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Commission ratifies emergency pager purchase for Fire Department and forgives airport liquidated damages
Summary
The commission ratified the Fire Chief’s purchase of pagers and related equipment to restore Fire–Police communications during a 911 center move and forgave $30,000 in liquidated damages related to an airport parking-lot grant project, citing staff and contractor oversights.
Fire Chief Hanson told the commission that when the 911 center moved to the new Law Enforcement Center the direct Fire–Police communication line was disrupted because of incompatible systems. With Kohler Communications personnel unavailable to hook up replacement equipment, Hanson said he arranged work with Kotana Communications and purchased pagers and a pager announcer so firefighters could regain interoperability. The commission voted to ratify Hanson’s actions, with Commissioners Bogar, Bekkedahl and Klug voting aye and President Koeser abstaining.
Airport Manager Rick Marburger reported delays and miscommunication on a parking-lot grant project and asked the commission to forgive $30,000 in liquidated damages assessed against Keller Paving. The commission voted 4-0 to forgive the liquidated damages and to forgive the airport manager’s oversight on this single occasion; commissioners asked staff to ensure contractors are informed of penalty terms in the future.
Commissioners emphasized that 911 calls were transferred to Bismarck for 48 hours during the move but that public safety was maintained and that the immediate equipment purchase restored necessary on-scene communication.
