CC 2016-03-22_09f Public Safety Comm System Upgrade
MEMORANDUM
TO: CITY COUNCIL
FROM: STEVEN N. ANNIBALI, CHIEF OF POLICE
SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF PHASE 1 OF
THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS UPGRADE PROJECT /
VOTER-REPEATER SYSTEM
DATE: MARCH 22, 2016
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended the City Council approve the purchase of a public safety
communications voter-repeater system in the amount of $44,000.
IMPACT ON FINANCIAL AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES:
The funding for Phase One of the Communications Upgrade will be an appropriation
from the Citizens Option for Public Safety (COPS) Fund. There will be no General Fund
impact.
BACKGROUND:
The State Budget continues funding for the Citizens Option for Public Safety (COPS)
Program. Under this program, annual funding is allocated to local law enforcement for
the delivery of services. These funds must be used to augment local law enforcement
services and may not be used to supplant existing funding for such services. As in the
past, the declared intent of the Governor and Legislature is to continue COPS as a
multi-year program.
Beginning with FY 2005-06, a decision was made to utilize the COPS allocation for the
replacement and enhancement of the public safety communications system. This
enhancement is for a voter-repeater system that will enable clear mobile and handheld
communications throughout the city eliminating dead spots based on terrain.
ANALYSIS OF ISSUES:
The Arroyo Grande Police Department operates three stand alone repeater sites that
provide for combined mobile (vehicle) and hand held public safety communications in
the city and neighboring communities. However, the current design requires officers to
switch to specific channels in particular geographical areas of the city in order to reach
the repeater site. This potentially introduces an officer safety issue when officers
cannot talk directly to other officers in different areas of the city. This also creates a
possible problem of an officer not being able to contact dispatch if he or she has
forgotten to change channels prior to entering a different coverage area.
Item 9.f. - Page 1
CITY COUNCIL
CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF PHASE ONE OF THE PUBLIC
SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS UPGRADE PROJECT / VOTER-REPEATER SYSTEM
MARCH 22, 2016
PAGE 2
This proposal calls for establishing microwave connectivity between the repeaters on
Hillcrest and Huebner. This will provide the backbone to install a voter / repeater
comparator that will select the strongest signal and “vote” to select the best possible site
in order to provide the best audio transmission in the system.
The installation of this communications upgrade will allow for full mobile and hand held
radio coverage throughout the varied terrain in the city. This is “Phase 1” of a potential
two phase project solution. A future “Phase 2” has been identified in order to provide
additional redundancy. However, it is anticipated that following installation and testing of
Phase 1, Phase 2 may not be required.
The vendor, Spur Solutions of Atascadero, is the current provider of radio systems for
the Police Department and the only local Motorola authorized representative in the area.
Therefore, staff is requesting that Spur Solutions be approved as the sole source
provider.
ALTERNATIVES:
The following alternatives are provided for the Council’s consideration:
- Approve a purchase order in the amount of $44,000;
- Do not approve the purchase order;
- Modify as appropriate and approve staff’s recommendation; or
- Provide direction to staff.
ADVANTAGES:
The voter-repeater system will enable clear mobile and handheld communications
throughout the city eliminating dead spots based on terrain.
DISADVANTAGES:
No disadvantages are evident.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
No environmental review is required for this item.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND COMMENTS:
The Agenda was posted in front of City Hall on Thursday, March 17, 2016. The Agenda
and staff report were posted on the City’s website on Friday, March 18, 2016. No public
comments were received.
Attachments:
1. Proposal from Spur Solutions as the sole source provider.
Item 9.f. - Page 2
1 | Page
City of Arroyo Grande
Communications System Upgrade Proposal
ATTACHMENT 1
Item 9.f. - Page 3
2 | Page
Introduction
The City of Arroyo Grande Police Department (AGPD) is seeking proposals to upgrade their aging analog
conventional communications system to improve coverage in specific target areas as well as bring their
system up to the current standards for Mission Critical Communications.
Current System Overview
AGPD currently operates three standalone repeater sites that combined provide mobile and handheld
coverage in the city and outlying communities. However, this current design requires switch to specific
channels in specific areas of the city to be able to reach the repeater. This causes an officer safety hazard as
the officers can’t talk directly to officers in other areas of the city. This also creates a potential problem of an
officer not being able to reach dispatch if he or she had forgotten to change channels prior to entering the
different coverage area. In general the coverage problems are all “talk in” related meaning the officer doesn’t
have an issue hearing the dispatcher from the main repeater but may have to switch to one of the alternates to
be able to reach dispatch.
Each of the 3 sites operates as a complete standalone repeater with a different frequency pair from each of the
others. Dispatch (provided by the County Sheriff’s Department) accesses the current system via a remote base
in the city of Oceano, controlled by their dispatch center in San Luis Obispo, via a T1.
Proposal
Phase 1
Phase 1 is designed to increase the “talk in” (officer to dispatch) coverage in the Village Area. It entails
establishing microwave connectivity from Hillcrest to Hubner Hill. This will provide the backhaul needed to
move the 3 current repeaters to Hillcrest and install an auxiliary receiver for each at Hubner. The auxiliary
receiver is then connected over the microwave network to a voting comparator installed at Hillcrest, which
will vote between the 2 sites and provide the best audio back out over the system.
Phase 2
Phase 2 further expands the coverage by establishing a microwave connection between Hillcrest and
Reservoir 3 to connect an additional auxiliary receiver for each channel back to the voter at Hillcrest, further
expanding the “talk in” coverage.
The costs below outline an estimated cost for each part of each phase. Please refer to the Parts list for a more
accurate cost estimate.
Phase Detail Cost
1 Microwave $4000.00
Voters (3) $14,000.00
RF Distribution for Hillcrest and Hubner $16,000.00
Auxiliary Receivers City Owns
Labor $10,000
Phase 1 Total $44,000.00
2 Microwave $7,000.00
Voter Gateways (3) $5,000.00
RF Distribution for Reservoir 3 $7,000.00
Auxiliary Receiver City Owns
Labor $10,000.00
Phase 2 Total $29,000.00
Project Total $73,000.00
Item 9.f. - Page 4
3 | Page
Item 9.f. - Page 5
4 | Page
Item 9.f. - Page 6
5 | Page
Item 9.f. - Page 7
6 | Page
Item 9.f. - Page 8
7 | Page
Item 9.f. - Page 9
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Item 9.f. - Page 10