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Consideration of and action on an ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Capital Improvements Fund Budget for the purchase of Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Whelen Outdoor Siren System Upgrade.
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Summary:
Fiscal/Budgetary Impact: The City currently operates 10 outdoor warning sirens located throughout the community. This is an aging system with most of the siren sites in excess of 15 years old (some are over 20 years old). The older technology has been quite problematic in recent years, with varying levels of performance effectiveness and reliability. Newer technology is available which would greatly enhance system reliability and afford the City's emergency dispatch center with real-time visibility of each site's status.
While funding for this system upgrade is through the Deer Park Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), the LEPC is unable to fund the entire project in one year and is scheduling the upgrade over a three-year period. The first phase (including the dispatch equipment and three of the 10 sites) has already been funded by the LEPC. The immediate purchase of Phase 2 and Phase 3 would complete the "front panel upgrade" of all the outdoor warning sirens in Deer Park in a more timely manner. At the May 21, 2019 Council Meeting, the City Council authorized the City to purchase Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Whelen Outdoor Siren System Upgrade from Crosspoint Communications through the BuyBoard Cooperative Purchasing Program.
The authorization to complete the remaining phases of this system upgrade also included authorization to use the fund balance of the General Fund assigned for disaster response/repair. When the LEPC reimburses the City over the next two years, those funds will also be designated as assigned fund balance to restore that balance to the current $816,000.00 of this assigned fund balance.
This project will be completed by Crosspoint Communications through the BuyBoard Cooperative Purchasing Program, Contract #524-1...
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