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Parker County approves Motorola radio change orders to finish 700 MHz upgrade
Summary
Commissioners approved three change orders for a Motorola radio upgrade, covering structural remediation at an Agnes tower and other work; county staff said the work will be paid from previously budgeted contingencies and not require additional county funds.
Parker County Commissioners on April 30 approved three change orders for a countywide Motorola radio-system upgrade that the county says will move public-safety radios to the 700 megahertz band to improve coverage and building penetration.
James (county staff), who is overseeing the project, told the court that change order 3 covers structural remediation at the Agnes (Crown Castle) tower because the tower’s top mount — the “candelabra” — cannot safely support the newly designed antennas. Motorola project manager Bob Brown said the top mount was “900% overloaded” under the new design and requires reinforcement. James said the additional work will use contingency funds set aside in the original project budget and his IT contingency requests from the budget cycle; he told the court he was not asking for any new appropriation.
A member of the public, Deborah Hensley, asked whether county radio equipment had been checked for foreign malware and whether systems or components were manufactured in China. Jonathan Caslow, Motorola’s account representative, and Bob Brown said the company performs cyber-security vetting and uses a closed radio network, and they described managed detection and response (MDR) measures for incident response. The court accepted those assurances and approved the change orders by a unanimous 5–0 vote.
Commissioners and staff emphasized the public-safety benefits of the 700 MHz migration, saying it will let first responders maintain voice communications inside modern schools and buildings and provide greater capacity in dense areas. The court recorded a motion approving the change orders and carried it 5–0; staff said the remaining contingency and IT funds will cover the cost.
