Adopt the Resolution.

To seek proposals from qualified firms to replace the City’s aging public safety radio system, on October 24, 2016, the Administration released Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 2017-006-AK, for Public Safety Radio Network. The City received two proposals to the RFP.

At its June 7, 2017, meeting, pursuant to Agenda Item R7F, the Mayor and City Commission accepted the City Manager’s recommendation authorizing the Administration to negotiate with Harris Corporation (“Harris”) for an agreement for a replacement to the City’s current public safety radio system. As outlined in the aforementioned agenda item, the City Manager’s recommendation for award to the City Commission clearly articulated the reasons why, in his opinion, Harris provided the best overall technical proposal to replace the City’s aging public safety radio infrastructure. However, the City Manager also acknowledged that Harris’ proposal, while technically superior to the other proposal received, was significantly higher in price. For this reason, the City Manager recommended that the Administration be authorized to negotiate a lower cost with Harris, while maintaining the technical capabilities that made Harris’ proposal superior.

Following the City Commission’s direction, the Administration successfully negotiated with Harris to reduce the cost of a new public safety radio system.

In addition to a significantly lower cost, the Administration also negotiated additional system enhancements for the City, including:

• XG-25 portable radios (featuring OTAR and AES) replacing XG-15 unencrypted portable radios (Qty 25)

• OTAR and AES features added to 25 Fire Dept. portables

• OTAR and AES features added to 5 DEM portables

• All Police Radios are full key pad (System) models

• One additional Console for Traffic/Code

• Microwave to reach additional Console for Traffic/Code

• Microwave link for the ISSI

• Extended Warranty to 3 years including NOC Monitoring

The aforementioned system enhancements were negotiated as value-added items not included in the base price, therefore providing the City a savings in the amount of $406,932.00.

Additionally, following the expiration of the initial coverage period for years one (1) through three (3) the parties have agreed, to the cost for optional radio maintenance plan for years four (4) and five (5), six (6) through ten (10), and eleven (11) through fifteen (15), which provides  the City with a potential savings in the amount of $986,442.  If the City elects to opt for the optional radio maintenance, the maintenance shall be payable in yearly installments as detailed in Exhibit “A.”

Having considered the results of negotiations with Harris, I find that the proposal from Harris remains the overall best option for the City and the safety of our law enforcement and public safety employees, for the reasons noted below.

Above any other consideration, it is essential that the City’s radio system assures the highest level of safety for the City’s law enforcement and public safety personnel. In order to do so, the system selected must provide full interoperability with the systems utilized by the City’s neighboring public safety agencies. Given the frequent interactions between our public safety officers and theirs, interoperability has always been a primary concern. For this reason, the RFP stated its requirement to achieve seamless roaming between the City’s system and its neighboring jurisdictions (Section C-7.4, p.192). The law enforcement jurisdictions with which the City believes interoperability to be the most critical include Miami-Dade County (and the jurisdictions it services), City of Miami, City of Coral Gables, City of Aventura, and City of Hialeah. In fact, after the City of Miami finalizes its transition to a Harris system, the only jurisdictions within Miami-Dade County that would remain on a Motorola system are the cities of Hialeah and Homestead.

With regard to interoperability, the City’s consultant, Tusa Consulting Services, has determined that, while a Harris system can interoperate with a Motorola system, and vice versa, there are certain beneficial features that are enhanced when interfacing between Harris to Harris, or Motorola to Motorola systems. Being able to receive location (GPS) information at the Miami Beach dispatch center while radios roam into a neighboring system is one such feature. Also, the ability to change the encryption keys over the air (OTAR) from neighboring systems is another feature. Seamless roaming refers to the ability for Miami Beach personnel to extend their communication coverage beyond the geographical confines of the City’s radio system while maintaining the full feature sets of the system without the cumbersome task of any manual adjustments. It is important to note that seamless roaming and interoperability is not just important to our officers when they cross the causeways (which is quite frequent), but also to the many officers from other jurisdictions that work on Miami Beach during many of our special events. With like- systems the City will achieve much better coordination on both sides of the bay. 

Finally, Harris submitted an original price of $21,962,508 for their public safety radio system, which included warranty and maintenance. The original base price provided by Harris did not include the following value-added items in the amount of $406,932: XG-25 portable radios (featuring OTAR and AES) replacing XG-15 unencrypted portable radios (Qty 25); OTAR and AES features added to 25 Fire Dept. portables; OTAR and AES features added to 5 DEM portables; all Police radios are full key pad (System) models; one additional console for traffic/code; microwave to reach additional console for traffic/code; microwave link for the ISSI; and extended warranty for optional radio maintenance to three (3) years including NOC monitoring.  Following months of productive negotiations, I can report that Harris and the Administration were able to reduce the original price offered by $6,462,508. The total cost for the Harris public safety radio system is $15,500,000.

Therefore, after achieving the cost reduction required, and directed, by City Commission on June 7, 2017, I continue to believe that the proposal from Harris offers the overall best option for the City and the safety of our law enforcement and public safety employees. Accordingly, I recommend that the Mayor and City Commission hereby approve the financial terms of the agreement with Harris Corporation, pursuant to Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 2017-006-AK, for a Public Safety Radio Network, as set forth in Exhibit “A” to the Commission Memorandum accompanying this Resolution; authorize the City Manager and City Attorney to finalize the agreement with Harris Corporation, incorporating the terms approved herein; and further authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the final negotiated agreement with Harris Corporation, subject to review and form approval by the City Attorney.