Van Zandt County court signs change order and conditional acceptance with L3Harris for radio system

Van Zandt County commissioners on Wednesday authorized the county judge to sign a small change order and a conditional acceptance agreement with vendor L3Harris for the county’s new radio system, actions county staff said will move the system into warranty status and transition maintenance to L3Harris’s local office.

County staff told the court that Change Order No. 5 would increase the contract by $1,213.30 to cover “critical spares” — antennas, microwave dishes, routers, clocks and similar components kept as replacements for five tower sites. “The amount is $1,213.30,” County staff said during the presentation. Staff said the county has budgeted $285,000 for critical spares and has already applied about $284,000 of prior hardware allocations to that total.

On the conditional acceptance agreement, staff read terms that would put the system into a warranty status and trigger a conditional payment schedule. Staff stated the contract includes a system‑acceptance milestone figure described in the meeting as $575,468.62 and said signing conditional acceptance would release 55% of the conditional amount — listed as $316,507.74 — with a remaining balance described in the presentation as $258,960.88. The county also proposed reducing the required performance and payment bond to $1,000,000 because, staff said, approximately that amount remains to be completed on the contract.

A commissioner asked whether the March 31 punch‑list deadline meant radios and coverage would be fully operational by that date; County staff clarified that the March 31 date is the target for completing the final punch list of outstanding items (coverage and radios) and is not a guaranteed date for full system operation. Staff noted the project is funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money and that the county intends to complete required work before the ARPA spending deadline (stated as December 31 in the meeting). “This radio system is critical to the safety of our law enforcement departments,” a commissioner said during debate.

Both actions were approved by voice vote after motions and seconds; no roll call vote was recorded in the transcript. Staff told the court the final punch list, any timeline specifics and potential remedies or penalties would be negotiated and returned to the Commissioner's Court for approval at the next meeting.

The court adjourned shortly after, and staff said they would post follow‑up materials and the finalized punch list when available.