PRESENT: B. Blanchard, G. Totman, J. Lalley, T. Joseph, P. Penniman 

EXCUSED: M. Lane

STAFF: S. Whicher, County Administrator; M. Shakarjian, Planning Department; L. Shurtleff, Fire, Disaster and EMS; J. Wood, County Attorney; W. Skinner, Public Information Coordinator; U. Mukherjee, Administrative Services Coordinator

GUESTS: D. Kiefer, Board of Representatives; L. Withiam, E911 Operations Committee; B. Wilbur, Ithaca City Fire Chief

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting opened at 2:03 p.m.

ADDITIONS TO/DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA

Addition: Report from NYS Office for Technology

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 20 MEETING

It was MOVED by Mr. Lalley, seconded by Mr. Penniman, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the November 20, 2001 minutes with the recommended changes.

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Mr. Whicher said that the interview process for the position has been completed and he expected the name of the incumbent to be announced prior to the next ComCap meeting.

REPORT FROM NYS OFFICE FOR TECHNOLOGY

Mr. Whicher spoke of his recent discussion with Mr. Tom Duffy of the NYS Office for Technology. Mr. Duffy informed him that NYS expected to deploy the statewide system in 3-5 years but will not reimburse local governments for any costs of deployment of their individual communication systems. The local governments may use the State system when it is deployed. Ms. Blanchard said that under the circumstances, the County will have to look at alternative solutions and at the same time endeavor to take advantage of whatever the State does. She mentioned that she will report on this at the County Board meeting tonight.

Mr. Lalley mentioned that the contract with United Radio has been executed to undertake frequency analysis and coverage analysis for the paging system. He spoke of another fairly recent technology called Logical Trunked Radio, which is operationally similar to a trunked system but utilizes bands other than 800MHz. He said a change order has been incorporated in the contract with United Radio to look at possible redeployment of our existing UHF repeater stations for a trunked radio system. Feedback is expected by the end of March 2002 when we should be in a position to decide whether to redeploy our existing two-way frequencies or build a new logical trunked radio system. This would be essentially a fallback position as the existing system is prone to regular failure. 

REVIEW OF TIMELINES

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM PROJECT

Ms. Shakarjian distributed the revised timeline for the communication project. The group discussed the deadlines for some of the major activities. Mr. Whicher pointed out that responses to the RFP are expected to include alternative approaches. Ms. Blanchard said we should encourage the vendors to propose less costly alternatives if any exist. Mr. Lalley suggested a pre-bid meeting with vendors before they respond to the RFP in order to facilitate detailed discussion on possible alternatives. Mr. Joseph felt that the State should be kept apprised of our work related to the RFP as presentation of a concrete plan may persuade SWN to give priority to Tompkins County. 

911 CENTRALIZED DISPATCH BUILDING

Ms. Blanchard said the MOU with the Town of Ithaca, City of Ithaca and Ithaca College must be finalized before going ahead any further with the design of the building. Agreement of all parties is essential for undertaking construction. In reply to a question from Ms. Blanchard, Mr. Wood said that there has been no response so far from the Town of Ithaca on the draft MOU handed over to them following detailed discussions some time back. It was agreed then that the Town Engineer would return the MOU to the County Attorney after review. Mr. Wilbur suggested another working meeting with the Town to break the impasse. In reply to a question from Ms. Kiefer, Ms. Blanchard said that the building would be built within budget. She said that Egner Associates have already been requested to look closely at building modifications for potential cost reduction. Mr. Whicher mentioned that in case the MOU cannot be drawn up, potential alternative locations would be looked at and this has been incorporated in the schedule.

PAGING SYSTEM

Mr. Lalley said that a BOR Presentation has been planned for April prior to release of funds for the project. He said local permit issues regarding transmitter sites are not clear at this stage. In reply to a question from Ms. Kiefer, he said that fire companies have traditionally purchased their pagers and this should not pose a major problem. The group briefly discussed the recent failures in the communication system and measures being taken to prevent such failures. 

Ms. Blanchard remarked that this was the last meeting of the year and thanked the members and the staff for their support. The group agreed to follow the same meeting schedule in 2002 as for this year, that is, meet every fourth Tuesday of the month from noon till 2 p.m. (It was subsequently decided that the meetings would be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) 

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 3:17 p.m.
 
 

Submitted by Ujjal Mukherjee, Administrative Services Coordinator.