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Boynton, Fla., to Buy New Police, Fire Radios for Nearly $2 Million

The new equipment is necessary for Boynton to be able to continue to communicate with the county.

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(TNS) - Boynton Beach is progressing with its move to the required P25 radio system for the city's dispatch services and will spend about $2.3 million to buy the main system and new Motorola radios for the police officers, firefighters and some utilities workers.

The migration and the purchase price were approved by the City Commission earlier this month. However, Vice Mayor Joe Casello voted against it. He said he was disappointed the city was moving forward without discussing what it would mean if the county took over the city's dispatch services.

If that happened, Casello said, the cost of the migration wouldn't come from the Boynton taxpayers — it would come from the county.

"This commission never had that discussion. I think it's a missed opportunity and it's disappointing," Casello said at the March 1 commission meeting.

The P25 radio system is required by federal law. The new equipment is necessary for Boynton to be able to continue to communicate with the county. The system will cost about $416,000 and the radios are about $1.9 million. Radios for police will cost about $1.35 million. Fire radios will be about $422,000. For non-public safety employees, the cost is about $49,249, according to city documents.

Boynton will pay Motorola over seven years with an annual lease payment of about $374, 448 with an interest rate between 2.67 percent and 3.18 percent. The first payment is due March 2017.

Casello and Commissioner Mike Fitzpatrick also voiced concern about choosing Motorola for the radios, and questioned whether staff researched the company's competitors.

City Manager Lori LaVerriere assured Casello the bid was done competitively. Interim Fire Chief Gregory Hoggatt said Motorola is "one of the leaders" for the product.

Commissioner Mack McCray said this has been in process for a while, and it's time to move on it.

"When this came before us some years ago, we recognized that this was going to be a large capital improvement and you know it's time for us to bite the bullet," McCray said.

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©2016 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.)

Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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