Title
Public Safety Communications Network Maintenance, Support, and Upgrades
Action
Action:
A. Approve an amendment to a contract with Motorola Solutions, LLC for the company to provide maintenance, support, and upgrades to the city’s Public Safety Communications Network for a term of seven years,
B. Approve the purchase of public safety network equipment and software, by the sole source exemption,
C. Authorize the City Manager to approve amendments consistent with the city’s use of the system, and
D. Authorize the City Manager to extend the contract for up to two, one-year terms with possible price adjustments and to amend the contract consistent with the purpose for which the contract was approved.
Body
Staff Resource(s):
Reenie Askew, Innovation and Technology
Brad Dunkle, Innovation and Technology
Crystal Cody, Innovation and Technology
Sole Source Exemption
§ G.S. 143-129(e)(6) provides that formal bidding requirements do not apply when:
- Performance or price competition are not available;
- A needed product is available from only one source or supply; or
- Standardization or compatibility is the overriding consideration.
§ Sole sourcing is appropriate for this contract because utilizing Motorola’s equipment is essential to maintaining compatibility with existing equipment, which is needed for the system to operate properly. Additionally, these proprietary products are available only from Motorola.
§ The City Council must approve purchases made under the sole source exception.
Explanation
§ The city's Public Safety Radio Network System is critical for supporting all public safety and emergency services within Mecklenburg County and five surrounding counties and municipalities; Union County, Cabarrus County, Stanly County, the City of Gastonia, and the Town of Davidson.
- First responders that rely on the network include the Charlotte Fire Department, MEDIC, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department, and surrounding jurisdiction’s emergency response organizations.
- The system also supports other service personnel including Charlotte Water, Solid Waste, CATS, CDOT, and city departments who use radios in field operations.
§ The public safety radio network is comprised of Motorola's proprietary telecommunications equipment and software that operates the radio communications system.
§ The Motorola Migration Assurance Program (MAP) provides a customized multi-year plan designed to sustain and promote network availability and security, support ongoing growth and expansion due to increased demands on the network, provide for network migration to alternative technologies, and assist with compliance with future grant provisions that may be used to fund improvements.
§ City Council originally approved the MAP contract on October 28, 2013, for a term of up to nine years. The company has performed as expected under the contract, and users at the city and in surrounding jurisdictions continue to express satisfaction with the system. An amendment to the contract is now required to incorporate additional infrastructure projects and lock in more favorable pricing for an extended term. Under the MAP contract and extension, Motorola will:
- Provide ongoing maintenance and support, including monitoring of the city's network, and analysis of performance to mitigate risks of system failures;
- Replace network components that are either reaching the end of their projected lifespan or will no longer be supported due to future technology upgrades;
- Perform upgrades to the network according to a predetermined seven-year schedule, which may be modified according to the city's needs, to include additional radio links and technology upgrades for improved performance, increased network capacity for handling of additional simultaneous users, and bolstering of network survivability.
§ By extending the contract now, the city will receive over a nine percent discount on maintenance and equipment.
§ A waiver of solicitation process for the services component of the contract and a sole source approval for the equipment portion of the contract were submitted and have been internally approved.
- Waiver of a solicitation process for services may be granted when deemed appropriate and in the city’s best interest. In this instance, Motorola is the only company with the expertise to maintain and upgrade the system. Utilizing Motorola for maintenance and support is required to maintain equipment and performance warranties.
- Due to the proprietary nature of the network equipment, the city is unable to seek competition for the infrastructure components and doing so would require a complete rebuild of the current radio network, which would likely cost tens of millions of dollars to reestablish with another vendor. A complete rebuild would also severely impact the other counties the city supports from an operational and budgetary perspective.
§ Total maintenance costs for the next seven fiscal years (FY 21-27) are estimated to be $31 million. Total infrastructure upgrade projects for the next seven fiscal years are estimated to total $9 million.
§ The city may modify or cancel any of the scheduled upgrades or ongoing maintenance at any time without penalty.
Charlotte Business INClusion
This is a sole source contract and is exempt (Part A: Appendix 1.27 of the Charlotte Business Inclusion Policy).
Fiscal Note
Funding: Public Safety Communications Operating and Capital Budgets
Attachments
Attachment(s)
Motorola Migration Assurance Program Plan Pricing