PRESENT: B. Blanchard, G. Totman, P. Penniman, T. Joseph, M. Lane
EXCUSED: C. Evans
STAFF:
Bill Benjamin, Deputy County Administrator; Jonathon Wood, Deputy County
Attorney; Jim Kazda, Engineering; Lee Shurtleff, Jack Miller, Fire, Disaster
and EMS; Wendy Skinner, Public Information Coordinator; Jim Hanson, Mikel
Sharkarjian, Planning Department
GUESTS: Dooley Kiefer, Board of Representatives Member
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting opened at 4:02 p.m.
APPROVAL OF SCOPE OF SERVICES FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT
Ms. Blanchard stated the purpose of today's meeting is to consider the refined scope of services for the Wireless Communications Consultant Contract and also review the updated Communication Dispatch Center Site Selection Matrix.
Mr. Benjamin stated that the technical group working on the scope of services went through the draft scope of services keeping in mind the County's commitment to environmental impact and also all of the different comments that were heard at both the COMCAP and the E911 Operations Committees. He stated several discussions have been held with NYSTEC and they have indicated they are very willing to accommodate the County's aggressive timetable. In anticipation of receiving approval from the Committee today, the first meeting of the working group is scheduled for November 13, at which time the project will be underway. The goal is to present the document referred to in Task Three to COMCAP at its January meeting. Mr. Benjamin said that when the RFQ was sent out there were three things expected from a prospective vendor:
Mr. Hanson stated that the schedule that has been presented is very aggressive for both the consultants and the Planning Department and he believes the project can stay on track if it begins right away. He said that the contract has been gone over thoroughly.
RESOLUTION NO. - AUTHORIZATION TO EXECUTE CONTRACT - CONSULTANT SERVICE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM
It was Moved by Mr. Totman, seconded by Mr. Penniman to approve the contract with NYSTEC. Ms. Blanchard stated that her concerns have been addressed and she particularly likes the ability to halt the project at various points if needed.
Mike Lane arrived.
Mr. Penniman asked if the County has access to all of the data compiled by Dutch Hill. Mr. Benjamin stated that the County has received everything from Dutch Hill and it will be provided to NYSTEC for their use.
Mr. Joseph stated he will vote against approving this. He said he believes the County is going down the wrong path and should be looking at the State’s system and asking New York State to tell us how we fit into their plan. Only after we have ruled out that the State’s system is not an option should we move forward with Task 3. He said he believes Tasks 1 (Communications Needs Analysis) and 2 (Geographic and Demographic Constraints Assessment of Tompkins County) have already been completed and the County should be moving forward with Task 3 (Wireless Communications Evaluation). He said he believes the County is spending money on things that are not necessary.
The contract was reviewed and changes made. The final copy is on file in the Board office. A voice vote on approving the contract was as follows: Ayes – 5 (Representatives Blanchard, Evans, Lane, Penniman, and Totman), Noes – 1 Representative Joseph. MOTION CARRIED.
WHEREAS, Tompkins County
has an interest in developing a Public Safety Communications System, and
WHEREAS, the Communications
Capital Project (COMCAP) Committee in conjunction with staff from the County
Administrator’s Office, County Planning, County Attorney, and County Fire,
Disaster, and Emergency Medical Services has issued a Request for Qualifications
(RFQ) for consultant services, and
WHEREAS, seven firms responded
to the RFQ and, after review, three appeared to meet minimum criteria and
were interviewed, and
WHEREAS, the COMCAP Committee
has completed the process for selecting the consultant to assist with the
development of a Public Safety Communications System including the Environmental
Impact Statement, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, on recommendation
of the Communications Capital Project Committee, That the County be authorized
to enter into a contract with The New York State Technology Enterprise
Corporation (NYSTEC) for a total amount not to exceed $140,000 for assistance
in the development of a Public Safety Communications System, the funds
for which are available in the current Capital Project List,
RESOLVED, further, That
the County Administrator or his designee be authorized to execute this
contract.
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-21
COMMUNICATION DISPATCH CENTER SITE SELECTION MATRIX
Mr. Kazda distributed the draft financial analysis that includes modifications made at the last meeting. He said that he would like assistance assigning costs to different options and said he has not yet been able to set up a meeting to look at the South Hill Fire Station. He noted one change to the spreadsheet is the inclusion of the lease space section. He said if the Fire Coordinator was separated from the 911 space, there would be approximately 3000 square feet to account for in order to evaluate the options equally. The lease rate would be $11.45 per square foot to make the two options (Fire Coordinator located at CFR building and Fire Coordinator located at South Hill location) equal. Mr. Joseph stated that if the Fire Coordinator’s office isn’t included in the South Hill site it will make costs cheaper. He also said that the County does not currently pay the airport to have the Fire Coordinator housed there. Mr. Kazda stated that there is a cost associated with having the Fire Coordinator located at the airport and the airport pays the costs. Typically if you were to recoup these costs it would be done through leasing so it is necessary to remove the Fire Coordinator from the location in order to make a comparison between the current location and the South Hill site. He said that if the Fire Coordinator remains at the airport the airport would then bring forward a capital project to fulfill its space needs and it would be to build more space than what would be needed if the Fire Coordinator were to move.
Mr. Joseph stated that whatever the airport needs it generally pays for from the airport budget not by the General Fund. To equalize it we should say that if we stay there is no additional expense and if we move out the airport should pay for that space. Mr. Kazda said the Fire Coordinator's space was funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He said there is a cost associated with using this land because you would be taking the land from a potential revenue-providing source. Ms. Blanchard said that if we use FAA money to buy something and then take that property back we may have to reimburse the FAA. She said that this same situation will also need to be considered when discussions continue about expansion of the Public Safety Building.
Mr. Kazda stated that there is also a penalty to building on the South Hill location because of its small size. He said at the airport site is on flat land, but on South Hill significant rock excavation will need to be done and also design changes will be costly.
Mr. Lane asked about the site development costs at the Hanshaw Road site and asked if consideration is being given for the revenue that may be generated from the trailer park's use of utilities there. Mr. Kazda said that the costs are for a small system single user and does not include other users.
Mr. Penniman asked where the increased inflation is reflected in the spreadsheet. Mr. Kazda said it applies to wherever the Net Present Value (NPV) is reflected. Mr. Joseph asked if this affects the different options. Mr. Kazda said that wherever there is capital construction the inflation rate is set versus a lease option where inflation assumes that the lease will increase over time and therefore the costs associated are higher.
Mr. Kazda said that construction costs have gone up since the last meeting and this was based on trying to come up with a distribution of the costs projected by LaBella Associates for the combined transportation and 911 center. He said he took the projected square footage associated with the 911 operation and did the projection based on that footage and this elevated the cost slightly.
Ms. Blanchard emphasized that the matrix is very preliminary and should be treated as such.
Mr. Kazda said that the Committee may want to send out the Request for Qualifications for design of the 911 facility soon due to the time needed to hire an architect. He said he will bring the scope of services to the December 12, 2000, meeting for review and approval.
Mr. Lane said that there was an 11-car accident recently on Aurora Street and he believes putting the 911 system at the South Hill site may not be appropriate for both safety and geographic reasons.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:49 p.m. The next meeting will be held December 12, 2000, at Noon in the Scott Heyman Conference Room.
Respectfully submitted by Jennifer
Luu, Administrative Assistant, Board of Representatives Office.