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City to formalize backup radio-system agreement with West Central ETSB
Summary
Phil McCarty told the council the West Central Joint Emergency Telephone System Board would assume maintenance and upgrade responsibility for a backup radio system while the city retains the license; staff said ETSB will install new equipment rather than reuse failing components.
City staff explained an intergovernmental agreement to formalize how the city's radio backup system will be maintained and upgraded. Phil McCarty summarized why the agreement is being proposed and what it will change.
McCarty said the project began about 18 months ago as a build-out of a new radio system for the city, county and other partners and that a failed component prompted reconsideration of using older parts. “We were gonna put old parts into an old system. It didn't make good sense. Made more sense to take that $20,000 that was gonna go towards it, and the ETSB take ownership of the system, and we upgrade it to something that is reasonable to be a backup system,” he said.
Under the agreement as described, the city would continue to hold the license for the system but the West Central Joint Emergency Telephone System Board would take on responsibility for maintaining the equipment and would install all new equipment so the backup functions for the broader region.
Next steps: McCarty said the agreement documents the arrangement for future reference so successors can understand the decision. The transcript does not record a formal approval vote for this item in the provided excerpts; McCarty invited questions following his explanation.
