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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