HomeMy WebLinkAboutE911Minutes_2019_01_17EAST CENTRAL REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL
E911 MEETING
Thursday, January 17, 2019; 8:30 a.m.
City & County Government Center Room 300 (3rd Floor)
307 3rd Avenue
Board members present: Mike Bartley (County Commission), Paul Briseno (City
Manager), Patty Bacon (City Council), and Larry Jensen (County Commission)
Others present: Derrick Powers (BPD), JoLynn Longville (Communications), Marty
Stanwick (SO), Bob Hill (County Emergency Management/Zoning), and Stacy
Steffensen (Commission Dept. Director)
Members Absent: Dave Erickson (BPD) & Darrell Hartmann (Fire Dept.).
Others present: David Jacobson (Volga Fire Dept.), Matt Anderson (Volga Fire Dept.),
Trever Schwartz (White Fire Dept.), & Russell Larson (White Fire & Amb.).
Call to order: Meeting was called to order by Bartley. Bacon / Jensen moved to
approve the minutes of the October 2018 meeting. All present voted aye. Motion
approved.
Bills: Powers reviewed non-recurring bills from October 2018 through November 2018.
Bacon / Briseno moved to approve non-recurring bills. All present voted aye.
Motion approved.
Quarterly Numbers: Longville provided an overview of the quarterly numbers. Bartley
requested the quarterly numbers to be sent out with the agenda.
Old Business:
Update on Radio/Insurance claim:
Powers updated the committee on Chief Erickson working with the insurance company
and ended up getting another $87,512.09 in addition to the $47,749.91. This brings the
total to $135,262 in insurance paid out. This would pay for the new radio minus the
labor and warranty. Steffensen stated the initial bid was for $164,162 and insurance is
paying $135,262.
Briseno stated the city is currently updating the CIP. He has asked Chief Erickson to
start getting some numbers together for 10 year rotation.
Discussion on Hiring:
Longville updated the committee on the hiring process. Hired (1) dispatcher whom
started right before Christmas. Currently there are (2) positions open. One is filling an
existing employee’s position and the other is an additional employee. Currently 18
applicants have applied. The testing and interviews will take place the end of January.
New Business:
Fund Balance review:
N/A
Annual Joint Powers Agreement Review:
Steffensen stated this is should be done annually. The agreement does not need to be
approved annually. The only time the agreement needs to be approved is when there
are updates to the agreement.
Annual Inventory Review:
Powers stated 2 new dispatch chairs were added since Larson updated the inventory
list in October.
Discussion on White Fire/Ambulance issues:
Trever Schwartz from the White Fire Department stated radio communication with
dispatch is hit and miss. There have been some serious communication issues: times
when pages or texts are not received. When responding there is a terrible connection
followed by a loud screech. Russell Larson with the White Fire and Ambulance stated
this has been an ongoing problem for several years. Schwartz stated they are
communicating using their personal cell phones and the buddy system. Longville asked
if they are getting the City’s texts. Jensen stated sometimes, but the texts often come
later. Briseno asked if this is an operations or equipment issue. Longville stated this has
been an ongoing sporadic problem for a while. She mentioned Chief Miller, Darrell
Hartmann, and Bob Hill went to White and did some testing and experienced no issues.
Matt Anderson from the Volga Fire Department is also having sporadic issues. If one
drives 2 miles west of Volga, they are out. His opinion is there is not enough towers and
are not in the right places. Russell Larson suggested having Sioux Falls Two Way
conduct a study. Revenue is coming into Brookings County from the wind towers, which
is a possible source of funding for new equipment. Bartley asked Hill how many towers,
and the locations of the towers. Bob stated they are trying to get the north repeater
moved north of White, owned by Vantek. Sioux Falls repeater on the blue fire tower is
controlled by Vantek and the Sinai location is controlled by Sioux Falls Two Way. David
Jacobson stated we are dealing with different companies that are competitors with each
other. The repeater used is 10 miles north of town on the Jason Oines farm, which is
going to be moved towards White. It was questioned how that is going to affect Bruce,
Sinai, and Volga. Hill stated they are moving it because they lost the tower sight.
Jensen added they are also losing 60 feet of height. Bacon asked for a plan to fix the
problem so it can be budgeted for.
Jensen asked who is responsible for making sure these things work and are being
maintained. Hill stated each community is responsible for their own siren. Briseno said
to clarify, Longville operates the dispatch system, Bob Hill oversees the infrastructure in
the county. So when it is asked who is responsible, that depends on what is failing -- is
it the signal coming out of dispatch or is it the equipment, and how can it be improved.
Briseno asked the age of the towers in the city and county and if there are plans to
upgrade them. Hill said they have a state radio tower at the landfill, the City & County
Government Building has an antenna, the county has a repeater owned by Sioux Falls
Two-W ay in Sinai, and there is also one on the blue water tower which is less than 2
years old, as well as the one on the Oines Property. Hill stated he would need to contact
the Bureau of Technological in Pierre, as they have the State Radio Network and set up
a meeting with the county committee to acquire quotes. It will take a contract to get a
study done. Bartley clarified what is needed is a request for proposal to conduct a study.
Longville asked when the tower has to be moved off the Oines property. Dave Jacobson
said the tower is gone, however the repeater is still on the silo. Hill said in this contract
we need them to identify any free standing towers.
Longville asked how they came to the process on how to move the tower on the Oines
property. Hill stated Vanteck owns the tower and there were issues in Bruce at the time,
so they moved it. Matt Anders stated Sinai has one on their water tower and is working
well. Anders asked if it would be possible to locate one on every water tower. Bartley
said this proposal from Vanteck or Sioux Falls Two-W ay should provide a bid and have
the scope of work defined. Have a meeting following receipt of the proposals. Jensen
asked if that is something each fire department with in the county should go with.
Jensen asked if Bob Hill would put something together and have a meeting before the
next quarterly meeting. Bartley stated Bob will write the RFP. Briseno made a motion
that the RFP committee consist of: Bob Hill, Darrell Hartman, JoLynn Longville, Dave
Erickson, Marty Stanwick, and a Fire Chief from each county fire department. It is time
to move forward, make the decisions necessary, and bring the RFP’s back to this
committee. Trevor Schwartz asked if there is any necessary upgrades the Fire
Department needs to be doing now that dispatch has a new system. Longville said she
would ask Sioux Falls Two Way for a recommendation. Bartley reiterated to go with the
RFP and a defined scope of work within the next 30 days. The RFP committee will then
look at the proposals and make a suggestion on the vendor they would like the E911
Committee to review. The proposal should include cost, sight location, repeaters, and
tower locations. Tower locations will have to be secured. Bacon/Briseno made the
motion.
Discussion on the location of the back-up dispatch center:
Stanwick explained after the SO was used for the back-up dispatch center they had a
follow-up meeting. If it was a longer duration, the SO would not be a good location.
Briseno asked if there is opportunity to put it out at the Range? The reason he is
suggesting this location is because of the location being far enough from the cit y in case
it got hit by a tornado, as there is a tower there. Powers said we would need to evaluate
what equipment would be needed. Powers suggested the new fire department location.
Briseno suggested looking at existing facilities and asked if the university is a back -up
for the City. Longville said no. Powers stated they need to evaluate what is needed,
what are the associated costs, then look at finding a location. Briseno would like to
approach the university if they already have the equipment. Stanwick said he would talk
with Chief Heaton. Jensen asked about the mobile command trailer. Longville clarified
the mobile command trailer does not have a computer system. Powers will wait to hear
from UPD and if that will or will not work. Powers will compile needed information for
the possible situation if everything goes down.
Member reports:
Steffensen asked in regards to the RFP, at what point does there need to be a bid. She
is concerned if Sioux Falls Two-W ay submits an RFP and then it has to be put out for
bid. Briseno said we are doing an RFP for an analysis, and there would be a different
RFP for the equipment. Briseno’s question pertains to outside the city limits, and if that
is still cost shared. Jensen said in his opinion if Bruce or White need something for
equipment, such as upgrades to meet the standard, they should pay their share. Stacey
asked who if the individual Fire Departments are responsible for the repeaters. Longville
asked who paid for Sinai’s. Steffensen clarified she is talking about towers and
repeaters. Briesno stated if that is the county’s and the fire departments are paying for
it, he doesn’t have an opinion unless it effects dispatch. Hill stated it is important
everything works together and the county is not asking for money from the city. Powers
asked if it is important for the city and county to have the same ven dor. The City uses
Sioux Falls Two Way, and the City Fire Department uses Vanteck, and most of the
county Fire Departments use Vanteck. When someone calls in because of a bad
repeater, how do we know who their contact is? Is it the goal to get everyone on the
same page? Jensen mentioned he gets calls from county fire and ambulance asking
who to call if there is a problem. Hill clarified they should be calling him. Briesno
suggested having them call Longville, as sometimes it could be operations or
equipment, and if it’s equipment she can refer it to Bob.
Hill stated the command trailer was purchased in 2004 and needs updates. He would
like the different agencies to set up a time to meet and look over the trailer to make
suggestions on upgrades. He also mentioned he would like to use some Homeland
Security Grant money for the purchases.
Next meeting: Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 8:30 AM.
Regular quarterly meetings are held in January, April, July, and October on the
third Thursday of the month. Budget discussion is held in May.
Adjourn
Submitted by Chris Larson