Consideration and Approval of Payment:  To Northern Arizona University (NAU)  for  annual maintenance of the Public Safety Radio System.

In 2010, the voters of Flagstaff approved a $4.7 million bond to purchase a new public safety radio system.  In early 2011, an Intergovernmental Agreement between Northern Arizona University and the City of Flagstaff was established to share resources, information and proportional costs of procurement and operation of the new radio system. Following this, NAU and the City entered into a five-year contract with Motorola to pay for annual maintenance on this system. This five-year agreement was set to expire in January, 2017, but was extended until October 1, 2017 using some reimbursements received a few years ago, as part of a Sprint re-banding project.
 
In order to extend our maintenance agreement to FY 2019, (June 30, 2018), Motorola is requesting $107,871.12 of which the City would be responsible for $80,903.34. This is paid at a 75/25 split with NAU, because the City uses approximately 75% of the system. The City's portion ($80,903.34) was requested during the budget process by the Police Department and was funded in the Department’s FY 2018 Budget.
 
NAU issued the contract for the radio system, so they are responsible for all direct payments to the vendor.  The City must pay NAU the City's share of the maintenance cost or risk not having a maintenance agreement should the system fail.
 

Previous to the purchase of the new radio system in 2010, maintenance was paid for on an annual basis.  In 2011, NAU offered to prepay four years of maintenance so both the City and NAU avoided a 3% annual increase in maintenance costs.  Motorola is currently working on a multi-year maintenance agreement and major system upgrade which will be discussed during the next budget process.  The current agreement before the Council will provide maintenance until the next budget year.  For the current agreement, Motorola is requesting $107,871.12, of which the City would be responsible for $80,903.34.  The City's portion ($80,903.34) was requested during the budget process by the Police Department and was funded in the Department’s FY 2018 Budget (account #: 001-04-061-0224-2-4229).

 N/A

Council Goal: Transportation and other Public Infrastructure: Replace Aging Infrastructure.
Team Flagstaff Strategic Plan: 2.1 - Invest in our people - Ensure effective resources for our employees.

Yes, Council approved the Intergovernmental Agreement between NAU and the City regarding the procurement, operation and maintenance of the Public Safety Radio System on March 15, 2011.  Council also authorized five years of maintenance payments to NAU on October 4th, 2011.

1) Authorize the payment to NAU for annual maintenance on the Public Safety Radio System.
2) Not authorize the payment to NAU for the Public Safety Radio System.

In November of 2010 the voters of Flagstaff approved a $4.7 million-dollar Public Safety Radio System. This was one of eight capital projects considered by voters in that election. In early 2011, an Intergovernmental Agreement between Northern Arizona University and the City of Flagstaff was established to share resources, information and proportional costs of procurement and operation of the new radio system.
 
The approved Public Safety Radio System allowed for the replacement of an outdated system infrastructure which was failing on a frequent basis and provided limited coverage in certain areas of the city. One of the goals of the system was to ensure that city operations, which include personnel from both police and fire, public works, utilities, and the airport, are able to maintain operations and prevent a compromise in communications and are assured radio coverage throughout the city.

In 2011, a RFP was developed and two acceptable responses were received, one from Motorola and another from Harris. Harris came in significantly higher, (by approx. $1 Million). Motorola and Creative Communications were selected to provide the new system as a result of offering the low bid that met the RFP requirements. The purchase also included an annual maintenance agreement. This agreement included one year maintenance with the purchase of the system, and an additional four years broken out as follows:

 

System Services	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Annual Maintenance	$120,890	$124,516	$128,252	$132,099	$136,062

 

The initial payment would have provided annual maintenance through January 2017, but a re-banding agreement with Sprint generated some additional capital which was applied to allow for the maintenance to continue through September 2017.  In order to extend our maintenance agreement until FY 2019, (June 30, 2018), Motorola is requesting $107,871.12, of which the City would be responsible for $80,903.34. While NAU “owns” the system, the City of Flagstaff uses approximately 75% of the system, so the cost is shared at a 75/25 split.  The City's portion of the maintenance was requested during the budget process by the Police Department and was funded in the Department’s FY 2018 Budget (account #: 001-04-061-0224-2-4229 for $81,000).

The community approved the Public Safety Radio System in 2010 to replace the existing radio system which was becoming unreliable and had dead areas.  We have had no major failures of the new system and it has ensured Officer Safety for the Police and Fire Departments, and has performed well during critical incidents to include: officer involved shootings, wildland fires, large scale special events, as well as everyday extended use at all hours.

The community approved the Public Safety Radio System in 2010 to replace the existing radio system which was becoming unreliable and had dead areas.  We have had no major failures of the new system and it has ensured Officer Safety for the Police and Fire Departments, and performed well during critical incidents to include: officer involved shootings, wildland fires, large scale special events, and everyday extended use at all hours.