Facing two deadlines, Brown County commissioners’ court is battling not only time but also legalities to become compliant with Homeland Security and Federal Communications Commission requirements in the purchase of radios for local law enforcement.
Brown County Judge Ray West said that Homeland Security and FCC requirements outline that all communications equipment, both mobile and handheld, be converted to narrow band by January 1, 2013.
Commissioners face a closer deadline, July 31, 2012, to get equipment ordered, received and installed in order to meet the requirements to use funds from the Homeland Security grant to purchase the radios.
West stated that the county can determine that the purchase of these radios is for the safety and welfare of its citizens and can forego the bid process; however, the court elected to enter into the bidding process previously after the county auditor Nina Cox suggested that would be the best course of action.
On May 24th, the county commissioners opened the one sealed bid which was received from SWB Services of Early, but also received a proposal for equipment from LAN Communications in Abilene, which was solicited by citizen Joe Cooksey outside of the bidding process. Both were reviewed; however no decision was made at the May 24th meeting and another specially called meeting to take up the matter was called for Wednesday, May 30th.
“Little did we know that we’d only get one bid, from the company we usually use,” said West.
Cooksey asked West his intentions regarding the purchase during Wednesday’s commissioners’ court.
“Would you please clarify what it is that you intend to do, do you intend to buy these radios through that $49,000 agreement and then add to that, is that the direction you are going?” questioned Cooksey.
West replied that the court needed to “abandon the bid process and then continue down the road to purchase sufficient radio equipment.”
“We already have a $25,000 check in SWB’s possession and no agreement in writing,” argued Cooksey. “When did commissioners vote on this purchase?” he asked. “When did the court bind the county to the SWB order?”
West replied that on May 9, 2011 grant funds of $67,992 were authorized by the court for this expenditure.
Cooksey said that he believes the approval was given during a private meeting, not in commissioners’ court.
“You, Brent and West Texas Council of Governments decided to enter into the agreement with SWB without the commissioners’ court agreement,” Cooksey said.
West defended the decision, “There’s more to it than just buying equipment. Number 1: We’ve received a bid and a proposal and 2: We have a per item proposal from two companies. There’s more to it than just purchasing equipment, there’s installation and alignment and servicing, for which the grant monies cannot be used.”
West recommended that the court abandon the bid process and meet again Monday, June 4th in order to take the necessary action to purchase the dollar value of the radios. He explained that 10 radios of each kind were ordered for $49,999 and that 8 more radios of each kind, in the amount of approximately $38,000, would be ordered in addition to complete the needed order. West explained that the first 10 radios of each kind have been ordered already to speed up the time of delivery to meet the grant deadline. He said that as these radios are not models typically found on store shelves, they have to be special ordered and sometimes manufactured to fill orders. West stated that the current turnaround time for an order is 90 days, which runs very close to the July 31st deadline.
Jana Owen, from the West Texas Council of Governments, stated that it is imperative that Brown County beat the July 31 deadline for paperwork to be submitted to the WTCOG for processing in order to send it on to the state for reimbursement.
West then stated that it is important to get the equipment ordered now as several counties are scrambling to get the available radios and hopefully receive some of the radios that are currently being manufactured.
Owen also stated that Brown County has been in strict compliance with the grant guidelines.
“An audit done by the state found the expenditure of the funds by Brown County was totally and completely in compliance,” said Owen. “In fact, Brown County got the highest score (of the counties in the audit).”
West stated the importance of getting an order submitted and processed.
“I don’t want anyone feeling that we are trying to be anything other than transparent. I just simply want the public to know there is a time constraint to buy these units. The entire state of Texas is trying to buy these radios and we were just trying to get ahead of the curve,” explained West. “I heard a comment a while ago that we want to do this right and be assured we get the money. Several other counties are doing the same thing. I am trying to make it as transparent as possible and it is not working. I am getting complained about if I put it up for bids; I get complained about if I don’t put it up for bids. I don’t know what to do without getting chastised. So, we are going to follow the letter of the law and hopefully there will be no more bantering about how this court conducts its business. This meeting is open, everything we do is open. You know how much we have to spend and how we are going to spend it and what we are going to spend it on and just keep in mind that there are several manufacturers, but 254 counties have to comply with this by January 1, 2013.”
Commissioner Precinct 1 Bob Clark voiced his concerns of the timelines faced by the court.
“My only concern is that SWB is the only supplier, I think, that can supply these radios within the time constraint. If we don’t get the radios, we lose the grant money, $67,992,” said Clark. “Nobody has convinced me that anybody else can deliver these radios in that time.”
“Commissioners I’d like to add that if we lose that grant money, that (nearly) $68,000, Brown County tax payers are going to have to still come up with that money, before the compliance date of January 1st,” said Brown County Sheriff’s Captain Tony Aaron.
If the county loses the grant, Clark pointed out, there is more than the nearly $68,000 to lose.
“That’s about $136,000 we can lose if we don’t get this done by the 31st of July and have these radios in hand,” Clark explained since the county would have to pay for the radios out of existing funds if they didn’t meet the grant’s guidelines.
West explained that the service, the alignment, and installation were not included in the bid specifications because the grant does not pay for that.
The Kenwood brand of radios is being considered as the sole option because most of the county’s existing radios are Kenwood and the new radios must be compatible.
“I am taking money out of the equation, because I am talking about officer safety and public safety. We want to equip our vehicles so that any officer can get in that vehicle and know that the equipment is identical to any vehicle,” said Aaron. “Whether it is light or dark, their knobs are in the right spot, their sirens are in the right spot. Having everything uniform is paramilitary and military type training. Fire Departments do it; EMS does it; that is what we prefer so that any officer can knows exactly how to operate everything.”
No action was taken at Wednesday’s meeting; however, commissioners will meet again in open session at 9:00am on Monday, June 4th to continue their efforts to purchase the necessary communications equipment with the grant funds.
Pictured at top is Cooksey (standing center) questioning commissioners.
