Contract Approved For New Emergency Radio System

Washington County Commissioners approved a measure to award Motorola the contract to rebuild the emergency radio system. The vote to approve was 2-1 with Commissioner Larry Maggi dissenting. The agenda item that was approved had no cost numbers associated with it. It did state that the contract was contingent on contract approval. Before the vote was taken Maggi asked for clarification on numbers so tax payers would know what was being spent. He also asked if the solicitor has read the contract prior to its approval. The solicitor said he did not read the contract yet.  Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman spoke generally around the issue of cost and equipment saying that all of those items were covered in a meeting with Motorola yesterday. The cost would be somewhere in the range of $24 million. Sherman did say that the build out would be paid for by American Rescue Plan Act funds. He also stated that maintenance and upgrades that could cost $1.5 million annually would be budgeted for every year. When asked in public comment about the cost associated for local organizations for the purchase of equipment, Sherman said that the contract is all inclusive and that local organizations will have their radios, base stations, and repeaters supplied at no cost. Sherman said that final numbers for the contract will be available in the next month or two and those figures will be made public. Commissioners then went on to cancel a maintenance agreement with MRA, Inc. MRA is the current supplier of radio communications for the county.