Commissioners Terminate Emergency Radio Contract

Washington County Commissioners took a huge step in making upgrades to its Emergency Radio system on Thursday. In a 2-1 vote, commissioners terminated their August 2023 contract with MRA to perform those upgrades. According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman, $6 million has been spent and no advances have been made in those upgrades. He called the contract with MRA an irresponsibly bid contract and hopes not to waste any more taxpayer monies. By that same 2-1 vote, commissioners voted to award a $200,000 contract Mission Critical Partners for consulting support for the Public Safety Department on various projects. Mission Critical Partners and the County’s Public Safety Advisory Committee were also authorized to prepare a scope of work and bid specifications for the Emergency Radio System. Commissioner Larry Maggi was the dissenting vote on all of these measures. In a written statement, Maggi said he is concerned about putting the county at great financial risk. He said more dialogue should have been had with MRA before taking such a drastic step. He was also against the hiring of Mission Critical Partners for consulting work. He said that that should have been put out for competitive qualifications bid to allow for different ideas. Maggi fears the decisions will cost the county a great deal of money in litigation.