MEMORANDUM

TO: Pete Sprague, Assembly President

Members, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

THRU: Dale Bagley Borough Mayor

THRU: Mark Fowler, Purchasing and Contracting Officer

FROM: David Gibbs, Emergency Manager

Steve O'Connor, E-911 Board Chair

DATE: June 26, 2003

SUBJECT: Resolution 2003-078, a resolution awarding a contract for development of a public safety communications strategic plan

The Office of Emergency Management requests sole source approval to hire Gary Boyd and Associates, and William Doolittle & Associates, as consultants to assist the Borough with a comprehensive review of the Borough's public safety communications system. After the review, the consultants will develop a strategic plan for improving the borough emergency communications system through a series of coordinated and orderly upgrades to communications facilities and hardware.

The last review of the borough's emergency communication system was done in 1990 and was limited to an evaluation of the E-911 system. Since then, numerous problems with the emergency communications system have been identified. These include: E-911 addressing anomalies, radio coverage deficiencies, equipment obsolescence, and a lack of Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD).

The consultants will provide technical expertise that the borough presently lacks, but will require as the borough addresses several external factors that have, or will have, an impact on its emergency communications system. These include: an impending major upgrade to the Municipality of Anchorage E-911 system; FCC requirements for the implementation of 911 system features to identify the location of wireless E-911 callers; FCC mandated frequency "re-farming" that is driving radio systems to new narrow band technologies; the Alaska Land Mobile Radio (ALMR) system project.

I believe the consultants are uniquely qualified to assist the borough with the development of an emergency communications system strategic plan for the following reasons:

� They have been involved in the full life cycle of the Municipality of Anchorage's E-911 System upgrade. This has included strategic planning through system procurement and implementation. The consulting team has been retained in not only an advisory role, but also that of a contract Project Manager with responsibility for project completion.  

� Alaska has very few regulatory guidelines, standards, tariffs, etc. relevant to 911.  However, as a result of the proposal evaluation and contract negotiation activities on behalf of Anchorage, they have access to substantial cost and configuration information that will be important to the borough's future E-911 plans.  

The consultants have broad experience in Alaska, assisting the Municipality of Anchorage, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and the Alaska Land Mobile Radio Project. These projects have incorporated implementation planning for regional radio communications and upgrades to Enhanced 911 systems in Alaska. In each case, these have represented multi-jurisdictional projects with regional coordination and cooperation.

  The consultants bring a multi-disciplinary approach to the proposed project. Both consultants have broad experience in all topics under consideration, including technical, operational, and fiscal aspects. In particular, the consultants are familiar with the rural nature of Alaska and the challenges to providing address and location information to public safety responders.

The Borough will be able to take advantage of shared out-of-pocket expenses, yielding lower overall project costs. While they are based out of state, the consultants' nearly continuous presence in Alaska will ensure timely availability and savings in travel costs.

� The consultants were instrumental in Anchorage's receipt of $500,000 from the Public Safety Foundation of America. They alerted the Municipality to this funding opportunity, one of their affiliated consultants authored the grant application, and their Strategic Plan was cited as one of the PSFA's decision criteria, such that "the Anchorage 9-1-1 project had the highest likelihood of success."

� The consultants bring insight from dozens of technology projects across the country, reflecting the carefully considered approaches available to public safety, and the maturity of practical ideas. They will not be 'learning' on this project, but will bring this community of experience to the Borough.

� The consultants helped to initiate and continue to participate in an inter-agency task force currently working to improve the coordination of 911 activity in the region.

In response to the borough's request, the consultants submitted a proposal addressing all phases of the strategic plan development. This has been reviewed by the chair and vice-chair of the E-911 board and David Gibbs. No one recommend any changes to the scope of work. The proposed cost is for a fixed fee of $97,840.00. Funds for the project are available in account number 455.53110.03911.43011.