HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/12/1996 COW minutes MINUTES
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
MARCH 12, 1996
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Fadey, called the meet, ng to order at 7.32 p m Present at the meeting
were Trustees George Clowes, T~mothy Corcoran, R~chard Hendncks, Paul
Hoefert, M~el~aele Skowron and Irvana ~lks Also present were Vdlage Manager
M,chael Janoms, Assistant Vdlage Manager David Strahl, F,re Chief Edward
Cavello, Pohce Chmf Ronald Pavlock, F,nance D,rector Dawd Jepson, Deputy F,re
Chief Steve Dumov,ch, Pohce Sergeant Kev, n Condon, Pubhc Works D,rector Glen
Andler and Doug Edmonds, Executive D,rector of Northwest Central D,spatch
MINUTES
Acceptance of M,nutes from January 23, 1996 Mobon made by Trustee Clowes
and Seconded by Trustee Wilks M,nutes were accepted unammously.
M,nutes of February 13, 1996. Mot,on made by Trustee Wilks and Seconded by
Trustee Hoefert Trustee Clowes requested a mod,ficabon to h~s comments on
page two M~nutes were approved w~th rev, s,on. Mayor Farley abstained.
CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
None
~ IV. NORTHWEST CENTRAL DISPATCH-RADIO SYSTEM
Village Manager Michael Janonls stated that the meeting tonight was ong~nally
scheduled to d~scuss commercial vehicles, however, the d~scusslon on the
Northwest Central Dispatch System was moved up because of an impending
deadhne for a request for frequencies apphcation which is due by the end of the
month Mount Prospect was an original member of the Dispatch System ~n 1972
with the V~llages of Arlington Heights and Elk Grove S~nce then, the Vdlages of
Buffalo Grove, Palabne and the C~ty of Prospect Heights have joined In 1991, the
D~spatch System went on hne w~th Enhanced 9-1-1 Emergency Call;ng System
Today, the D~spatch System handles all Police and Fire calls for all member
communities For the past several years, Northwest Central D~spatch has been
studying modifications to the current System-w~de radio ~nfrastructure utilized by
the participating commumties A number of factors has been guiding th~s review
Two of the most important being steadily deteriorating System capa~ty on the
Pohce side of the system and certain regulatory changes mandated by the Federal
Commumcat~ons Commiss~on affecting the number and s~ze of the band-width
frequencies
Needless to say, an upgrading of the ~nfrastructure system is a major undertaking
both from a technological standpoint as well as monetanly The conclusion that
was amved at through d~scusslons of the Board members of the D~spatch System
was the consideration of an 800 MHz trunk radio system with 11 channels
However, ~n order to even consider the system further, the frequency ~tself has to
be reserved by the end of the month through an appllcabon to the FCC There is
no guarantee from the FCC that this frequency wdl be avadable in the future nor
~s it reserved for Police and F~re use in companson w~th a pnvate entity
Sergeant Kevin Condon prowded a general overview of the current system and a
h~story of the volume of calls which is currently handled by the system He also
provided a summary of penods where the air is held for emergencies in the various
commumtles VVhen the a~r ~s held for an emergency, all other communlbes which
may be using that frequency are automatically moved to another frequency which
does have other users on that frequency already, therefore, the frequency
becomes very crowded w~th traffic He also stated that there have been ~dentified
dead spots in various communities with the radio system ~tself He stated that
congestion of traffic on the system, interference and coverage remain ~ssues which
should be addressed and have only gotten worse over time due to hm~tabons of
the technology
Doug Edmonds, Executive Director for Northwest Central Dispatch, spoke. He
stated this system in place ,s v;rtualiy the same as was put into place in 1972 It
~s quite aged and has become a fragmented system due to attempts to band-aid
the system to keep it operational He stated that much of the t~me is spent
addressing ongoing problems that occur such as the ones outlined by Sergeant
Condon. He stated the origina~ system has served ~ts purpose well, however, its
shortcomings are much more pronounced than m prewous years due to the
volumes of traffic and other problems He stated the impend,ng need to file by the
March 31 deadline is because the frequency may not be available at the next fihng
in October of 1996.
A review by a consultant has also supported the need for the upgrade to the
800 MHz system because of ~ts proven technology and it is used by other towns
sucoessfully. He stated the recommended funding option to finance the system
upgrade is to ,ncrease the telephone hne surcharge from $ 30 to $ 75 per line He
stated that $ 75 was originally approved by Referendum but the communities
chose to only charge $ 30 He stated that the $ 30 charge is significantly lower
than other area systems and the increase to $ 75 per i~ne would be comparable
and, ~n some cases, still less than many other system charges
Village Manager Janonis stated that the other Village and City Managers of the
member commumtles are the Board of Directors and they have been working with
the techmcal staff to review the system and look at different opt;ons thoroughly
over a long period of t~me
Doug Edmonds stated that Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights are on one
frequency, Mount Prospect, Elk Grove Village and Prospect Heights are on
another frequency The commumtles are separated into the frequen=es based on
cumulative population totals He stated that system w~ll conbnue to have problems
and could put Officers at nsk and create unacceptable consequences ~f ~t is
allowed to continue ~n ~ts current fashion
General comments of the Board members ~ncluded the following items
Some Board members expressed a concern that such a large expenditure should
have been discussed previously There was also concern that bnnging th~s for
d~scusslon with the strict t~me frames which have been outhned puts the Board in
a d~fficult position There was also concern that a rewew of vanous options should
be provided to the Village Board and background ~nformat~on concerning the
justification for the competitive b~ddlng process to be by-passed ~n th~s instance
There was also additional ~nformation provided to the Board members concerning
technical aspects of the recommended system Also, a descnpbon of the ,mpact
upon the system if only some of the current participants approve the upgrade was
outlined Discussion also centered on what exactly was needed from the V~llage
Board at this meeting in terms of commitment for future consideration of spending
the dollars to upgrade the system Finally, Board members requested additional
history of data requests and demands on the system along w~th projected growth
factors and a breakdown of all costs associated with the current system and
possible upgrades A detailed cost/benefit rewew should be prowded to Board
members for consideration Th~s cost/benefit analys~s would be reflective of each
available vendor
Doug Edmonds responded to many of the concerns of the Board members He
also stated that ~t is unhkely that they w~ll be able to reserve 11 channel
frequen~es ~n the future if they do not apply in th~s round He stated the reason
that Motorola ~s the most hkely vendor is that other systems are proprietary and
Motorola offers the best system available and has proven technology.
Furthermore. the Dispatch System has already invested ~n new Motorola consoles
which may not be compatible w~th other vendors
The consultant and vendor are m the process of deslgmng the new system,
therefore, it is unhkely that there w~ll be any mcompat, b~hty problems He also
stated that if some towns do not approve the upgrade, there would be the
requirement to devote s~ngle d~spatchers to ~nd~wdual towns ut~hzlng the old
systems, thereby, costs would undoubtedly increase for the service
By filing the applicat~on, municipalities are not obligated to fund the new system,
however, there ~s a t~me frame that ~s established which a funding commitment
must be demonstrated or the FCC w~ll reallocate the frequency that was reserved
to someone else
Consensus of the Village Board was to par'dcipate in the application process.
Board members also undemtand that the application process may obligate them
for future funding, however, a final decision on the funding will not be made until
a later date. Trustee Hendricks abstained fTom the consensus due to a
professional relationship with Motorola.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE DEFERRED ITEMS REVIEW
Manager Janonls stated that he would request the Board prioritize Committee of
the Whole top~cs and he wanted to set up a system which would be used to put
items upon the hst from the V~llage Board His goal this evening is to get
consensus of the Board as to which topics should be on the list or taken off the
hst A summary of the Comm;ttee of the Whole top~cs was prowded as follows
Commercial Vehicles Discussion
Weller Creek Bank Stab~hzat~on
Busse Road Widemng
Refuse/SWANCC - Two Can L~mit D~scuss~on
Downtown/V~llage Hall Status
S~x Month Budget Revmw/Pre-Budget Workshops
Wisconsin Central D~scuss~on
Emergency Preparedness D~scuss~on
C~t~zen Services Survey
Carbon Monoxide Detectors
S~gns ~n the R~ghts-of-Way
Downtown Redevelopment
Rewew of Chapter 5 of the Mumc~pal Code - Boards/Commissions
Open Meetings Saturday Workshop
Roberts Rules of Order Parhamentary Procedure Workshop
Mayoral Veto
GIS Presentation
Camp McDonald Improvement/Junsd~ct~onal Transfer D~scussion
Seminole Road Jurisdictional Transfer D~scuss~on and Improvements
General D~scuss~on on Jurisdictional Transfer of V~llage Streets
Vehicle Maintenance Replacement Program
V~llage Street Improvement Program
Tenth Amendment Issues-Unfunded Mandate Resolution
at the Federal Level
Towing Contract D~scuss~on
Annexation Opportunities
Density/Redevelopment Opportumt~es
Rewew of Gang Suppression Ordinance
Pohce Traffic Unit Discussion
Consensus of the Village Board was to request staff take the items off of this list
which are already scheduled or are subjects which are part of the normal annual
course of business. Such Items would include the Budget Hearings and the Six
Month Financial Review, etc. Staff is to provide a revised list to Board members
for their review. Board members will have the number of votes equal to the
number of items remaining on the list. Therefore, Board members may use any
combination of votes to weigh topics they feel should be discussed. Once the
Board members have voted on the topics, the list will again be provided to the
Village staff for a summary list and red;s~buted to Board members for further
discussion.
VI. MANAGER'S REPORT
Manager Janonis reminded the V;llage Board and the pubhc that the Maroh 19
Board meeting ~s changed to March 20 due to the Pnmary Elect~on taking place
on March 19
VII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Trustee Skowron prowded a follow-up on the PaH~amentary Procedure question
which arose the week before She stated that it was her understanding there is
no permission requirement,necessary from the person that made an original
motion in order for the original motion to be amended
Trustee Wilks stated that even though there is no need for permission from the
original person making the original mobon, ~t would be a courtesy which had been
granted ~n the past for amendments to mobons
Trustee Clowes requested consideration in the future that a mobon to adjourn
procedure be ~mplemented instead of the chair determlmng when to adjourn
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adJourned at 10 21 p m
Respectfully submitted,
DAVID STRAHL
DS/fcc Assistant V~llage Manager