Harris County approves $504,640.55 to advance public safety radio project after vendor briefing

The Harris County Board of Commissioners voted Dec. 16 to authorize up to $504,640.55 from general fund reserves to finalize site preparation and planning for the county’s public safety radio system, following a detailed vendor briefing and prolonged commissioner questioning.

The board’s chair (unnamed) introduced the item and identified vendor and staff participants, including Don McCurry of Televate, Dean Ginn of Dean’s 2 Way, Brian Coacher of Williams Communications and Melissa Price, the county’s public safety coordinator. Vendors described two portions of the requested change order: roughly $33,750 for structural enhancements at the Ellersley tower and about $350,000 to build a new tower (the “FDR” site) with site development, tower foundation work and equipment consolidation.

Melissa Price and vendor representatives told the board the new tower was recommended after a structural review showed a planned water-tank site could not support the large microwave dishes and antennas required for the system. Vendor representatives said building a new tower avoids leasing long-term space at an existing Hamilton site and could deliver both operational savings and potential revenue by leasing space to commercial carriers.

"You're paying, we're requesting 350,000 more dollars at the beginning of the project. It saves 750,000 over the life of the project and provides some revenue opportunity," a vendor said, estimating $758,000 in savings over 15 years if the county builds rather than leases.

Several commissioners pressed staff and the vendors on procurement sequencing and why a structural analysis for the water-tank site was not completed before bids. One commissioner said the magnitude of a half‑million‑dollar change order so early in the project was “very disconcerting” and questioned whether the consultant that provided the design and estimate had missed key costs.

Vendors and staff responded that manufacturer designs and specific antenna profiles were not finalized at the time of the RFP, and that doing structural analyses on multiple potential sites before manufacturers identified required antennas would likely have required multiple, potentially wasted, analyses. County Attorney Carey said he had negotiated a callback provision in leases to allow the county to recoup structural enhancement costs if a lessor terminated a lease before the expected term.

Chair (unnamed) moved to expand funding authority up to $504,640.55 to finalize project site preparation and planning and to authorize the chairman, county manager and county clerk to execute necessary documents; the motion was seconded and carried.

The board’s vote authorizes the county to proceed with the change order and execute associated documents; the motion included direction for county leadership to determine the final funding source. Vendors and staff said they did not expect additional changes of this magnitude for the remaining towers, noting that other towers in the system had been analyzed and approved.

Next steps include executing the documents and proceeding with site work and the structural enhancements described by vendors. The board recorded no further scheduled votes on this item at the meeting.