[TrunkCom] Oakland County TRS II, Update

[Tom Staley]

Ron,

	Is this to replace the existing TRS or is this second one I've heard about?

Tom

Ron Wilbanks wrote:
> 
> Hello Everyone:
> 
> Oakland County is to replace rescue radio system
> 
> January 18, 2002
> BY KATHLEEN GRAY
> FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
> 
> Although Oakland County has used a Motorola emergency radio system
> for the past eight years, police and fire agencies unanimously voted
> Thursday to replace the system with one from another company.
> 
> M/A-Com Inc., a Lowell, Mass.-based company, got the nod for a $30-
> to $40-million contract to replace a radio system that has outlived
> its usefulness.
> 
> The current system doesn't allow some agencies to communicate with
> each other at the scene of a crime, fire or accident.
> 
> Motorola, which is based in Schaumburg, Ill., and M/A-Com presented
> proposals to replace the system with one that would eliminate that
> problem. The M/A-Com system, however, allows more than one
> conversation to take place on the same frequency. Motorola's proposed
> system does not.
> 
> Because the county has only 32 radio frequencies to cover the nearly
> 100 police, fire and emergency departments, such flexibility was
> paramount, said Patricia Coates, the administrator for CLEMIS, also
> called Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System,
> which is a consortium of police and fire agencies that share data
> electronically.
> 
> While Motorola has a good reputation among police and fire agencies
> and is in the process of replacing Michigan State Police's radio
> system, the county was concerned about the availability of Motorola's
> equipment.
> 
> When a lightning strike took out the county's Motorola system in July
> 2000, the county found that many replacement parts weren't available
> or manufactured anymore, said Coates.
> 
> The two companies submitted bids in the mid-$40-million range. The
> system will be paid for with money generated from a 57-cent-per-month
> surcharge that has been applied to all county phone lines since mid-
> 2000. The surcharge, which is set to expire in 2006, will generate
> about $36 million for the project.
> 
> Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer said the CLEMIS board
> might ask the county Board of Commissioners to extend the surcharge
> to pay additional costs or negotiate a lower price for the system as
> M/A-Com's contract is finalized.
> 
> It will take about 30 months to replace the system.
> 
> 73's
> 
> Ron
> 
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