Washington County reinstates 911 radio maintenance services agreement with MRA
Washington County is planning to reinstate its maintenance service agreement with MRA Inc. – two months after terminating the contract with the North Strabane-based company – for upkeep on its current 911 radio system before a new network is built.
The commissioners are expected to vote Thursday to rescind their previous decision at the Aug. 15 meeting, which means MRA Inc. will continue to maintain the radio system over the next two years.
The decision to terminate the maintenance contract came a month before the commissioners voted 2-1 to award a $24.445 million contract to Motorola to build a new radio system. They then hired Capital Area Communications Inc. out of Harrisburg to handle maintenance on the current system while the new one is being built, but both sides later agreed it would be more beneficial to remain with MRA.
The board met Tuesday morning for its agenda-setting meeting where the issue was briefly discussed.
“The county is excited to move forward with Motorola. For the first time ever, we will have over 95% coverage,” commission Chairman Nick Sherman said in an interview after Tuesday’s meeting. “Until that time, we have to make sure our current radio is operable to make sure we’re taking care of our first responders.”
After reviewing the intricate details of the current system, Sherman said they thought it would be better to maintain the status quo.
“Another company was going to maintain it, but it was such a custom built communications system like they hadn’t seen before, they were not sure if they could properly maintain it,” Sherman said.
County Purchasing Director Randy Van Kirk said there was only a 10-day window between when the previous contract lapsed and the decision to re-engage with MRA, so there were no service problems.
“There were no hiccups. We didn’t miss a beat. MRA has been very loyal to the county,” Van Kirk said.
At the Aug. 15 meeting, Commissioner Larry Maggi raised concerns about why the termination motion was placed on the agenda at the last minute without any public debate. Maggi, who voted against terminating the maintenance contract at the meeting and has opposed the Motorola radio contract, said the current situation illustrated a lack of planning and foresight.
“It appears that the board of commissioners aren’t sure what we are doing,” Maggi said in a written statement after Tuesday’s agenda meeting. “We need to figure out what we are doing with our radio project and make sure that we are spending taxpayers’ dollars prudently. We must be more transparent about where and how millions of dollars are being spent and that the system we are buying works.”
Solicitor Gary Sweat said he expects the current system will need to be maintained for another couple years while the Motorola network is installed.
The commissioners will hold their voting meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday in the public meeting room on the ground floor of the Crossroads Center building in Washington.