City to spend $1M for new radios
Public safety equipment becoming obsolete
The Yuma Regional Communications System will be getting new portable two-way radios through a lease-purchase agreement that will spread the $1.03 million cost of the equipment over seven years.
The city council approved the purchase of the radios and maintenance services from Motorola Solutions during the Nov. 15 meeting. Lease payments will be budgeted through the Public Safety Tax Fund beginning in fiscal year 2018-19.
The purchase will be made under an agreement
approved in 2003, when the council awarded Motorola Solutions a contract to install and integrate a mobile wireless data network that is now referred to as the Yuma Regional Communications System.
YRCS was established in 2006 to ensure a coordinated, effective and efficient interoperable radio communications system for the benefit of all public safety agencies, including law enforcement, fire, emergency medical rescue and other services provided by the various agencies within Yuma County.
The YRCS was one of the first successful interoperable radio consortiums that received national recognition for embracing costeffective regional deployment, according to a staff report.
The YRCS Regional Radio Network makes it possible for all the local, state and federal agencies to communicate at any given moment, the report noted. Currently, the Yuma police and fire departments are members of the YRCS, which manages the network.
These local agencies work with federal agencies such as Border Patrol, U.S. Marshals Service, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in addition to state agencies such as the departments of public safety and transportation and the Attorney General’s Office.
Local agencies also work with two military bases, Yuma Proving Ground and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, which also has an automatic aid agreement with the Yuma Fire Department.
The 2013 opening of the John M. Roll Federal Courthouse has been cited as an example of how the YRCS system allows communication among agencies from all levels of government to work together.
“This is a level of communication regional agencies have come to expect, and a loss of such a system would be devastating to the mission of all participating agencies,” the report said.
Staff pointed out that the vast majority of radio equipment currently in use has been discontinued by the manufacturer. Parts will no longer be available, and the manufacturer will no longer offer support.
The purchase of the new radios will allow the police and fire departments to remain functional and part of the YRCS Regional Radio Network, staff said.
“This is an officer safety concern as radios are a lifeline for our public safety personnel and interoperability has been identified as a goal that all agencies must strive to maintain,” the report noted.
“The use of radios is critical for not only keeping public safety personnel safe, but also to keep the citizens and community safe … When communications fail, calls can be missed or delayed.”
Due to new narrowbanding requirements that will soon be implemented, the radios will be out of compliance and cannot be upgraded to meet the region’s needs without equipment replacement.
Under the lease-purchase agreement, Motorola will finance the equipment and services at zero interest and the city will make payments of $147,405 over seven years, with the first payment due on Dec. 1, 2018.
The city is purchasing a five-year maintenance service plan that covers all damages to the equipment through ordinary use.
In related action, the council authorized a grant agreement with the Arizona Department of Homeland Security for reimbursement of up to $69,000 in costs for materials, labor and travel expenses used for necessary infrastructure upgrades to the YRCS Regional Microwave Radio Network.
YRCS has an annual subscriber fee that is used to sustain operations and infrastructure. It provides regional and major statewide public safety radio coverage in the counties of Yuma, La Paz, Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, Yavapai, Graham, Gila, Santa Cruz and Cochise.
In the last year the network has experienced interference issues; the upgrade will provide additional redundancy and bandwidth to eliminate these issues.