Idaho Falls council approves new Phoenix G2 station alerting system for three stations

The Idaho Falls City Council on Oct. 23 approved the purchase and installation of a US Digital Designs Phoenix G2 fire-station alerting system for a total project cost the council recorded as $149,009.95.

The system will equip Station 6 with the same alerting platform used at the city’s other stations and will add “room remotes” at Stations 1 and 4 to reduce disturbance to units that are not being dispatched, Fire Chief Bradford said. Chief Bradford described the room remotes as a way “to separate the calls from different units” so that, for example, if an engine is not dispatched it “keeps the engine from being disturbed.”

Council pulled the item from the consent agenda to allow discussion before placing it on the regular agenda. A councilor who supported the item said the purchase was included in the budget and described it as benefiting “the health of the department.” Council approved the purchase and authorized the mayor and city clerk to sign the necessary documents.

The contract will use the National Purchasing Partners cooperative purchase contract PS20350 for the equipment purchase, and installation will be performed by Elite Surveillance LLC, the memo in the meeting packet showed. The council vote on the moved item was unanimous.

The council’s discussion focused on operational benefits and consistency across stations. Chief Bradford said the choice aligned Station 6 with the rest of the system and explained the room-remote function. No alternatives or competitive bids were discussed at the meeting.

The approved item will be implemented by the fire department and the mayor’s office will sign purchase documents as authorized by the council.