HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11101987 - 2.2 TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Phil Batchelor C"tra
County Administrator
DATE: November 6, 1987
.SUBJECT: Critical Needs for Emergency
Communications Equipment
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDAT.ION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
1 . Approve the following plan to acquire needed emergency
communications equipment during the current andfollowing.
fiscal years..
2 . Authorize. the purchase -of Phase. I emergency communications
equipment as outlined below.
.3 . Approve appropriations -adjustments to recognize additional
appropriations from the recently enacted loo Hazardous Waste
Tax and expenditures for the following identified Phase .I
equipment, each .in the , amount of $190., 000 for the 1987-88
fiscal year.
REASONS FOR RECONVENDATIONS:
o Need for an updated and more reliable alarm system for the
hilltop microwave . sites.
o Need to be able to shut down a microwave site in case of •a.
malfunction.
o Need to 'install an emergency communications system in. case
normal communications are interrupted during a disaster.
o ' Allow Health Services Department to communicate with other
agencies and locations in case of a disaster.
o Allow the Sheriff ' s vehicles to communicate with , police
vehicles from other jurisdictions.
o Equipmobile- EOC with necessary communications equipment.
o Need , to supply CALCORD units to the. Office of Emergency.
Services so they can communicate with other jurisdictions.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
X RECOMMENDATION OF .COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
--X-APPROVE.. OTHER
X _ i
� �-
SIGNATURE(S1:
ACTION OF BOARD ON- -_ IOVember ,10,..._.-9 -_ __.,_.-_ AiPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
The Board approved Recommendations Nos . 1 and 2 above. The County
Administrator was requested to transmit copies of this report to the
cities and other interested groups soliciting their input with a report
to the Board on December 1 , -;.1987 . The Finance Committee was requested
to review the procedure for funding the purchase .-of the equipment .
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREB`( CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT =- ), AND CORRECT COPY OF ..AN ACTION TAKEN
-- AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT:. :ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ATTESTED November 10 , 1987
CC:
Countv Administrator(t_0 distribute, -- = - --
OES Director. PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF.THE BOARD OF
General Services Director . SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Sheriff-Coroner
Chief, Consolidated Fire Dist.
Services Director
M382�a83lth SBY -,DEPUTY
Finance Committee
Page 2
BACKGROUND-
Introduction•
The County' s current emergency communications system consists of
a system of microwave stations located at ten hilltop sites
throughout the County, including the primary base station in the
County Administration. Building. In addition, " there are . five
additional sites connected to the main loop. to expand
communications to outlying areas of the County. There are also
two connections to tiein the Consolidated Fire District to the
system, . for a total of seventeen sites.
In case of a major disaster in the County this microwave system .
is the backbone of emergency communications. It is through this
system that fire, police, health and rescue staff and
policymakers in the County and cities ,must .be able to communicate
with each other in order to determine the extent of damage to the '
County in terms of physical damage to structures . and, more
importantly, to assess the loss of life, .injuries to people, and
to determine where the County' s resources should be deployed.
In order to allow .health and public safety. employees as well as
policymakers to perform their duties in case of a major disaster,
it ,is essential that this . microwave system be dependable and be
as well insulated as possible . from damage . in an earthquake or
other major disaster. Failure of the microwave system
essentially makes communications from one . point to another a
matter . of chance and severely limits the ability to communicate
from one geographic area of the County to. . another as . well as
limiting the number of people who can communicate with each other
at one time. In case of a major disaster, even if the normal
. .. telephone system is still operational, which is questionable, the
system will be severely overloaded and may fail just because of
. .the overload factor. It . is, therefore, essential for the
protection of the community that the County * have available a
dependable and. secure alternative emergency communications
system.
- Progress Made to Date:
In the past year and a half,. a number of steps have been taken by
the Board of Supervisors to improve the disaster planning in the
County and to improve the emergency communications. system:
Monthly meetings have 'been' held of the Service Chiefs, consisting
of all of the principal County . staff and related organizations .
who will bear ' .the major responsibility to respond . to a major
disaster in the County.
Roles and responsibilities of ' principal . staff have been. defined-
and clarified .in an, effort. to insure that. those who must respond
to a major disaster will have a . clear understanding of what they
are to do and with whom they must work.
Anumber_ of' specific actions have been taken to improve our
emergency response capabilities:
1 . The ten microwave -loop sites have been hardened to reduce
the possibility of damage from an earthquake.
2 . The volunteer amateur radio association known as RACES has
been given access to three of the County' s- high-level' .sites
in order to . install their packet system (which allows for
print transmission of messages) and voice radio
capabilities.
Page 3
3 . The County has installed some $30,.000 worth of
communications equipment and emergency capability at the
Arnold Drive primary Emergency Operations Center. (EOC) and
at the alternate EOC site which is located. at the
Consolidated Fire . District Fire College on Treat Blvd.
4 . The County has obtained approval from the State of
California for the use" of 300 mobile and 300. portable radios
on the CALCORD channel for on-scene emergency
communications. The CALCORD channel allows all units of.
local government to communicate with each other even though .
they may otherwise operate on different frequencies.
5 . The County has established and solidified an excellent
day-to-day working relationship with the RACES . and Kregor
Peak Repeater Association to further ' enhance volunteer
participation.- by having two County communications staff
members belong to ' this group.
6.. The County has acquired a new Local Government radio channel
for the Building Inspection Department, has ordered all
equipment necessary .for a countywide system and has equipped
thirty mobile units. The system is expected to be fully
operational in December 1987 .
7 . . The County has 'purchased a trailer which can be outfitted to
serve as a mobile EOC in case of severe damage to the
County's primary and alternate EOC sites. The Mobile EOC.
can be driven to the vicinity of the disaster and can serve
as the focal point of disaster operations . if and when such
action is necessary.
Current Status of Operations:
Our- analysis indicates that while substantial progress has been
made ,in getting this County ready to respond to' a major disaster;
improvements need .to be made to bring the . County' s readiness up
to an acceptable level.'
The changes which have been made to date. have kept . the County' s
response capabi.lities. operational. However, the County does ..not
have adequate' back-up or. fail.=safe systems to insure that our
emergency communications, in particular, . will. not be fatally
damaged in a major, disaster. Emergency communications are a
critical need in. any major disaster. Our ability to communicate
with each other,- with the cities in the County, and with outside
agencies may be totally dependent on our own microwave '
communications system-.-assuming . the likelihood that the
commercial telephone system is not operational initially after a
disaster.
The County has several essential functions which must be able to
take place and be communicated toIothers in the first critical
minutes and hours- after a major disaster:
Make policy decisions affecting critical.
life-saving operations
Perform damage assessment
Locate equipment and supplies and deploy them.
In performing these tasks, it is important .that personnel in the
primary EOC be able to assess damage, locate needed resources,
deply them, and -make necessary policy decisions without inter-
fering with operational • units which . are trying to save lives,
extinguish fires, direct traffic, and perform salvage operations.
Page 4
We have, therefore, concluded that the following changes are
needed in order to bring the County' s emergency communications up ,
to an acceptable standard of operations..
Recommended Changes:
1 . Alarm System and Remote Control of Hilltop Microwave Paths:
The loop of ten microwave sites described above has been . in
place for at least twenty years. Each site currently 'has an
alarm system. These alarm systems are outmoded and are
almost more trouble than they are . worth : because of the
outmoded technology they utilize.. While the current alarm
system notifies staff that something has gone wrong, the
system cannot define what has gone wrong and is capable of
missing or misinterpreting an .apparent problem because of
the time it takes the system to scan each site in rotation.
This, then, requires that a staff member drive to the site
to visually determine what has gone wrorig. and correct it.
The proposed ' system would replace the existing alarm system
with a system utilizing current- technology which cannot only
indicate that something has gone wrong, but define what has
happened. The proposed system will also add alarm systems
to the five stubs -of the microwave system which presently
have no alarm system. This entire replacement system will
cost $45, 000 . This is considered, along with the remote
control capability described below, to be the highest
priority for expenditure . of funds for the emergency
communications . system. Under the current status of the
microwave dishes on the ten hilltop sites, an earthquake can
dislodge , a dish enough to alter the clarity, or direction 'of,
its signal. If this •happens, the resulting..; interference can
reduce the reliability of the microwave system and distort
reception from that site. This •can reduce • the clarity and
accuracy of transmissions, or even impair the -entire system.
The proposed remote control devices will allow staff in
Martinez to identify which dish is malfunctioning and shut
it down, thereby allowing the remainder of the system to
continue .to operate until repairs can. be made.. The cost for
this device is $15,000.
2 Tactical Emergency Communications System:
Under current operations, the County relies entirely on the
telephone company to deliver consistent, reliable emergency
communications service. .. In the event of a major disaster,
it is likely that regular communications service will be
interrupted at -least for a while. As has been noted above, .
having the ability to communicate is essential in order to
assess • damage, allocate . resources, and make policy
decisions. In the absence of. emergency communications
service these activities must rely on portable radios. It
would be far superior to have available a stand alone
emergency communications system which is not dependent . on
the telephone company. The . proposed system would involve
the purchase of .an emergency communications system which.
could be, connected into the County' s existing . microwave
system. This would provide at least a minimal emergency
communications: system independent of the telephone company .
which would provide capacity for enough lines to establish
between 80 and 100 locations which could communicate with
each other. The system can be purchased and installed for
approximately $245,000. This will not provide
communications to all of ' the cities in'' the County. .
Providing this additional capability will cost additional
funds. This project is, however, a lower priority which can
be added at a. later date.
Page 5
3 . Currently, the Health Services Department has no emergency
communications capability other than the existing ambulance
radio system. It is important that Health Services be able
to communicate with other emergency .response agencies as
well as with its own other geographic locations throughout
the County . if the existing telephone system is not
operating. The proposal will provide for several portable
radios and:' remote units which will allow Health Services to
connect into the microwave hilltop sites and thereby be able .
to communicate with other .locations. in the County. For
$30 ,000 , all of the. necessary. equipment and installation
costs can be provided to vastly improve Health Services '
ability to perform their vital functions during a 'disaster.
. 4 . Common Network .for County's Law Enforcement Mobile Units:
Currently, most city police units operate on ultra-high
frequency (UHF) whereas the Sheriff operates on very-high
frequency (VHF) . As a result, Sheriff '.s units cannot
communicate with most other city policy. .units. It is
important. in case of a-. major disaster that the Sheriff.'.s
units : be able - to communicate with city police units to
coordinate their rescue efforts, damage - assessment and
resource allocation requests. The proposed program includes
spending $12,000. to provide three UHF/VHF units to be tied
together and be permanently mounted to handle police units
in west. and central county. This is not necessary in east
county since DRCC already has a similar capability..
5. The Office of Emergency Services has purchased a . trailer
with County funds to serve - as a mobile EOC in case the
primary and secondary EOC' s are unable to function. In
order for the 'mobile EOC to operate it must be equipped with
most of the . emergency `communications capability possessed by
the EOC. Purchase of the necessary equipment will cost
.$12,000 .
6. Currently, when a number of agencies arrive at the scene of
a disaster, their radio units are only able to communicate
with their own . agency.. A system has been devised called
CALCORD (California Coordination). which provided a frequency
which all emergency responders can use to communicate with
each other. The proposal provides for the purchase of ten
such portable radios with the CALCORD. frequency- which could
be taken to . the scene of a disaster and distributed to the
various response agencies to allow them to communicate with
each other. The cost of this proposal is $10,000. .
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The only way the County can obtain the equipment recommended
above in a timely manner is to purchase it with County funds.
Since County funds are not readily .available for these purchases,
it is necessary to identify an alternative source of funds which
could be used for this purpose. . It is recommended that the
purchase be made in two phases: Phase .`I during the current
fiscal year, and Phase II during the 1988-89 fiscal year. In
order to accomplish this, it is recommended that $190,000 be made
available during the current fiscal year and approximately a
similar amount be made available during the 1988-89 fiscal year
to complete the above-recommended expenditures, in accordance
with the following schedule:
Page 6
PHASE I PHASE II
ITEM 1987-88 1988-89
1 . Alarm System & Remote Control $ 60,000 $ 0
2 . Tactical Emergency Communications 100,000 145,000
3 . Health Services Improvements 30,000 18,000
4 . Common Network for Law Enforcement .0 12,000
. 5. Mobile EOC Communications Equipment 0 12,000
6. Portable Radios for OES 0 10,000
TOTAL $190,000 $197,000
In order to provide these funds during the current fiscal year,
and 1988-89 fiscal year, it is recommended , that the revenue
generated from the increased hazardous waste tax be used for this
purpose. Our calculations indicate that it is reasonable to
expect that the increased tax will generate sufficient funds to
cover these expenses. IT Corporation is, however, operating
under an order from the Regional Water Quality Control Board
which requires IT to reduce the volume of materials in their
ponds at a specified rate. Our revenue projections assume that
IT will be able to continue to meet the requirements of the
Regional Water Quality Control Board.
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