St. Joseph County approves Motorola radio replacements and console migration estimate totaling roughly $1.36 million
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Summary
The county approved purchase of 50 Motorola APX portable radios for about $61,896.47 (with trade-in credits) and authorized a $1.3 million AXS dispatch console migration; staff said Motorola offered about $805,000 in promotional savings if approved by March 16.
St. Joseph County commissioners approved two public-safety communications items: replacement portable radios for the 9-1-1 center and a planned migration to new Motorola AXS dispatch consoles.
Sal Parisi, manager at the St. Joseph County 9-1-1 center, said the current portable radios (from 2015) are nearing end of life and are not upgradeable to the state P25 system. He said the recommended quote (3510304) is for 50 Motorola APX portable units with a total cost of $61,896.47 and includes a $600 trade-in credit per outdated radio (estimated total trade-in credit of $8,400). "These units meet the requirements...and will allow several years of use and compatibility with the P25 state system," Parisi said.
Parisi also outlined a console migration project to replace the VPN-based MCC consoles with Motorola AXS consoles. He said the project had an original 2026 capital estimate of $1,300,000 and that Motorola offered a promotional savings of $805,000 if the project is approved by March 16; Parisi explained that the savings helped bring the project back in line with the budgeted amount.
Commissioners approved both purchases by motion.
Why it matters: Replacing end-of-life radios and upgrading dispatch consoles are central to maintaining interoperability, reliability and public-safety communications capability for the county's primary and backup centers.
What comes next: Staff will proceed with procurement and scheduling for installation and trade-in, and the console migration will follow capital procurement and vendor arrangements.