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REGULAR MEETINGFEBRUARY 22, 2010 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />th <br />Mayor Stephen Luecke, 14 Floor County-City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., South <br />Bend, Indiana, made the presentation for this bill. <br /> <br />Mayor Luecke advised that this bill would allow for the upgrade of South Bend’s public <br />radio system to an 800 Mhz system fully integrated with that of the County and City of <br />Mishawaka requires an expenditure by South Bend of $900,000.00 as its cooperative <br />share of the cost of (1) upgrading five (5) Safe-T towers by adding two additional 800 <br />Mhz channels per cell tower, (2) purchasing associated equipment and upgraded <br />software, and (3) purchasing one (1) in-vehicle mobile radio and fifty-two (52) portable <br />radios. The cost for all of these upgrades is being furnished at a competitive discount <br />offered by Motorola because of the County-wide participation. Mayor Luecke further <br />noted that this will further enable all public safety responders within the St. Joseph <br />County boundaries to cooperate with state, local, and surrounding county police and fire <br />departments, as well as federal agencies, in the face of a massive emergency, and in day <br />to day law enforcement. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dieter asked how long will it take for the upgrade process to be <br />complete. <br /> <br />Mayor Luecke stated eighteen months. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dieter asked when the warranty will start. <br /> <br />Mayor Luecke advised that Motorola recognized that they would not be put into service <br />right away and offered and extended warranty for 3 years. <br /> <br />Councilmember Rouse asked what the total amount of the excess welfare distribution <br />was. <br /> <br />Mayor Luecke advised that it was 2.9 million <br /> <br />Councilmember Henry Davis questioned what the left over money was going to be used <br />for. <br /> <br />Mayor Luecke stated that they do not have any set proposals at this time. It will be used <br />for Public Safety purposes are required by State Law. They may reserve some of the <br />additional funds to purchase additional radios in the future. He stated that they have had <br />further discussions with Police and Fire personnel about a number of different activities. <br />However, there will be the need to go to a narrowband UHF/VHF broadcasting in a <br />couple of years. He stated that they may ask for some of those dollars to purchase that <br />equipment. Mayor Luecke stated that the Fire Department has asked for a couple of new <br />repeaters to be able to stronger signal strength at the sight of a major fire. He estimated <br />that the total cost should be under $100,000. <br /> <br />Councilmember Henry Davis asked what the average need was to be able to interface <br />with the other various departments. <br /> <br />Police Chief Darryl Bokins advised that it is not often, but the need does occur. He stated <br />that this is a tool to get started. <br /> <br />Councilmember Henry Davis stated that he thinks this bill gives the wrong perception of <br />South Bend and that crime is high. He stated that he would have like to seen the money <br />be spent on personnel. <br /> <br />Mayor Luecke stated that upgrading to 800 Mhz technology doesn’t say that we have <br />more crime. This just enhances the city. <br /> <br />Councilmember Rouse advised that the change to 800 Mhz had to be in place by a certain <br />date according to the federal government. <br /> <br /> 3 <br /> <br />