Pocahontas Commission Approves Purchase New Motorola 911 CAD and RMS

At their December 18^th meeting, the Pocahontas County Commissioners gave final approval to purchase from the Motorola Corporation a new Computer Aided Dispatch System, or CAD for the 911 Center; a 911 phone system; and a new Records Management System for the Sheriff’s Department.

Mike O’Brien, the Director of the 911 Center has been researching and negotiating this upgrade purchase for over a year, ever since learning that their current systems have seriously outdated hardware and software as well as being outdated in their ability to incorporate the new standards and abilities required of 911 Centers across the country by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA.) Once operational, this new system will upgrade the Pocahontas County 911 Center to a “Phase 2” Center.

On the currently used CAD system, just for support, excluding hardware and software upgrades, the 911 Center has been paying over $18,000 per year. In addition to adding new features including integrated mapping and the ability to receive 911 emergency requests through texting, the purchase price will include 10 years of support with software and hardware upgrades. Motorola includes the option of renewing that support after the 10 years of support expires. O’Brien added that another good feature is that, unlike their current system that uses proprietary hardware such as the server, the new system uses off-the-shelf hardware that the County could replace on its own after the 10 years if it wanted to.

The total cost for the CAD, Phone and RMS systems is $766,387.00 which could be spread over 10 years if the Commission had wanted to finance it. The Commissioners, however, want to pay for it upfront. About $120,000 of that total cost will come from the Sheriff’s Department for their RMS system. The County will pay their portion the following way.

• 25% of the cost within 30 days of signing the contract
• 25% upon shipment of the system
• 40% after installation of the system
• The remaining 10% when the 911 signs off that the system is up and running correctly

At the last Commission meeting, there had been some concern about the original terms which would leave only 5% of the payment at the time the system was signed off on y the 911 Center, so O’Brien re-negotiated with Motorola who agreed the County could withhold 10% back until final sign-off. Commission Attorney Bob Martin indicated he had reviewed and approved of the purchase contract with Motorola. The Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase.

In other actions, the Commissioners discussed with Travis Miller of the WV Division of Forestry the Division’s request to locate a portable saw mill on a pad they build about 40 feet behind the parking lot pavement at the Former Shoe Factory Building. Miller said the lumber produced at the site will be used for products to sell, for projects in the State Forests and/or producing white pine timber beams for sale. The Commissioners approved this request pending approval by their Attorney of a contract drawn up by the Division.

Cree Lahti of the Pocahontas County Libraries delivered their annual update to the Commission. She reported that each library will now be open for 192 hours per week, including on Saturdays, although the days open vary, with the McClintic Library open 6 days/week, the Hillsboro Library open 5 days/week and the Linwood and Durbin Libraries open 4 days per week.

Cynthia Guarera, the President of the Pocahontas County Arts Council delivered their annual report to the Commission, and talked about their work with the Arts classes in the schools, and how they donate a lot of arts materials and equipment to the school arts programs.

The Commissioners opened and approved the one sealed bid received for the 2019 purchase of gasoline by the County. That bid was from their current gasoline contractor, Woodford Oil at the same price as last year.

They set 6 dates for the 2019 Board of Review and Equalization hearings. They will be for 10 a.m. on February 1, 5, 8, 12, and 15. The final date will be during the regular Commission meeting at 5:30 p.m. on February 19^th.

They appointed Donald McNeel to a five-year term on the County Board of Health and approved a Budget Revision and Resolution of $9,123 for the State Grants Records Management Board.

Bob Martin reported to the Commission that the County received settlements in 2 class action lawsuits against the Federal Government involving underpayment of Pelt Grants. One was for $1.667.00 and the other for $30,606.00. He also reported that the Condominium auctioned off on the courthouse steps last week sold to D.P. Ventures, Inc for $90,000, more then enough to repay the $71,634 owed to the Hotel Occupancy Tax

Martin also reported that at the last Snowshoe RAD Board Meeting, Frank DeBerry resigned and the Resort Operator is naming a replacement. He said that during that meeting there was a heated discussion about initiating Precinct Voting for RAD Board members, however that failed to be placed in the RD Bylaws