Durham commissioners approve consent agenda, including $7.74M Motorola public-safety radio contract

Durham County commissioners approved a broad consent agenda Aug. 12 that authorized multiple contracts, budget amendments and capital project amendments, including a $7,740,324.20 contract with Motorola Solutions, Inc. for upgrade and replacement of public-safety radio equipment.

The consent motion was made by Commissioner Heidi Carter and seconded by Vice Chair Nimasheena Burns; the Board approved the package unanimously with the exception of two items that were removed from the vote. Interim County Attorney Curtis Massey had requested Consent Agenda Item 24-0473 (a proposed FY2025 contract with Alliance Health, $6,503,803.00) be pulled from the agenda; the item will return to the Board when Alliance Health provides a budget. Consent Item 24-0475 (museum contract, $139,700) was approved separately with a 4-0 vote and Chair Nida Allam recorded an abstention on that vote.

Key approvals included:

- A contract with Motorola Solutions, Inc. for $7,740,324.20 for county public-safety radio equipment replacement and upgrade, plus related capital project transfers to the PAYGO fund to support the multi-department radio and tower capital project.

- A capital project amendment transferring $6,800,568.99 of budgeted debt service dollars to the PAYGO fund to support the radio/tower capital project, with $6,189,247.08 allocated to the County-wide Radio Replacement project and new radio replacement projects created for Durham Public Schools ($317,834.30) and Durham Technical Community College ($293,487.61).

- Approval of a $1,000,000 contract amendment with Hayti Reborn - Justice Movement, a $1,500,000 American Rescue Plan Act contract with Durham Community Land Trustees for land trust investments, and a $380,356 annual contract with Urban Ministries of Durham.

- Authorization of multiple smaller service contracts and sole-source exemptions supporting IT, utilities, public art, and detention-center services; approval of on-call machinery and repair services for the Utilities Division; and funding appropriations for grants including $40,300 LSTA support for libraries and $5,324 in child-nutrition grant funds.

What wasn’t decided: Consent Item 24-0473 (FY2025 contract with Alliance Health, $6,503,803) was pulled to a future meeting pending Alliance Health providing a budget, as requested during the Aug. 5 work session. The Board recorded an abstention by Chair Nida Allam on the Museum of Durham History contract vote.

Why it matters: the Motorola contract and related capital transfers finance a major upgrade to county and partner radio systems used by public-safety agencies and local partners (including Durham Public Schools and Durham Technical Community College). The package also includes ARPA-funded land-trust investments and social-service contracts that allocate county resources to community programs.

Next steps: Staff will execute contracts and process amendments per county procurement rules; the pulled Alliance Health contract will return to the Board when additional budget information is provided.