City: Safety too important to keep patching emergency system

ROGERS — Having effective communication for emergency calls is too important to skimp on, city officials said.

City Council voted unanimously to use $3.6 million from the city’s general fund reserve to buy an emergency radio 911 system. The system connects various city departments and the statewide system.

“This purchase includes all the equipment to operate the system as well as radio panels within the dispatch center, mounted radios in police cars, firetrucks and ambulances,” said Mayor Greg Hines. “This is not an area where the city can hit and hope and wish things are in working order. It’s a critical piece of the operation infrastructure to provide adequate safety.”

One issue with the current system includes a communication tower in Prairie Creek that’s been out for months, Hines said. First-responders make emergency trips there all the time, he said.

A total replacement of the 911 system hasn’t taken place in about 15 to 18 years, and the last upgrade was made in 2002.

“This type of technology changed so much, think of how you listened to music 18 years ago or what your computer was like,” Hines said. “Our current system is nonsupported and was needing a lot of repairs to keep it mandated.”

“Our current system needed repairs starting in 2006 and it has reached the end of useful life,” said Hayes Minor, police chief. “We’ve had to Band-Aid it together.”

Minor and the fire chief started discussing which next generation system to get back in 2013. Minor said the choice before City Council was the best public safety platform available today. The contract is with Motorola for equipment, software license and services. The company gave a “seven figure savings” for the city, he said.

“There are two attributes for why it’s important, it’s a voice for critical communications, and it leverages sites across Arkansas,” said Tom Jenkins, fire chief.

The system allows the city to use towers it doesn’t own or maintain.

“When our units are down, we’ll be able to ping off towers that are a part of the state’s system,” Hines said.

The state will now also take responsibility for maintenance and upkeep of the city’s towers.

“That ongoing system maintenance cost is a huge win,” Jenkins said.

Minor said the contract is for $3.5 million, but the remainder of money is a built-in contingency for maintenance of old tower sites, which are under structural reviews.

“If they have issues, we’ll have the funding available to address those as they come up,” he said.

“This is a fully vetted technology that’s available to us,” Hines said. “I think it will come to one of the most fiscally prudent solutions and the longest lasting.”