HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 02-28-2022911 COMMUNICATIONS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE February 28, 2022
At a Regular Meeting of the 911 Communications Oversight Committee on Monday,
February 28, 2022, at 1:30 p.m., in the Commission Chambers of City Hall located at 300 South 5th
Street. The following Committee members were present: Dr. Irvin Smith, Carol Gault, Jewel Jones and
Kevin Kauffeld (4). Eddie Jones arrived at 2:15 p.m. Chairperson Kevin Kauffeld presided.
Also present were Police Chief Brian Laird; Assistant Chief Anthony Copeland; Fire Chief Steve Kyle;
Finance Director Jon Perkins; Communications Manager Pam Spencer; and Deputy Judge Executive
Steve Doolittle.
City Clerk Lindsay Parish took the minutes of the meeting.
APPROVE MINUTES
Commissioner Carol Gault offered motion, seconded by Commissioner Jewel Jones to approve minutes
for February 14, 2022. All in favor.
FEDERAL ENGINEERING PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION
Terry Forehand and Travis LePage with Federal Engineering answered questions and gave an overview
of the Federal Engineering Report. The committee asked the following questions:
The Committee asked for additional information on the Federal Engineering 2017 Report Refresh,
specifically Report Pg. 29 Table 16, regarding the meaning of the numbers and what those numbers
mean for coverage in buildings.
The table covers the original 2017 coverage numbers for 6-Site System and a 5-site system plus
the refresh design numbers for both a 6-site system and a 5-site system.
The table covers the coverage for mobile (in a vehicle) and a portable on-street (such as a radio
on a Police Officer’s person).
Travis explained that the table shows the expected coverage that can be expected in the City of
Paducah and McCracken County in a 15 dB building (wood or light residential structure), 25 dB
(courthouse or similar structure), and 30 dB building (below ground or heat reducing structure).
Each number on the table represents an expected percentage of coverage based on the
determining factors of the number of sites and the building dB.
What can the City and County do to improve coverage in the areas of heavier industrial and brick
buildings?
Travis offered looking at a wide area coverage solution to locate towers in strategic areas to
provide coverage in those areas.
What is the benefit to the county fire departments to move from the current VHF system to the 800
system?
Currently the five (5) county departments are on a VHF system. That equipment is at the end of
its manufacturer supported life and will start to experience issues. Moving to an 800 system
would improve coverage and capacity. An 800 system will penetrate walls better than VHF.
911 COMMUNICATIONS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE February 28, 2022
Is there anything that can be done to the existing VHF system that can extend its lifespan?
There are no upgrades available. An upgrade would be to replace it.
Have any of the call taking, dispatch equipment, and CAD system replacements improved the existing
VHF system?
The current CAD, dispatch equipment, will support anything that is connected to them. The
constraint is with the repeater and VHF system that is being phased out.
When is a repeater needed?
Kentucky Oaks Mall has a bi-directional amplifier that acts in the way of a repeater. It amplifies
the signal in a structure. Determining the need of a repeater is done by doing signal measurement
testing within the structure. This generates essentially a heat map to determine the best area to
implement a repeater system.
Vehicular repeaters can be mounted on vehicles. They typically automatically come on once the
vehicle is in park. Once activated, the vehicle acts like a mini tower site to amplify the signal.
What is the cost of adding repeaters to buildings?
The cost of putting in repeater systems is going to depend on the design target, area reliability,
facility size, and how many frequencies need to be amplified within the facility. The City and
County have not implemented any minimum coverage ordinances.
Federal Engineering collected data in 2017 about some of the buildings that might need to
consider repeaters. They can share that with Chief Laird if the committee is interested in
reviewing.
What are the basic differences between a 6 Tower System and a 5 Tower System
The 5-site system provides the minimum public safety coverage - 95% coverage in the
geographic area of the City and County, in 95% of the buildings, 95% of the time.
The 6-site system doesn’t give significant improvement in outside coverage over a 5-site system,
but the benefit is when you go inside buildings. The benefits are mainly seen in the coverage
received in 25 or 30 bB buildings.
Discuss the lead time on implementation
There is an 18-24 month lead time on implementation of a system of this nature.
Extension of the Kentucky State Police Motorola System could shorten the amount of time it
takes to complete.
Additional Discussion
Commissioner Carol Gault asked Fire Chief Steve Kyle to provide minimum coverage ordinance
examples from other jurisdictions.
Vehicle Repeaters – The State uses a vehicle repeater system. Additional information is needed
on how other places use vehicle repeaters, the cost of the repeaters, and how many vehicles have
repeaters.
Commissioner Eddie Jones talked about the potential of adding one tower at a time instead of
building all of the towers at one time. This would take a dedicated funding source. Would like
more information on what combination of towers and repeaters would allow the City and County
to reach minimum standards.
911 COMMUNICATIONS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE February 28, 2022
The Committee discussed the ISO rating and the impact on insurance.
911 GOVERNANCE FOLLOW-UP
The Committee discussed the requirements that Stacey Blankenship had went over related to the
governance of 911.
OTHER 911 DISCUSSION
The committee agreed that funding is the primary factor to be considered. The Committee discussed the
number of water meters, wells and parcels in McCracken County. Commissioner Gault offered to meet
with Stacey Blankenship and staff to review the numbers and see what revenue streams can be utilized
in the long-term.
ADJOURN
Mr. Jewel Jones offered motion, seconded by Commissioner Eddie Jones to adjourn the meeting. All in
favor. Meeting adjourned at approximately 2:30 p.m.
ADOPTED: March 14, 2022