Jan 18, 2024 By Mike Jones 4 min read

The Washington County commissioners are planning to revisit the 911 emergency radio system over concerns about whether the current contractor approved by the previous board last March is meeting benchmarks.

Commission Chairman Nick Sherman signaled during Tuesday’s board agenda meeting that the county will restart the bidding process soon while also holding onto the current contract with North Strabane-based MRA Inc. in order to give them options with the radio system provider moving forward.

Sherman, who is a Republican, was the lone dissenting vote on March 16 when the previous board composed of Republican Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan and Democratic Commissioner Larry Maggi approved the $22.545 million contract with MRA despite concerns raised by first responders about the system’s reliability. Irey Vaughan retired at the end of the year, so Sherman is now flanked by Maggi and fellow Republican Commissioner Electra Janis after he took over the chairmanship this month, giving him leverage to make changes.

“After almost a year, I was not satisfied with MRA’s progress and was also hearing from our public safety advisory board that there were errors in purchasing and concerns with the total build-out,” Sherman said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Sherman said he was originally concerned about “significant findings” by communications consultant Mission Critical about MRA’s bid when it was approved in March. Those concerns continued when another consultant, New Jersey-based V-Comm, conducted a similar report late last year, which he said raised doubts about the system.

“After their first attempt to do their report, MRA was still unable to provide a total build example of what the radio system will be,” Sherman said.

A phone message left at MRA’s office on Route 19 in North Strabane Township was not returned Wednesday.

Sherman acknowledged that the county has already spent about $8 million so far through various contract payments and equipment purchases, meaning they may be too far along to make changes. That prompted Maggi to question the need to restart the process during a discussion at Tuesday’s agenda meeting.

“So we’re throwing the other vendor to the wayside?” Maggi asked. “The proposal is a whole new system … or (something compatible with) the current equipment?”

Sherman said they want to see if a new bidding process could bring in other vendors to build their own system or determine whether they could piggyback off the equipment that has already been purchased. Motorola was the only other vendor to submit a bid last year, which was higher than MRA’s at the time of the March meeting, but was apparently brought down to a lower price when another offer was resubmitted in July.

Maggi also raised concerns about what would happen if only one vendor submits bids during another round of proposals, although Sherman said that’s why the county is keeping the contract with MRA in place for now.

“There are a lot of variables here,” Sherman said.

Maggi suggested they should start from scratch if they truly want to move forward, including a new study to prepare the request for proposals.

“Why don’t we get a clean slate, Nick, so we’re all happy,” Maggi said.

Sherman said during the phone interview Wednesday that there are “opt-out” clauses in the contract with MRA if certain benchmarks are not met. He added that equipment and towers that either should’ve been delivered or installed are still not available, raising concerns about the job being completed in a timely fashion and offering adequate coverage across the county.

The project is to be funded using federal American Rescue Plan Act money, which needs to be allocated by the end of the year but does not have to be spent until the end of 2026.

“In the end, we need to compare apples to apples with pricing to make sure, first and foremost, we’re protecting our first responders … and that we’re doing what’s best for the taxpayers of Washington County,” Sherman said.

The commissioners are expected to vote during today’s 10 a.m. meeting to formally begin the bidding process again.