County OKs $60M upgrade

Police, fire radio communications aging, unreliable

Broward County’s aging public safety radio system that has been plagued with static and sporadic outages will be replaced for $59.5 million.

During the response to the January shootings at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, county officials said the radio system was overloaded by the crush of officers trying to use it, which delayed communications and left some officers only able to listen in.

Police and fire officials have complained about instances when communications have been severed between dispatchers and first responders, or there’s been static that can make it difficult to understand what’s

being said.

The current system is more than 25 years old and considered at its “end of life.”

The new system, approved Tuesday by county commissioners, won’t be ready to use until the end of 2018. The price includes $30.4 million for the Motorola P25 system, $26.4 million for support maintenance for 20 years, $2.5 million for optional services and $200,000 for additional training.

The new system will improve communications within the county and will increase capabilities of communicating with federal, state and neighboring agencies.

“This system will be used by all public safety responders, police and fire,” Assistant County Administrator Alphonso Jefferson said. Many local departments have already been upgrading their radios to be compatible with the P25 system.

The purchase is the latest move in the county’s efforts to bring its threeyear-old regional dispatch system into the modern age.

In March, the county began using a new $4.3 million computer-aided dispatch system, which provides increased capabilities to manage incidents and share information.

The new system replaced another 23-year-old “end-of-life” system and is better able to update first responders with critical information as they are heading out to emergencies.

It also has future technological capabilities that aren’t being used currently, such as the ability to accept video from emergency scenes or from callers, or identifying the closest response vehicle to an emergency — for instance, an ambulance that just happens to be passing nearby on the way back from another call.

Other commission items on Tuesday included: Port Everglades expansion. Commissioners approved a $437.5 million contract with Moss/ Kiewit for a port expansion that will allow the berthing of at least five additional cargo vessels in the Southport section of the port. Completion of the project is expected to be in phases between June 2019 and March 2022. New sheriff helicopters.

Commissioners authorized the sheriff to spend $10 million to purchase two new helicopters, replacing ones made in 1999 and 2002. The new helicopters will be used for law enforcement purposes. Two other older helicopters the department already owns will be designated for emergency medical situations and airlifts. The sheriff also received approval to buy a new $2 million mobile command-post vehicle. Hollywood North Beach Park purchase. The commission authorized staff to pursue the purchase of a nearby single-family home for expansion of the park. The lot is at 4000 North Surf Road. The property is in foreclosure with a public auction set for May 30. The commission will allow staff to participate in the auction if a sales agreement isn’t reached prior to the auction.

More taxis. The commission is increasing the number of taxi certificates by 125. The certificates will go to drivers with at least five years of experience in the county. Fifty of the new certificates are restricted to wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Each of those certificates will be paired with an unrestricted, bonus certificate to encourage drivers to provide the taxis needed for disabled customers. Commissioners also said another 25 certificates can be issued unrelated to the wheelchair-accessibility goal, hoping that drivers who don’t have to pay taxi companies will have an easier time competing against services such as Uber and Lyft. Transportation cards for disabled. Commissioners approved the issuance of up to 150 transportation cards for disabled people that will allow them to use a taxi or Uber instead of arranging transportation through the county’s paratransit division. The cards cover the cost up to $15 a trip. People with the cards will also be able to get service on demand. Currently, they must call a day ahead to book a trip in a county vehicle. New auditor. Commissioners approved a contract with Robert Melton to be the county auditor starting June 12. Melton will earn $223,646 annually, which was the ending salary of former auditor Evan Lukic.