanding: 􀁸 If a cell telephone frequency is very similar to the frequency of a different system which is located by it, interference will occur. 􀁸 Once rebanding occurs, the problem should be eliminated. 􀁸 No new equipment will be needed for rebanding. 􀁸 Phase I and II of rebanding have been implemented and are currently being utilized in the north east part of the country (Boston/New York) since that area is experiencing the biggest problems. 􀁸 Any equipment that the County has, that is within the band width which Nextel is currently occupying, Nextel will pay to reprogram or replace the equipment. 􀁸 Nextel also has agreed to pay for any attorney or consulting fees, any meetings that are needed, travel time, etc…… 􀁸 Currently, the County channels that are impacted are the five convention channels. 􀁸 Nextel will take part of the County’s spectrum and move all of their equipment into that spectrum. 􀁸 There will be a “guard” channel between the two spectrums which should eliminate any interference that is currently occurring. Templates: Warren Lee distributed a listing of the templates currently being utilized. Sterling Powell also distributed a list of templates being utilized by the Town of Wrightsville Beach. 􀁸 Due to the installation of the five channel analog system at the Seabreeze Tower Site, several agency templates will need to be changed. 􀁸 It was suggested that all the major public safety agencies in the County reprogram their radios to accommodate coverage in that area. 􀁸 It was also suggested that those agencies who infrequently respond to the southern part of the County, put South TAC channels on their radios, so that if a major event should occur and they require equipment from other jurisdictions to respond they would have the capability to access the same channel that the on-scene agencies are using. 􀁸 The following agencies will have a permanent hard patch: Fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement (Sheriff’s Office) channels. 􀁸 Manual selection will be required to receive other channels than the primary dispatch channels (Fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement). 􀁸 A motion was made by Sterling Powell to accept the templates as listed and allow Motorola access to the information, so that they may begin to develop the system keys necessary to program the radios. Brian Roberts seconded the motion. Motion passed. 􀁸 The telecommunicators have the capability to “soft patch” any talk group they want from their consoles. 􀁸 The universal tact channels currently being utilized (Law Enforcement, Fire, and EMS -TAC 11-12) have been renamed as Public Safety TAC 1, 2, and 3. 4 􀁸 Motorola will absorb the first round of reprogramming as part of the system upgrade and there will be no cost to the agencies. 􀁸 Committee members were advised to inform Warren Lee if they are experiencing any difficulties in different locations during transmission. 􀁸 EMS is estimating that it will take approximately four years before they become totally digital. 􀁸 EMS will need to add the TAC channels in their template. 􀁸 Communication Specialists has asked the County to give them access to the system keys for the Corning and GE backup, so that they can program the new radios that the City of Wilmington Police Department is purchasing. 􀁸 It was stated that the system keys should be controlled by the County or a government entity. o If the system keys are turned over to a vendor, they can do anything they want to with them. Update on Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Public Safety Communications Center: Warren Lee updated Committee members on the EOC and Public Safety Communications Center. 􀁸 􀁸 The fire alarm system is being tested and is in the process of being finalized. 􀁸 Load and balance testing is being done on the HVAC system in both buildings. 􀁸 A certificate of occupancy is anticipated as early as next week. 􀁸 Two Bellsouth lines have been installed in the new building. 􀁸 The County should take ownership of the property before Christmas. 􀁸 The New Hanover County Emergency Management Department is scheduled to move into the new facility in February, 2006. 􀁸 The administrative offices of the New Hanover County Emergency Management and the Public Safety Communications Center will be repainted. 􀁸 The Public Safety Communications Center is finished, except for the installation of the antennas on the roof. 􀁸 The Center is anticipating moving into the new building by April 1, 2005. NEW BUSINESS: Information Technology Sub-Committee Report: Jan Kavanaugh gave the Information Technology Sub-Committee Report. 􀁸 The vehicle beach access points have been completed for Carolina Beach and have been entered into the CAD system. 􀁸 The County has received a site license from OSSI. 􀁸 The site license includes RMS and JMS as well as MCT. 􀁸 The City of Wilmington has been excluded because of the number of licenses that have already been purchased by the fire and police departments. 􀁸 The City of Wilmington has over 200 licenses. 􀁸 If funding is available the license will also cover all the MCT’s for fire and the area beaches. 5 􀁸 The County is waiting for the update to the MCT; once the upgrade is available it will allow mutli-agency groups. Public Safety Communications Center Report: Steve Smith updated Committee members on the happenings in the Public Safety Communications Center. 􀁸 The statistically information was e-mailed to Committee members. 􀁸 The RFP for the telephone and console equipment was sent out to various vendors. 􀁸 The Center received six responses for the telephone equipment. The following vendors sent in responses: Modular Communications Systems (MCS) bid MCS equipment Wireless Communications bid CML equipment SPIRIT bid CML and Positron equipment Bellsouth bid Positron equipment Positron bid Positron equipment Motorola bid Plant equipment 􀁸 The Center is currently utilizing Plant equipment. 􀁸 Wireless Communications, Positron and Modular Communications Systems were the three vendors that the Center was interested in acquiring more information about their products. 􀁸 The three vendors were contacted and and asked to set up mock systems for the telecommunicators to determine which product they liked the best. 􀁸 The telecommunciators liked the Positron system and the features associated with that system. 􀁸 Staff asked the vendors who had bid Positron equipment (Positron, Sprint and Bellsouth) to provide a price and include any options that were available. 􀁸 The vendors were allowed a week to generate the information. 􀁸 The Positron bid was the lowest bid at $654,552.92. 􀁸 The Sprint bid was $836,497. 􀁸 The Bellsouth bid was $747,040. 􀁸 Positron offered the Viper product, which is their IP-based telephone system. 􀁸 The new equipment will be purchased not leased. 􀁸 A “software evergreen” feature is included in the Positron package. 􀁸 The County will have access to the “software evergreen” feature for five years. 􀁸 In that five year period, if Positron comes out with anything that is new and better than what the Center is using it will be installed free of charge. 􀁸 This feature does not include any any upgrades that are designed to fix something. 􀁸 The bid will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners at its December 19, 2005 meeting. Furniture: 􀁸 The furniture RFP was sent out and three responses were received. 􀁸 The three responses were from the following: Wright Line for two options (Evans consoles and Watson Furniture) Innovant System Manufacturing Corporation 6 􀁸 System Manufacturing Corporation argued that there was a requirement on the dual lift weight which was a significant deviation and their bid was higher due to compliance to a requirement which they felt the other vendors didn’t do. 􀁸 Due to the complication, the bids were thrown out and a new RFP was issued and sent out. 􀁸 The Center received responses from the following vendors: Innovant Xybix Systems, System Manufacturing Corporation Wright Line. 􀁸 After reviewing all the proposals and comparing them to the RFP, Wright Line was selected as being the most responsive. 􀁸 The Wright Line bid with the dual lift section was $246,259. 􀁸 Both items (telephone and furniture) were under budget. 􀁸 Wright Line is guaranteeing delivery of the furniture within 45 days and is offering a January 15, 2006 deadline. 􀁸 Positron is suggesting 90 days for delivery for the telephones. Backup Center: 􀁸 A backup center may be established in a portion of the Sheriff’s Office Vice and Narcotics Section. 􀁸 Telephone lines are already installed for emergency usage. 􀁸 A generator will be purchased for the backup center. 􀁸 The County will purchase the current telephone and console equipment that is in the Center and relocate it to the backup center. 􀁸 The Information Technology staff is working on finding out what is needed to install the CAD software program on the consoles in the backup center. 􀁸 The equipment in the backup center would be tested once a week. Web Page: 􀁸 The Center’s web page site is listed under the County’s web page and will provide general information about the Center. 􀁸 The summaries of the Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board will also be available on-line. Miscellaneous Information Common Alerting Paging Protocol (CAPP): 􀁸 Wayne Pearce informed Committee members about a Common Alerting Paging Protocol (CAPP) and asked Committee members if a representative could come and speak to the Committee about the program at the January board meeting. 􀁸 CAPP is designed to be used as a nationwide alerting system similar to the AMBER Alert Program. 􀁸 A message would be sent from the Homeland Security Department to a designated cell phone company; who in turn, would relay the information in a text message to all cell telephones, e-mails, and pagers. 􀁸 The protocol has been tested in the Washington, DC area. 􀁸 Staff will contact the CAPP representative and inform him that he is welcomed to attend the January meeting and give a short presentation to the Committee. 7 Public Safety Training Facility: 􀁸 Donnie Hall attended a Public Safety Training Facility Advisory meeting. 􀁸 The Chairman of the Advisory Board asked that Mr. Hall share the plans for the construction of the facility with the Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board Committee. 􀁸 Copies of the documents will be available in the conference room at the City of Wilmington Fire Headquarters, in the New Hanover County Fire Department, and in the office of the Cape Fear Community College fire training officer. 􀁸 The facility will be jointly used by all public safety agencies. The next scheduled meeting will be held on Thursday, January 26, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 501 of the County Administration Building, 320 Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North Carolina. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:24 a.m. Donnie Hall made a motion to adjourn, Sterling Powell seconded the motion. Motion passed.