During the week of March 3, the Sandoval County Regional Emergency Communication Center (SCRECC) experienced radio communication issues due to a windstorm, continuing the challenges in maintaining reliable emergency communication systems.
On March 13, County Manager Wayne Johnson added an emergency item to the Sandoval County Commission agenda. It was to approve a service agreement with Motorola for service, equipment replacement, and system maintenance for the county’s public safety radio network. It was originally scheduled for the March 27 meeting.
“The only reason we even pushed this is because I wasn’t willing to sacrifice the safety of our residents here in Sandoval County or risk it,” said Johnson.
According to Johnson, the outage was due to misaligned microwave units as a result of high winds. While working on realigning the microwave links, the Motorola crews also identified some controllers at the antenna sites were failing, leading to intermittent dropouts and connectivity issues across various locations in the county.
An ongoing problem
Although this was the first time SCRECC has had a radio problem, it is not the first problem with the communications system this year.
According to Johnson, SCRECC faced an issue with their 911 phone system in mid-January. Whenever someone called the emergency number from outside Rio Rancho, the dispatcher could hear the caller, but the caller couldn’t hear the dispatcher. However, communication was still possible through the non-emergency line. It was only the 911 line that was malfunctioning.
At the meeting, Sandoval County Fire Chief Eric Masterson said there was a brief network outage for a split second and the system quickly restored connectivity. As a result, there were no interruptions in communication with field units from Fire, EMS, or law enforcement agencies in Sandoval County.
“This is not a 911 problem, I want to emphasize that, 911 calls are also working with no problems at the center itself,” said Masterson.
The county had upgraded its analog VHF radio frequency system to a 700 megahertz digital system. Although the units were considered capable of functioning properly, they were actually at the end of their useful life and started to malfunction.
The commissioners unanimously approved the service agreement, which also authorized the county manager to approve the first-year purchase order for $336,168.89. The agreement was on the agenda for the March 27 meeting for ratification by the commission and it was approved.
Johnson said part of the solution to prevent this issue from recurring is the passage and approval of the contract, which includes measures to ensure reliable and uninterrupted service.
The agreement, which is for five years, has two prongs–one for services, including diagnosis, realignment, equipment installation, and maintenance; and another for equipment, where temporary units will be provided for failing units and replacements will be arranged.
Communications split
Rio Rancho informed SCRECC last year of their withdrawal from the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), affecting dispatch services. The SCRECC, formed in 2003 to consolidate dispatch services statewide, saw Rio Rancho as its fiscal agent until 2015 when financial changes were made. The withdrawal has led to plans to relocate the dispatch center from Rio Rancho’s police station to a new facility, with Rio Rancho intending to operate its dispatch center while SCRECC serves other agencies in Sandoval County from the new location.