Title
Consider a resolution authorizing the City Manager to issue a Purchase Order to Motorola for replacement radios for the Police Department.
Body
This item seeks final council approval for the first year of a multi-year replacement of Police Department radios, as the products currently in use face obsolescence. This project was first presented to Council as part of the FY2015 Capital Spending Plan for the General Self-Financed Construction Fund in November 2014.
Motorola is discontinuing its XTL/XTS line of public safety radios in 2018. The last production run was in 2013, and after 2018, it will no longer provide support for those radios. The need for radio replacements eventually will affect all City departments with radios on the Williamson County Radio Communication System.
The Department had begun purchasing radios in the new product line a few years ago. The nature of the phase-out allows the City to plan the transition to this new product line over several years, as the old radios will continue to work on the system after 2018. The Department seeks to spread the cost over several years so as to not be surprised by the sudden need for replacements. The total cost of replacing Police Department radios is estimated to be $2.3 million, and the current plan is to complete the replacements over a seven-year horizon.
This purchase is in accordance with (a) the Texas Local Government Code (Title 8, Subtitle C, Chapter 271, Subchapter F, Section 271-102); (b) the inter-local agreement (Resolution 1491R) between the City and the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC); and (c) HGAC Contract No. RA05-15 for radio communication, emergency response, and mobile interoperability equipment (expires 04/30/18).
Recommended Action
Staff recommends approval.