Harris Corporation recommended for public safety radio system provider
by Diane Wagner
2 hrs 46 mins ago | 569 views | 1 | | 12 | |
Negotiations are starting today with a company picked to build a countywide emergency communications system scheduled to be on line before January 2013.
The Floyd County Commission accepted Tuesday a recommendation to contract with military communications supplier Harris Corp. for the project.
The 2009 special purpose, local option sales tax package contains $26.7 million for a state-of-the-art 800-megahertz digital trunking system and radio towers.
“Not only is this going to make the public safer, but the police officers and firefighters will feel safer too,” said Scotty Hancock, director of the Floyd County Emergency Management Agency.
Hancock and a committee of representatives from all the Rome, Cave Spring and Floyd County public safety agencies worked with Tusa Consulting to weigh proposals from Harris and Motorola Inc.
In explaining the selection process during the County Commission’s caucus session, Nick Tusa said the offerings were rated objectively on cost and technology — how they met the specifications in the 135-page bid document.
Committee members also heard presentations last week on how each system would work in the field. The Harris selection was unanimous.
“Hiring Tusa paid big dividends for us, because they forced a competition between the two big names,” Assistant County Manager Blaine Williams said.
The proposal “is beyond our expectations,” Williams said, adding that the system also would be under-budget enough to allow a 10-percent contingency set-aside and a five-year extended warranty.
The exact cost and legal details still must be hammered out, County Attorney Virginia Harman said, but talks are scheduled to start this morning, and a formal contract is expected in April.
Williams said Motorola’s proposal was close to what Harris offered, and it remains an option on the off chance that negotiations stall.
In other actions Tuesday, the County Commission approved the police department’s request to start replacing its 43 in-car cameras this year.
Capt. John Blalock said the original supplier is out of business, and the computerized system is starting to fail.
Video from the cameras is critical to successful prosecutions, he said, and the recordings also protect police from false accusations while holding them accountable for their actions.
Plans are to contract with L-3 Mobile-Vision Inc., the same supplier used by the Rome Police Department.
The total cost would be $266,076 but Blalock proposed using $111,162 in salary savings and grant money to buy the system server and 14 cameras this year. The board also gave the department the option of buying more through a lease-purchase agreement.
Read more: RN-T.com - Harris Corporation recommended for public safety radio system provider
by Diane Wagner
2 hrs 46 mins ago | 569 views | 1 | | 12 | |
Negotiations are starting today with a company picked to build a countywide emergency communications system scheduled to be on line before January 2013.
The Floyd County Commission accepted Tuesday a recommendation to contract with military communications supplier Harris Corp. for the project.
The 2009 special purpose, local option sales tax package contains $26.7 million for a state-of-the-art 800-megahertz digital trunking system and radio towers.
“Not only is this going to make the public safer, but the police officers and firefighters will feel safer too,” said Scotty Hancock, director of the Floyd County Emergency Management Agency.
Hancock and a committee of representatives from all the Rome, Cave Spring and Floyd County public safety agencies worked with Tusa Consulting to weigh proposals from Harris and Motorola Inc.
In explaining the selection process during the County Commission’s caucus session, Nick Tusa said the offerings were rated objectively on cost and technology — how they met the specifications in the 135-page bid document.
Committee members also heard presentations last week on how each system would work in the field. The Harris selection was unanimous.
“Hiring Tusa paid big dividends for us, because they forced a competition between the two big names,” Assistant County Manager Blaine Williams said.
The proposal “is beyond our expectations,” Williams said, adding that the system also would be under-budget enough to allow a 10-percent contingency set-aside and a five-year extended warranty.
The exact cost and legal details still must be hammered out, County Attorney Virginia Harman said, but talks are scheduled to start this morning, and a formal contract is expected in April.
Williams said Motorola’s proposal was close to what Harris offered, and it remains an option on the off chance that negotiations stall.
In other actions Tuesday, the County Commission approved the police department’s request to start replacing its 43 in-car cameras this year.
Capt. John Blalock said the original supplier is out of business, and the computerized system is starting to fail.
Video from the cameras is critical to successful prosecutions, he said, and the recordings also protect police from false accusations while holding them accountable for their actions.
Plans are to contract with L-3 Mobile-Vision Inc., the same supplier used by the Rome Police Department.
The total cost would be $266,076 but Blalock proposed using $111,162 in salary savings and grant money to buy the system server and 14 cameras this year. The board also gave the department the option of buying more through a lease-purchase agreement.
Read more: RN-T.com - Harris Corporation recommended for public safety radio system provider
