[Scan-DC] Fwd: Council oversight on public safety

Sat Aug 10 13:45:14 EDT 2019

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Councilmember Hans Riemer <Hans.Riemer at public.govdelivery.com>
Date: Sat, Aug 10, 2019 at 7:32 AM
Subject: Council oversight on public safety
To: <alan at henney.com>

Picture for a moment the radios that first responders carry. These radios
function by relaying signals through a network of dedicated towers placed
around the County.

[image: Councilmember Hans Riemer Update Masthead]

Dear resident:

Picture for a moment the radios that first responders carry. These radios
function by relaying signals through a network of dedicated towers placed
around the County.

Firefighters, rescue and police officers need a new radio network. The
current one is failing. Failing means that there are moments when the radio
network becomes unreliable.

[image: Radios and towers work as a system]

Consider that firefighters in a burning structure or police officers
calling for backup could get a busy signal instead of getting through. It
has been happening. For hours one weekend this May, 75% of the channels
went down
<http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTkwODEwLjg5ODQ5MTEmbWVzc2FnZWlkPU1EQi1QUkQtQlVMLTIwMTkwODEwLjg5ODQ5MTEmZGF0YWJhc2VpZD0xMDAxJnNlcmlhbD0xNzM5NDE1MCZlbWFpbGlkPWFsYW5AaGVubmV5LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9YWxhbkBoZW5uZXkuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&100&&&https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/for-hours-over-mothers-day-weekend-montgomery-police-and-fire-crews-struggled-to-communicate/2019/05/26/7670fa22-7d75-11e9-8ede-f4abf521ef17_story.html>
.

A new system is nearly ready. County departments have been working to build
the new 22 tower system for years. The "go live" plan for the new network
is Fall of 2020.

Recently, however, there has been confusion as the County Executive moved
to cancel two critical tower locations for the network, putting completion
of the project into jeopardy.

Some residents nearby did not want a radio tower where it had been planned,
inside of the cloverleaf intersection of Georgia Avenue and the ICC. They
spoke out. A handful of residents also protested a proposed tower near the
Potomac River.

[image: Map of the 22 public safety radio towers]

In response, the County Executive directed his staff to find alternatives.

Councilmembers became alarmed as we heard from firefighters and other
emergency management personnel that without those two final towers, the
network would not work as planned, particularly in Olney, Leisure World and
the Potomac River basin.

"This issue is now a public safety emergency that requires immediate and
swift action to avoid further increased risks to the safety of the
citizens, and those public safety officers who risk their lives to serve
them every day." *Montgomery County Firefighters Association
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While searching for alternatives may sound reasonable, as it turns out, you
can't remove 1 of the 22 towers without:

   - Deploying a network with coverage weak spots where towers are missing
   - Reconfiguring the entire network, which is designed as an
   interdependent whole, possibly requiring a delay from the Fall 2020
   go-live, meaning the County continues relying on the failing system for
   longer
   - Searching for alternative locations, which has no clear timeline for
   success
   - Building alternative towers that could cost taxpayers millions more
   than planned

None of these consequences are acceptable. That is why the Council voted
unanimously to approve a capital budget amendment requiring the executive
branch to move forward with the network as planned. Watch a video of my
remarks on the budget amendment
<http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTkwODEwLjg5ODQ5MTEmbWVzc2FnZWlkPU1EQi1QUkQtQlVMLTIwMTkwODEwLjg5ODQ5MTEmZGF0YWJhc2VpZD0xMDAxJnNlcmlhbD0xNzM5NDE1MCZlbWFpbGlkPWFsYW5AaGVubmV5LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9YWxhbkBoZW5uZXkuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&102&&&https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ThTPQAosOE&feature=youtu.be>
.

While the Council very much regrets the dis-satisfaction these two towers
have caused for some, there are tens of thousands of residents in the Olney
area and a million of us around the County who are counting on our first
responders to be able to do their job, every minute of every day.

If an alternative location were available that would not delay the full
network, cause the area to have lesser coverage in the interim, and cost
the County millions of dollars, we could do that. But there isn't.

In response to Council questions about the final remaining tower, Bretton
Woods, the County Executive's representative said, "we have run out of time
because the process to research, finalize location, permit, build and test
this alternative site is predicted to take more than 18 months. The
Executive directed staff to condense the process as much as possible, but
at this late date, the alternative site cannot be guaranteed to be ready
for the December 2020 deadline."

And that is why we need to move forward without delay on this critical
public safety initiative. With our unanimous vote, the Council is insisting
on it.

Sincerely,

[image: Hans Riemer Signature]

Hans Riemer
Councilmember, At-large
------------------------------

*Please do NOT reply to this email as the account is unable to receive
email. Instead, please email Councilmember.Riemer at montgomerycountymd.gov
<councilmember.riemer at montgomerycountymd.gov>.*

Hans Riemer was elected to the Montgomery County Council in 2010, 2014, and
2018 and represents over one million residents as an At-Large Member. Hans
serves as the chair of the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development
Committee and as a member of the Transportation & Environment Committee.

*Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer*
100 Maryland Avenue, 5th Floor
Rockville, MD 20850
240- 777-7964 (voice), 240-777-7989 (Fax), (MD Relay) Dial 711 or
800-201-7165
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/riemer
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