County officials got their first look Wednesday at proposals to install a new 911 communications system, but said the process of determining how many contracts to award companies competing for the work is just beginning.
Officials announced five separate proposals on Wednesday, but not all of the bidders were offering the same services or products for the project, which is being undertaken in part because of the current system’s “end-of-life” deadline.
The end of 2018 is when the county’s current system, which is made by Motorola, will stop receiving support from the company — that is, Motorola will no longer manufacture parts for hardware or develop fixes or updates for software components of the system.
The county also is working against the clock when it comes to the frequencies it uses to carry its radio traffic because of a 2012 federal law that requires T-band frequencies — which the county’s current system uses — to be vacated by 2022.
The intention of that law, the Middle Class Tax Relief Act, is to sell the frequencies to private companies like cell phone providers.
Two companies — Texas-based EF Johnson Technologies and Chicago-based Motorola — bid on the entire scope of the system replacement project.
That includes hardware like radios and computers, the software to run the system, and the on-site construction work necessary to convert the county’s current T-band radio towers to a digital system that uses different frequencies.
EF Johnson’s bid was announced as $13.42 million for the products, support and work to install the system; Motorola’s total bid value was announced as $16.26 million, but fell to $9.36 million due to discounts the company offered as part of its proposal.
Other bidders offered proposals addressing only specific portions of the work necessary to install a new 911 system.
Pittsburgh-based JG Contracting bid $459,520 to perform work converting the county’s radio tower sites to digital frequencies. Texas-based Microwave Networks bid $1.12 million to provide hardware and software — called a microwave network — to run the new communications system. California-based Avait Networks bid $1.51 million to provide a microwave network.
Butler County Director of Emergency Services Steve Bicehouse said the mix of bids is what county officials hoped to receive when they announced the project.
Bicehouse said he believes the county will get the best deal on a new system if bidders are competing against each other on every component of the system.
Bicehouse said the bids would be reviewed by the county’s radio advisory board — a group made up of fire, police and EMS representatives — as well as its communications council, which will then make recommendations to county commissioners on how to award one or more bidders a contract to replace the 911 system.
Commissioner Leslie Osche said that the board had estimated the costs of a new system at around $13 million, but never set a hard ceiling or “not to exceed” price in its discussions on the project.
Commissioners said Wednesday that they hope to make a final decision in the matter by December.
Officials have said that installing a new system could take between 18 and 24 months, which would take the county close to the 2018 deadline.
