[Scan-DC] Henry County, Va

[Alan Henney]

http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=9629

Radio update OK'd

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

By SHAWN HOPKINS - Bulletin Staff Writer

The Henry County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to move ahead with
a $6.7 million radio system update, despite the efforts of a
second-place bidder and one supervisor to delay the vote.


The board voted 4-1, with Collinsville District Supervisor Jim
McMillian in opposition, on a number of votes needed for the
$6,770,141 project, including approving a contract with Motorola for
$5,192,138 for equipment and other services plus $38,452 for
accessories.

Other votes were necessary to approve financing, a contract for
$252,000 to Buttner Holdings LLC to buy three VHF frequency pairs and
a contract for $222,393 to RCC Consultants for inspection and testing.

The county has about $2.5 million set aside for the project and about
$4 million will be financed through a lease-purchase agreement, which
means the county will make payments on the equipment until it owns it.
Financing will run five to six years with annual debt service of about
$750,000 a year, County Administrator Benny Summerlin said.

After concerns were raised by second-place bidder M/A-COM, McMillian
made three substitute motions to delay the vote and study other
options instead of approving the contract with Motorola, look at other
vendors for the needed frequencies and look at other companies for
inspection and testing. All his motions died for lack of a second.

At the meeting, supervisors heard a detailed proposal about how the
oft-delayed new system will eliminate dead spots; provide better
safety for firefighters, rescue personnel and sheriff’s deputies; and
be more stable than the current, more than 20-year-old system when it
is finished in 2008.

They also had an opportunity to ask several questions about technical
aspects of the system.

The real debate began in the public hearing portion of the meeting,
when two employees of M/A-COM and Giles Smith, owner of the local GCS
Electronics and Communications whose frequencies were not purchased,
questioned why their offerings were not chosen over Motorola and
Buttner Holdings.

Michael Hunter, president and CEO of RCC Consultants Inc., talked with
the committee of county, public safety and other officials that made
the decision. He said Motorola was chosen after a long and complex
request for proposal (RFP) process that included many questions and
time to make revisions on what was offered.

Motorola not only came closest of three companies that bid to meeting
the guidelines in the RFP, he said, it also was the low bidder even
though the difference in the bid prices was within the range of
$300,000.

Dean Teague, however, a Collinsville resident and M/A-COM employee,
told the board it should take another look at the proposals to make
sure it was getting the best value for the county. M/A-COM proposed
using a newer “IP-based” technology that is more the “wave of the
future” than the VHF band system Motorola proposed, he said.

IP can carry video and data and is becoming the standard, while VHF is
an older technology, Teague said.

Teague also questioned the committee’s commitment to supporting local
businesses, saying the local GCS offered frequencies for sale that
were rejected and that M/A-COM has a factory in Virginia that would
benefit from the contract while Motorola does not.

Smith said he was told his frequencies, despite being $100,000 less,
were rejected because they were “narrowband” instead of “wideband.”
However, he questioned whether the “wideband” frequencies could be
split to get more use out of them as the committee believes.

He also questioned the fairness of the RFP process itself, saying that
some products are only offered by one vendor but when M/A-COM had to
make an exception to the request, even if the solution was just as
good, it lost points.

He urged the board to take the time to take another look at the
proposals.

Richard Lawrence, sales rep for M/A-COM, also asked the board to take
another look, saying what M/A-COM would provide is “future ready” and
Motorola’s proposal was not.

After he spoke, several area emergency squad officials, including
Charles Williams of the rescue squad association; Sheriff Lane Perry;
Maj. Steve Eanes, a former director of public safety said the problems
with spotty communications service had caused dangers for too long.

“Let’s get this problem solved,” said Williams, urging the board to go
forward with the vote and trust the recommendation of the committee.
Eanes told the board that “time is critical” and the sheriff’s office
has to use radios borrowed from Franklin County in some cases, or
radios repaired with parts from Ebay, and deal with dead spots and no
access for resource officers in some of the schools.

More than two dozen rescue fire and sheriff office personnel attended
the meeting and stood when asked to stand to show their support for
approving the Motorola bid Tuesday.

Hunter, called back to address some of the questions raise by the
M/A-COM employees, admitted IP is the wave of the future and most
systems are moving to it. However, he said, IP is not absolutely
necessary for the county’s needs.

He also said the portable radios M/A-COM offered were of a lower
standard than those offered by Motorola and were manufactured in the
United Kingdom with an M/A-COM label.

Reed Creek District Supervisor Andy Parker said the decision probably
was the most difficult he had to make during his time on the board. He
said he was not completely comfortable that the Motorola solution was
the best for the future, but he also sided with the emergency
personnel in feeling that it should not be delayed.

McMillian, however, said that although he has worked as an EMT and
understands their concerns first-hand, he believed the supervisors
would be “remiss” not to take the time and make sure it took the best
possible offer and “ironed out” all technical questions before
spending nearly $7 million.

“I don’t think we are doing the people of Henry County the right way,”
he said.