ADDENDUM #4 RFP FOR THE DESIGN OF AN EMERGENCY SERVICES TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM FOR OTSEGO COUNTY

Transcription

1 ADDENDUM #4 RFP FOR THE DESIGN OF AN EMERGENCY SERVICES TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM FOR OTSEGO COUNTY Questions Submitted in Writing Prior to the Pre-Proposal Meeting 1. Project Background The RFP references 8 countyowned or leased tower sites, yet the Map provided shows 10 county sites. Please clarify the discrepancy. (RCC) The map includes the eight hill-top towers sites and the Public Safety Building (PSB) and County Office Building (COB). Dispatches from the PSB are transmitted to the COB via a T1 line. From the COB, the dispatches are transmitted to the Cornish Hill tower (the hub of the system) by way of a short microwave hop. Transmissions from the 911 Center use T-1 lines to connect to the County Office Building and the head end of the existing 2 Ghz Hot Standby loop Microwave system. From the C.O.B. to Cornish Hill is Hot standby. Cornish Hill ( lat long ) is the hub for loop switching for redundancy. The existing sites controlled by microwave include Cherry Valley ( lat long ), Hooker Mountain ( lat long ), Blend Hill ( lat long ), Rockdale ( long ), & Noah s Rump ( lat long ). We control two additional sites for VHF low band transmitters only by UHF RF links and are currently in the process of putting another low band transmitter at a Chenango County tower site on the North West corner of Otsego County. The RF Links are Rockdale tower to the Butternut Road site ( lat N long W) which is a 60 wooden pole (Owned by Otsego County), Cornish Hill to Clock Hill tower ( lat N long W ) ( Leased space on American Tower s structure on clock hill road, and the proposed additional link from Noah s Rump to the Chenango County ( lat N long W ) ( MOU Agreement to be finalized). Otsego County also owns a tower that is not used by the County at this time in New Lisbon ( lat N long W ). Head end of the hot standby link at 197 Main COB ( lat N long W ) Public Safety Building at 172 County Highway 33w ( lat N long W). (NAD83 ). Page 1 of 26

2 2. Scope of Services (1) On p. 16, the RFP states that an objective is to Provide operating functions equal to, or greater than, the function of the systems currently maintained by the City of Oneonta and the Hartwick Fire District. Can you please provide a technical description of the Oneonta and Hartwick Fire District radio systems? (RCC) The City of Oneonta has two UHF repeaters located on the east and west end of the City. The Hart wick Fire District has one UHF repeater located at the fire station on State Highway 28 that transmits to a cross band radio UHF to VHF low band pagers, portables and mobiles. Both agencies also have UHF conventional portables. These systems currently provide for portable coverage throughout the respective districts. The City of Oneonta and the Hartwick Fire Districts systems also provide for in building portable coverage throughout the city and town. 3. Scope of Services (2) Some of the items mentioned under Change to digital technology represent functions that are typically provided separately from a radio system (e.g. AVL, video transmissions). This is the only place these technologies are mentioned (not under the Scope of Work). To what extent do you expect the consultant to explore these options? (RCC) These technologies are included in the bullets under Task 5 of the Scope of Work. Increased bandwidth and multiple transmissions of audio data and need to be explored. The other technologies should be explored to the extent that the broadband and multiple transmission of data can make them possible. The consultant will need to explore how to track emergency vehicles primarily Police for safety and for dispatch of closest car to an event. The data portion will relate to the ability for a Sheriff s patrol lap top computer access to DMV records and Cad events from mobile locations through the County and as for Video a platform to support streaming video from a police cruiser to the 911 Center. If AVL, MDTs, and Video transmission are be included in a concept design, the consultant should provide the cost for the platform of each and cost per user unit so that the county can assess the cost benefits of these features. 4. Scope of Services (3) Please provide more information on the OAM project referenced. (RCC) See answer to question 52 below. 5. Scope of Work (1) Task 1 includes a subtask to review all existing reports and studies, including RF coverage maps. Does this include the reports done by Kimball and ECC that are referenced in the project background? Are other studies also included? Is it possible to get a copy of these studies now? (RCC) This reference does include the Kimball and ECC reports. There are some RF coverage maps available. These materials will be available for review after the pre-proposal meeting scheduled for March 13 th. Reports will also be posted on the county s purchasing department in the near future. The only other study currently is the fiber optic specification for the connection of the PSB & COB. Page 2 of 26

3 6. Scope of Work (2) Task 1 also includes a couple of inventory subtasks. In order to accurately quote the extent of these efforts, can you please provide some guidance with espect to the subscriber inventory task as to (1) the approximate number of subscriber devices to be inventoried (including pagers, if they are to be included), (2) the level of detail required in the inventory, (3) the number of locations required to be visited as part of the subscriber inventory process, (4) the extent that the County and participating gencies will assist with the subscriber inventory. (RCC) 1)The county does not have an estimate of the number of devices in use, hence the inventory. Pagers must be included in the inventory. A rough estimate of pagers would be approximately 40 pagers in each of the 30 Fire departments. The number of portable radios varies from department to department. The consultant will develop a survey form, subject to county approval, to be filled out by each department listing the total number of pagers, portables, and mobiles. The survey will also contain other questions and an area to allow free form input to cover any information not covered by the survey questions but that the participant deems important. Participants in the survey will at minimum be the lead person in each of the agencies listed in item 8 below. Police agencies to be inventoried include the Sheriff, Probation Department, Cooperstown Police, Town of Oneonta Constables, Oneonta Police Department, and the NYS Troopers. This will also require a form to be filled out by each department. Highway agency to be inventoried will be the Otsego County Highway Department. 2) The inventory should account the number of portable, mobile and stationary radios and all frequencies they are able to operate on. The number of pagers should be included. Make and model are not necessary. Some agencies may operate local repeaters or base stations that should be included. 3) The inventory may include meeting with county associations (town supervisors assoc., highway dept assoc., fire chief s assoc., ect) to limit the number of meetings necessary. Regional meetings (minimum of six) of agencies within a number of towns in close proximity, and/or meetings with individual agencies should be included in the proposal. Interviews may be conducted in person, by phone, or another effective method may be proposed. The inventory may include mail or internet surveys. 4) The County will provide contact information and can assist in setting up meeting locations. In summary, the consultants should propose a program for conducting the inventory that will provide the best response return for the efforts employed. 7. Scope of Work (3) Task 1 also includes a couple of inventory subtasks. In order to accurately quote the extent of these efforts, can you please provide some guidance with respect to the backbone equipment inventory task as to (1) the number of locations required to be visited, (2) the level of detail required in the inventory,, (3) the devices expected to be inventoried (microwave? Radios? Antenna System elements? Etc.) and (4) the extent that the County and participating agencies will assist with the subscriber inventory. (RCC) 1) The consultants should anticipate visiting the county s sites as described in question one, project background, including the eight tower sites as well as the PSB and the Page 3 of 26

4 COB. The repeaters owned by the City of Oneonta and District of Hartwick should also be visited. At a minimum all sites as described in question one, project background, should be visited to compile what base stations are located at each site. Regarding testing of receivers, transmitter output power, coax, and to climb existing towers for mapping, see answers to questions 47 and 48 below. 2) See answers to questions 47and 48 below 3) The tower sites have a mix of VHF low Band, VHF High band, UHF and microwave equipment, including but not limited to, antennas, transmitters, hardline, repeaters, receivers, microwave dishes, generators and other ancillary devices. There may be other tenants on various sites and that equipment will be noted. 4) County staff will accompany the respondent s personnel to all remote sites and any meetings with associations for inventory and questions related to needs analysis. 8. Scope of Work (4) Task 1 refers to coapplicants and emergency response agencies and other service agencies. Please provide a concise listing of all applicants and agencies required to be considered with respect to this task. (RCC) The reference to co-applicants means the County, the City of Oneonta and the Hartwick Fire District, as they have applied for grant funds for this project. The City and the District signed on as partners with the anticipation of giving up their UHF licenses as part of a County system if the final design is in the UHF spectrum. The other agencies to be to be included in the inventory are: Fire Departments, EMS, Cooperstown Medical Transport First Responders. County Offices of o E911 o Emergency services o Highway o the Sheriff o Probation Other law enforcement agencies should include: o City of Oneonta police o Town of Oneonta constable o Village of Cooperstown police. o NYS State Police Troop C Zone 1 (other user state agencies) o State University Police A list of fire departments, EMS and first responders can be found at: Otsego County EMS and First Responders are part of the Fire Department and can be inventoried with the fire department. Page 4 of 26

5 To supplement the inventory of the emergency service providers, the information regarding the communications capabilities/needs of the following agencies will be required: Highway departments of the County s 24 towns, 9 villages, and 1 city County Departments of o Social Services o Transportation Planning o Health o Code Enforcement Two local hospitals Ten local school district transportation systems One regional BOCES Consideration and notation should also be given for neighboring counties in the statewide mutual aid plan. 9. Scope of Work (5) Task 1 refers to hardline testing and wattage output. Is the County expecting the consultant to verify the output power at all radio transmission sites? Is there additional hardline testing that is expected, such as TDR testing to determine antenna line lengths and faults, VSWR testing, or other testing? (RCC) See answer to question 47 below. 10. Scope of Work (6) Task 1 asks to provide coverage maps for existing frequencies, including field strength measurements. Please clarify the purpose of the field strength measurements, and the extent of measurements you wish to be taken. Are they just to be used to calibrate the prediction model, or do you want to characterize coverage via empirical data? In which frequency bands do you expect field strength measurements to be taken? (RCC) See answers to questions 48 and 49 below. 11. Scope of Work (7) Task 2 asks to identify performance goals, including interoperability, increased portable coverage, video communications, and security encryption. How is the consultant expected to come up with these goals? Should time be allocated to interview key agency stakeholders? If so, how many? Currently, there is no task items identified for interviews. (RCC) 1) The consultant should use information gathered in Task 1 to identify performance goals. It is anticipated that Task 1 will reveal gaps or shortfalls in the current system and subsequently address those gaps and shortfalls in the concept designs. For example, if the field strength measurements and anecdotal reports from emergency service providers reveal regions where pagers fail to receive signals, the concept designs should address that shortfall. 2) See the answer to question 6 above. Interviews/survey of stakeholders should be conducted in Task Scope of Work (8) Task 2 mentions new transmission sites. If new sites are required, how much detail is required from the consultant? For example, is it acceptable to determine an area where a new site is needed, along with antenna height Page 5 of 26

6 requirements, without identifying specific site candidates? Or is new site identification part of this task (e.g. identifying specific existing structures or a specific parcel of land to construct a new tower)? (RCC) Consultants will need to provide an area where a new site would be needed along with antenna height, power and related requirements to accomplish reliable on street paging and two way portable radio communications county-wide. Added sample sites have been considered for UHF spectrum simulcast for paging coverage including: Proposed site in Worcester ( lat N long W) Proposed Town of Otsego (lat N long W) Proposed Town of Burlington ( lat N W ) These sites are provided as reference only and the Consultant will need to identify specific sites to provide the coverage required by a new system. The consultant should using existing sites to accomplish the coverage goal where ever possible to reduce the number of new sites required. Consideration should be given to existing structures where possible and preference should also be given to municipal properties. All of this data is available through the county GIS department. Consideration should also be given to out-of-county sites that could facilitate coordination/partnerships with neighboring county s and agencies. 13. Scope of Work (9) Task 2 mentions consensus building workshops. How many of these are anticipated? Do these all need to be inperson, or can some be via teleconference? (RCC) The proposers may anticipate that two workshops should be in person. Any further workshops may be conducted via teleconference. 14. Scope of Work (10) How many OAM meetings should be budgeted for in the RFP response? (RCC) Attendance at six OAM meetings should be budgeted. Additional meetings may be attended via conference call. 15. Scope of Work (11) Task 5 limits the consultant s responsibility to writing the technical RFP. Is postrfp support required, such as attending preproposal meeting(s) with the vendors, answering vendor questions, evaluating the RFP responses or supporting contract negotiations with the selected vendor? (RCC) The selected consultant should plan to attend at least three meetings in person, one preproposal meeting to answer vendor questions in reference to the RF, one meeting to evaluate the RFP responses and a third meeting to negotiate a contract with the selected vendor. Conference calls with vendors and County E-911 Coordinator and s will be sufficient between those three meetings. The consultant should plan on two in person post-support meetings and a certain amount of phone/ support to help clarify questions in the bidding process. Page 6 of 26

7 16. General Has a budget been identified for this engagement and can you please share it? (RCC) It is the County s intent to build a system and will fund the project appropriately as money becomes available. 17. Forms Do all forms need to be signed by an officer of the company? If no, which do not need to be signed by an officer of the company? (RCC) All forms are to be signed by an officer of the company. 18. Form C If the consultant is a corporation, headquartered in a state other than NY, how should Form C be filled out? (RCC) Strike out NY and enter the state the firm is headquartered in. 19. Does the County require the consultant to conduct an on-site physical count and personal evaluation of each agency s base stations, base receivers, antenna systems, mobiles and portable radios, or will a written survey with detailed responses by each agency be acceptable? In other, similar projects the County has taken the responsibility for identifying those to be surveyed and has also assumed responsibility for delivery to and collection of responses from the local agencies. Will the County participate in this manner in this project? Consultant will provide the forms needed for such information gathering, process the responses and develop the related reports and analysis. (Blue Wing) See question 6 above. The proposals will include survey delivery and collection and itemize the expense for each activity included in the various tasks. If a consultant wishes to propose an alternative method to conduct the survey, such as having county staff conduct the survey, the County suggests that the consultant include an alternate cost. 20. Assess equipment that must be replaced, including all stationary, portable and mobile equipment utilized by co-applicants and all other agencies operating in the county listed identified emergency response agencies and other service agencies under the scope of services. Please clarify this requirement. Our survey will, if the respondents are truthful, identify units that could be serviceable in the new system and those that are not. Is this process acceptable or does the County require that we personally visually inspect each and every unit? (Blue Wing) See question 6 above. Enumeration of units and assessment of which will be functional in the new system is sufficient. Visual inspection is not required. 21. Assess equipment that must be replaced at tower structures, hilltop antenna transmitters, including hardline testing, and wattage output. We will document each piece of equipment at each site. Does the County desire that we arrange to disable working channels to perform analysis of each transmitter output and antenna system as part of the initial study, or can such analysis be performed at a later time when and if it is determined a unit could be re-used in the new configuration? Tower, shelter, site conditions will also be documented at time of site visit. (Blue Wing) Page 7 of 26

8 See answers to question 47 below. Tower, shelter, and site conditions can be document upon site visit. Otsego County was awarded a grant to replace existing communications shelters and anticipate that we may be able to replace six shelters and the remaining proposed sites would require appropriate shelters. 22. Assess interoperability with neighboring counties. [We] will review common needs and desires with each neighboring County. Is Otsego willing to set up the necessary meetings and will County representatives accompany our personnel to facilitate introductions and provide liaison with those entities? (Blue Wing) The County will assist in setting up necessary meetings and serve as liaison. County staff can accompany the staff from the winning firm as necessary. 23. Prepare coverage maps for existing frequencies (including field strength measurements) serving all emergency response agencies operating in the county. Is it the County s desire that the consultant do extensive drive tests to document the coverage of every channel in use in the County? If so, please provide a list of the channels to be tested and the respective licensees. (Blue Wing) See answer to question 48 below. 24. Task 2: Develop alternative concept designs based on the communications needs assessment. Identify performance goals, including interoperability, increased portable coverage, video communications, and security encryption. Please describe the County s concept of video communications. (Blue Wing) See question 3 above. 25. Please advise how often the OAM meetings are held. (Blue Wing) See questions 4 and 14 above. 26. Task 4: Preparation of FCC license applications necessary to implement the final concept design - Prepare any studies needed to supplement frequency coordination - Acquisition of some frequencies may require extensive prep time and even the participation of an attorney that practices in front of the FCC if waivers are required. Until decisions are made by the County concerning the use of channels following completion of the study, we are unable to develop a reasonable cost impact for this requirement. [We] request the County accept a separate quotation for this work once the exact needs are determined. We can provide a list of representative costs under various application scenarios and hourly rates of our associate attorney if this is acceptable. (Blue Wing) Provide a list of representative cost based on various application scenarios and on other projects you may have completed. 27. Task 5: Preparation of an RFP for construction of the system. (It is not the intent of the list below to predetermine the required features needed in the final design of the ESTS. The features in the final design of the ESTS will be determined by the needs assessment in Task 1, and will be selected from the alternative concept designs Page 8 of 26

9 presented in Task 2) Task 5: Preparation of an RFP for construction of the system. [We] ask that this task be removed from the initial proposal. (Blue Wing) The County suggests that if the consultants are concerned about the amount of effort required to develop and shepherd an RFP, the consultants may itemize the project costs for each task, particularly Task 5. Subtasks may also be itemized. The proposal may also contain caveats that address factors that impact the full detail of the final product Schedule of Services - The entire package must be completed by March 31, This last sentence conflicts with the schedule table above. We ask this be changed to read, The entire set of contacted services shall be completed within 12 months from date of execution of contract between the Consultant and the County. (Blue Wing) The deadline of March 2010 is set by the agency providing grant funds for this project. If the project extends beyond this point, the County must justify the extension request. If a consultant feels that this work cannot be done by March 2010, they should explain why and propose a timeline for completion in the proposal. 29. On page 14, will the County provide copies of the L. R. Kimball & Associates and ECC Technologies Reports prior to the proposal due date? (Langone) See answer to question 5 above. 30. Has the County initiated any Frequency Coordination and FCC licensing activities for the new system? (Langone) No. 31. On page 15, what agencies will be participating in this project? (Langone) See answer to question 8 above. 32. On page 16, task 1, will the County provide the successful Consultant with an inventory of all radios used by the participating agencies or will the Consultant be required to gather the information? (Langone) The consultant is required to gather the information. 33. Will the County provide the successful Consultant a list of all frequencies currently in use by each agency or will the Consultant be required to gather this information? (Langone) The consultant is required to gather this information. 34. Are any radio system upgrades in process at this time? (Langone) The Hartwick Fire District is are upgrading their system, replacing radios, adding additional radios as they add new members, and upgrading their mobiles, base station Page 9 of 26

10 and repeater to meet the 2013 narrow band mandate requirement. The District can not do this all in one year, and have to stretch it out to a 5 year plan due to budget costs. Some local fire departments may be in the process of purchasing new radios with grant funds locally obtained. The consultant will gather this information during the inventory outlined in Task 1. Otsego County is presently negotiating with two AWS carriers interested in some of our existing microwave licenses and the County will need to make a decision how to replace the existing 2Ghz microwave system. The Count is also proposing to add one more VHF low band transmitter to the current system as soon as an agreement is in place with Chenango County. 35. On page 16, what type of radio systems are currently used by the City of Oneonta and the Hartwick Fire District? (Langone) See answer to question 2 above On page 17, how many radio sites and frequency bands at each site does the County require field measurements? Will the County make these systems available for extended durations to allow for field measurements? As you know, current propagation software is very accurate in predicting coverage. Since the County has identified UHF and 700/800 MHz as possible new system spectrum, is equipment available at all sites to test these frequency bands? The County may wish to consider a more cost-effective, quicker and typical approach where existing users provide information on the current system performance and sophisticated propagation software is used to predict new system performance. (Langone) Otsego County has no 700/800 Mhz equipment and has only eight UHF base stations used for EMS telemetry. The frequencies associated with these base stations are for licensed EMS purposes. (Single channel base station on Med 10 and a ten channel base located at the four of our hilltop locations) sites are addressed in number 1 above and the County utilizes VHF low band, VHF High band, and UHF bases as described. See also the answer to question 49 below. 37. On page 17, does the County expect a minimum of four (4) different "conceptual" design package? (Langone) Currently, the County expects multiple conceptual design packages. If the inventory and needs assessment reveal a limited number of solutions, only those solutions need be incorporated into a conceptual design. Multiple concept designs are preferred for developing a proposal. 38. Is the completion of Task 5 a procurement specification only? If yes, does the County anticipate extending the Consultant's contract to assist with the procurement and implementation process? (Langone) See answer to question 15 above. Page 10 of 26

11 39. On page 19, is the March 31, 2010 date a firm date for completion of Task 5 or is it 12 months from contract execution? FCC licensing activities may extend beyond this date as these activities are beyond the control of the County and Consultant. (Langone) See answer to question 28 above. 40. On page 13, does the 60% coverage apply to all County radio systems and frequencies? Was this percentage based on actual measurement data? (Langone) 60% coverage refers to the tone-out reception of pagers utilized by the fire departments and EMTs in the County. This number is an estimate based on anecdotal reports by those agencies and the experience of the E911 director. 41. Page 15, 2nd paragraph of the RFP, please explain the intent of this paragraph. What services other than the radio system would the bandwidth be used for? (Langone) See answer to question 3 above. The ESTS will provide communications for law enforcement agencies that may utilize mobile technologies and automatic vehicle location (AVL) in the future. The system should be designed to allow AVL, MDTs, and streaming video in the future. 42. On page 15, how does the County anticipate integrating the Open Access Model (OAM) with the ESTS? (Langone) See answer to question 4 above. 43. On page 18, how often do you anticipate the Consultant attending OAM meetings? (Langone) See the answer to questions 4 and 14 above. 44. On page 18, has the County decided that the new radio system will have a P25 infrastructure? (Langone) No. 45. Have all the County's public safety and service agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to participate in a new countywide radio system and to contribute their existing radio frequencies as necessary? (Langone) The County, City and the Fire District of Hartwick have developed an Intermunicipal Agreement. The IMA outlines the participation and responsibilities of each party, including contribution of existing radio frequencies if needed, provided that the new countywide system provides functionality equivalent to the functionality the current disparate systems. Page 11 of 26

12 Questions From The 3/13/09 Pre-Proposal Meeting 46. Does the county intend to follow SAFECOM and pursue federal funding? If yes, a P25 compliant system is required. (Langone) A cost benefit analysis of the concept designs should be presented to the County to identify the benefits of a P25 solution (per Task 2 bullet 3). Once problems are identified in the needs assessment (Task 1), the cost benefit analysis will reveal which of the proposed concept design solutions are most cost effective. The cost benefit analysis of each design will help the County to select one of the concept designs for full development. 47. Expand on Task 1 5 th bullet: Assess equipment that must be replaced at tower structures, hilltop antenna transmitters, including hardline testing and wattage output. (NYSTEC) a) Are there any 700/800 equipment on hill tops now? b) Who would do the testing? c) Are the consultants expected to test and measure the performance of the in service systems, including transmitter performance? a) See answer to question 36. b) The consultant can propose a subcontractor if necessary. c) The County desires the proposals to include equipment testing. However, the County requests that the cost for testing be broken out and itemized in the proposal. The County also requests that the consultants present their opinion on the value added to the project balanced against the cost of performing the tests. The County will then make a decision during the proposal review process regarding inclusion of testing in the final scope of work. Tests to be included are: full equipment testing of the receiver sensitivity, transmitter output power antenna feed line conditions to include full sweep tests return loss reporting Testing will need to be carefully coordinated to minimize systems disruption. Testing of the existing microwave system will not be required as it is understood it will be replaced Existing transmitter measurements should be conducted so that the propagation maps of the existing coverage will represent current functionality (if the transmitter is performing at a level less than originally intended). If there are problems with coverage, it must be determined if the issue is with the performance of the current transmitters/antennas, or if the technology and/or site are not adequate. 48. Expand on Task 1 8 th bullet: Prepare coverage maps for existing frequencies (including field strength measurements) serving all emergency response agencies operating in the county. (NYSTEC) a) How much value does the county expect from the coverage maps? b) Does the county want coverage analysis? Page 12 of 26

13 c) Does the county want the proposal to include propagation analysis? a) The County requests that the consultants present their opinion on the value added to the project balanced against the cost of coverage mapping. b) The County requests that the coverage mapping be broken out and itemized in the proposal. These are to be maps based on the measured performance of the system not the licensed power levels. The County will then make a decision during the proposal review process regarding inclusion of coverage mapping in the scope of work. Coverage maps should include four versions: talk out pager coverage mobile talk back portable talk back c) Propagation studies of the proposed system is required. The consultant will state, based on the RP propagation analysis, the percentage of on street coverage for each study conducted. 49. Are field measurements necessary, and if so, or what purpose? (RCC) a) What tests will be required? b) Will spot checks be sufficient to calibrate predictive model? c) Will the consultant required to drive around the entire county? a) Spot checking in the field should be done to calibrate the RF propagation model, if conducted, so that there is confidence in the model. b) Spot checking is sufficient c) A reasonable number of spot checks should be conducted to provide confidence in the model. If a consultant already has data from a neighboring area with the same general clutter classes and it was conducted in the same frequency ranges, then that data may be used subject to review and approval. The County requests that the field measurements be broken out and itemized in the proposal. The County will then make a decision during the proposal review process regarding inclusion of field measurements in the final scope of work. The County requests that the consultants present their opinion on the value added and necessity to the project balanced against the cost of field measurements. 50. Are there sufficient frequencies to build out the system? The winning consultant will confirm the availability of frequencies and allowed power levels prior to presenting the concept designs. 51. Will the county consider incremental solutions/steps? The concepts designs should include the complete system, including an estimated construction budget so that the County can determine the cost benefit of each. The final design should include a more detailed and accurate budget. Page 13 of 26

14 The concept designs can include a solution that has incremental steps. 52. Expand on the Open Access Model (OAM) relationship to the ESTS. d) Microwave will the OAM use it or won t it? The Open Access Model is primarily intended to provide a network for Public/Private partnership sharing to provide last mile competitive service for high speed internet to individual homes across the County. The County has developed a business model that has cursorily explored the possibilities of a fiber optic ring or a microwave ring and had studied the financial prospects of each (cost to construct, operate, balanced with potential revenues). The County has not yet make a decision on proceeding with the project and which technology might be used. The ESTS backbone could be a combination of fiber and or microwave to provide mission critical five nine reliability for the public safety community. The OAM concept, if built, also requires a backbone in a ring configuration. The concept is that the ESTS may provide the some of the infrastructure/broadband for the OAM. The ESTS is first priority. The ESTS will not operate on the OAM. It will be a stand alone system. The ESTS will not rely on an OAM except for as a potential redundant path. However, the ESTS may be overbuilt and some of that capacity may be used by the OAM. The ESTS may be a fiber or microwave solution. The ESTS will not rely on the OAM as primary connectivity. The ESTS will not rely on any outside network for primary connectivity. The County must own all components of the ESTS to achieve stand alone % (5-9 s) (of the fixed equipment) reliability. The OAM is being patterned after Ontario County and/or Development Authority of the North Country. The County is considering pursuing stimulus/arra funds for the OAM. The business plan for the OAM was available for review following the pre-proposal meeting scheduled for March 13 th, 2009 and will be posted on the purchasing dept website. In addition, a fiber link to between the PSB and the COB has been proposed to replace the T-1s that currently provide that connection. An engineering report is being prepared ahead of the ESTS project. This fiber loop could provide the redundant connections between the PSB and the COB and the public safety radio systems hub. That project may be a stepping stone the larger OAM loop. 53. Does the county want a microwave or fiber optic backbone? Either technology can be proposed in the concept designs. The County wants the most cost effective solution that will address the needs of the County and the gaps in the current system that will be revealed in Task reliability is a priority. 54. Some consultants will not touch or take apart county equipment to assess it. (NYSTEC and Blue Wing) See answer to question 47 above Page 14 of 26

15 55. Are structural analyses required? And how many towers? (NYSTEC) The County requests that structural analyses of two towers (Cornish Hill and Noah s Rump) be broken out and itemized in the proposal. The County will then make a decision during the proposal review process regarding inclusion of structural analyses in the final scope of work. The County requests that the consultants present their opinion on the value added to the project balanced against the cost of structural analyses. 56. Provide more information on the towers. Information on the existing towers is as follows: Name Age Notes Rockdale 30+ yrs loaded currently for the type of structure, will likely required increase height if the solution is a 6 or 11 Ghz frequency microwave Believed to be a Rohn 55g Blend Hill Under Built for future antenna loading will not be replaced construction Butternut Rd <5 yrs 65 ft wooden pole will likely require replacement Cornish Hill 20+ yrs 180 Rohn 80 guyed structure Noah s Rump 30+ yrs 180 Rohn 80 guyed structure Cherry Valley 30+ yrs 50 ft, pieced from older used tower, will be replaced Hooker Mt 30+ yrs 50 ft, pieced from older used tower, will be replaced 57. Provide an attendee list as an addendum. (RCC) See Addendum No. 2 posted on the Otsego County Purchasing Dept website. 58. Can Task 5 be multiple RFPs? (NYSTEC) The Consultant should recommend the most cost effective approach to provide a reliable ESTS system and build the RFP with the joint approach of an open access partnership with pricing based on the ECC design for a fiber ring configuration. Other Comments By Panelists At The Pre-Proposal Meeting On the needs assessment (Task 1): A survey of the emergency response agencies is needed. The answers to the survey need to be quantified. The survey will reveal the problems with the current system that need to be addressed by the new system. The needs assessment/inventory/survey will reveal if wholesale changes are necessary, if spectrum availability is critical, or if improvements and upgrades can be done piecemeal. The existing microwave loop/backbone must be replaced. For all other components of the system, we are looking for the consultants to propose creative solutions in the concept designs. Page 15 of 26

16 On the current system: The current Fire/EMS dispatch system operates on VHF low band. The County does not have effective alert and/or reliable on site/street tone and voice paging. The new system will likely have tone and voice paging for the fire departments and allow additional paging for county departments who have on call personnel in a display format. The county sheriff s radio system is not effective county-wide for portable talk back range. We need interoperability. We need to know what is going on in other counties. The County recognizes that 100% coverage based on topography is difficult. The County desires to have reliable on street paging and portable talk back maximum attainable county-wide coverage. (standards yet to be decided and will wait for the needs assessment to be complete). The County has no objection to a project presented in stages but the proposal should include pricing for the complete project to allow a decision by the Board of Representatives to fund the project. The County would do it in one fell swoop if the funding was available. Upgrading the microwave loop system is paramount. Currently dispatches are handled at the Public Safety Building (PSB) in the 911 call center. The dispatches are transmitted to the County Office Building (COB) via Verizon T1 lines. A fiber link/ring between the PSB and the COB has been proposed. An engineering report is being prepared ahead of the ESTS project to solve the problems with the T1 line reliability. From the COB, dispatches are transmitted on a 2 GHZ hot standby link to the existing microwave hub located on Cornish Hill. From Cornish Hill, the hub of the 2 GHZ microwave ring, the other sites are controlled by a loop switch to provide redundancy. Otsego County is talking with AWS carriers who are interested in some of our licenses. The sheriff s radio system is VHF High Band and transmits on narrowband frequency Mobile and portable radios do not work effectively county-wide. The sheriff s system is a repeater system and only one frequency for ALL police agencies to operate on and interoperability between police and any other non-police agencies does not exist. The County recognizes that 100% coverage may not be attainable due to the topography. The County will require high percentage coverage on street for paging and portable radios in the final design. The advantage to providing a complete system design and pricing is at least two fold. 1. Pricing of the project would be committed at today s cost (locked in pricing for the equipment and labor) 2. If bonding is required, the County would also be locked in at today s rates for the project. The system cost will only increase year by year and the County does not know what kind of funding will be available in the future and how much of the funding will Otsego County actually be awarded. On proposed systems: The County needs a system that addresses reliable Public Safety Communications for the future at the best possible cost. Page 16 of 26

17 The consultants can develop concept designs that include any reasonable viable option that a consultant recognizes. The County wants a level of technology and cost that best meets the County s needs. The County doesn t want the proposed system to be too expensive to achieve. A phased approach is desirable The consultants can propose a graduated system of improvements with multiple options. The cost of each should be included. This project is multi-jurisdictional, taken on by everyone. The County wants a common and cohesive approach. It is an investment in the future. Consultants should formulate options. General comments: The County is looking for suggestions from the consultants. If the consultant would recommend no belt pagers - recommend that. The cost to fire departments incurred by a P25 compliant system or other system needs to be known. The end result (the final design) is not identified in the RFP because the County doesn t know what solution will best meet our needs. The County is looking to the consultants for guidance. This RFP is not for a final design. The RFP in Task 5 is to be the final design. Existing studies will be made available in electronic format on our website, hopefully by mid-next week. Any existing propagation maps were likely based on licensed capacity and likely do not reflect current system performance and capabilities. Page 17 of 26

18 Questions Submitted Subsequent to the Pre-proposal Meeting on 3/13/ Proposal Page 6: Can the proposer alter Form C to reflect its state rather than New York? (Blue Wing) See answer to question 18 above. 60. The following relates to our previous Question 3 and Bullet 5 on RFP Page 16: (Blue Wing) A- Is it the County s intent to have the consultant climb each tower and document the antenna systems? See answers to questions 55 and 56 above. B- If the County wants existing transmitter power and antenna system condition documentation, will the County provide the services of its maintenance contractor to accompany the consultant and perform the measurements to assure that the radio equipment s operating capabilities are not compromised in any way? Yes, the maintenance contractor must be used, but the cost must be born by the consultant, if testing is in the final scope of work. See answer to question 47 above. C- Also, If transmitter measurements are required, will the County likewise have its maintenance contractor perform operational tests on the related receivers? The consultant can contract with the County s maintenance contractor. D- If answers to the above are yes but the consultant is to include the fees in its proposal, please provide contact information for your authorized contractor. Mid-State C.&E. Inc. Oriskany, New York Ph# E- If it is required that the consultant climb the towers and any of the towers are leased space, please provide the tower information and contact information for the tower owner s approved climbing company. Many tower owners Verizon, Comcast, etc limit climbing to companies having agreements with them. All of the county towers are under county jurisdiction. The only requirement is that the contractor has the appropriate insurance coverage required by the County. The current maintenance contractor has and can climb any countyowned towers. 61. In the pre-bid discussion it was inferred that Otsego County desires the consultant to perform a structural analysis of each tower. We respectfully point out that having such analysis done on the towers as they exist will only show if the structure is safe under current loading and use. We ask this requirement not be included in this proposal. It is Page 18 of 26

19 possible that during the study a given tower may be found inadequate as to height or obvious condition for expanded use, thus negating the need for any analysis. We submit that it is in the County s best interests to withhold any such analysis until the study process has determined an existing structure can be used in a system upgrade and the new loading has been determined. At that time the County can contract for such studies directly. This will be a substantial savings of County funds. (Blue Wing) See answers to questions 55 and 56 above. 62. At the pre-bid meeting we requested the following from the County; questions can be submitted until Monday, March 16; the County will respond by Friday, March 20 and extension of the bid opening date to April 6. It was indicated that this would be done. Checking the website today we seen no notice reflecting this request. (Blue Wing) A notice that the opening date to April 6 th was ed on 3/13/09 directly to all proposers on the initial distribution list and any proposers that have contacted the County subsequent to release of the RFP. The notice and will be posed on the County s purchasing department website. 63. The RFP does not mention a County Project Director as the point of contact for the selected consultant. Will the County appoint a single person in this role? (Blue Wing) See the answer to question 65 below. 64. Proposal Format If the submitting firm desires, will the County accept a proposal that includes the original RFP, with addenda, with responses to the requirements and links to appended data inserted in that document? We find in many cases this provides concise, direct answers to the various requirements and proof of response to each. (Blue Wing) Such a proposal is acceptable. 65. Will the County assign as a single point of contact a person who has full knowledge of the County's emergency communications systems including: 1. tower sites 2. communications center operations 3. County and local radio systems 4. experience working with all County public safety agencies 5. mutual aid agreements 6. existing maintenance programs and contracts 7. FCC licensing issues Due to the magnitude of this project, it is important that the County's project manager have operational and technical experience across all County and local agencies. (Langone) Yes. Page 19 of 26

20 Additional requirements: References for similar projects and contact information is required. The consultant should itemize the cost to replace the backbone. Page 20 of 26

21 Additional Reference Materials: Frequency list: Please note that this list is not considered 100% accurate and the winning proposal will be required in the needs assessment phase, to gather all of the proper and accurate data from the respondents. This list is provided as a basic framework of the system so that consultants can use this as part of the basis of proposals. Consultant should be able to note the current number of frequencies and gauge current capacity and capabilities as well as part of the interoperability needs within the county at this time. This information is not meant for general public distribution. Page 21 of 26

22 FREQUENCY LIST LOW BAND TX PL RX PL DTML Otsego County Fire F1 Dispatch Otsego County Fire F2 Truck to Truck Otsego County Fire F3 Fire Police Otsego County Fire F4 EMS Tactical Otsego County Fire F5 Interior Otsego County F6 Fire Ground County to County Fire Frequency Hartwick Fire Department Co # Laurens Fire Department Oneonta Fire Department Otego Fire Department Unadilla Fire Department West Oneonta Fire Dept Chenango County Fire Delaware County Fire Herkimer County Fire Madison County Fire Montgomery County Fire Oswego/Onondaga County Fire Schoharie County Fire NYS Emergency Management NYS Emergency Management NYS Emergency Management NYS DOT Base NYS DOT Mobile to Mobile NYS Electric & Gas Base NYS Electric & gas Mobile NYS Electric & Gas Mobile Red Cross VHF Freq. EMS Ambulance to Hospital (MIB) EMS Ambulance to Hospital (FOX) EMS Hospital to Hospital EMS Ambulance to Control Laurens Fire Repeater Laurens EMS Repeater Otsego County Local Government Freq Otsego County Highway Cherry Valley Otsego County Highway Rockdale Page 22 of 26