Washington County Radio System Under Budget

Excellent.

M/A-COM Inc., a Massachusetts subsidiary of Tyco Electronics, will be paid $10.3 million to provide an emergency radio system for Washington County, under a contract that the County Board approved Tuesday.

The contract requires M/A-COM’s digital system, including vehicle radios and hand-held portable radios, to be reliable at least 95% of the time over at least 95% of the county. The system, to begin operating in late 2009, is to replace aging radio equipment used by the county Sheriff’s and Highway departments, all municipal police and fire departments, and emergency medical services.

[...]

But Sheriff Dale Schmidt said one of the towers, on Jefferson St. in West Bend, might not be able to support the additional weight of an emergency system antenna. Building a tower there would increase the final contract cost.

The board had budgeted $14.6 million for the project.

The contract is to buy antennas and other tower equipment, vehicle and portable radios, and consoles and computers for four dispatch centers. In addition to the Sheriff’s Department, the county plans to provide radios, consoles and computers for dispatch centers in West Bend, Germantown and Hartford.

This system is sorely needed and has been a long time in coming.  I’m happy to see it coming in substantially under budget.  Let’s hope the final bill remains within budget.