In 2011, the Sparks Fire and Police Departments identified problems with their emergency communications and interoperability equipment.  The inventory of mobile and portable radios at that time had become increasingly obsolete – inoperable with many of the regional frequencies, non-compliant with current and forthcoming standards of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and irreparable due to both the age of the equipment and lack of support from the manufacturer.  Replacement of the radios was necessary to ensure communications on emergency incidents, as well as to prepare for upgrades to the Washoe County Regional Communications System (WCRCS).

To address this issue, each department secured funding to replace their fleet of portable (handheld) and mobile 800 MHz radios.  The Fire Department used a combination of funds within their budget plus a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters grant to replace the equipment.  This combination of funding resulted in the purchase of 23 Harris P7270 portable radios from department funding, and 60 from the AFG grant.  The Police Department used funding from the City’s fleet and equipment replacement fund and financial assistance from the Washoe County E911 Committee.  This combination of funding resulted in the purchase of 125 portable radios from the City’s fleet fund, and 37 radios acquired through E911.

At the time of purchase the manufacturer marketed the P7270 radio as their first-line Public Safety dual-band (700/800 MHz) radio.  Another feature of importance was the fact that the radios were software upgradable to meet future changes to the WCRCS system, such as P-25 and OpenSky technology.  Although each department knew these upgrades would have fiscal impacts in the future, as additional software and licenses would need to be purchased for these new features, this was the best technology offered at that time.  It should also be noted that only Harris radios were considered, as the regional system is proprietary in nature.  The vendor for Harris radios is Dailey-Wells Communications, Inc.

Approximately six months ago, the Fire and Police departments recognized that this model of portable radio began having a large number of failures, all requiring factory repair.  These failures included the failure to transmit, the failure to receive, and poor audio quality.   In the Fire Department for example, 17 of the 83 radios have been returned to the factory for repair, a failure rate of approximately 20%.  To compound matters, factory repair did not guarantee that failures would be corrected, as 2 of the 17 radios within the Fire Department have been returned to the factory multiple times.  All radios came with a 2 year warranty, which has since expired.

Similar failure statistics have been experienced in the Police Department. The Police Department has experienced an approximate 25% failure rate with the portable radios, with several radios being returned to the manufacture multiple times.  The radios not covered by warranty cost over $700.00 each to repair with no guarantee they will not fail again.  The Police Department is currently several thousand dollars over the allotted budget for radio repairs due to the failure rate of the portable radios.

The failure of the P7270 is not just a Sparks issue, as over 700 radios of this model were purchased by other agencies in the region and have experienced the same problems.  This situation resulted in the Regional Communication Coordinator for the WCRCS, Shawn Taylor, to enter into negotiations with Harris and Dailey-Wells.  A trade-in program was offered, where agencies could trade-in their P7270 portable radio for a trade-in credit, which would be applied toward the purchase of the company’s current radio model – the XG-75.  It should be noted that this trade-in amount ($2,368.41) is equal to 82.9% of the original purchase price of the P7270 ($2,856.01), and also that a 26% discount will also be given on the new XG-75 radio.  Because of new technology and included features, the XG-75’s total purchase price, with trade-in and discount, would be $2,375.00.  Additional accessories, such as extra batteries, chargers, and headsets would necessitate additional purchases.

The replacement XG-75 radio would come featured to meet current requirements as well as future changes to the WCRCS including: 700/800 MHz, OTAP (Over the Air Reprogramming), P25 Personality Lock, Direct Frequency Entry, P25 OTAR (Over the Air Re-Keying), P25 Phase 2 TDMA, 256-AES Encryption, Provoice, Link Layer Authentication and ability to operate in P25T, OpenSky and EDACS trunking systems.  These are all features that both departments anticipated as future funding needs as described the paragraphs above.

Reliable communications are essential not only to effective emergency ground operations, but also to ensure personnel safety.  Portable radios are considered an essential part of police and firefighter protective gear, and unreliable portable radios place all first responders at risk.

Since October 7, 1999, the City of Sparks has been a member of a regional 800 MHz radio system, the WCRCS – Washoe County Regional Communication System (refer to Agreement #A2612 – Sparks City Clerk’s Office).  This in an EDACS (Enhanced Digital Access Communications System) provided by Harris Communications.  This is a proprietary system representing a patent, copyright, or secret process owned by Harris Communications.  For all portable, mobile, and base-station radios to inter-operate with the County’s EDACS network, they must utilize the same proprietary protocols.

Per this agreement, section 15 - Purchase of WCRCS Compatible Equipment:

15.1 – Each participating agency agrees to meet WCRCS 800 MHz radio specifications, including brands and models when appropriate, for associated equipment used to interconnect to the WCRCS as defined within Request for Proposal No. 2063-98, Regional 800 MHz Trunked Radio System, issued by Washoe County on February 11, 1998.

15.2 – Participating agencies agree to comply with the specifications of radio system related equipment orders as defined within Request for Proposal No. 2063-98, Regional 800 MHz Trunked Radio System, issued by Washoe County on February 11, 1998.

15.3 – Associated equipment may be purchased through the County of Washoe to insure compatibility and favored pricing.

Because this is a proprietary system, and per the referred inter-local agreement requirements, the City of Sparks procurement and RFP procedures are not applicable.  This is allowed per NRS 332.115, subsection 3 and 4, which allows for the addition of equipment to an existing system of equipment that “by reason of the training of the personnel or of an inventory of replacement parts maintained by the local government are compatible with existing equipment.”  Currently Dailey-Wells Communications is the only manufacturer’s representative assigned by Harris Communications to sell EDACS equipment to participants in the county’s EDACS network (see attached document DWC Sole Source Washoe).  Participants are given a contractually agreed upon discount of at least 25% for all purchases of Harris Communication equipment for use with the proprietary EDACS 800 MHz regional communication system.  In this case, an additional trade-in value is included based on the above described issues.

The purchase of additional accessory equipment will be from multiple vendors that don’t necessarily meet the purchasing requirements for direct Council approval or formal bid process.  These additional vendors are listed below for each department:

Fire Department accessory equipment includes:

• Honeywell/GTS - batteries and chargers - $15,079.00
• Sierra Electronics - speaker mics and headsets - $10,695.00

Police Department accessory equipment includes:

• Honeywell/GTS - batteries and chargers - $19,300.00
• Tactical Command Industries – reconfigure SWAT headsets - $1,960.00

1. City Council could chose not to accept the radio replacement plan.
2. City Council could chose to accept the radio replacement plan, but direct Staff to find other funding sources instead of the General Fund Contingency budget.

1. I move to approve the Fire and Police Departments to purchase portable radios from Dailey-Wells Communications Inc., and accessory equipment from other vendors, in the total combined amount of $444,703.70.
2. I move to approve the use of the General Fund Contingency budget to purchase portable radios to be used by the Police and Fire departments for public safety purposes, by transferring budget appropriations totaling $444,703.70 to the appropriate expenditure accounts as recommended by the City Manager.