Commissioners approve $24.445 million contract with Motorola for public safety radio system
In a split vote Monday morning during a special meeting with little fanfare and no public comment, the Washington County commissioners approved a $24.445 million contract with Motorola to build the county's public safety radio system.
The public safety radio system contract was the only item on the agenda during the special meeting that began at 9 a.m. and lasted less than five minutes with no one from the general public in attendance.
Republican Commissioners Nick Sherman and Electra Janis voted to approve the contract with Motorola Solutions Inc. of Chicago, while Democratic Commissioner Larry Maggi voted against it.
There was no discussion before the vote, but after the meeting the three commissioners sent out dueling statements along partisan lines with Sherman and Janis hailing the contract as a victory for public safety and Maggi raising concerns about oversight on the project.
"It is essential to equip emergency responders with the necessary tools to effectively carry out their duties and to help protect our communities," said Sherman, who is chairman of the board. "This is a fundamental role of government, and we are dedicated to getting it right."
"We are dedicated to prioritizing public safety while also safeguarding taxpayers," Janis added. "We recognize the urgent need to update the traditional system that serves law enforcement, fire emergency services, and other public safety users."
Maggi said he took exception with the process to award the contract to Motorola, along with the decision earlier this year to terminate the previous $22.545 million public safety radio contract with MRA Inc. of North Strabane to upgrade the system.
"Washington County needs an upgraded radio system, but the process that was used to arrive at an agreement with Motorola Solutions Inc. was flawed," Maggi said. "In August, I voted against the (decision to negotiate with) Motorola because at the time we didn't have any firm costs, terms or scope of work. Then, after the vote by the board, the costs and terms were negotiated after all of the competitors were discarded."
Only a few details were included in Monday's motion, including that there will be 14 towers sites for the system. The motion indicated that the contract includes installation, subscriber equipment throughout the county and life-cycle management from Motorola.
The Observer-Reporter filed an open records request Monday asking the county to release the contract and the original proposals submitted June 25 by Motorola, along with competing offers from MRA Inc. and BK Technologies of Melbourne, Fla., which were bypassed early in the review process. The county had not responded to the Right To Know request by press time Monday evening.
The public safety radio system has been a contentious issue for the past year-and-a-half after the previous board of commissioners led by former chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan, who was flanked by Maggi and Sherman, approved an earlier agreement with MRA rather than a competing offer from Motorola. Irey Vaughan and Maggi were in favor of the MRA radio system, while Sherman opposed it, when they approved it by a 2-1 vote in March 2023. The county had already spent $8.5 million purchasing equipment when Sherman and Janis, who is in her first year on the board, voted in April to terminate MRA's contract and request new proposals from other communications companies.
"The previous Board of Commissioners made the decision to stick with our current provider despite concerns from the commissioner-appointed Public Safety Board and emergency responders about inadequate coverage and other serious issues," Sherman said. "However, I stood in opposition and supported the Public Safety Board's professional recommendation to choose Motorola for its impressive coverage, interoperability and reliability."
Sherman said the Motorola system will expand emergency radio coverage in the county from 35% at its current level to 95%. He added that the county will provide new radios for emergency responders, which will include 1,481 portable radios, 617 mobile radios and 140 control stations.
After the special meeting, county officials announced the commissioners will hold a meeting with all of the county's emergency responders at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the South Franklin Volunteer Fire Department's hall to discuss the new radio system and answer questions. Representatives from Motorola will also be at the meeting, although it's not known if members of the general public will be permitted to attend.
"We highly value the input of our emergency responders and heavily rely on their expert advice," Janis said. "We believe it's important to listen to those in the field and use their feedback to inform our decisions."
