PRESENT: B. Blanchard, G. Totman, M. Lane, J. Lalley, T. Joseph

EXCUSED:      P. Penniman

STAFF: S. Whicher, County Administrator; J. Hanson, M. Shakarjian, Planning Department; J. Miller, L. Shurtleff, Fire, Disaster and EMS; J. Wood, Deputy County Attorney; U. Mukherjee, Administrative Services Coordinator

GUESTS: L. Withiam, E911 Operations Committee; R. Seeley, County resident 

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting opened at 12:04 p.m. Ms. Blanchard distributed an article from the New York Times on the recent terrorist attack on the World Trade Center: Trying to Command an Emergency When the Emergency Command Center Is Gone. 

ADDITIONS TO/DELETIONS FROM AGENDA

Ms. Blanchard distributed a revised agenda. Mr. Lalley requested an addition to the agenda: Frequencies.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF AUGUST MEETING

It was MOVED by G. Totman, seconded by T. Joseph and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present to approve the August 28, 2001 minutes.

COMMUNICATIONS CENTER: BUILDING COMMITTEE

Ms. Blanchard said the Building Committee will meet with Egner Associates soon to address questions on program, building cost and any other issues before proceeding to the next stage of design. She requested the members to indicate their availability for the meeting on a sheet she circulated. Mr. Whicher distributed handouts giving the architect's estimate of costs, which was $3,070,888 for the total building construction related costs. Ms. Blanchard said that any changes in program by the Building Committee may change some of the costs. She confirmed that $3 million was available in the capital program budget. She mentioned that approval will be sought from the ComCap Committee for the cost estimate accepted by the Building Committee. She said that the MOU with the City of Ithaca, Ithaca Fire Department, Town of Ithaca and Ithaca College has been refined by Suzi Cook but it is still in a draft form. She spoke of issues to be sorted out with the Town of Ithaca such as lease arrangement and who will pay for utilities. She said she will have a meeting with Cathy Valentino and report on the outcome at the next ComCap meeting. Mr. Lane had reservations on the ownership of the new construction by the Town of Ithaca. Ms. Blanchard said that this issue could be discussed further. 

D.O.T. RELOCATION

Mr. Hanson said he contacted Senator Seward's office last week. However, there has been no progress on the budget situation. In reply to a question from Mr. Joseph, Ms. Blanchard said that there is no intent to use County money for the project. She said the picture will be clearer after hearing from Albany. In reply to a question from Ms. Seeley, Mr. Wood said that if a permit is required from the Town of Dryden, it would become an involved agency.

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATION PROJECT

DRAFT RFP

Mr. Wood said a very rough draft of the RFP has been distributed. It outlines the basic structure but technical information has not yet been laid out. It covers explanation of the processes involved such as procurement, contractual arrangements, proposal submission requirements and evaluation and selection. He said he will require input from Sal DiRaimo of NYSTEC and Mr. Miller to get the document ready. The group briefly discussed the methodology of operation and maintenance of the system once it is built: the County will operate the system on a day-to-day basis but that does not preclude it from setting up service contract for maintenance. Ms. Blanchard emphasized the importance of having the draft RFP ready by October 17 in order to allow time for the members to go through the document with the goal of having a final document to approve at the October 23 ComCap meeting. She also suggested that Jackie Kippola be consulted while drawing up contractual terms.  

EIS

Ms. Blanchard said that the environmental work will be handled by Anne Clavel who has been recommended by Mr. Hanson.  Ms. Blanchard said she is a planner by education and also a lawyer. Mr. Hanson said an agreement with her will be drawn up initially for the period  October, 2001 through December 31, 2002. Her charges would be $25 per hour plus costs of telephone and travel. Ms. Shakarjian mentioned that the Draft Scope would be finalized after the RFP is ready.

Mr. Lane referred to a view expressed at the recent Budget Forum that the tax rate could be held down considerably if the communications system project were postponed by a year. He suggested that the committee reiterate its commitment to the project. Accordingly, the following resolution was adopted.

It was MOVED by Mr. Lane, seconded by Mr. Totman, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present that the ComCap Committee supports moving ahead with the process of upgrading the public safety communications system with all due speed. 

STATEWIDE WIRELESS NETWORK (SWN)

Ms. Blanchard, Ms. Sharkajian and Mr. Shurtleff will go to Albany tomorrow to attend the SWN Advisory Council meeting. The major topic of discussion there will be the draft of the SWN RFP which will be released for public comment in the near future. In response to a question from Ms. Blanchard, Mr. Whicher stated that the State appears to have the money available for the project. He also said the County schedule is in sync with that of SWN.

FREQUENCIES

Mr. Lalley said he would like to ascertain if the UHF frequencies available with the County are viable options. He said the County system operates mostly on low-band VHF frequencies while the Ithaca Fire Department operates on some frequencies which are UHF high-band. He said that Mr. Wilbur, Mr. Miller and himself will talk to Sal DiRaimo of NYSTEC and report on this at the October ComCap meeting.

PAGING PROJECT

Mr. Lalley said that Mr. Wood and Ms. Shakarjian have sent out the RFQ on September 15. Responses are due by October 15, when cost estimate for the project will be available. This will be presented at the October ComCap meeting and it can then be determined whether the project can be funded for implementation next year. He mentioned that one outstanding question is who will pay for the pagers. Purchase of pagers and funding of the system and infrastructure have been dealt with separately in the project document.

ITHACA COLLEGE TOWER

Mr. Whicher said he has had talks with Ithaca College regarding possible co-location in their site. IC wants to conduct a study to see how the tower on South Hill will look like. Some of the members expressed surprise that a new tower will be required. Mr. Whicher explained that the site provided the opportunity for countywide coverage but the tower needs to be rebuilt. He said the extent of co-location is to be decided upon but the minimal response from IC will be adequate for the proposed 800 MHz system.  

LETTER IN SUPPORT OF SWN

Mr. Whicher distributed copies of  a letter co-signed by Board Chair Mink in support of SWN along with its mailing list.

COMMUNICATIONS CENTER DIRECTOR

Mr. Whicher distributed the job description sheet for the Director of Communications and Emergency Management. He said the position has been advertised on the Internet and in various newspapers and sixteen responses have been received so far. 

 Mr. Lane mentioned that this was the last ComCap meeting to be attended by Mr. Hanson in his official capacity. The members thanked him for his contribution and  sustained efforts.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 1:34 p.m. The next meeting will be held October 23, 2001 at noon in the Scott Heyman Conference Room.
 
 

Submitted by Ujjal Mukherjee, Administrative Services Coordinator.