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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-05-2001-9d~. ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: June 5, 2001 Action Age a Item No. ~ a SUBJECT:: RFP Award -Needs Assessment for Consolidated Communications System and Network Design Services DEPARTMENT: Purchasing and Central Services, Emergency Management PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Jones (919) 245-2652 Nick Waters (919) 968-2050 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 9fi8-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider awarding a Request for Proposal for Needs Assessment for a Consolidated Communications System and Networks Design Services to CTA of Lynchburg, Virginia. BACKGROUND: The Public Safety Communications system is quickly becoming inadequate to handle the growing demands of the user agencies. A number of issues must be addressed in order to have a coordinated functional system that will best serve Orange County citizens. Among them are: • Replacement of consoles ' Consoles in the communication center are nearly 10-years old and utilize a technology that went our of production over five years ago. Because parts are no longer made for the consoles, maintenance is becoming increasingly more difficult. Replacement of these consoles within a relatively short time period is inevitable. Since consoles must be compatible with radio systems used in the county, decisions to upgrade the communications capabilities in the future is a critical component to determining the type of consoles needed. • Additional demands of agencies The Emergency Service and Law Enforcement Agencies need more and more radio time to carry out the service demands of the departments. This increase in frequencies leads to a bottleneck in the communications center with more units calling on different channels at the same time. Further complicating the issue is the non-existence of a common radio channel among all user agencies. _ _ • Compatibility The needs assessment will lead to standards that ensure compatibility of components among all agencies. The need for compatibility goes beyond equipment. For example;, compatibility of record management software used by agencies has been problematic. The software was not compatible with the communications system making data transfer inefFcient and very labor intensive. 2 Established and agreed to standards would have facilitated discussion prior to acquisition on a mere global level and all aspects of the cammunications system would be considered. This would ultimately yield a better operating communications system for all users. Further, the Public Safety Radio System is still made up of all the single individual radio frequencies that were pulled together to consolidate the agencies into a central communications system decades ago. Systems have grown and become more complex over time and a Master Plan for Communications Systems is essential if the system is to meet the long-term demands of our growing community. Compatibility of all components is critical. The County conducted one other limited scope communications study in 1991. The study, conducted by R.F.Projects at a cost of $11,900, looked at specific problems regarding the inability of fire departments to communicate with the communications center while on calls (dead spots). The study made recommendations on how to improve the abilities of the Volunteer Fire Deparkments by changing to a repeated channel and erecting additional towers and radio repeat transmitters. The action being considered by the Board at this time would, for the first time, look comprehensively at the entire communications system countywide. The final report would among other things, lay out clearly the needs of the system and set out a plan for future direction and growth of Public Safety Communications. As is customary with services such as these, Orange County solicited a Request for Proposal that addressed the County's specific needs and also reflected input from the various entities served by the system. The project will consist of two phases. Phase I tasks include but may not be limited tv the following: 1) Evaluate the present Communication System, facilities and technology for growth, dependability, and adaptability in providing service without failure or overload in the future. The evaluation process will include interviews with selected Public Safety Agencies to determine their perception and future growth considerations. 2) Evaluate the existing system including such areas as frequencies, relays, towers, transmitters, mobile radios; hand-held radios, pagers, consoles and computers. 3) Evaluation the street addressing, mapping, GIS, and other support tasks for communications. The successful firm will be provided copies of the County's GIS and IT Plans so that they may be considered as the recommendations are formulated. 4) Recommend any short-term system enhancements that could be made to improve the existing system without major capital expenditures. Phase I I of the project would include: 1. The development of recommendations, including cost projections, for a state of the art Communication System to meet the long-term needs of the Public Safety and Support Agencies. 2. At such time the recommendations are endorsed, the successful firm would design a communications system that would include radio, computer, mobile data, video, automatic vehicle locator (AVL) among the communication center and all mobiles and facilities. Cost projections for the designed system would be provided in order to facilitate budgeting by the various entities. 3. Further, the successful vendor would assist in the preparation of specifications and provide technical analysis during the evaluation process when bids are received. .~ Funds for Phase I are available within the 2000-2001 Emergency Management operating budget. Phase II costs will be shared by the public safety agencies affected by the study. The RFP was advertised via newspaper and the County's Website, in addition to being mailed to twenty-seven (27) prospective firms. The following four firms responded: • CTA, Lynchburg, Virginia • Frederick Griffin, Lynchburg, Virginia • L. Robert Kimball, Raleigh, NC RCC, Richmond, Virginia An evaluation team comprised of representatives from Orange County Emergency Management and Information System Departments, Orange County Sheriff, UNC-CH Police, Chapel Hill Fire, Carrboro Fire and Hillsborough Police Department participated in the evaluation process, which included interviews with all four firms. Firms were evaluated on criteria such as their previous experience, qualifications of individuals who would be assigned to this project, comprehensiveness of their respons to the RFP, number of hours proposed for the work and the associated cost. The number of hours estimated by the respondents to accomplish the work ranged from 350 to 2,007. Costs quoted by the respondents ranged from $67,950 to $253,721. Based on the aforementioned criteria, the evaluation team unanimously recommends CTA of Lynchburg, Virginia at a cost of $57,236 (estimated 588 hours) for Phase I and $148,054 (estimated 1,419 hours) for Phase II (total 2007 hours for $205,290). FINANCIAL IMPACT: Total cost for Phase I, if approved by the Board, would be $57,236. Sufficient funds are available within the FY 2000-2001 EMS budget for this action. Phase II funding will be sought from the public safety agencies affected by the study. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that. the Board: 1.) Award Phase I to CTA of Lynchburg, Virginia in the amount of $57,236; and 2.) Approve a contract pursuant to the terms of the RFP contingent upon Attorney and Staff review; anc 3.) Authorize the Chair to sign on behalf of the Board; and 4.) Further the Manager recommends that the Board award Phase II of the RFP to CTA of Lynchburg Virginia, contingent upon sufficient funds being made available by the public safety agencies affected by the study.