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MIS director warns of radio system life‑cycle needs; county corrects $52M typo to $5.2M
Summary
Clay County MIS Director Dean Hain told commissioners the county’s public‑safety radio infrastructure faces life‑cycle replacements (consoles, base stations, radios) and said a $52 million line in the draft CIP was a typo — staff said the correct site cost was about $5.2 million.
Dean Hain, Clay County MIS Director, told the Board that the county is approaching several life‑cycle milestones for its radio and dispatch infrastructure and that planning is required to avoid service gaps.
"When we went out to bid for the system in 2016, it had a two‑year warranty. So we started, we prepaid for ten years of maintenance in 2018…by 2028 this is gonna need to be renewed," Hain said, detailing tower replacements, controller upgrades and the need to plan for replacement of consoles and base stations.
The workshop included a moment of confusion when a document line listed a radio‑site figure that several commissioners read as $52,000,000. Hain clarified that the number was a typo and that the intended estimate for the site in the plan is about $5,200,000.
Hain stressed the operational consequences of deferred upgrades: as equipment ages, replacements and parts become harder to obtain and software/hardware support can end. "At some stage when they break, they won't be repairable," he said, urging the board to plan funding rather than waiting for failure.
Commissioners asked whether partner agencies (municipal police, school buses) share the cost. Hain said the county treats those agencies as public‑safety partners but does not currently have cost‑sharing agreements with Green Cove Springs or Orange Park; the county previously negotiated a share with the school board and the board may want to revisit that arrangement.
Several commissioners raised procurement concerns about vendor lock‑in and sole‑source dependencies; Hain said staff has negotiated discounts in past replacements and is working on efficiencies across IT, licensing and telecommunications to contain costs.
Staff said they will continue to refine estimates and present options for funding the life‑cycle needs as part of the CIP and upcoming budget discussions.
