[Scan-DC] Saint Mary's County to join Maryland FiRST

[Alan Henney]

Thanks to Art Audley for finding this one.  It reads better at the below
link on page 8.

http://countytimes.somd.com/archive/2018/09-sep/2018-09-13.pdf

Commissioners Sign On To State Radio System

By Guy Leonard
Staff Writer

A state-run emergency radio
system that allows first responders
to talk to each other across
counties – interoperability – has
a new participant after the Commissioners
of St. Mary’s County
signed a memorandum of understanding
Tuesday to apply for
membership.
The state system, known as
Maryland FiRST, will serve to
achieve interoperability with
other jurisdictions along side the
county’s current communications
system but it could also be used as
a primary system for emergency
communications.
This level of available service
sparked a discussion among commissioners
about whether they
should continue with the Harris
system that cost almost $34 million
to install over the past several
years.
The Harris system is currently
in its acceptance phase which includes
continual testing to ensure
its function but it has had several
high-profile failures and outages
in just the past two years.
County first-responders have
often voiced their dissatisfaction
with the system and have sought
dialogue with the commissioners
to solve the problems.
Steve Walker, director of the
Department of Emergency Services,
said the county still has
problems with attaining full interoperability
with other counties.
The Maryland FiRST system
could change that, he said.
“It’s truly hoped this could
overcome that,” Walker told
commissioners.
The state system is in its fifth
and final phase of build-out –
Southern Maryland- and when
completed is expected to have
about 140 communications relay
sites across the state.
There is no cost to the county
to join the statewide system or
use it as a backup to its own
communications.
There could be additional costs,
said Norman J. Farley, director of
Statewide Interoperability Communications,
if the state had to
lay additional fiber to allow connectivity
to the system.
Farley told commissioners if
they wanted full county communication
coverage, including
the interiors of buildings, they
may need be construct an additional
five sites at a cost of about
$750,000 each.
The state’s system is provided
by Motorola.
Commissioner Mike Hewitt
intimated that the state system
could provide greater options
than the one the county currently
was invested in.
“I don’t want to invest in a
lemon but it looks like that’s what
we’ve got in Harris,” Hewitt said.
Commissioner Tom Jarboe,
who later voted to sign the memorandum,
cautioned against cutting
the current system short.
“I have a really hard time with
a $36 million lemon that’s called
a legacy system that we’re in
the middle of accepting,” Jarboe
said, noting that going over to the
state’s system could cost an additional
$3.75 million.
“I’m not totally convinced it’s a
lemon,” said Commissioner Todd
Morgan. “I think some more
pressure needs to be applied to
Harris.”
guyleonard at countytimes.net