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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 01 24 Consent 200 IS Critical Telephone Communication COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM 200 Consent X January 24. 2005 Regular Meeting Mr/~t Authorization REQUEST: Information Services requests that the Commission approve option 1 of this project, authorize an additional appropriation in the amount of $34,000 to move critical telephone communication equipment into City facilities at two locations, and authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with BellSouth to complete this project. PURPOSE: To obtain Commission approval of option 1 of this project, obtain an additional appropriation to move critical telephone communication equipment into City facilities at two locations; and authorize the City Manager to contract with BellSouth in order to complete this project. CONSIDERATIONS: During the last hurricane season, the City learned of certain areas that needed improvement relative to disaster preparedness. Being aware of issues and then trying to resolve them are very important steps toward improving disaster preparedness and ensuring business continuity. Because of the hurricanes, we learned of a telephone service issue that we could possibly mitigate. During hurricanes or storms, electrical service is usually lost causing loss of phone service after a period of time. Loss of phone service affects the City's ability to communicate with its citizens as well as its emergency workers in the field, and with other government entities. S:\Information_Services\Admin_Docs\Agenda Iterns\FY 2005\January 2005\January 24, 2005\012405 _ COMM _ Consent_ 200 _ Additional_Appropriation _ BellSouth _ Equipment. doc CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS CITY COMMISSION January 24, 2005 CONSENT 200 PAGE20F3 Mitigation grants were sought through FEMA but because BellSouth is a private enterprise, they will not provide funds for moving this equipment. There are two BellSouth remote terminal facilities (RTF) that affect service to City buildings and facilities. . One is at the intersection of Frank and Wade Streets, which services the Police, Fire, and Public Works buildings; . The other is located close to Central Winds Park (CWP) and services CWP, City Hall, Fire Station 26 & 28, and the Water Treatment Plant on Northern Way. Issues: During our last hurricane season, communications services were one of our major problems because: . The City Emergency Operations Center (EO C) depends on the phone service for communication within the City between emergency personnel, as well as with the County and State during an event such as a hurricane. . From the Police Department's perspective, both BellSouth RTF locations pose a security risk particularly the one at Frank and Wade Streets. This RTF is not well secured and is exposed to the possibility of line tampering, traffic crashes, vandalism, water, and trees. . Cellular telephone service was intermittent at best and could not be depended upon as a sole means of communication. . The City experienced major telephone service outages which affected communications between the EOC and workers in the field, as well as communications between City/County/State at the EOC level. . Both BellSouth facilities located in the City have battery backup for power outages. Once electrical service is lost, the backup batteries will last 6-8 hours. Once the batteries are drained, all power is lost, the telephone equipment facility is down and there is no phone service. . BellSouth's emergency generators are staged out of Tampa and BellSouth will not begin deployment of those generators to the necessary locations until after the event (hurricane) has passed. The deployment takes some time; and those generators must then be included on their fueling route plan. During the aftermath of the first hurricane last year, fueling was not done at the two facilities and the City lost power to the two phone facilities causing our City facilities, including the Police and Fire Departments, to be without phone service. This also affected 9-1-1 emergency calls. When this happens, 9-1-1 calls are automatically re-routed to Seminole County, creating a longer response time to the citizens of Winter Springs. Options: The City has met with BellSouth on several occaSlOns and several options were proposed as follows: . Option 1: Move BellSouth Mux/Equipment - $34,000 ($30,000 BellSouth + $4,000 to prep facilities for the move). This option would require certain CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS CITY COMMISSION January 24, 2005 CONSENT 200 PAGE30F3 BellSouth equipment to be moved into City facilities (Police Department and City Hall). o Power outages would not affect telephone equipment in question because the facilities are covered by generators whereas BellSouth's facilities have only backup batteries. o Access to equipment will not be an issue. The Police Department is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if access is necessary. Contacts for City Hall will be provided so that if access is necessary, it will be provided. oWe would be part of a BellSouth ring and would gain some redundancy. We determined that this would be the most cost effective way of minimizing our future exposure to loss of phone service to City facilities. Without BellSouth's cooperation in this effort, the cost to us would be approximately $100,000. However, because BellSouth feels that this will help them as well, our cost is $30,000. We feel that this is the best option for us at this time to mitigate future phone issues relative to power outages. The $34,000 includes engineering, construction and circuit cut-over, equipment installation, and extra work! items needed to prepare the two facilities for the move. . Option 2: BellSouth SmartRing Service - $10,000-$11,000 per month ($120,000- $132,000 annually). This provides the most solid (and most expensive) solution via buried fiber and guarantees that there will be no loss of service because it is based on a ring topology. We could also use this for our data network connectivity. . Option 3: BellSouth LightGate Service - $1,480 installation + $4,410 monthly charge ($52,920 annually). This provides us with a partial Smart Ring solution from the BellSouth central office (CO) to the City. This option does not guarantee 100% uptime. . Add-on/Enhancement (this is not really an option to solve our problem but could be considered an enhancement to our current service). BellSouth Crisis Link Service - $750 service establishment fee + $85 per month ($1,020 annually) - This service could be used in conjunction with our current service and would allow the City to reroute calls to one or more "backup" locations during a crisis or emergency situation. Calls are re-routed according to a pre-arranged plan designated by the customer. There is a limit of 10 numbers that can be redirected. FUNDING: Requesting an additional appropriation in the amount of $34,000 from General Fund. RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Commission approve option 1, authorize an additional appropriation in the amount of $34,000, and authorize the City manager to contract with BellSouth in order to complete this project. ATTACHMENTS: COMMISSION ACTION: