R2000-147 ACCEPTING PROPOSALS AND AUTHORIZING CONTRACTS

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DECATUR POLICE DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM 00-64 TO: Mayor Terry Howley and City Council FROM: Steve Garman, City Manger Michael L. Mowen, Chief of Police ��tY1 Michael E. Buckley, Commander- Emergency Communication Division'yY►�,,�. DATE: Purpose: The purpose of this memorandum is to secure council approval for an agreement with Chadmoore Communications to provide a back-up radio system for the City of Decatur in the event of a total failure of our radio system due to catastrophic events. Background: The 800 MHz radio system is the sole method of providing communications for all City of Decatur Operations with the exception of some data transmissions for the police department. However, the mobile data for police and fire also uses major segments of the existing radio system and in many cases will also fail if the existing voice radio system should fail. Currently, the City of Decatur has no method of providing voice radio communication in the event that our radio tower or transmission facility was damaged or destroyed due to natural or man-made events. In 1996, a tornado came within 1'/2 blocks of our single radio tower. Without a radio system, we have no way of effectively dispatching or coordinating critical city services such as police, fire, water production/distribution or the street department. Depending upon the exact nature of such a catastrophic event, it could take several weeks or more to recover and place our system back in operation. Coupled with the fact that such an event would most likely impact other geographical areas of the city as well as create an intense need for city services, the lack of a usable radio system would have a very serious and negative impact on the citizens of Decatur. Two alternatives are available for the City of Decatur to provide for a back up voice radio communication system. The first would be to purchase and install a back-up radio system capable of providing a minimal operation. That would require at the minimum, three radio transmitter/repeaters, antennas, towers, and associated equipment. The cost of such an installation would be $200,000 or more plus annual maintenance. The second option is to utilize a commercial operation which has sufficient capacity and range to meet the needs of the City of Decatur. We have tested the Chadmoore radio system and found that it will provide adequate radio capacity to meet the basic radio needs for the City of Decatur.