Sherman defends process in selecting Motorola for radio project
Board chairman says officials still negotiating final contract
Mike Jones
The chairman of the Washington County commissioners is defending the process in selecting Motorola to implement the county’s new 911 emergency radio system and claims the cost should be in line with initial estimates when the contract is voted on later this fall.
Nick Sherman brushed aside concerns raised this week by fellow Commissioner Larry Maggi over potential increases in the multimillion-dollar deal, while also clarifying a memo sent by the county solicitor urging them to hold a public vote on the matter.
“Nothing has changed. We’re where we’re at right now and in active negotiations,” Sherman said of the process that is still ongoing. “We don’t want to show our hand with our negotiations.”
Sherman said solicitor Gary Sweat’s letters to them on Aug. 22 and 26 were advising them about the process of how to go about finalizing the agreement with Motorola, while also indicating they still needed to hold a public vote on the actual contract that includes financial figures and the scope of the work. The commissioners voted 2-1 on Aug. 15 to select Motorola as the emergency radio vendor and begin negotiations, with Sherman and fellow Republican Commissioner Electra Janis voting in favor of moving forward while Maggi, a Democrat, cast the dissenting vote.
“We’re working out those small details and that will give us our final number,” Sherman said. “We want the citizens of Washington County to see the final project and then we can vote on it. Right now, we don’t feel like it’s full transparency to vote on something until we have final numbers.”
Maggi raised concerns Thursday that the cost of the project – which he estimated at August’s voting meeting would be at a minimum of $24.6 million – had “significantly increased” after county officials met with their technical consultants last week. Sherman said those discussions included numerous additional radio towers that he does not think will be needed because the county can connect to some existing towers in neighboring Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, and possibly Greene County.
He said the use of those towers should keep the project in line with the original estimates, although no definitive details about the cost have been released.
“There’s a lot of balls in the air right now and it’s one of the things we’re working on,” Sherman said of possibly sharing radio towers with neighboring counties. “It’s a $24 million contract. We want to get this thing right. … This is a good thing. For the first time, Washington County will truly have a (working) 911 system.”
But the process still could take many more months to complete.
In a phone interview Friday afternoon, Sweat said his memos were merely informing the commissioners that their Aug. 15 vote was not binding to Motorola’s proposal and that the board would need to hold another vote at a later date to approve the contract with the final figures attached. He added that as negotiations continue, all of the commissioners, technical consultants and the county’s public safety committee must still hold extensive discussions to ensure Motorola’s radio system has everything first responders need and the county is protected in the contract.
“In that respect, we’re going to be relying heavily on our experts for their input,” Sweat said. “All of those things have to be done to finalize the contract and arrive at the final contract prices.”
While Sherman indicated that he would like to vote on the contract at their next meeting on Sept. 19, Sweat thinks the length of the technical review could push that back to October or even November.
“It’s very much a complicated, technical process. There are many questions to be answered and the design plan has to be finalized,” Sweat said.
The process to select a new emergency radio vendor began earlier this year after Sherman and Janis voted in April to terminate a previous contract with MRA Inc. of North Strabane that the commissioners approved last year. Maggi and former commission chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan voted to approve the agreement with MRA last March, with Sherman voting against it.
Sherman said Motorola is an attractive option because neighboring counties currently use their system, so it will allow Washington County to be more compatible with the rest of the region.
“That’s the benefit of using Motorola, the compatibility,” Sherman said. “We’re building this one giant radio system and we’ve been the hinge-pin since we just didn’t use them.”
He said the county plans to hold a town hall meeting with first responders in September to discuss the issue.