September 28 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: September 28, 2006 Board Summary Date: October 17, 2006 A Public Safety Communications
Center Policy Board meeting was held on Thursday, September 28, 2006 in the Emergency Operating Center, 220 Marketplace Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Chairman Blackley Brian Roberts, Excused 1st Sgt. Tim Karp Sgt. Mike Clemmons, Excused Steve Smith Warren Lee Leslie Stanfield Larry Bergman Sterling Powell Andre’ Mallette Robert Matheson
Dennis Cooper Donnie Hall Chief Billy Younginer Jan Kavanaugh GUESTS: Bob Hamlin, Federal Engineering, Inc. Robert Llora, Motorola Wayne Pearce, New Hanover County Emergency Management
Cliff Robinson, New Hanover County Fire Services Brenda Hewlett, New Hanover County Public Safety Communications Center Lt. Kathy Cochran, City of Wilmington Police Department
2 Chairman Blackley called the meeting to order at 10:12 a.m. Larry Bergman made a motion to approve the summaries from the June 22, 2006, July 27, 2006 and August 24, 2006 meetings.
First Sgt Tim Karp seconded the motion. Motion passed. OLD BUSINESS: Board Nominations: Chairman Frank Blackley opened the Policy Board elections by nominating Sterling Powell for
Chairman. Andre’ Mallette, by default will remain Vice-Chairman. Dennis Cooper seconded the motion. According to the By-Laws, the director of the Public Safety Communication
Center will serve as secretary. Donnie Hall moved to close the nominations and made a motion to accept the nominations. Robbie Matheson seconded the motion. Motion passed. Introduction:
Warren Lee introduced Lt. Kathy Cochran; she is representing the City of Wilmington Police Department. Officer Jim Conway will not be in attendance. By-Law Changes: Sterling Powell
sent Committee members an e-mail with two suggested by-law changes. The first proposed change relates to the number of people needed for a quorum. Sterling Powell is suggesting
that the number needed for a quorum be five instead of the majority of the Committee members. The change would allow Committee members to discuss and vote on issues instead of delaying
the issue until a quorum is present, which could be several meetings later. It would also increase the Committee’s ability to move forward and make decisions more quickly. All
agencies should have a designated alternate, so if the Committee member cannot attend a meeting, the alternate will be able to relay the agency information and not hinder the efforts
of the Committee. The second proposed change would be to allow The Department of Emergency Management to appoint a voting member to the board with a designated alternate. Since
the department is dispatched by the Public Safety Communications Center and is the administrator and a large user of the County’s radio system, they should be allowed to vote on matters
pertaining to the radio system. The current by-laws state that a change cannot be made without notifying Committee members one month prior to the change. The proposed changes have
been presented to Committee members for their review and consideration. Action on the proposed changes will occur at the next scheduled policy board meeting. Steve Smith inquired
whether or not the Public Safety Communications Center should have a voting member on the Policy Board.
3 Donnie Hall explained to Committee members that when the County started providing fire services through direct delivery, the Fire Advisory Board asked the Board of County Commissioners
if the County Fire Department could have representation on the County Fire Board. The request was denied. It was stated that the overall scope of the Policy Board has changed since
its conception. The board has been very vocal in the radio system project and has had to make numerous decisions that will affect the future of the system. Currently, the by-laws
do not address membership involvement pertaining to radio system matters. It was stated that since the Committee is incorporating changes to the by-laws, it might be a good time to
include how the leadership role and policy making decision authority of the Committee has changed. Chairman Powell stated that the Board does have the authority to assign sub-committees
and use private citizens to serve on those sub-committees. It was suggested that the word “Center” be dropped from the Public Safety Communications Center Policy Board and the Committee
be called the Public Safety Communications Policy Board. Chairman Powell asked Vice-Chairman Mallette’ to contact the County Attorney’s office about the proposed changes to the by-laws.
800 MHz Radio System Improvement Project: Chairman Powell introduced Robert Llora, Assistant Engineer with Motorola. Mr. Llora has been assisting the Department of Emergency Management
with the radio system upgrade. Warren Lee and Robert Llora updated Committee members on the 800 MHz radio system improvement project. Since several of the Committee members were not
present at the last board meeting, Mr. Llora reviewed the power point presentation he gave last month and some of the changes associated with the new system. The tentative project
schedule is being followed; however there may be a change due to when the fiber link connection will be installed to the radio tower building. A new transformer is being installed
installed by MASTEC at the radio tower building. The radio tower and the Emergency Operating Center (EOC) buildings will each have separate electrical services. Commercial power
should be restored within a week at the radio tower building. The radio tower building will have its own transformer, a new transfer switch, and a new generator. All of the equipment
has been ordered. The transfer switch, transformer and panel box have been delivered. The generator is scheduled to arrive in approximately three weeks from the Covington Diesel
factory in Greensboro, North Carolina. To provide continuous operation the generator will be equipped with a three-day fuel tank. An additional fuel tank has been ordered and will
be fitted to the generator. The generator should be on-site by the time the concrete pad is ready and the fence is modified to accommodate the equipment. The radio tower building
will be a stand alone system. Coverage and acceptance testing is scheduled for the first week of November providing that the radio tower building has electricity.
4 The first meeting to discuss the details and preparation for the testing is scheduled for Thursday, October 5, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. The acceptance testing will require a person(s)
to travel around the County with a radio and do some transmit and receive work. If anyone is interested in participating in the ride-along, please contact Warren Lee. The testing
will be done with portable radios. Staff will forward the meeting invitation via e-mail to Committee members. The functionality testing of the system is scheduled to be done the
first week of December. The functionality testing will include testing dispatch, network manager and talk features. The fiber link connection between the radio tower building and
Public Safety Communications Center will need to be completed before any testing can begin. Motorola is anticipating early December for the majority of the testing to be completed.
The rest of December will be used to address punch list items and resolve any outstanding issues. The final acceptance testing is scheduled for early January. At that point,
the system will be ready to begin the migration phase. Microwave Issue: The microwave link is a sub-system that connects the four tower sites together. There are four paths in
the system, three of the four paths are functioning and performing to the specifications. One of the paths is not in the current specifications. A microwave crew is on-site trying
to resolve the fourth path issue. It is speculated that the problem is with faulty equipment that needs to be replaced. Since the microwave fiber is a connectivity core sub-system,
it needs to be on-line. The link that is not working correctly is the link from the Flemington Tower Site to the Holly Shelter Tower Site. The Flemington Tower smart net truck
system has received several updates. During one of the updates, a programming issue was uncovered. The issue has been resolved. New Features: The Astro P25 system is Motorola’s
newest system and has several features designed to manage the network system more efficiently. The previous system has not utilized the true management of the network. Part of
the network administration will be setting up security groups and a positive subscriber data base. The current system has one administrator, which means only one person can log into
the system and be responsible for all the updates, it does not allow delegating privileges. The new system has a feature called security groups that can delegate portions of the system
to individual managers. An individual agency can set up their own security group, and log into the network to review radio users, records and have the ability to do updates without
affecting other users. The second feature is positive subscriber access. Positive Subscriber Access:
5 The Astro P25 network will have positive subscriber access. The positive subscriber access feature is not activated until a record is entered for a radio that has already been
programmed to a radio user. Until the record is recorded no one can “key up” or talk on your network. The feature allows management access to user information on their own network.
Dynamic Regrouping: Dynamic regrouping is a new interoperable feature that will simplify radio programming and provide users more flexibility. Dynamic regrouping will allow users
the ability to program their radios according to their needs, therefore eliminating the need to program all the talk groups. The dynamic regrouping feature allows agencies to program
their radios with only the talk groups that are most frequently or occasionally used. The secured talk groups that are only used in an emergency do not need to be programmed on each
radio. Radios with dynamic regrouping offer the user the option to have their radios controlled controlled on an as-needed basis to use emergency talk groups through the radio control
manager terminal that will be installed in the Public Safety Communications Center. The radio control manager (RCM) will have a list of different radios that need to be combined into
one talk group. Once the command is installed in the network system, and becomes activated it will locate the first radio and assign it to a talk group, the same will occur for the
second radio, etc….. If the radio list is short, it will only take a few seconds, if there are several radios on the list it will take longer to engage. Dynamic regrouping is a
rapid process, but it is not instantaneously. Motorola will provide radio control manager training for the telecommunicators. Dynamic regrouping has a feature called “storm fans.”
Storm fans are pre-defined regroup commands that are sent out in an emergency along with emergency alarm displays. Dynamic regrouping is best-suited for planned activities such
as the Azalea Festival or Riverfest. It is not intended to replace the routine TACT channels. The new information will need to be inserted and managed in the network system. Free
Form Text: In addition to the current emergency alarm display, the free form text feature will allow the telecommunicator the ability to provide and display additional detailed information.
The free form text features allows up to 64 characters to be typed into the message. Radio Status: The radio status feature is designed for those users who use mobile portable
radios that do not have CAD capabilities. The feature allows the user to send messages such as status change information to the telecommunicators. The user chooses information
from a pre-defined status list that is very silimilar to the CAD feature. All of the features require network management and will need periodical updates to keep the information up-to-date.
6 Using security groups is a way to distribute the information instead of depending on one person to do all the work. Multi-logging credentials can be established and based on
the credentials; users may access certain sections of the data base. The new system will automatically update the telecommunicator consoles with the user information so that a separate
file will not need to be maintained and uploaded into the system. Process Feature: The process feature involves the administrators who will establish and define the accounts and decide
which functions each person is going to be responsible for maintaining. Each process should contain the following accounts: network and radio control managers and console user accounts.
Agencies can approve their own processes and assign the process to the system manager for implementation. The same application may be applied to multi groups (currently called
talk groups). Radio Programming: In the new system, when an agency requests a talk group, that talk group is assigned an owner, someone that has the authority to program the radios
in their unit or agency. With the new process, if an agency has developed a template to program their radio to include the public talk groups such as the interoperability common-shared
channels or their own agency talk groups they are the only ones that have to approve the template. Before a template is approved and executed, Motorola will need to do a technical
review of the template. If one agency would like another agency talk group in their template, the requesting agency must obtain permission from the other agency. By obtaining permission,
the agency that owns the template is protected and is aware of the other agencies ability to utilize their talk group. This control measure is known as program attendant. Motorola
is currently working on establishing a standard format for agencies to use to submit talk group requests. A process is needed for radio programming, so unnecessary call groups are
are not created. The same process will be used for radio users, once their radio templates and talk groups have been created, defined, programmed, and approved, the administrator
will insert the information into the network data base. When new users are inserted into the system, the Public Safety Communications Center will need to be notified so the telecommuncators
will be aware of the changes. It is a process that will help track information. Processes will be established for initial set-up, managing the data base and collecting the information.
True Interoperability: True Interoperability is the goal of the project to define any agency or user on an as-needed basis. To accomplish that goal several things need to occur
7 Since the Astro P25 project is a standard phase system, the County is not “locked” into a proprietary system which does not allow the user to utilize different vendors for different
components of the system. The user must use the “sole proprietor” equipment. The Astro P25 system allows the user to utilize different vendors for different components of the system.
Common knowledge guidelines need to be established on how the radios are programmed. You may have a common standard to access the system, but if the radios do not share any commonalty
in how they are programmed true interoperability cannot be accomplished. A standard programming template for New Hanover County public safety and public service users needs to be
established. Public Safety users are defined for New Hanover County by Motorola as those agencies that are dispatched by the Public Safety Communications Center. Public Service
users are defined for New Hanover County by Motorola as those agencies that operate on the system routinely, but are not necessary dispatched by the Center, example, utilities, street
maintenance, building inspectors. The term for other users in the system is referred to as “roamers.” This may include state and federal agencies or other neighboring counties
that have expressed an interest to be able to access the system. The system has a standard template designed for those agencies. Both templates will have dynamic regrouping. Final
Migration Steps: Each agency will need to acquire Astro P25K radios, once the radios have been received, Motorola will met with each agency and establish a migration plan on how to
make the transition from the analog system to the digital system. Rapid migration is something each agency needs to think about in the future. The goal is to implement migration
quickly to keep the time period as short as possible and be less dependent on keeping the two systems patched together (analog and digital). Rapid migration reduces the load on the
system resources. The two analog systems the County is currently using are getting close to their end of life cycles and are not going to be supported much longer. The target date
for decommissioning the current system is the end of 2010. The goal is to get all the users migrated over in the next several years. Agencies were advised that as they begin planning
for radio migration, they need to consider the rebanding option being offered by Nextel. The County has approximately 300 to 400 operational radios that Nextel will replace if the
radios are in service. The Department of Emergency Management is compiling a list of radios that are eligible for replacement, so before any radios are taken out of service, agencies
should contact Emergency Management for eligibility. Bob Hamlin with Federal Engineering is compiling the list and expects to have the list completed by the end of the month. Each
agency will need to get the processes and application forms finalized and submitted so that the accounts can be established. The County has several talk groups on the old system.
The old talk groups will be refreshed to make sure everything is captured. A review of the talk groups will be conducted at this time to “house clean” the files. The radio templates
will be defined and programmed.
8 Radio Options: The current system has a Voice only feature; Motorola has an option that will add data capability to the system. There are two different data options that are
available. One is integrated voice and data ( IV&D.) The kind of service it provides to the end users is comparable to the SEGIN network; it is a text-based application. One
of the advantages to IV&D as an option to the system is that it uses the same subscriber for portable or mobile radios. There is no separate modem. If agencies require more bandwidth
for their data needs (mug shots, fingerprints, etc.) there is an option called high performance data (HPD). High performance data requires a separate vehicular modem. The vehicular
modem is not a portable modem it is a vehicle or mounted modem. The bandwidth on the modem is intended to be used with band width intense applications. The closest working HPD
solution to New Hanover County is in York County, South Carolina. The County has submitted a proposal for HPD, but it has not been approved. The project budget for the system is
$8.5 million. One million of the funding was set aside for contingencies. The majority of the contingency funding has been used to process change orders. The most recent change
order has been the generator problem. Two other change orders were completed prior to the generator problem. One change order was to create a ring of fiber between the EOC and
the radio tower building so that connectivity is not lost between the two buildings. Another change order was for adding four consoles in the back of the EOC for redundancy. When
the project is completed, the County may allow the department of Emergency Management to take the remaining contingency funding and apply it to other features of the system such as IV&D
or HPD or utilize the funds and purchase subscriber units so that the migration process will go quicker. If the funds are available, a board decision will need to be made on which
option to implement. The quote New Hanover County received from Motorola to do the IV&D and HPD was approximately $1.1 million. The IV&D can be purchased for approximately half
a million dollars or less if some of the equipment is not used. It was stated that some of the lower Astro P25 radios will support IV&D. It is not necessary to have a high tier
radio to support IV&D. HPD is an over lay that utilizes a majority of the core network infrastructure. It does not use the same base radio at the site. It is actually another channel
that is operated. HPD can provide larger broad band data coverage with fewer sites. Cellular Communications provides broad band coverage with smaller modems, but more sites are
needed for coverage. An overlay is available for modem mesh, but Motorola does not have the proposal. Modem mesh is a broad band coverage that is a higher group of HPD.
9 It is the next group of data that can be overlaid on the same infrastructure back bone and it uses small cards. To provide the coverage that is needed, more sites will be needed
for the system. Coverage is only available in the County. Any travel outside the County and coverage is lost. Standardized Template: Warren Lee distributed a tentative standardized
template form to Committee members to review. Please see handout for more details. The form will be used for the migration portion of the system. The form will be in a standardized
format so that every public safety radio would have the same groups and have interoperability features. Staff was provided with a Motorola policy and procedure manual which Committee
members received via e-mail outlining and describing the details of the power point presentation. Agencies were advised to take the form back to their respective agencies for review
and be prepared to discuss it at the next meeting. Any questions pertaining to the form should be directed to Warren Lee or Robert Llora before the meeting. The first ten positions
in Zone 3 are targeted for interoperability between all New Hanover County users. Positions eleven through fifteen are programmed for New Hanover County users to be able to communicate
with other agencies when they travel outside the area by utilizing the national plan. Those positions will also serve as a back-up to the Astro P25 network in case it should malfunction.
New Hanover County has deployed conventional repeaters that are scattered throughout the County for all five channels which can also serve as backup if needed. If County infrastructure
was not available due to an emergency event, direct communications could still continue by using portable radios. NEW BUSINESS Plain Talk Protocol: Lt. Cochran with the City of Wilmington
Police Department distributed a handout to Committee members pertaining to plain talk protocol. Please see the handout for more detail. Lt. Cochran asked if any discussion on plain
talk had occurred among the agencies, especially with the new system being implemented. She was advised that fire services and EMS have been using plain talk. Establish guidelines
need to be implemented for common terminology that can be utilized by all agencies. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) states that it is up to the individual agencies
if they want to use plain text on a day-to-day basis, but plain text is required during an incident command event that includes multi-agency responses. The City of Wilmington Police
Department is using the ten code format. It was suggested by Chairman Powell that law enforcement agencies schedule a meeting and establish guide lines to implement plain talk common
terminology. Public Safety Communications Center Report:
10 Steve Smith distributed the agency reports and reported on the happenings in the Center. Uniforms: The uniforms have arrived and the telecommunicators are wearing them. The
uniforms make the telecommunicators look more professional and have improved the moral and attitude in the Center. Equipment Issues: Staff is working with Motorola and NICE (Dictaphone)
to resolve the re-installation issues and to get all the channels to record correctly. The time clock on the system is working well; it is within a few seconds of the CAD clock.
When the recorder is upgraded, the information from the new system should record without the need to purchase another recorder. Positions: Currently, there are six positions open
in the Public Safety Communications Center. Several employees went to work for other organizations. The application process takes approximately one month to complete. Of all
the applications received, approximately one quarter of the applicants actually complete the entire application process. Community Action Team (C.A.T.): The Community Action Team
(C.A.T.) consists of a group of telecommunciators that have decided to do volunteer community work. Some of the community activities they will be participating in include the following:
o Adopt-a-Highway o Collecting food for the Good Shepard House o Visiting the local nursing homes and doing puzzles or crafts with the participants. o Collecting woman and children’s
clothing for Domestic Violence o Implementing a 9-1-1 for Schools program. Business Contacts: Edwina Batson, Community Liaison for the Center, is contacting all the businesses in
the County to update their after hours contact information in the CAD system. In addition to updating the information, she is also maintaining the data base. Miscellaneous: It
was stated that the telecomunicators are using the fire PROQA software, but the fire departments are not utilizing it. If any of the agencies have question pertaining to calls being
received in the Center, please contact Steve Smith. Information Technology Sub-Committee Report: Due to Leslie Stanfield being called away from the meeting, Jan Kavanaugh gave the Information
Technology report. No date has been scheduled for OSSI do a network study of the system to determine what is causing the consoles to lock-up.
11 A company out of Raleigh, North Carolina, DATA Dimensions, will be conducting the study along with OSSI. The date for the study will need to be schedule after the Information
Technology Department relocates to the New Hanover County Government Complex. Area beach communities and EMS were reminded that the site licensing for MDT software is now available,
so the agencies will no longer have to pay for the software to be installed on the equipment. If the agencies need more information on the site licensing issue, contact Jan. Warren
Lee thanked everyone for attending the meeting and advised that if Committee members cannot attend the meeting to send their alternate. The next scheduled meeting will be held on Thursday,
October 26, 2006, at 10:00 in the Emergency Operations Center, 220 Market Place Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Chairman Powell adjourned the meeting at 11:33 a.m.