By Jennifer Ortiz
Staff Writer
HOWELL — The Township Council has voted unanimously to spend $1.3 million to upgrade to the radio communication system that is used by the Howell Police Department.
Council members took the action at their meeting on June 13.
According to a resolution passed by the council, the radio communication system includes a discount of $124,755 and an additional discount of $125,000 if purchased by June 24, a total savings of $249,755, with the final cost of $1.3 million.
Howell Police Capt. Mark Pilecki said the purchase of new portable radio units will provide enhanced communication and replace outdated hardware. The new units will provide Howell officers with intercommunication ability with neighboring municipalities, which currently is not available.
Eventually, the goal is to create a system that will allow the police department to operate on a much larger network, the New Jersey Public Safety Interoperability System (NJ-PSIC).
Pilecki said that system “allows seamless communications from one end of the state to the other. There are virtually no infrastructure costs to participants and agencies will benefit from the economy of using a single enhanced system.”
The captain said the police department currently uses a Motorola Gold Elite system for which parts are no longer being manufactured.
“Our current system is over 12 years old … A good portion of our equipment has reached the end of its useful life and parts are becoming difficult, if not impossible to find, should our equipment break down or fail,” Pilecki said.
He said the radio communication system now in use does not offer the option of direct communication among Howell and police departments from Freehold, Jackson, Lakewood and Brick Township.
“The FCC has mandated agencies to be off a portion of the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band by 2021 … While $1.3 million is a lot of money, it is much less than if our agency attempted to procure our own trunked system (a specific type of two-way radio system), which would have cost several million dollars more,” Pilecki said.
The captain said providing each officer with a personal portable radio with the upgrade would promote accountability and result in less wear and tear on the units because they will not be shared 24 hours a day by officers on every shift.
The estimated lifespan of the new units is 10 to 12 years, with a three-year replacement warranty.
The new radio communication system was the topic of some discussion among council members.
“I’ve had two concerns,” Mayor Bill Gotto said. “I’m not sure I’m sold on the inventory of the project, specifically the number of portables. The second thing, which is more on the financial side, has to do with the objectives and things the governing body has done to manage our debt. As a result of that, I asked (Chief Financial Officer Louis) Mr. Palazzo to forecast the future.”
The expenses for the communications upgrade would involve expanding or adding on to a Bond Anticipation Note (BAN).
“I was fairly uncomfortable with that for a couple of reasons,” Gotto said.
The mayor said he is concerned with Howell’s debt, “as I have said numerous times whenever we have talked about capital projects.”
Gotto said he knows the council has done some significant permanent financing of the debt, “which is one of the items our additional revenue has been used to pay off in this year’s budget, which is a huge advantage on behalf of our taxpayers for future generations.”
Gotto said he was not comfortable expanding the BAN for the new radio communication system.
“Although it is a great project, I’m a little concerned with the shelf life,” he said. “We tend to add money into the BAN and at some point in the future we permanently finance that. In my history here, we have not done a lot of permanent financing up until last year.”
Gotto said his concern is that officials would extend borrowing, not pay down principal on a $1.3 million project, and not project when it would be paid out. He said he was concerned the town might still be paying for the radios after the equipment surpasses its useful lifespan. He said that scenario should be avoided.
Palazzo said the debt could be paid down quicker at the council’s discretion.
Gotto said having officers share radios would lead to $100,000 in savings.
Pilecki said he wants each officer to have a radio because that could be beneficial in several types of circumstances.
“We have been researching all avenues of changing the radio system for two years and this is the most economical and efficient way to upgrade our units,” he told the members of the governing body.
Deputy Mayor Robert Nicastro, Councilman Robert Walsh, Councilwoman Pauline Smith, Councilman Ed Guz and Gotto voted to proceed with the purchase of the new radio communication system, including a portable unit for each officer.
“I absolutely vote yes because I am completely in favor of the project and I just want to be clear, my discussion was to prompt a different level of financing in a way that was advantageous for the public. In no way do I not support (the police department’s) initiative in their purchase. They did a fantastic job, so I do vote yes,” Gotto said.
The capital improvement ordinance includes a $4.6 million appropriation for various capital improvements and authorizes the issuance of $4.37 million in bonds and notes to finance a portion of the costs.
Planned improvements include the acquisition of vehicles, including an ambulance; computer equipment and infrastructure improvements to the township’s computer system; police equipment; equipment for the Department of Public Works, including a heavy duty truck, a light duty truck, snow equipment and a street sweeper; capital improvements to municipal buildings; the purchase of office equipment; and the 2016 road program.