Solicitor suggests Washington Co. commissioners revisit vote on Motorola radio system
The Washington County commissioners might have to revisit their recent vote approving an agreement with Motorola for a new emergency radio system over concerns about the lack of transparency with how it was approved, all while the cost of the project appears to be rising.
County solicitor Gary Sweat sent letters to the commissioners on Aug. 22 and again on Monday relaying concerns about how the emergency radio contract vote on Aug. 15 was handled since the cost and scope of the project were not included in the original motion.
Commissioner Larry Maggi, the minority Democrat who voted against the motion that passed 2-1 with the support of Republican Commissioners Nick Sherman and Electra Janis, said Sweat expressed concerns that no details of the agreement or a framework for the contract were released before the vote, meaning the public had no tangible information before it was approved.
In his letters, Sweat told the commissioners that he thinks the matter should be brought up for another formal vote with specific details at their next meeting on Sept. 19 in order to avoid any potential legal challenges, Maggi said.
“Our solicitor has indicated that this is going to be brought up at another meeting,” Maggi said.
The Observer-Reporter filed an open records request Thursday asking for copies of the two letters, but had not received a response from the county by press time.
Sweat’s correspondence came just prior to a private meeting held Tuesday between county officials and Mission Critical Partners – the consultant negotiating the final details of the emergency radio contract with Motorola – in which the price for the system and installation appears to be increasing. Before casting his no vote two weeks ago, Maggi said he thought the project would be around $24.6 million, but he was unsure of the exact number since there were no details or finalized contract.
Maggi said Tuesday’s meeting with Mission Critical revealed that the final price could be “significantly higher” than originally thought as the parameters of the project change.
“There were prices thrown around, but nothing concrete. Now they’re saying not everything is included,” Maggi said. “We were told by (Mission Critical), who are negotiating, that the price has increased significantly.”
When the commissioners awarded the P-25 public safety radio system proposal from Motorola Solutions Inc. of Chicago on Aug. 15, the motion stated it was contingent on approval of the final contract, details of which have not been finalized or released. That vote came four months after Sherman and Janis decided in April to terminate a previous emergency radio contract with MRA Inc. of North Strabane that Maggi favored when he and former commission chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan approved it last March with Sherman casting the dissenting vote.
Before the contract with MRA was terminated earlier this year, the county had already spent nearly $9 million to purchase various equipment. The Observer-Reporter filed an open records request Thursday morning asking for all invoices and received the documents from county Controller April Sloane later in the day.
The invoices revealed that the county made 14 separate purchases from MRA between Sept. 11 and Dec. 14 totaling $8,536,966 over that span. The equipment consists of towers, antennae systems, mobile routers and other technology, which is mostly being stored at the county airport while the decision is being made on what to do with it. The equipment was purchased using federal American Rescue Plan Act stimulus money, which could be problematic for the county if it’s not used for the intended purpose.
Maggi wants the county to either accept MRA’s proposal that it sent in the second round this year or once again request proposals for a new emergency radio system.
“So far, Motorola hasn’t come up with concrete numbers about what it will cost the taxpayers. They just throw around numbers,” Maggi said. “This is a significant investment and cost, and we need to know that. With the last contract we did.”
Neither Sherman nor Sweat responded to phone messages Thursday afternoon seeking comment on where the current situation stands and whether the commissioners will vote on the Motorola agreement again or try asking for more proposals from other vendors.