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Clifton Heights to receive county-programmed mobile radios; police and fire to cover remaining costs
Summary
Council heard updates that county is upgrading the radio system; county is providing some mobile radios and the borough anticipates remaining local costs for police and about $13,000 in shortfall for fire equipment.
Clifton Heights officials said the county's radio upgrade will bring programmed mobile radios to the borough, but local departments will need to cover remaining equipment and installation costs.
"We are almost at that point where we're taking receipt of new radios for mobile radios for police cars. The county is upgrading their system, and right now all the hardware is up at the 901 center being programmed," a police staff member reported during council reports. The speaker added that the expected bill for the police department was "somewhere around ... $10,000," and that more than half of the total cost has been covered by grant money.
Council members were told the county purchased mobile radios for every police officer and subsidized half of each department's mobile units; the borough will need to purchase three additional mobiles and cover installation costs. No formal purchase vote occurred at the meeting.
Fire-department needs were presented separately. "We were short about $13,000 worth of equipment that we needed — [items] for the station, extra [equipment] for the chief's car, some bikes ... speakers and that kind of stuff," the fire chief said. The chief said implementation on the fire side is planned no later than Dec. 15 but that some items may not need to be installed by that date.
Why it matters: radio compatibility is necessary for emergency response and interagency communications; the borough will incur local costs even though the county is funding much of the system upgrade.
Next steps: staff did not present a formal procurement motion at this meeting. Council and staff indicated they will return with invoices and specific purchase requests when programming and quotes are finalized.
