[Scan-DC] County Council reconsidering new police radio system

[Marcel]

Anne Arundel County County Council reconsidering new police radio system

By MELISSA MONTEALEGRE, Staff Writer

A $20 million increase in the price of a new police radio system and
rising doubts about its effectiveness have County Council members
wondering whether to delay or scrap the funding.

Council members learned this week that the project will likely cost $35
million - not the $15 million estimated in May 2000 and already paid
out.

"The council feels like we've been put between a rock and a hard place,"
said council Chairman Cathleen M. Vitale, R-Severna Park. "We were
told the replacement would cost $15 million. There was never discussion
with the council that the price had increased."

County Executive Janet S. Owens set aside $5 million more for
replacing the radio system infrastructure in next year's $108.5 million
capital budget, with equal increments to follow the folllowing three years.

Deleting an extra $5 million the county administration wants to put
toward the project in next year's $108.5 million capital budget could free
up money to fund other items - including up to $2.5 million in raises for
public safety and clerical workers.

But in the second week of budget deliberations, council Vice Chairman
Ed Middlebrooks, R-Severn, said it's too soon to tell what the council
might do.

"I think everything's on the table, especially if they're not spending
(money already allocated for the radio system) this year," Mr.
Middlebrooks said.

Jody Couser, a spokesman for Ms. Owens, said the executive would
reject using money cut from the radio program for merit and longevity
increases.

"The county executive said she considers (the radio system) the most
important capital project in the budget," Ms. Couser said.

The main reason for getting the digital 800-megahertz system is to rid the
county of "dead spots," some 62 areas around the county where public
safety personnel cannot use their radios.

The county has so far mitigated about two-thirds of the dead spots
through buying new portable radios, having cellular providers adjust their
towers and switching channels.

Walter Chitwood, assistant to the chief administrative officer, said in
retrospect, the administration should have informed the council of the
cost increases before Monday's budget meeting.

He said the cost of the project jumped because a consultant hired by the
county recommended that more would have to be done to mitigate
interference.

The project grew from replacing equipment and radios for public safety
workers in a four-tower system to also replacing radios for other county
workers, like those with the Department of Public Works, and building
six more towers.

In December, the administration signed a $12.7 million contract with
Motorola - the only company that bid on the project - to upgrade the
system and provide training on it.

The rest of the money went toward buying new radios for the Police
Department's patrol division but only made a dent in that part of the
project.

Council members also expressed concerns about reports that other
jurisdictions have had difficulties with the same 800-megahertz system.

Judy Coenen, the county's information technology officer, said the
system can work if the council doesn't fund any more than it has now,
but it won't address any of the remaining dead spots or interference
issues. Then again, neither she nor Mr. Chitwood guarantee any system
would completely rid the county of transmission problems.

Representatives of the public safety unions expressed mixed feelings on
the next phase of the radio system getting funded next year.

While O'Brien Atkinson, president of the Fraternal Order of Police
Lodge 70, said the radio system replacement is "paramount," his
counterpart at the firefighters' union was less emphatic.

"Given what I heard about no guarantees with the system, I support the
council taking a second look at it," said Keith Wright, president of the
Anne Arundel County Professional Firefighters Local 1563. "The last
thing we need to do is spend money on something that doesn't work."

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Published May 10, 2003, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.