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Board Approves $54,000 MOU with Grass Valley to Buy Tablet Command Incident-Management Software
Summary
The Board of Supervisors approved an MOU to reimburse the City of Grass Valley up to $54,000 for start-up costs to implement Tablet Command, an incident-management and mapping platform intended to replace the expiring IncidentView system and improve situational awareness across Nevada County first-response agencies.
Nevada County supervisors voted 5-0 on March 11 to authorize an MOU with the City of Grass Valley to reimburse up to $54,000 for Tablet Command incident-management software, a platform county emergency managers and fire chiefs say will replace the county'wide IncidentView system.
Alex Kippel Toole, interim director of the County's Office of Emergency Services, told the board the software centralizes incident mapping, routing, resource location (such as vehicles and hydrants), and integrates with computer-aided dispatch (CAD). "Our first responders require a software platform that centralizes incident information with mapping, routing, resource identification, such as vehicles and hydrants," Kippel Toole said.
Grass Valley Fire Chief Mark Butron described real-time automatic vehicle location (AVL), hydrant and Knox Box overlays, and the ability to embed floor plans and preplans for structures. "One of those safety points that's not often talked about is intersections," Butron said, explaining AVL helps incident commanders track multiple responding vehicles and reduce on-scene risk.
The City of Grass Valley will make the upfront purchase so agencies can transition quickly as IncidentView phases out; agencies will pay for their own devices and licenses. Kippel Toole said there is an annual countywide cost associated with the platform (discussed as roughly $17,000 total) and a per-user software fee discussed during the presentation. The county proposed using Title 3 funds to cover the one-time $54,000 start-up payment; future annual license costs would be the responsibility of the agencies or covered by grant funds if available.
Supervisors asked about interoperability with Cal Fire AVL and other systems; presenters said Tablet Command will interoperate with Radio Mobile AVL and mobile data terminals and that CAD integration is part of the platform. Supervisor Lisa said she appreciated Grass Valley's willingness to front the initial cost to get all agencies on a common platform. Other board members asked staff to continue seeking homeland security grant funds to cover recurring costs for smaller districts.
The board approved the MOU by unanimous voice vote. The motion reads: "Approve the MOU between the County of Nevada and the City of Grass Valley for reimbursement of Tablet Command software in an amount not to exceed $54,000," and ties the one-time payment to Title 3 funds previously approved on the consent calendar (item SR250284).
County emergency staff said Tablet Command is intended to improve situational awareness across law, fire, EMS and OES units countywide, support firefighter accountability, and better coordinate resources for out-of-area mutual-aid responses. The county will continue to seek grant support to cover annual license fees and devices for participating agencies.
