November 23 2020 Board Work Session Minutes 150
MINUTES
WORK SESSION
FREDERICK COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2020
6:00 P.M.
BOARD ROOM, COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
107 NORTH KENT STREET, WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA
ATTENDEES
Board of Supervisors: Charles S. DeHaven, Jr., Chairman; Robert W. Wells; Blaine P.
Dunn; Shawn L. Graber; Judith McCann-Slaughter; David D. Stegmaier; and J. Douglas McCarthy.
Staff present: Kris C. Tierney, County Administrator; Jay E. Tibbs, Deputy County
Administrator; Roderick B. Williams, County Attorney; Missi Neal, Purchasing Manager; LeeAnna
Pyles, Director of Public Safety Communications; Denny Linaburg, Fire Chief; Steve Majchrzak,
Assistant Fire Chief; Lenny Millholland, Sheriff; Major Steve Hawkins, Sheriffs Office; Scott
Varner, Director of Information Technology; and Ann W. Phillips, Deputy Clerk to the Board of
Supervisors. Also present were the following staff members who served on the Communications
Committee: Lt. Barry Kittoe; Sgt, Mike Ellinger; and Fire& Rescue Specialist Justin Caldwell.
Others present: Mike Milas of Mission Critical Partners; John Rich Cagle and Brandon
Romero of EF Johnson Technologies, Inc; and Mike Leonard of Motorola.
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman DeHaven called the meeting to order at 60 p.m.
PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION
Jay Tibbs, Deputy County Administrator, reviewed the Negotiated System
Comparison/Pricing spreadsheet for the Board.
Supervisor Graber and Mr. Mike Milas of Mission Critical Partners discussed the second-
tier costs,whether$250,000 is the appropriate contingency amount, EF Johnson covering the costs
of possible additional tower sites, and the VP8000 radios in development being scheduled for
release in June 2021,
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County of Frederick, 'Virginia
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Supervisor McCarthy and Mr. Milas discussed the contingency amount and cost of tower
sites if they needed to be moved from school sites.
Supervisors Dunn and McCarthy and Mr. Romero discussed the VP7000 being a true
multideck radio.
Supervisor Dunn, Ms. Pyles, and Mr. John Rich Cagle discussed the methods to address
coverage in the George Washington National Forest in the southwest portion of the County, EF
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Johnson projects in Puerto Rico, California, Hawaii, and New York, and continuity of the distributed
architecture of the proposed radio system.
Supervisor McCarthy and Mr. Romero discussed the proposed conventional tower site in
the contingency to address coverage in the Star Tannery area.
Supervisor Stegmaier and Mr. Romero discussed proposed maintenance costs, repair site
locations including contractor Radio Express in Manassas, the equipment manufacturing location
being in Japan, and EF Johnson's assurances of customer service,
Supervisor Dunn and Mr. Romero discussed the schedule for refreshing the radio
hardware and colocation of other equipment on public safety radio towers.
Supervisors McCarthyand Graber and Mr. Romero discussed the proposed maintenance
schedule costs.
Supervisor McCarthy and Mr, Romero discussed adding broadband equipment to the
proposed new radio system towers for increased citizen internet access.
Supervisors Dunn and McCarthy and Mr. Romero discussed the proposed hardware
refresh schedule, preventive maintenance, and expected radio system lifespan.
Supervisor Graber asked that Motorola representatives be allowed to answer questions.
Mr. Mike Leonard of Motorola and Supervisor Graber discussed the number of proposed
system refreshes,equipment service options,system network monitoring being located in Chicago.
Supervisor McCarthy and Mr. Leonard discussed adding cellular or broadband equipment
to the proposed new radio system towers for increased citizen internet access and the need for
either 10 or 12 towers for the proposed system.
Supervisors Dunn and McCarthy and Mr. Leonard discussed system coverage and the
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reliability of his company's quoted fees and whether increasing the number of employees would
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increase the fees.
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County of Frederick, Virginia
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Supervisor Dunn and Mr. Leonard discussed whether the radio offered by the competitor
was a true multiband radio.
Supervisor McCarthy and Mr, Leonard discussed the broadband coverage available with
12 towers rather than 10 towers,
Supervisor Stegmaier requested that representatives from EF Johnson be allowed to
respond to the statements made by Mr. Leonard.
Mr. Romero said his company has never failed a coverage test. He and Supervisor Graber
discussed the method used for determining his company's recommended 10 towers,
Mr. Cagle said the VP7000 is currently being used in California, He clarified the group's
choice of the VP7000 to ensure officer safety in the local area where four different systems use
three different bands. Supervisor Graber said there were pros and cons to the system,
Vice Chairman Wells thanked the communications committee for its work in choosing the
best system for the County and asked the Board for consensus to move the JVCKENWOODI EF
Johnson proposal forward for action at the next Board meeting to direct staff to enter into a contract,
Supervisor Graber said not all vendors had been allowed to speak and suggested the
Board enter a closed session to discuss financials related to a second opinion to review the
committee's recommendation of EF Johnson.
County Attorney Williams addressed the Code of Virginia's rules regarding closed
sessions,
Supervisor Dunn said he supported a closed session.
Vice Chairman Wells said the reason for the work session was to find consensus.
Supervisor McCarthy said he supported a closed session.
The consensus of the Board (Members Wells, Slaughter, Stegmaier, DeHaven) was to
forward the proposal to the Board for action at the next meeting,
Chairman DeHaven requested that Members wishing to have a closed session send their
topics for the closed session to Mr. Williams before December 2 to ensure the Board will meet the
requirements of the Code of Virginia.
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County of Frederick, Virginia
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ADJOURN
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Charles S. DeHaven, Jr. Kris C.Tierney
Chairman, Board of Supervisors Clerk, Board of Supervisors
Minutes Prepared By:
Ann W. Phillips
Deputy Clerk, Board of Supervisors
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Board of Supervisors Work Session of November 23,2010
County of Frederick, Virginia
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