Memorandum
City of Lawrence
City Manager’s Office
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DATE: |
6/17/2011 |
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TO: |
David L. Corliss, City Manager |
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FROM: |
Casey Toomay, Budget Manager |
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CC: |
Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager Jonathan Douglass, Assistant to the City Manager / City Clerk |
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RE: |
Compliance with 2013 FCC Mandate Regarding Radios |
Background
Changes in FCC regulations require replacement of any UHF/VHF equipment that is not capable of operating on channels of 12.5 kHz or less by January 1, 2013. And while no deadline has been announced, it is likely that the FCC will require all radio equipment to operate on channels of 6.25 kHz within the next few years.
Known as “mandatory narrowbanding”, the purpose behind the federal mandate is to increase channel availability and promote the more efficient use of the VHF and UHF land mobile bands. In addition, these narrow channels should be less susceptible to interference.
Mandatory narrowbanding is not to be confused with “rebanding”, which refers to the reorganization of the 800 mHz band for public safety. The City is already operating most radios in the 800 mHz band.
It is also not to be confused with Project 25 (P25), which refers to a set of standards for use on public safety channels developed in response to narrowbanding.
The FCC mandate does not require digital radios; however, there are currently no analog systems able to effectively operate within the bandwidth limits being imposed. Therefore,
it is recommended the City move to an all digital, 800 mHz system. Additional advantages to the digital radios can be found below.
In addition to the FCC mandate, Douglas County, who owns, operates, and maintains the fixed radio infrastructure (radio towers, transmitters, etc.) that connects the City’s system, is also transitioning to an all digital system. This is also likely to occur in 2013 or 2014. This makes it critically important that the City have all 800 mHz digital radios in place before 2013.
Radios Replaced To Date
The City has been able to replace some radios with narrowband and digital compatible units.
Funding for complete replacement has continuously been included in budget requests by our public safety departments; however, limited resources have prevented the City from being able to adequately fund these requests to date.
What Remaining Equipment Needs Replacing
Currently, the City operates the following equipment that must be replaced.
· Police. Police operates some 800mHz analog radios that need to be replaced with 800 mHz radios with both analog and digital capabilities. Most of the analog radios have exceeded their useful life and are no longer supported by their manufacturer. Replacement parts are also becoming more difficult to find.
· Fire Medical. Fire Medical operates both VHF and 800 mHz analog radios that need to be replaced. However, to ensure interoperability with regional fire and ems operations that continue to use VHF radios, the Fire department needs digital, dual band radios that allow communication with both VHF and 800 mHz radios.
· Public Works. Public Works operates VHF radios need to be replaced with 800 mHz digital radios.
The Advantages of Going Digital
While not required by the FCC mandate, the change to digital systems will have advantages over existing radio system. It will ensure interoperability between departments throughout the city and with other regional law enforcement agencies during emergency operations. The State already operates and maintains a statewide digital system for KDOT and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Other area communities are moving toward digital systems. As of January 1, 2011, all Police, Fire, and EMS agencies in Johnson County, except Overland Park PD, are operating on a countywide digital system. Shawnee County, who experienced two total system failures in 2010 during which there was no radio communication, is also exploring entering into a contract with to replace their existing analog system with a 800 mHz, digital system.
Without migrating to a digital system, or radios that have both digital and analog capabilities, the City would no longer be able to have radio communication with these agencies in an emergency.
Cost of Replacing Remaining Radios
The total cost of replacement of the remaining equipment is estimated to be $2,083,908. A breakdown of the costs by department is provided below.
· Police has 106 hand held and 49 vehicle radios remaining to be replaced. The estimated cost for replacement of these units is $655,900.
· Fire Medical currently has 100 portable emergency operations radios and 86 mobile vehicle radios. The estimated cost to replace these units is $1,160,342;
· Public Works has 10 hand held and 64 mobile radios that need to be replaced. The estimated cost for these units, used in the streets, levee, airport, traffic, and storm water divisions, is $267,666.
Funding Plan
A proposed funding plan is provided below. It uses a combination of operating funds and reserve funds to provide the $2,083,908 required in 2012.
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RESOURCES |
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Operating Budgets |
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General Fund |
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Police |
$155,900 |
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Fire |
30,342 |
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public works |
67,666 |
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Storm Water Fund |
100,000 |
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Gas Tax Fund |
100,000 |
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Special Alcohol Fund |
30,000 |
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Reserve Funds |
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Equipment Reserve Fund |
600,000 |
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Infrastructure Sales Tax |
1,000,000 |
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Total Resources |
$2,083,908 |
This plan proposes spending approximately $253,908 from the general fund. A mill levy increase of 0.3 mills would be required to generate sufficient resources to cover this expense. Because some of the radios are used to support public works operations that are funded from the Storm Water Fund and Special Gas Tax Fund, the plan proposes spending down $100,000 of fund balance from each of these funds. The plan would also spend down $30,000 of fund balance in the Special Alcohol Fund, to fund radios and related equipment for school resource officers. The plan would spend $600,000 from the City’s Equipment Reserve Fund and $1 Million of proceeds from the Infrastructure Sales Tax.