The Kenai City Council approved a sole source purchase through Motorola Solutions for the phase two radio upgrades to the Kenai Dispatch Center, utilizing appropriated Department of Homeland Security grant funds and city capital funds.
The dispatch base station radio upgrade project was divided into two projects based on grant funding. In 2019 the city was awarded a DHS grant for $393,000 and an additional $9,269 in city funds were utilized to complete phase one of the project in early 2021, which replaced all the dispatch radio consoles in addition to upgrades to the infrastructure to support the new system. A second phase of the project was created and included while additional grant funds were sought. In late 2021, DHS awarded the city $175,000 for the second phase, in addition to the $175,000 the city appropriated for the capital project.
Police Chief Dave Ross told council:
“Probably the most compelling reason for a sole source (agreement) is that a couple of years ago, this was a single project that was going to be Motorola. It was about $600,000. We decided to split it into two projects to see if we could get, we got $393,000 in grant funding the first time around, so we tried to split it into two projects so we could try to get more grant funding instead of using the city funds to finish that project. We got all of the Motorola consoles in there and dispatch, but we need all of the Motorola backup radios and consolettes in the server room. For it to seamlessly integrate, the second phase needs to be the same equipment as the first phase.”
Ross said that the Motorola Solutions quote for phase two of the project is $251,813 along with a small contingency requested, for a total anticipated project budget of $270,000. He also stated that when complete, the system will be updated from the dispatcher headset all the way to the antennas on top of the tower.
Resolution No. 2022-21 was adopted unanimously.