Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Council Reviews Radio System ; The City May Consider Adding Two Radio Towers To Improve Communication Among Police, Fire And Emergency Workers.

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 08:35:36 -0500

Council Reviews Radio System ; The City May Consider Adding Two Radio Towers To Improve
Communication Among Police, Fire And Emergency Workers.
Source: Greensboro News Record
Publication date: 2003-03-19
Arrival time: 2003-03-20

Following a tour of the city's 911 communications center Tuesday evening,
City Council members reviewed recommendations totaling about $7.9 million
to upgrade the radio hardware.

"Your communication system is fine," said Robert Forrest, president of CTA
Communications, Inc., a Lynchburg, Va., company that helped the city
purchase its 1987 communication system. "It's just that you have outgrown
it."

The city's 16-year-old communication system, used by police, fire,
emergency workers, and other city employees was designed to cover about
40 square miles, reaching only to Skeet Club Road.

The radio system hasn't been able to reach some areas as the city has
spread north and west during the past decade.

Richard Nifong, director of the city's communication department, told council
the current setup doesn't extend to some buildings in the north and
northwest sections of the city. It also has trouble performing in heavily
constructed buildings in the downtown area.

In 1999, the city rehired CTA to do an assessment of the city's system and
to provide recommendations. The company produced a report in December
2000 with its recommendations for an upgraded system. The project was
delayed because of budget constraints.

The company's recommendations include:

adding two 350-foot radio towers to the city's existing tower. The proposed
towers would be in north High Point and southeast High Point.

connecting all three towers on a microwave network.

simulcasting all three radio sites for seamless operations.

adding in-building antennas to Showplace and the International Home
Furnishings Center for better communications downtown in older and more
heavily constructed buildings.

providing a dual-mode capacity, the ability to use analog or digital
communication radios to improve communication with other systems like
Guilford County and Greensboro.

adding an over-the-air gateway for better communication with systems in
surrounding areas. This feature can capture a radio signal in one system
and rebroadcast it into another.

upgrading the city's control equipment within the 911 communication center
at City Hall, and also at its existing 300- foot radio tower.

gradually replacing radios as the equipment gets old.

Forrest told council members that the new system would be able to cover
about 112 miles, giving the city adequate coverage until 2015.

City officials say they are unsure how to pay for the improvements to the
system.

City Manager Strib Boynton said the city could budget the money over the
next few years, or could consider going to voters with a bond referendum.

In the past year, the city was also contacted by Guilford County
communication officials about consolidating High Point's communication
systems with Greensboro and Guilford.

The estimated costs of the center would be about $12 million and would be
split among the county and the two cities.

But Boynton said the county wants about $4 million to $5 million from High
Point for just the center.

"That's just to get in the door. It doesn't cover the costs of operations, and
our coverage costs," Boynton said. "It makes no sense from a policy
standpoint for High Point."

Boynton said the upgrades to the city's system would allow High Point to
communicate with the county and Greensboro, while addressing the city's
concerns.

If approved, the upgrades to the system could take almost two years before
it would be fully operational.

In other business, the council was also briefed on the status of some of the
city's major water and sewer bond projects.

Officials say the city plans to issue about $12.5 million in water and sewer
bonds by May to pay for the construction costs of replacing a section of the
Deep River Outfall sewer system, initial upgrades to the Westside Outfall
sewer system, and for costs associated with the construction of Randleman
Reservoir.

In December, the city will issue a $19.3 million bond for construction of
projects in 2004. The following year, an estimated $15 million bond will be
issued for construction in 2005; a $9.2 million bond will be issued in 2005 for
construction during the next year.

City officials said they were trying to spread the costs of the projects over
several years to minimize the costs to water and sewer customers. A
portion of the debt will be paid by water and sewer rate increases expected
in July.

City officials said they didn't have the final figures on how much of an
increase customers could expect.

Contact Sue Schultz at 883-4422, Ext. 232, or at sschultz@news-
record.com
http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=37482113&ID=cnniw&scategory=Business+and+Finance&

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