The Kent County Board of Supervisors authorized a contract with L3Harris to upgrade the county’s P25 radio system from SR10A2 to SR11 and approved a transfer from capital fund balance to cover the remaining cost. The board’s vote authorized the county administrator to execute an agreement in a form approved by the county attorney.

County communications staff member Mr. Hathaway explained the county’s radio system went live in 2016 and is now about 10 years old; he said aging software and server components require a software and some equipment upgrade. “It will increase our cybersecurity. It will increase the system stability and performance,” Hathaway said, and identified a total contract cost of $2,147,122.18. The county currently has about $1.5 million set aside, leaving a funding gap of $647,122.18.

The nut graf: The upgrade is intended to extend the system life, improve security and performance, and avoid increasing future costs by delaying necessary updates; staff recommended funding the gap by transferring capital fund balance that includes unused contingency from the animal shelter project and contributions from Charles City.

Hathaway told the board that about $450,000–$500,000 of contingency from the animal shelter project and roughly $120,000 from Charles City contributions are available; accounting staff recommended a transfer from general capital fund balance to reflect that availability. The projected timeline from the vendor was about a year, with contract signing in September and final acceptance in October 2026; staff said they would press the vendor to expedite because of known firewall vulnerabilities affecting 9‑1‑1 centers. One supervisor noted the original system cost was just under $7 million.

A motion to authorize the county administrator to execute the agreement and transfer $647,122.18 from capital fund balance passed on a roll call: Mr. Steers—Aye; Ms. Stewart—Aye; Mr. Moyer—Aye; Ms. Pearson—Aye; Mr. Evelyn—Aye. Staff said the upgrade would likely extend the system another seven to 10 years and that the project is primarily a software and server refresh rather than replacing tower infrastructure.