MACC pursues digital radio system

MOSES LAKE — The Multi Agency Communication Center board of directors decided to ask for bids on a 700 MHz radio system.

The MACC board passed three motions. The first is to pursue a 700 MHz trunked digital radio system. The second was to ask for bids on for a phased approach to set up the new system in the center. The third was to seek a loan to pay for the switch.

The first two motions were approved 4-to-2, with Royal City Police Chief Darin Smith and Grant County Sheriff Frank DeTrolio voting against them. The third motion was approved 5-to-1 with DeTrolio voting against it.

“I think the board felt it was the correct technology to pursue,” Board Chair and Grant County Fire District 5 Chief Roger Hansen said.

The choice came as part of a series of improvements to towers and radios used by dispatchers, police, fire and ambulance services across Grant County and is funded by a voter approved 0.1 percent sales tax.

So far, the center spent about $5 million on replacing and building new radio sites across the county. These improvements include replacing buildings, towers and adding fences in the five original sites and constructing six new sites across the county.

While all but two of the sites are expected to be finished by the end of the year, the board hadn’t made a decision on what type of radios to purchase. About $2 million more is expected to be spent replacing the towers, draining all but $200,000 out of the budget for the radios.

Radio Communications Manager Dean Hane presented three radio options to the board and several law enforcement agencies and governments during the past months: VHF analog, VHF digital or 700 MHz trunked digital.

MACC uses a VHF analog system. The Federal Communications Commission is requiring all emergency services to halve the amount of space they use in the VHF band by Jan. 1, 2013.

“VHF has been around a long time,” Hane said. “It’s one of the first frequency bands that were cut loose by the FCC licensing, consequently everybody and their dog is on it. That’s why it’s so crowded.”

Hane explained no matter which choice the board made, they need keep a VHF analog system, so police, fire and ambulance can communicate with other agencies such as the Washington State Patrol. He added the radio communications could have a “patch” allowing the agencies to automatically communicate with agencies still using VHF analog if MACC went with the 700 MHz digital radios.

The new radios will be on a clear frequency, allowing the center to have more channels than the six it has with the VHF analog system, Hane said.

The board decided to implement the changes to the new radios in phases, switching the central part of the county first, then switching the south part, finally switching the north part. A timeline has yet to be set.

The exact cost of the project is still unknown, but early estimates indicate the cost for the first phase of the project at $3.1 million to $4.2 million. Hane said he’d like to see the entire project done in three to four years.

The initial estimates for loan payments included in Hane’s report shows the center couldn’t afford to pay back the loan in less than 10 years. This is based on MACC’s 2009 revenue and includes the $130,000 used to subsidize user fees.

The financial situation could change either by adding partners or by getting grant funding, Hane said, adding managing the project has not left enough time for him to write grant applications.

Mike Warren, Ephrata police chief and board alternate asked why MACC couldn’t switch to VHF analog for the time being while the center saves money to afford the switch to a 700 MHz digital system without taking out a loan.

“Most of the radios are analog now and the newer ones we can work with, so what would it cost for us to Band-Aid that if you will, so we can save the money without having to finance it?” he asked. “Right now, it’s kind of a perfect storm. None of us have any money. The economy is in the toilet … If I’m in the position where I have to lay off somebody in order to make this come to pass, I can’t afford to do that.”

Hane said the only timeline the board needs to worry about is switching the current VHF analog system with a narrowband analog system by the end of 2012. There is no deadline for the switch to the 700 MHz digital radios. He called the decision of whether to delay the 700 MHz switch philosophical.

“When you say Band-Aid, maybe a lot of people in this room are saying, ‘Hey, that’s what we’ve been doing for 15 years. (We) don’t want a Band-Aid anymore,” he said. “I don’t like the notion of tying laying people off to money.”

Warren countered it is a possibility, pointing out the estimates show the center wouldn’t be able to pay off the first phase for 10 years and asking whether it planned to wait until the loan was paid off before pursuing the second and third phases.

“Even using the numbers you have in here, we’re going to have to borrow money in order to put the things up,” he said. “The reality is in the economic environment we’re in at this point, this is a best guess. What concerns me a little bit is that we are borrowing money and we’re looking at five, 10 years out for paying it off.”

Hane said some misinformation had gone out about the switch, and they did not plan on using user fees to pay for the switch. Each agency pays MACC a fee for most calls it receives from the dispatcher.

Hansen said after the meeting it’s unknown whether the board would continue subsidizing the user fees with the 0.1 percent sales tax money.

“Is that really user fee money?” Hansen said. “The intent of that money was for the radio system.”

After the meeting, Grant County Sheriff Frank DeTrolio echoed Warren’s concerns, saying he wasn’t against the 700 MHz system, but he is unsure if MACC can afford it right now.

None of the agencies in the county can use the 700 MHz system presently. Hansen said it’s unknown who is going to end up paying for the radios in the agency’s vehicles, but the bids will include the price for the radios.