CITY OF MACON ROBERT A. B.

REICHERT MAYOR

700 POPLAR STREET P.O. BOX 247 MACON, GEORGIA 31202 (478) 751-7170

Memorandum
TO: FROM: SUBJECT: DATE City Council Dale Walker, Interim Chief Administrative Officer Bid for 800 Mhz Radio System July 19, 2012

At your most recent City Council meeting, there were some concerns expressed during the public comment portion about the City and Countys recommendation to work with Harris Communications for the purchase and installation of the 800 MHz radio system. The full contract is available for your review in the City Clerks Office, but I wanted to provide you with some summary information about how the Review Committee (listed and signed on the final page) unanimously selected Harris. That way, you will be able to answer any questions you may be asked; if there are still questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Attached is a document signed by all members of the Review Committee explaining why Harris was selected, as well as the financial impact. This is the information we provided to the SPLOST Advisory Committee at its most recent meeting, and I hope it explains better why the Committee decided to make this recommendation. The Committee, after the review and presentation, felt that Harris most suitably met our expressed needs. One of the most important points raised by the Committee was the automatic redundancy in the dual systems; should the primary system from Harris fail, it automatically switches to the secondary system. The Motorola system requires a person to switch to the secondary system. In an emergency, our responders do not need to wait to get a hold of someone to make that switch. There were several points raised in the letter you received from Jones Cork & Miller and Motorola, and Id like to address, what I believe are some of the larger ones. Again, please contact my office should you have any further questions. 1) Personnel concerns Prior to the RFP being issued, the Mayor and I met with Motorola regarding their concerns with our IT Director and what they saw as a potential for a biased selection. We removed the IT Director from the process. They informed us that Joseph Taylor would be suitable as the Citys representative as he is a recognized expert in his field. Mr. Taylor wrote the specifications and Gregory Cline, our Purchasing Agent, finalized the RFP. There was not assistance provided to Joe in writing the specifications. The IT Director was not at the bid review meeting, nor for the oral presentations made by both companies. 2) Current equipment Motorola has been upgrading components of our system the past few years. This current RFP was for a brand new system that all agencies could use. The current system will not be surplused; instead, it will be used by public service (non-emergency) departments such as Public Works and Central Services. It will also serve as a third redundancy for the emergency system should the first two fail. 3) Coverage expansion Our radio system already covers the entire County, and that coverage would not change with the new system. A study was conducted when the system was first installed. 4) Reduced proposal Harris was not allowed to lower their proposal. The City removed items from their original proposal that were not included in the RFP. This way, we could compare apples to apples, as well as to receive an accurate price for our identified needs as specified in the RFP. 5) Cost difference The final amounts were approximately $7.6 million for Harris and approximately $7.2 million for Motorola. We certainly recognize that Motorola has provided the City with many years of service and thank them for their expertise and assistance in other areas. In this matter, however, Harris Communications was unanimously selected by the Review Committee as best meeting the communication needs of our agencies to protect public safety, therefore making it the best use of taxpayer dollars. The end users, whose lives depend on this equipment and who use it to protect other peoples lives, were intimately involved in this decision. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.