The City of Levelland City Council held a regular meeting Monday evening which approved the purchase of new telecommunications consoles for the Levelland Police Communication Center, changes to the MainStreet bylaws.
On February 6, city staff presented multiple projects to council, all of which could be eligible expenses paid for by ARPA funds. At the time, council voted to instruct staff to procure bids and return to council for discussion and possible approval. At that time, a quote was presented through South Plains Communications. Since that time, South Plains Communications, which is the nearest local dealership has added this same program to the buy board system guaranteeing a lower cost.
Previously presented in February, council was made aware of the old and antiquated telecommmunication system in operation today. Levelland Police Chief Albert Garcia explained to council that the department is responsible for dispatch services for all public safety agencies within Hockley County. Because of the old system, Garcia added that the dispatch services have been lacking.
“Many times, our radio transmissions are not heard appropriately or not heard at all, causing slower responses by personnel in the field,” said Garcia. “This also has caused safety concerns with public safety when needing assistance.” It was recommended to council to authorize a buy board bid to South Plains Communications for the purchase of telecommunication consoles at the LPD Communication Center utilizing ARPA funds.
Garcia explained that the project would replace the old equipment the telecommunications center has had since 2009, which was when the last grant was written. Additionally, in March of 2018, the communication center moved into their new location and the old infrastructure was relocated into the new area.
The department has worked with South Plains Communication in the past as they have serviced the current system in place.
The company has also aided the department in procuring new radios for patrol units and radios for officers to carry on their persons.
Garcia spoke about the numbers associated with the cost of the project which their latest quote for the proposed value being $248,419.
With the company voluntarily going through the buy board to procure a lower cost for the new system, the price dropped down to $208,175.
Overall, the project will replace seven console units with five being located in the telecommunications center. The Levelland Fire Department has one in their base of operation and this would allow the department to change out the telecommunications center in the MOV, which is the mobile vehicle that is utilized by the emergency management coordinator.
“When we have something catastrophic or some type of major event, we will take our command post out and operate out of that particular unit,” explained Garcia. “At that time, we will replace the dispatch service center in that particular vehicle.”
Councilwoman Breann Buxkemper asked Garcia if all existing radios and equipment that will be retained will mesh well with the new system.
Garcia explained that everything will be setup to work in hand will all existing equipment.
Buxkemper also asked about the longevity of the new equipment and what the life span everyone can expect of the equipment.
Garcia reiterated the long life the current equipment has had and said that everyone can expect the new equipment to be in service for the better part of a decade at the very least similar to the current equipment.
If any down time is required during the installation from the new consoles, Garcia explained it would not take long to be fully operational.
While that is not a guarantee, Garcia added that the department can mobilize the mobile command post to handle the responsibilities in the mean time to accommodate the required instillation time.
Councilman Jim Myatt asked Garcia if the $208,175 is a turn-key price and if going through the buy board is the best possible avenue to pursue.
Garcia said the price is turnkey and that includes all equipment and instillation.
When finding the best option to purchase from RFQ’s Garcia explained that the vendor of the current system is out of the Austin area which poses issues due to aid if something is wrong with the system and the overall price is almost doubled due to travel.
Trying to find an alternative vendor with a local company to work on the current system was unsuccessful. Looking for other vendors to service the current system in place showed that most companies were not located in the immediate area or a around the clock service.
Garcia added that South Plains Communication is an around the clock service and is located in the Lubbock area.
Councilman Michael Stueart asked if there is any resale value for the older equipment. Garcia feels that there will not be due to the current radios and consoles have lived out their life expectancy.
Following the discussion of the agenda item, the council unanimously agreed to approve the purchase through the buy board.
MainStreet Director Tania Moody explained the agenda item that could change a portion of the current bylaws for the program.
Since COVID-19, Moody has noticed it as been more difficult to reach a quorum for meetings.
“Only meeting once a month, we’re moving so quickly and are trying to approve certain things each month, it was suggested by our president and our vice president to bring this to the board,” said Moody. “The program is looking to reduce the size of the board in order to reduce the size needed for quorum.”
Moody added that the board approved the change in order to bring the item to council. Additionally, she explained that they board is not looking to kick anybody off of the board, but it would be a natural process in which people would roll off and eventually bring the board down to the desired number of eight members.
The adjustment means the board would go from 10 members to eight.
The change would take effect at the beginning of the next term in October, which reduces the number needed for quorum from six to five.
Moody added that it may not seem like a big difference, but more often than not, the deciding factor of having quorum is by one.
The second change within the bylaws would be with term limits.
Other boards currently have in place two term limits, which is what would be allowed for the MainStreet board as well.
Another topic of change is the MainStreet board has had a staff member in the past serve as secritary, however, Moody explained that they struggling to have enough people to do the many tasks for multiple groups.
Moody added that herself and the board would like to make the secretarial position in the board a board member position to help lighten the load of the staff.
The council unanimously approved the changes within the bylaws.