The San Antonio City Council voted unanimously Thursday to award a 15-year, $108 million contract for a public safety radio system to Dailey-Wells, the company that has provided the service since 2004.
City Council’s support for Dailey-Wells came based on a City staff recommendation giving Dailey-Wells, which uses equipment manufactured by the Harris Corporation, an advantage because of its experience in the field. The two-way radio system is used by firefighters, police officers, and CPS Energy linesmen.
Despite the unanimous vote, three Council members attempted to delay the vote until March. A blackout period that forbids Council members from speaking with the bidders lifted a week ago, and Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran (D3) said that did not provide her enough time to have all of her questions about the contract answered.
“The buck and the accountability lies with us here on the City Council,” Viagran said. “We spent the whole process completely blacked out, and had this six days in order to gather all this information.”
Council members Shirley Gonzales (D5) and Ana Sandoval (D7) also supported the delay motion, but it ultimately failed.
Bexar County and CPS Energy partnered with the City of San Antonio for the contract. San Antonio is the majority partner in the deal with 56 percent ownership. The other two partners each receive 22 percent ownership. The total capital cost of the project is $80.7 million, with the City paying $46.6 million, Bexar County paying $17.1 million, and CPS Energy paying $14.4 million. The cost-sharing for an additional $2.6 million in project costs has not yet been determined.
As the majority partner, San Antonio will take responsibility for the roughly $27.3 million in maintenance and operations costs.
Dailey-Wells has 42 months to implement the new radio system. The current system will reach the end of its usable life by 2021.
In their vote to award the contract to Dailey-Wells, the City Council also approved the City’s interlocal agreement with CPS Energy and Bexar County.
But despite accepting the terms of the agreement on Jan. 11, Bexar County officials have said they have yet to agree to fund their end of the project, calling the partnership with the City of San Antonio and CPS Energy into question. Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff (Pct. 3) told the Rivard Report on Tuesday that he anticipates the County will vote on the issue during the next Commissioner’s Court meeting.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Gonzales left for a Sister Cities Summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, during the meeting and did not vote on the matter. Viagran also did not cast a vote.
In a statement to the Rivard Report, Viagran stated she did not have enough information to support the contract, but trusted police and firefighter support of the recommendation enough to not cast a vote against the contract.
15+ years ago we got a radio that we knew wasn’t designed for firefighting with anticipation of getting one that would be, that never happen. Harris is going to design and build one while Motorola radios have already been proven on the fireground. Council members should have to talked to our firefighters and dispatchers concerning the problems that still exists 15 years later.
Council should also have visited agencies that have implemented Harris P25 phase 2 system. The largest in Texas is Lubbock..
Regardless of who won the contract, is now a side matter to a new concern that is now in the light and I think is more concerning and could effect future votes like the $108M Radio Tower vote,
“Is it right for council members to vote on projects over $100M, without having time to address concerns of the community or at least their own?”
“Is 1 week enough time for SA citizens and council members to review a proposal that lasts 15 years?”
“Should there be thresholds to such large and important decisions before casting votes, to allow time to address concerns?”
In my view Staff Recommendation is just that a recommendation. Having a committee to gather facts and give a response on what they think should happen is great and important, but it is up the our voted in city council members then to review their proposal and address the concerns of the community and then VOTE!
I understand that reviews and questions cant hold a vote forever but Council members Rebecca Viagran (D3), Shirley Gonzales (D5) and Ana Sandoval (D7) only asked for a 2 week hold, sounds reasonable.
Thank you,
Rich Acosta