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County hears proposal to build 270‑ft E‑911 tower and approve $478,354 in radio‑system change orders; attorney and finance to review
Summary
County staff and vendor representatives presented recommended site and scope changes for the county's new 800 MHz public‑safety radio system, including building a 270‑foot tower at the E‑911 site and approving a combined scope change of roughly $478,354; commissioners asked the county attorney and CFO to review leases and funding before any approvals.
County staff and the vendor Televate/Williams Communications presented a site‑by‑site update on Oct. 21 for Harris County's planned public‑safety radio system and recommended several scope changes that would affect project cost and leases.
Dominic Curry of Televate summarized the system design and current lease negotiations, saying the project includes 12 radio frequency (RF) sites and microwave links back to the E‑911 center (00:42:45). Curry told the board the county could save money over the life of the system by abandoning the leased Hamilton site and instead building a new tower behind the county's E‑911 facility that would serve both as an RF site and as the microwave link to Pine Mountain (00:43:13; 01:05:53). The recommended tower is approximately 270 feet and would be constructed with capacity to host cellular providers, which could generate lease revenue later.
Curry and staff identified a structural upgrade needed at the Ellerslie tower (work quoted at roughly $33,750) and estimated the additional civil and tower costs for the E‑911 tower at roughly $354,000. Curry presented the vendor change‑order math: the scope changes break out to about $388,354, plus approximately $90,000 for interoperability equipment and gateways, for a combined change order of about $478,354 (01:22:21; 01:23:31).
Commissioners questioned why structural analyses and site feasibility had not been completed earlier, raised concerns about paying for permanent upgrades to privately owned towers, and asked whether the county could secure clawback language if the private tower owner later terminated a lease (00:53:36; 01:25:48). The county attorney recommended that any lease approvals be contingent on attorney review of the lease language and protections for county investments (01:25:48).
Elizabeth Barfield, the county CFO, told commissioners the project timing and payments would have to fit within county cashflow constraints; the radio system down payment of $3.5 million was already identified as a general‑fund obligation and the county planned to move funds into a restricted account to protect that payment (00:31:04). Commissioners and staff discussed that some interoperability items should not be purchased until neighboring jurisdictions grant access and emphasized that the interoperability enhancements proposed are additional and contingent on reciprocal agreements (01:22:21).
No final change‑order or lease was executed at the meeting. The board asked staff to have the county attorney review lease documents and the finance office to confirm timing and funding and to return to the board with negotiated leases and details at a future meeting.
Why it matters: Upgrading to an 800 MHz countywide radio system is a multi‑year capital project with direct implications for first‑responder communications. The recommended site changes and structural upgrades would increase near‑term project costs and raise questions about lease terms on private towers and the county's fiscal capacity to absorb change orders.
