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Motorola tells Bedford County project is nearly complete, apologizes for delays
Summary
Motorola Solutions provided a progress update on the county public-safety communications project, apologizing for schedule slippage and outlining site-by-site status and next steps.
Motorola Solutions representatives apologized to Bedford County officials for delays in the county’s public-safety radio project and provided a phased status update on sites that are part of the county’s build-out on the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN).
Kate Sowell, Motorola Solutions’ program director for the state build-out, told the Public Safety Committee that earlier project management and schedule problems led to the county’s protracted timeline; she said Motorola had changed personnel and put new managers in place to complete the work. Sowell said Motorola accepts responsibility for missed milestones and thanked county leadership for patience.
Sowell said the original purchase (phase 1) included six sites: Gills Chapel, Lynch Hill, Rippey Ridge, Union Site, Eagleville and Hawthorne Hills. She reported that Gills Chapel and Lynch Hill are completed; Rippey Ridge and Union Site are at or near completion with civil and technical work closed; Eagleville’s civil and technical work is complete but the county will procure a generator pad; and Hawthorne Hills equipment and antennas were installed with microwave links scheduled for testing the week of April 21. Motorola said Hawthorne Hills will receive a UPS and a Generac generator with an automatic transfer switch in a later phase (16‑week lead time for the generator). Motorola also said the state (TACN) has provided cost relief to Bedford County via a reimbursement mechanism that has been processed with county finance staff.
Motorola’s team (including area sales manager Sean Erickson and sales manager Quinn Sheridan) described next steps: finish on‑air testing at Hawthorne Hills, install and commission microwave links, deliver and install ordered generators later in the summer, and complete phase‑2 items previously requested by the county. Sowell said Motorola had pulled equipment from other states to accelerate completion while new equipment orders were processed and that the vendor had worked closely with county staff.
No formal action was taken; the committee received the update and asked Motorola and county staff to provide email notice when Hawthorne Hills is placed on air and when generator delivery schedules are firm.
