May 25, 2000
Some of this first update report will be old information for some of you, but I think it will be beneficial to give as much background as possible so everyone is equally informed as to what has transpired. I'm e-mailing copies to everyone we spoke to who provided me with an e-mail address, and to others principally involved in the project. Please share this report with your organization and anyone who you think would be interested in the information.
The Department of Administration & Fiscal Control has retained the services of RSM McGladrey, Inc., to consult on telecommunications matters. This is a service they preform for variety of states. Their first assignment is to look at the status of the Statewide Public Safety Radio Project and provide assistance in preparing a plan to present to the legislature. The RSM McGladrey representative is Tim Taff, who has a wide background in the field of telecommunications.
Tim was introduced to us on May 10, at a meeting called by Kelly Hamilton, Chairman of the SALECS Commission. At that same time I was named Project Coordinator and assigned to work with Tim and provide him with access to information and people.
Attendee's at this introductory meeting were: Kelly Hamilton, SALECS Chairman; Matt Jones, Governor's Office; Roger Allsop, Sheriff, Laramie County; Dan Perko, President, Wyoming APCO; Shanna Laible, City of Casper; Bill Fleming and Marty Radovich of Motorola; Stephanie Reeves, WAM; Kent Drummond, A&I Planning & Coordination; Frank Galeotos, Director of A&I, and Tim Taff of RSM McGladrey.
A little bit of the project history was covered and some ideas thrown about as to how best to proceed. At the end of the meeting, I promised to keep everyone informed, so brace yourselves because here it comes.
Tim's first request of me was to line up as many county and city officials as I could for his next visit to Wyoming. With the help of WAM and WCCA I got names and phone number of some key folks and through many phone calls was able to arrange some telephone interviews and some face to face meetings.
I'm going to recap all the interviews and meetings here, so everyone will know what concerns and ideas were expressed as we went through the process.
Wednesday afternoon was almost entirely phone interviews. The first one started as soon as Tim walked into my office and had just barely gotten his coat off. The following will cover those with whom we spoke and their concerns and contributions:
Alan Weakly, Commissioner, Campbell County (phone interview) - The project must be designed such that participants can phase in based on their ability to pay. He suggested we pick some target counties to visit and have some specific questions to ask relative to their concerns.
Don Pierson, Director of POST (phone interview) - His main concern, as a former police officer and chief of Cheyenne PD, is that public safety entities can't talk to one another.
Larry Majerus, Chief, Douglas PD, and Lori Emmert, Communications Supervisor (phone interview) - As a former SALECS commissioner, Larry is very much in favor of the project and says it will tie in nicely with current projects in Converse County. His response to the question about problem areas was a concern over cities and counties who don't have sufficient revenue sources to undertake a project of this type.
Jack Knudson, Commissioner, Laramie County (face to face meeting) - Concerned about costs and possible isolation of existing users. Asked Tim his opinion of Software Defined Radio. Tim's response was an analogy to the telephone system. Throughout the years we've been able to do many new things via telephone without having to change our telephone sets. That's because the intelligence resides in the PBX, or the Central Office. Commissioner Knudson agrees that it's time to do something with respect to upgrading public safety radio capabilities, especially considering the problems that are being encountered in Laramie County. Funding is a problem and one of the hardest obstacles the project will have to overcome.
Charley Whiton, Commissioner, Sheridan County (phone interview) - His major concern is that we avoid getting involved with a technology which might create islands of the older systems still in use, while at the same time be something that will become obsolete in the near future. He is the main proponent of Software Defined Radio and we assured him that we have every intention of learning as much about the technology and feasibility as we can.
Marelen Connolly, Commissioner, Johnson County (phone interview) - Commissioner Connolly is an EMS Paramedic and her biggest problem with current radio systems is the inability to communicate with other entities at the scene of an incident. As a county commissioner, she is concerned about financial impact of a new system.
Tim Monroe, City Councilman, Casper (phone interview) - The City of Casper is financing an 800 MHZ trunked system out of 1% tax revenue. Casper Fire Department has been on a leased 800 MHZ system for the past 10 years, and, while it serves their needs very well, the lease costs are too much. They've been able to justify the purchase of a system, which will initially serve fire and police. As additional funds become available, other city services will be migrated to the system. Casper's PSAP (E-911 center) serves 16 agencies county wide. Eventual migration of all public safety in the Natrona County/Casper area to 800 MHZ trunking will greatly facilitate services.
Dennis Piester, Chief, Cheyenne Fire Department (meeting at City Hall) - Also present were Dale Pawling, Asst. Chief, and Aarne Haas, Telecom Consultant to the Fire Department. The Cheyenne Fire Department has it's back to the wall. They have been on a leased 800 MHZ system for several years and were told last month that service was being discontinued at the end of June. They have been on a month-to-month lease status and have experienced a 60% increase in costs in the last year. Chief Piester's only choice at this point is to purchase an 800 MHZ trunked system, in order to continue services and not have to change out existing radio equipment in his trucks. Obviously, he hopes the state backbone will be designed such that his system will interface with it. Chief Piester showed us the GIS in place for the City of Cheyenne and outlined his plans to be able to transmit information to fire trucks en route to a fire scene, so they would have the floor plans, hydrant locations, etc., displayed right in the trucks.
Thursday morning, May 11, Tim and I headed for Riverton. We had to go up through Casper, because I-80 was closed due to Wednesday night's snow storm. Our 1:00 p.m. meeting in Riverton was organized by Mike Hays and held at the Riverton Holiday Inn. In attendance were:
Mike Hays, President, Wyoming Sheriff's and Chief's Association
Tom Satterfield, President, Wyoming County Commissioner's Association
Bill Eichler, Mayor, Riverton
Kim Lee, Director, Fremont County Emergency Management
Joni Miller, Fremont County PSAP Supervisor
Jeff Smith, Chief, Riverton Police Department
Dave King, Sheriff, Fremont County
Dick Currah, Chief, Lander Police Department
Chief Smith told us about a project he's trying to promote which would involve a separate frequency for portable radios which could be used for coordination among different public safety agencies from Fremont County up through Washakie and Big Horn Counties. He feels the biggest problems facing the project will be money (or lack thereof) and turf.
Kim Lee feels one of the needs a new system will have to address is the ability to interface with the Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement. Fremont County Government has recently spend $150,000 on upgrading their existing system, so they would be more concerned with being able to interface with the proposed backbone system, and then phase into the new system as their new equipment ages. His wish list would be to have the capability of providing data telemetry between ambulances and hospitals; to be able to transmit GIS information from the E-911 center to mobiles; and to be able to talk with the Feds. Kim gave us an estimate of 200 mobiles and 600 pagers in Fremont County alone. From the county perspective Kim feels that the backbone system and grant funds will have to be initiated at the state level. A suggestion was made to consider applying for anti-terrorism funds which are being made available at the Federal level.
Copies of the new County Commissioner's Resolution and information on Software Defined Radio were handed by Mike Hays to all the participants in the meeting.
After a bumpy trip through road construction, we made it to Worland about 20 minutes late for our 4:00 p.m. meeting there. Present were:
Herm Emmett, Mayor, Worland
Gary Mitchell, Sheriff, Washakie County
Bob Richardson, Chief, Worland PD
In Washakie County, the Sheriff's Office dispatches for the Police Department and Fire Department. They have recently undergone a $168, 000 upgrade to their radio equipment, but are supportive of the need for interoperability. Sheriff Mitchell indicated he was looking at a fairly expensive cost to replace a base station, and we tied this into thinking about when the time comes at some point in the future it would be worth spending that kind of money to migrate to the new backbone, instead of just buying new equipment/old technology.
Friday morning, May 12, we met with Tony Rose, Chief, Rawlins PD. Chief Rose expressed pretty much the same concerns as everyone else, with respect to concern over costs. His wish list included consideration for the backbone system to take over local dispatch after hours, for a fee of course. Then, if there was a local incident, local dispatch could be activated. He feels it would be handy to include school buses in the new system as well as UW Agricultural Extension Agents. From the standpoint of a legislator, he gave us some excellent suggestions, which will be incorporated into the consultant's report.
Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication with respect to the Rawlins meeting and we didn't know Commissioner Art Zieger was in town to participate. I spoke with Commissioner Zieger on the phone Monday afternoon. His primary concern, with respect to Carbon County is the provision of adequate coverage, considering all the mountainous area. His secondary concern is funding. He asked questions about satellite and Software Defined Radio and I believe I gave him satisfactory answers.
Our planned meeting with the University of Wyoming didn't materialize, so we're going to try that again on June 5th or 6th.
As we traveled and talked, we asked if administrators would be willing to provide us with information pertaining to their expenses for maintenance and replacement of their present radio systems, and everyone said they would. We hope to have a very short survey distributed early next week. The intent is to use this information to compare current statewide costs against whatever cost would be associated with converting to a backbone system.
Interviews with State Government Agencies who utilize two way radio are being scheduled. If anyone has questions or corrections about anything I've presented here, please feel free to contact me.
Respectfully submitted,
Kent Drummond
Project Coordinator
307-777-3627