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CONTRACT NO. K-1415-16: A CONTRACT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, AND RCC CONSULTANTS, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $127,239 TO PROVIDE CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR PHASE 1 OF THE REPLACEMENT OF THE CITY’S EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND A BUDGET APPROPRIATION FROM THE PUBLIC SAFETY SALES TAX FUND BALANCE.
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BACKGROUND: The mission of the City of Norman is “working together to deliver exceptional service”. In approximately 2008 the City of Norman was informed by the manufacturer that the City’s Emergency Communication System, a fundamental component in Public Safety service delivery, would be end-of-life or no longer serviceable in 2018. The City’s Emergency Communication System is the primary means for 9-1-1 Communication Officers to notify Norman’s Public Safety first responders (Medical, Fire, and Police) of requests for service from citizens as well as the primary means of communication between the same first responders. In addition, the City’s Emergency Communication System is the primary means of communication for incidents involving response from Public Safety partners from neighboring and shared jurisdictions. The City’s Emergency Communication System provides both operability for routine delivery City services and interoperability with partnering government entities during joint responses.
DISCUSSION: On April 1, 2014, the citizens of Norman approved a permanent Public Safety Sales Tax. The replacement of the City’s current Emergency Communication System was one item identified for funding from the Public Safety Sales Tax. Due to the complexity and anticipated expense associated with replacing the City’s Emergency Communication System, City Staff has reviewed many similar projects since learning of the current system’s end-of-life date. As a result of Staff research, the technical knowledge and time needed to complete a thorough needs assessment, develop system alternatives, and prepare budgetary cost estimates for the Emergency Communication System project strongly supports the use of consulting services to ensure a successful outcome. In reviewing similar and larger scale projects that were successful through implementation and acceptance testing, RCC Consultants was identified as an industry leader. RCC Consultants has assisted multiple municipalities in the replacement of Emergency Communication Systems that are the same as the City of Norman’s current system in an ethical and vendor neutral manner. The City used RCC in 2011/2012 for assessment, specifications and implementation services related to the Computer Aided Dispatch, Police Records Management System and Mobile Data Network systems and RCC performed successfully. The proposed project process for the replacement of the City’s Emergency Communication System contains three phases.
Phase I - Needs Assessment, Development of System Alternatives, and Preparation of Budgetary Cost Estimates;
Review of the City’s existing system, assessment of the City’s radio communications needs and requirements and translating those needs into an implementation strategy. This includes a system review, needs assessment, development of conceptual system alternatives, budgetary cost estimates, and a Phase 1 Report outlining RCC’s findings and recommendations.
Phase II - Development of System Specifications & Vendor Selection
Detailed system configuration, specification development, Requests for Proposals (RFP), proposal solicitation, vendor proposal evaluations, and contract negotiation assistance.
Phase III - Project Implementation & Acceptance Testing
System implementation support for equipment installation, system testing, performance evaluation, and final system acceptance.
While the components of Phase II and Phase III of the replacement project are known, the consulting expense associated with each Phase can varying based on the outcome of Phase I. Therefore, Staff believes the most prudent course of action is the complete Phase I prior to contracting for consulting services for Phase II or III.
It is Staff’s expectation that Phase I of the Emergency Communication System project would be complete within 6 months following approval of consulting services.
RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the agreement, K-1415-16, between the RCC Consultants, Inc. and the City of Norman for the provision of consulting services for the replacement of the City’s Emergency Communication System be approved and $127,239 be appropriated from Public Safety Sales Tax Fund Balance (account 015-0000-253.20-00) to PSST Emergency Communications Consultant (account 015-6139-421.40-01).