HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 12h - Annual Subscriber Fees for Interagency Communicatonis Interoperability System
DATE: March 3, 2020
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Robert Guthrie, Chief of Police
By: Dr. Jennifer Brutus, Sr. Management Analyst
SUBJECT: INTERAGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INTEROPERABILITY SYSTEM
(“ICIS”) ANNUAL SUBSCRIBER FEES FOR A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD IN AN
AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $301,625
Recommendation: Approve
SUMMARY
The Arcadia Police Department established an Agreement with the Interagency
Communication Interoperability System (“ICIS”) Joint Powers Authority for wireless
communication use and maintenance on March 1, 2019, for a five-year period. Every
year, the City and other partner agencies will benefit from ICIS’s infrastructure, which
provides for a wide area interoperable radio system. It is recommended that the City
Council approve the annual ICIS subscriber fees for the period of October 1, 2019,
through June 30, 2020, in the amount of $41,625. Funds for the Fiscal Year 2019-20
have been allocated in the Operating Budget under contract services. The cost estimate
for the next four years is $65,000 per year (Fiscal Year 2021-22 through Fiscal Year
2024-25). The total cost for the five-year period will not exceed $301,625.
BACKGROUND
The Interoperability Communications Interoperability System (“ICIS”) is a regional Land
Mobile Radio (“LMR”) system that provides coverage through the Los Angeles County
region to member, subscriber, and affiliated agencies. ICIS is a California Joint Powers
Authority, which was formed in 2003 and operational in 2004. The concept of ICIS
came about by a group of the member agency leaders who shared a common need to
replace their aging infrastructure.
The founding members of ICIS consist of the Cities of Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver
City, Glendale, Montebello, Pasadena, and Pomona. The latest membership addition is
a San Gabriel Valley JPA group consisting of the Cities of Azusa, Covina, Glendora,
Irwindale, La Verne, and West Covina. In addition to the 13 Member cities of the JPA,
another ten Los Angeles County cities employ the system as Subscribers for their police
Annual Subscriber Fees for ICIS
March 3, 2020
Page 2 of 3
and/or fire agencies including the Cities of Arcadia, Alhambra, Claremont, Monrovia,
Monterey Park, San Fernando, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, and South
Pasadena.
There are currently 31 Fire/EMS and Police agencies operating on the ICIS system as
their primary means of mission critical and general communications. These agencies
represent 21 individual cities and several thousand first responders within Los Angeles
County. The ICIS system supports Police, Fire, Emergency Medical, General
Government, and Public Utility resources in its member and subscriber communities.
ICIS is a full service system sustaining both first and second responder resources on a
single interoperable communications platform. There are some 20,000 radios affiliated
to the system including regional mutual aid resources. It is a shared system with
components purchased and constructed by individual cities, and linked together through
a microwave network in order to provide regional coverage. Overall, the system has a
regional footprint that allows agencies a wide area coverage with interoperability at the
cost of a small municipal system.
The ICIS system provides radio service to virtually the entirety of Los Angeles County's
4,500 square mile area with excellent coverage in the urban and suburban areas of the
entire operational area. Employing high-level, high-power repeater sites, the regional
coverage footprint of the ICIS system is robust throughout the entire county and even
beyond, reaching several miles into the adjoining Counties of San Bernardino, Orange,
and Ventura.
DISCUSSION
The Department’s radios (mobile and handhelds) run off the City’s repeater site located
at Santa Anita Ridge located above Arcadia on the South/Eastern slopes of Mt. Wilson.
The City owns the repeater site, which houses two repeaters with interchangeable
connections that can also support one another during times of need. There is no cost to
run the repeater site other than maintenance, which is performed on an as-needed
basis. While the annual cost tends to be nominal, the need to upgrade and update the
repeater site from time-to-time can be significant. More importantly, the City’s
standalone system only is useful within City limits and a small range beyond. Given the
regional nature of policing investigations, training, and court appearances officers are
often taken well outside of City limits but still require a means of communicating with the
dispatch center as well as other officers.
The advanced digital option is a fiber optic network offered by ICIS extends the range of
radio connection allowing for clear calls as far west as Santa Monica to far east to areas
such as Rancho Cucamonga. This past January, Arcadia officers were able to serve a
warrant in Lancaster and have clear radio connection through ICIS. Calls between
officers located in different cities sounded as if they were standing inches away from
each other. This would not have been possible on the City’s old connection. For these
Annual Subscriber Fees for ICIS
March 3, 2020
Page 3 of 3
reasons, it is recommended that the City pay the cost of the ICIS subscriber fees to
guarantee clear and effective communication.
As a subscriber agency, Arcadia is obligated to pay annual subscriber fees. The fees
are established by the ICIS Governance Board and at the time of signing the Agreement
in March of 2019, subscriber fees were based on a rate of $300 per radio per annum
($25 per radio per calendar month). For Fiscal Year 2019-20 (Year 1), ICIS is only
charging the City for 10 months for the period of October 1, 2019, through June 30,
2020, at a cost of $41,625. This total is based on the Department’s current connection
of 185 radios. However, the Department is allotted 200 connections and the amount of
connections can increase as the Department’s needs change (based on staffing or the
number of radio connections per vehicle). It is important to note that some vehicles can
require more than one radio connection. In addition, it is possible for subscriber fees to
increase in future years. It is expected that for Year 2 through Year 4 (Fiscal Year 2021-
22 through Fiscal Year 2024-25), the cost per year will not exceed $65,000. This
amount covers the cost of 200 radio connections and a $5,000 contingency for new
radio connections and/or possible cost increases. The City would only be obligated to
pay for the actual number of connections each year at the applicable annual rate, which
will be communicated by ICIS on an annual basis.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
The proposed action does not constitute a project under the California Environmental
Quality Act (“CEQA”), and it can be seen with certainty that it will have no impact on the
environment. Thus, this matter is exempt under CEQA.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City’s financial obligation to participate in ICIS as a subscriber agency for Fiscal Year
2019-20 is $41,625. This amount has been budgeted in the City’s Fiscal Year 2019-20
Operating Budget. The Department will budget the annual cost of $65,000 for Fiscal Year
2020-21 through Fiscal Year 2024-25 in their respective operating budgets. The total cost
for the five-year period is expected to be approximately $301,625.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council determine that this project is exempt under the
California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), and approve the Interagency
Communications Interoperability System (“ICIS”) annual subscriber fees for a five-year
period in an amount not to exceed $301,625.
Annual Subscriber Fees for ICIS
March 3, 2020
Page 4 of 3
Attachment: Copy of ICIS Subscriber Agreement