1. Requesting authority for Hidalgo County Emergency Management to submit a request to the Texas Department of Public Safety State Administrating Agency for a grant extension for the 2009 SHSP/LEAP Grant.

2. Requesting authority for the Hidalgo County Judge to sign the extension request.

Requesting authority to submit an extension request for the 2009 SHSP/LEAP Grant to the SAA allowing OEM more time to complete the project. Performance period for the grant is August 1, 2009 to April 15, 2012. This project included purchasing (9) Expandable Site Sub- System Repeaters as part of a Regional Communications Project for Hidalgo, Willacy and Cameron Counties. The total cost of the project is $834,223.65 utilizing the 2009 SHSP Grant in the amount of $551,233.48 and the 2009 SHSP LEAP Grant in the amount of $282,990.17. The project included the purchase and installation of the equipment, amendments to tower contracts, Memorandum of Understandings and requests for frequencies from the FCC . The equipment was ordered on December 30, 2010 and received on February 2, 2011. Each entity was responsible during this time to execute the MOU’s, amend existing tower contracts and request frequencies from the FCC. Hidalgo County was responsible for ordering and installation of the equipment, executing the MOU’s and managing the project. All equipment has been installed as of February 1, 2012. There have been three completed sites which are on air and transmitting a new frequency as of 9/14/2011. Three sites are scheduled to be optimized and tested and remaining three are pending frequency approval from the FCC. Until these entities have their licenses approved, we cannot continue the optimization and testing on those sites. After all the nine sites have been completed, a final test by the vendor will be conducted to assure connectivity and communication between all the sites. For this reason we are respectfully requesting an extension for sixty days to complete this project.

Note: Extension request will only be accepted in the last 6 months of the performance period and no later than 30 days before the end of the performance period.  This must be signed and submitted before March 15th.