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| Information |
| TITLE: |
| Consideration and Approval of Contract: Cooperative Purchase Contract with Motorola Solutions, Inc. in the amount of $2,111,544.29 for radio equipment, setup, accessories, and service for numerous City departments. |
| STAFF RECOMMENDED ACTION: |
- Approve the Cooperative Purchase Contract with Motorola Solutions, Inc. in the amount of $2,111,544.29 for radio equipment, setup, accessories, and service for numerous City departments in need of radio replacements; and
- Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents.
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| Executive Summary: |
This is a request to spend $2,111,544.29 to purchase a total of 52 Motorola APX 8000 portable radios, 25 APX 8000 base chargers, 39 Motorola APX 1500 portable radios, 6 Motorola APX 900, and 159 Motorola APX 8500 mobile radios to fill the current needs of numerous departments within the City, including, Emergency Management, PROSE, Public Works, Police, and Fire.
The purchase has been made in bulk to receive financial benefits such as credits for trade-ins and other applicable rebates/discounts. |
| Financial Impact: |
In fiscal year 2022-2023, the City budgeted $2,600,000 in account 001-09-402-1310-1-4407 for the replacement of radios and equipment. The $2,111,544.29 is the sum total cost for the purchase of radios, chargers, 5-year service agreement, programming, lapel microphones, and chargers.
The costs assigned to each City Department are as follows: Emergency Management - $19,057.43, PROSE - $140,349.06, Public Works - $316,131.42, Police - $592,961.52, and Fire - $1,043,044.86. Itemized quotes have been attached. |
| Policy Impact: |
The decision to purchase or to not purchase new radios should have no impact on any City policies.
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| Connection to PBB Priorities/Objectives, Carbon Neutrality Plan & Regional Plan: |
High Performing Governance. Replacing outdated and unsupported radios and radio equipment will improve the ability for City employees to effectively communicate with one another. This improves efficiency. Although there are older radios still in use by City employees that function adequately for non-emergency situations, many of these radios have outlived their warranties and service agreements or are off-brand models not covered for service under City contracts. These older radios will be bought and recycled by Motorola as part of the purchase agreement.
Safe and Healthy Community. The ability to reliably communicate is crucial to public safety. Police use their radios all day, every day to relay information to one another and to communicate with the 911 Call Center who is often in direct contact with victims of crimes. Fire fighters rely on radio communication to adjust for vision obstruction during responses to fires. Serviceability and reliability are essential to maintaining an adequate public safety radio system.
Environmental Stewardship. The City of Flagstaff participates in coordinated efforts with neighboring jurisdictions to manage several natural and human-caused emergency events (fires, floods) requiring quality, reliable communication every year. A dependable radio system with quality radios and radio equipment is an absolute necessity in managing large emergencies. |
| Has There Been Previous Council Decision on This: |
Yes, in 2011 Council approved the purchase of radios and radio equipment.
In 2018 Council approved the upgrade to the Public Safety Radio system.
In 2022 Council approved $2.6M for the purchase of public safety communication equipment. |
| Options and Alternatives: |
- Approve the Cooperative Purchase Agreement with Motorola Solutions, Inc. in the amount of $2,111,544.29 utilizing the State of Arizona cooperative contract CTR046830; or
- Direct staff to conduct an independent solicitation for the necessary radio equipment, setup, accessories, and service for numerous City departments. This option is not recommended by staff as it will delay an important purchase and would risk a failure in necessary communication due to outdated and unserviceable radios.
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| Background/History: |
The City last made a radio and radio equipment purchase in 2011, putting most of the new radios into service in 2012. As such, the current radios used by City personnel are approximately 10-years old. When the radios were purchased, they had a 7-year recommended life span. The current radios are no longer supported for minor or major repairs. While most of these radios remain operational, any failure would put that unit out of operation permanently. In July of 2022, the City Council approved $2.6M in funding to replace the outdated and unsupported radios.
FPD, FFD, and NAU (who acts as the radio system’s steward) collaborated to find the best value radios to replace those deemed outdated and unserviceable. In August 2022, City staff met with representatives from Motorola Solutions, Inc. to discuss replacement. In January of this year, Motorola representatives met with Purchasing staff and negotiated a quote to provide replacement radios and radio equipment for the City for a total cost of $2,111,544.29, utilizing the State of Arizona cooperative contract CTR046830.
Purchasing staff reviewed the State's cooperative contract and determine it to be current and applicable to the purchase of the radio equipment, setup, accessories, and service. |
| Key Considerations: |
The City has been using Motorola radios and radio equipment for decades without any obvious problems with the units themselves or related equipment. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has exhibited excellent customer service; they employ extremely responsive and highly competent service representatives who strive to apply their knowledge of their products to identify and solve problems rather than to simply address complaints.
The Motorola radios being considered for purchase are high quality radios. With very few moving parts, rugged solid-state hardware, very tough casing material, and robust design the replacement radios are practically indestructible. As such, the replacement radios you are being asked to approve for purchase are very reliable.
The majority of the portable radios being replaced are Motorola model APX-6000s. The radios will be replaced (if the purchase if approved) by Motorola model APX-8000s. Another key consideration in the decision whether to approve this purchase is the fact that the batteries for these two radio systems (the 6000s & the 8000s) are interchangeable; which means that replacement (spare) batteries and battery chargers already owned by the City can be re-used. |
| Community Benefits and Considerations: |
| With better communication equipment the community gets better service. For organizations, like the City, that depend on reliable communication, a robust bank of radios is an absolute necessity. The Motorola radios being considered for purchase are among the most reliable in their market. As it relates to radio systems, more reliability means more efficiency; and more efficiency means a better value for our citizens’ tax dollars, making us better stewards of our command. Equipment that improves our City employees’ ability to communicate effectively makes for a more effective city government. |
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