NORWICH – A resolution authorizing the infusion of $200,000 more for the county’s public safety tower project resulted in a lengthy discussion Monday at a meeting of the Chenango County Board of Supervisors.
Led by questioning from Plymouth Supervisor Jerry Kreiner, who ultimately voted against the measure, the exchange involved several supervisors, the county’s emergency management services director and representatives from one of the project’s engineers and its radio supplier.
The New York State Dormitory Authority, or DASNY, has overseen the tower communications project, called phase II of the $26 million Public Safety Facility building project, since 2002. Its original $3 million price-tag was figured in the cost of the new Sheriff’s Office, 911 Center and jail on Upper Ravine Road in the Town of Norwich. However, it has ultimately ended up costing about $6 million.
Taxpayers have afforded the towers and microwave radio technology via nearly $1 million left over in the building project and the 1 percent sales tax collection implemented in 2002 to pay for the new Public Safety Facility.
The Plymouth supervisor’s dispute with the resolution focused on paying L. Robert Kimball and Associates and DASNY the additional money on top of the half million dollars they had already been paid for services.
“It’s frustrating. We’ve paid these two entities to help with the project, now another $200,000? I thought that’s what engineers do. Where is their liability in this? ... We’ve paid them a lot of money to look down the road for us,” Kreiner said.
The Plymouth supervisor also said he was disappointed that a representative from Kimball “did not see it as important to be here today.” Representatives from DASNY, Kimball and Motorola were invited to attend the meeting of the full board this month.
Chenango County Emergency Services Director Matt Beckwith said the emergency communications system being put in place “materialized a little differently than we had proposed.” He said that keeping Kimball on board longer is necessary to oversee installation of the microwave radios purchased from Motorola. “We need their expertise to answer any questions Motorola might have,” he said.
Town of Smyrna Supervisor James Bays echoed Kreiner’s sentiments, saying, “This doesn’t sit well with me, either. They had their responsibilities, now we are paying additional money for it.”
Richard B. Decker, chairman of the Chenango County Board of Supervisors, said he thought the engineers had done “a hell of a job for us.”
“We didn’t want to build the public safety facility in the first place because it was too expensive, but we had to,” Decker said, adding that L. Robert Kimball had saved a lot of money for the county with its recommendations. “$200,000 is a lot of money, I’ll grant you that,” he said, “but what we will have in the end will be worth every nickel that we’ve spent on it. Everybody knows our emergency management system was in bad shape. And this affects everyone in the county.”
Beckwith clarified that only $44,000 of the infusion of cash would actually go to Kimball. The remainder was to purchase equipment, for labor, and change orders.
After pointing out that the project had evolved from a $3 million project and three towers to a more than $6 million project with nine towers, the supervisor for Preston, Peter C. Flanagan, asked what DASNY’s fees were for the project and whether it was, finally, completed. Beckwith estimated their cost at about $700,000 and said the project was finished barring any unknown complications.
Supervisor Dennis Brown, of Pharsalia, questioned Flanagan’s numbers, saying the project’s cost was reasonable when compared to other counties’ projects and would eliminate a ongoing transmission line charge from a T1 line from the old building in the City of Norwich to the new building in the town. Brown disputed Flanagan’s assertion that the project’s cost required new influxes of money, saying the amount was remaining in the fund from the original Public Safety Building project and acquired through grants from the Sheriff’s Office.
Flanagan said he acquired the numbers he calculated directly from the treasurer’s office. “There’s $3 million missing somewhere,” he said.
City of Norwich Supervisor James J. McNeil asked Beckwith whether there would be maintenance fees or service contracts required in the future. Beckwith said there would most likely be some maintenance required.
A Motorola representative said he expected the radios to be current for “some time” and the warranty would extend for seven years from whether we the company evolves into a new technology.
The board voted to adopt the resolution with Kreiner voting against it.
The project was begun in 2007. The 911 emergency management overhaul occurred in three phases: tower construction, $2.9 million; microwave installation, $1,036 million; and base radios and installation, $2.1 million.
Beckwith has reported that radios should be installed and the project completed this spring. Not all EMS departments have the new radio receivers installed in their fire trucks and emergency vehicles yet. Beckwith said the older frequency system would be utilized until all of the towns can afford the new equipment.