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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.a. Radio Communications Infrastructurer CITY OF ROSEMOUNT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING DATE: February 11, 2004 AGENDA ITEM: Radio Communications Infrastructure - Updat AGENDA SECTION: Updates PREPARED BY: Gary D. Kalstabakken, Chief of Police AGENDA NO: RM 4 ATTACHMENTS: None APPROVED BY: /7__� At the September 2, 2003, City Council Meeting, Council approved a Memorandum of Agreement to Study Public Safety Communications Services in Dakota County. This agreement was entered into with Dakota County and all municipalities in Dakota County. The consultant hired to perform the study is nearing completion of the project and has worked closely with a Radio Work Group comprised of public safety officials from the participating cities. The purpose of this update is to advise the Council of the preliminary findings and recommendations that have resulted from the study. BACKGROUND A public safety radio plan was initially written in 1997 and was updated in 2000. This plan was statutorily required when the Metropolitan Radio Board (MRB) was created by the legislature in 1995. The MRB was created to oversee the implementation of a regional , 800 MHz trunked radio system. The 800 MHz system has been implemented in phases and the studies done in Dakota County have been conducted to determine Dakota County local governments' interest in joining and utilizing the system. The 1997 study identified that the local governments did not intend to participate but should revisit the issue in 2000. The 2000 study recommended that Dakota County agencies continue to operate on the existing VHF/UHF equipment but develop a strategy to move to the digital 800 MHz technology and trunked architecture for long term public safety system upgrade. It is important to note that this study is only a study of the sharing of the radio system infrastructure, i.e. towers, antennae, etc., or the "backbone" to make a radio system work. It is not a study of the feasibility to consolidate Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP), aka: Dispatch Centers. Currently, each PSAP and radio system has its own infrastructure of antennae sites, repeater systems and other components necessary for each independent system to operate on its own frequency. The migration to a shared 800 MHz trunked radio system does not require PSAPs to consolidate in order to "share the backbone infrastructure. Consolidation of dispatch center operations is a separate issue from this radio systems study. Upon completion, the current study will be presented to the Radio Work Group and Dakota County officials - as were the 1997 and 2000 studies. The report is presented to the Dakota County Board because the decision to join the system is required to be made on a regional basis through counties. REPORTSTATUS The preliminary recommendations of the Radio Work Group, based primarily on the findings and expert opinions of the consultant, are consistent with the prior studies. Transition to the regional 800 MHz system is recommended. The planning for this transition must continue with an expected implementation date of 2006. Implementation of the 800 MHz transition does not mean or imply that all cities must immediately change to 800 MHz. r. Cities and public safety agencies may choose to migrate to the new system, when the infrastructure of the system now being utilized needs to be upgraded or replaced. Dakota County agencies will be transitioned onto 800 MHz in phases. This process will allow agencies to maximize the use of their investment in the radio systems currently being used. Dakota County anticipates that they will immediately migrate to the 800 MHz system when the infrastructure has been built. They have been planning this migration based upon the findings and recommendations included in the earlier studies. Of the other PSAPs in Dakota County, it is anticipated that Apple Valley would be the next to convert to 800 MHz. This assumption is based on the age of Apple Valley's system. The PSAPs in Burnsville, Lakeville, Eagan and West Saint Paul were all upgraded in the past few years. It is expected that each of these PSAPs will continue to use their existing systems until it is not viable due to the age and maintenance cost or lack of performance of the systems because of other factors. Funding of the initial build out of the 800 MHz backbone has been addressed in previous studies. Because the 800 MHz system will be a system that is available to be shared by all local governments within Dakota County, the recommendation has been and continues to be that funding should be through Dakota County and not through the individual cities. The 2000 study specifically recommended, "The County should fund backbone radio infrastructure to a level which permits coverage ..." This funding mechanism is consistent with the 800 MHz being considered a regional system and decisions to participate on the system are required by the MRB to be made at the County level on behalf of local governments. The MRB will reimburse fifty percent (50 %) of some infrastructure costs. This reimbursement is based upon the MRB determining the overall benefit to the region of the infrastructure expansion. This reimbursement program is the current incentive to build the backbone and join the system. It is unknown how long the MRB will continue this reimbursement program. If the recommendation to fund the infrastructure at the County level is followed, local governments electing to participate on the shared system will be required to fund their mobile and portable radio complements and any cost of connecting dispatch facilities to the 800 MHz system. For Rosemount, this means that if the current complement of portable and mobile radios are replaced, the following numbers of radios would need to be purchased: DEPARTMENT PORTABLE MOBILE (Vehicle) BASE Police 23 12 1 Fire 24 12 1, TOTAL UNITS 47 24 1 Estimate Costs $1800 each $3000 each $4000 TOTAL COSTS $84,600 $72,000 $4000 Cost estimates for this purchase are very preliminary because research has not been conducted to determine the options offered and/or desired. In addition, pricing is changing gradually because 800 MHz is becoming more common in public safety environments. In addition to the equipment costs listed above, additional expenses related to connecting to the 800 MHz system through a dispatch center will be incurred. This cost is more difficult to estimate because many factors are unknown that will impact this cost. It is uncertain what connectivity charges may be covered by County funding of the system, how many dispatch centers will remain in operation that need to be connected and how the costs will be allocated by the dispatch center that Rosemount receives services from in the future. It should be expected that there will be costs associated with connecting to the infrastructure of 800 MHz. 1 Policy decisions still need to be made that will also impact the cost of converting to the proposed system. The ` build out cost will be significantly impacted by the level of coverage and performance required for acceptance of the system. Testing conducted by the consultant and Radio Work Group members is being done to assess the current level of coverage provided by existing 800 MHz infrastructure and to identify areas in the county that are problematic. Coverage is desired at a level that is at least comparable to the current systems' and hopefully the new system would provide better coverage and performance. Defining the desired performance level will then lead to determining the number of additional tower /antennae sites necessary to deliver that performance level. An example of a basic description of performance level desired is "to provide virtually 100% coverage in open areas (i.e. outside) in all of Dakota County and to provide approximately 95% coverage in all medium buildings." For purposes of this study, medium buildings are defined as small commercial or businesses constructed of concrete /steel /glass. Light buildings are residential buildings. Because of the nature of public safety contacts, it is vital that portable radios are always operational within homes and smaller buildings. Police, fire and EMS personnel frequently respond to calls in those buildings and the ability to communication is paramount to providing service to the community and ensuring the responders' safety. Local policy decisions related to performance level may include the adoption of an ordinance(s) requiring the inclusion of booster systems in certain new large /densely built structures to provide adequate coverage in the facility. The consultant will be providing sample ordinances to the Radio Work Group for consideration by each city. TIMELINE The consultant met with the Radio Work Group on Thursday, January 29, 2004. After consulting with the Radio Work Group, he will be drafting a report and will present the draft to the Group on February 20, 2004. The final report is expected to be presented to the Dakota County Board before the end of March. If the County Board adopts the report, planning will continue with a target date of 2006 for having the system operational. Rosemount's timeline is not directly tied to any decision made by the County Board. The level of dispatch service and radio coverage provide by Eagan through our contractual agreement with them is currently serving our needs. As stated earlier in this report, Eagan upgraded their dispatch center recently (2003). It is expected that the City of Eagan will continue to operate its dispatch center on the current system for several more years. Rosemount's public safety staff will continue to meet with Eagan's staff to plan for an orderly transition when Eagan determines that it will no longer operate on its current radio system. Based on discussions with Eagan's staff, costs will be included in the City's CIP to prepare for the transition. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Update — Information Only COUNCIL ACTION: