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County Again Tables Much-Needed Emergency Radio Purchase

Payne County, Okla., is set to receive $15.8 million in federal COVID-19 relief through the American Rescue Plan Act. Several months ago, commissioners committed to using $9.6 million of that total for the updated radio system.

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(TNS) - What was supposed to be an accelerated process for buying some of the radios Payne County needs to serve emergency responders, hasn't gone very quickly and it hit another speed bump Monday when District 1 Commissioner Zach Cavett, who was absent, sent word through his First Deputy that he has information to share before the commissioners make a decision on the purchase and he would like to deliver it in person.

The City of Stillwater committed $6.7 million in December to buy its portion of what was originally planned as one countywide system on a no-bid contract with Motorola, a company that is pre-approved through state contract, eliminating the requirement for open bidding.

Although Payne County could legally do the same thing and the Board of Commissioners had already voted 2-1 to proceed with a similar deal with Motorola, Cavett has advocated for taking time for the county to develop a needs assessment and open bidding on the radio system to other vendors to get a better deal.

He previously said he thinks it's important to save as much money as possible so more can be put back into the county's smaller communities. The Commissioners solicited grant applications earlier in the year from various nonprofit agencies and received proposals totaling about $12 million.

Payne County , like most others, has more need than money.

It's set to receive $15.8 million in federal COVID-19 relief through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and several months ago, the commissioners committed to using $9.6 million of that total for the updated radio system that will provide Payne County Emergency Management , the Payne County Sheriff's Office and all police and fire departments in the small towns and rural areas of the county with better communications while connecting them to other state agencies like the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

Between the radio system and the grant applications, it has requests for almost $22 million, more than the annual budget for its County General Fund.

Although the commissioners ultimately agreed to slow the process and hire a consultant to determine needs and prepare bid specifications, District 2 Commissioner Chris Reding made it clear Monday that he would be glad to just buy the Motorola system.

Because Stillwater bought its system earlier it was expected to be up and running sooner, at one time as early as August, then pushed to October or November.

City of Stillwater Emergency Management Director Rob Hill , who is overseeing the city's communications project, said supply chain issues have now pushed that to late December. If a structural analysis of an existing communications tower isn't favorable and a new tower has to be built, the city's system might not go live until February, he said.

But when it does, all transmission will be encrypted, leaving anyone not on the same system out of the loop. Because Stillwater's process is ahead of the county's, its system is still expected to be up sooner than the county's and when it is, the Payne County Sheriff's Office and Payne County Emergency Management , won't be able to talk to the Stillwater agencies they regularly partner with during emergency situations.

Jason La Forge, the sales representative from communications supplier L3Harris who started the move toward open bidding by asking for a chance to compete for the county's business, appeared again before the County Commission Monday to object to the plan to pre-buy more than 60 radio sets at a cost of about $1 million from Motorola. If the whole system is being bid to save money, the county should also takes bids on the early radio sale, he said. It risks losing out on a deeper volume discount if it pulls 60 radios out of the total package.

Reding cited supply chain issues as the compelling reason to buy the most necessary radios now, but La Forge said he doesn't have any problems with lead time and could have them the next week if L3Harris gets the bid. He also expressed doubt that Motorola would make good on its promise about the discount.

"That sounds like a sales pitch to me," La Forge said.

At that point, Motorola sales representative Sean Miller stood up and said he would commit on the record to honoring the volume discount for the entire purchase.

Reding showed his frustration with La Forge and the delay, asking why the agencies shouldn't be able to just get the equipment they prefer.

"We're already doing all the other nonsense we have to do to make you happy," he said.

La Forge asked if the process was for him or for the public and reminded the Commission that the money it's spending is taxpayer funds.

Sheriff Joe Harper and Deputy Emergency Management Director Troy Choplin both emphasized the need to move forward as soon as possible. Harper said he had been looking at the radio issue for two years before he was elected.

"This needs to be done quickly," he said. "It's already been put off too long."

The decision was ultimately tabled until the Board of Commissioners meets Monday with Cavett present. Reding warned that it will be listed on every agenda until something is done.

©2022 the Stillwater NewsPress (Stillwater, Okla.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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