Published on StAugustine.com (http://staugustine.com)
Is $27M for radios necessary?
By JENNIFER EDWARDS
Created 04/24/2011 - 12:00am
Is $27M for radios necessary?
* No, says FCC, local technology expert | * Yes, say county, fire, police leaders
Summary:
St. Johns County plans to spend $27 million to upgrade its radio system, a move it has said is prompted by a Federal Communications Commission order with a 2013 deadline.
Special to The Record
St. Johns County plans to spend $27 million to upgrade its radio system, a move it has said is prompted by a Federal Communications Commission order with a 2013 deadline.
However, there is no order requiring the county to go to a brand new system, which county officials now acknowledge.
Rather, the FCC regulation requires only that the county go to narrowband technology, something county and law enforcement officials agree they could do for millions of dollars less by reprogramming much of its current equipment and replacing the rest.
Still, the county plans to go forward with the new system, called an 800 megahertz digital system, saying it's necessary to get all county public service organizations on the same system and to talk to all surrounding counties except Putnam County, which is on narrowband technology.
"This is a process that we've been wrestling with for years, ever since I've been in administration," said Assistant County Administrator Jerry Cameron. "There just aren't any easy answers."
He said the county would have to finance the $27 million project and pay for debt service out of the county general fund.
The county originally requested about $36 million in federal and state money for the project, but the price has since dropped to about $27 million.
Cameron said the county received just $250,000 in federal funding to help it comply with the FCC requirement.
THE MANDATE
The FCC has ordered all public safety and business industrial land mobile radio systems to convert to a narrower band by Jan 1, 2013. It has not ordered the more expensive 800 MHz radio system, according to FCC documents.
"The 800 MHz is not part of the narrowbanding at this point," said John Daly, Florida frequency coordinator for the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials.
Daly said that as long as the county equipment was manufactured in the last 10 years, it could be reprogrammed.
Cameron said the reprogramming would still cost half what the new system would. Fire Rescue officials agreed that it would be costly.
"We could install more sites and more repeaters to boost up the (current) system," said Jeff Prevatt, Fire Rescue chief of fire prevention. "But just for the fire department alone that would cost $8 million. The Sheriff's Office (upgrade) would cost somewhere near $15 million."
That money would go to replace or program all the departments' handheld radios as well as reprogram radio towers and other equipment.
But one area communications professional questioned that price tag.
"Oh my gosh!" said Michael Murphy, owner of Jacksonville-based Murphy Communications. "No, it doesn't sound right, because they can use existing equipment. They can utilize much of their existing equipment and it just takes a couple minutes to reprogram one of these radios.
"If they have 1,000 radios to be replaced in the county and it costs them $1,000 each, that's $1 million," Murphy added.
Murphy said he does not do business with the county and has no financial interest in whatever system the county adopts.
Murphy, who said he used to be a radio technician for the FBI and has been in the business "for many years" said he became concerned over the issue when he heard Cameron speak about it on a local radio station.
"I wouldn't say it was a waste of money, but some of the information out there was misleading," Murphy said.
OTHER BENEFITS
Another reason the county wants to go to a new system is so all in-county departments, and several surrounding counties, would be able to communicate to each other -- a problem now for both Fire Rescue and the Sheriff's Office.
"We've had a number of emergencies when deputies have not been able to communicate, some when the fire service was out in Flagler Estates on a brush fire," Cameron said. "They were unable to communicate on a repeater. If we reduce that any further" it could cause serious problems, he said.
He also said that going to narrowband could further reduce the ability to communicate, a point echoed by Col. Art May, St. Johns County Sheriff's Office director of support services.
He said the office already has experienced problems communicating. He gave as an example a 2009 incident in which a Crescent Beach man brandishing a handgun was shot by deputies.
One group of deputies had already arrived at that scene and established a rapport, but they couldn't communicate with the backup who arrived on scene later, he said. The backup officers fatally shot the man, Jackie Byron Beasley, after he pointed the weapon at them.
"It's amazing that (the current) system is working," May said. "But sooner or later, it's going to fail, and it's going to fail big."
He said that every engineer he's consulted about taking current equipment to narrowband has said that the signal gets weaker.
But Murphy, the communications business owner, said any difference would be "negligible."
"You wouldn't even notice it," he said.
May disagreed.
"How would you like to be a firefighter in a (burning) building and unable to get a fire truck or officer on the other end?" May said. "Or a deputy with someone shooting at him trying to call for backup?
"Nobody's trying to put something over on (taxpayer)," May said. "This isn't for toys. It's so when someone calls, they get someone."
May said that the current system also does not allow departments from other counties to communicate with St. Johns County personnel when they come here to help, a process called mutual aid.
Murphy said those benefits come with a recurring price.
Lake County, which just installed the type of system St. Johns County is contemplating, must pay $1.6 million a year to maintain its new system.
May said that cost is not unusual for some types of systems. He added that the county would offset some or all of that cost by renting space on the county's towers to cell phone carriers.
LOWERING QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION?
Prevatt of Fire Rescue also believes reprogramming would lower the quality of the current system.
"The current system works well on mobiles (vehicle-mounted systems) but not as well with the hand-held radios," Prevatt said. "Decreasing that (range) and making communication worse is just not acceptable."
He said that other organizations would also need to upgrade, including the cities of St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach, the School Board and the utilities department, among others.
"But then we'd still have 1970s technology," Prevatt said. "We're going to have to spend money either way. Going to the new technology made more sense ..."
The county makes another argument for the new system.
It applied for FCC licenses for 15 channels on the more expensive system. If it doesn't upgrade by October, it loses the channels.
But Cameron said the county's going to lose the channels now, either way.
"Obviously, we aren't going to be able to make that deadline," he said. He said the county could just reapply, provided the channels are still available.
"There's a high demand for channels," he said.
*
-- Reporter Peter Guinta contributed to this story.
*
WHAT THE COUNTY SAYS
What County Administrator Michael Wanchick has said about going to an 800 MHz system:
* "Due to an FCC mandate, the county will not be permitted to use its current obsolete radio system after Dec. 31, 2012."
* "Construction of the interoperable (new, more expensive) radio system must begin in fiscal year 2012, unless the FCC grants an unlikely extension."
-- County's 2010 slide show presentation
What the county says now:
* "We've got a good bit of equipment, particularly the fire department equipment, that can (be reprogrammed) to meet the requirement."
* "If we go to narrowbanding (with the current system), we will spend probably almost half of that $27 million (cost of new system) just to comply and have a radio system that works less well."
-- Assistant County Administrator Jerry Cameron on Thursday
*
Desired vs. required
* The county would like to construct a 800 megahertz radio communications system and to put all public service agencies, including public safety, on the system. That system type is digital. Officials say it would allow more users on the system, provide clearer in-county communication and communication with all surrounding counties except for Putnam County, which is not on an 800 MHz system.
It would also allow Fire Rescue and the Sheriff's Office to more easily pinpoint their firefighters and deputies using GPS or other technologies.
* The Federal Communications Commission mandate requires only that the county go to narrowband, a system in which the channels in the radio spectrum are half the size they used to be. The system is analog and exists at 512 MHz and lower frequencies.
Critics argue that going to narrowband makes for a weaker signal, thus making it harder for public safety workers to communicate, and that reprogramming or upgrading is nearly as expensive as going to a new system.
The main advantage for this system is compliance with the FCC requirement.
Source: FCC documents, county officials, communications experts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the final date for wideband operation?
A: All radios must be narrowband by Jan. 1, 2013.
Q: Are we forced to move to 800 MHz?
A: No. Narrowbanding does not require moving to another frequency band.
Q: Will we have to purchase new radios?
A: Depends. Most radios purchased in the last 10 years are already narrowband capable.
Q: Can I operate on a secondary basis if I do not meet the January 1, 2013, deadline?
A: No. The FCC will consider any radio equipment that does not meet the 12.5 kHz efficiency standard to be in violation of FCC rules. You may be subject to daily fines and cancellation of your license if your agency is not in narrowband by Jan. 1, 2013.
Q: Does narrowbanding require me to convert to digital equipment?
A: No. Licensees can operate in either analog or digital formats as long as you operate at 12.5 kHz efficiency.
Source: Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security
QUOTES:
What St. Johns County Sheriff's Col. Art May said on why a new radio system is needed:
"How would you like to be a firefighter in a (burning) building and unable to get a fire truck or officer on the other end? Or a deputy with someone shooting at him trying to call for backup?"
What Michael Murphy, owner of a communications business in Jacksonville, said on why the county does not need a new radio system:
"They can use existing equipment. They can utilize much of their existing equipment and it just takes a couple minutes to reprogram one of these radios. If they have 1,000 radios to be replaced in the county and it costs them $1,000 each, that's $1 million."
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