COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Information Services Department

DATE:

November 28, 2001

BOARD MEETING DATE:

December 4, 2001

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Luther Perry, CIO/Director of Information Services
Extension 4234, Pony ISD120

SUBJECT:

Appropriation Transfer Request to Fund Radio Project Changes

Recommendation

Approve an ATR in the amount of $230,000 transferring reserves to fixed assets for the purpose of funding changes required for re-engineering of equipment and sites for the Countywide Radio Upgrade Project.

Background and Discussion

During the planning phase of the Countywide SONET Radio network design, decisions were made to ensure long-term viability and flexibility of the network. However, late in the process, changes were made to accommodate some specific customer needs. It has now been determined that these changes did not meet the overall project goals of ensuring long-term viability and flexibility. Therefore, ISD and Radio Project Management have agreed that it would be advantageous to the County to proceed with the original plan. To do so will require some re-engineering of equipment installed at five of our eleven radio sites. While there will be a cost to re-engineer the sites, making this change now will allow for much better growth \ demand for bandwidth on the new microwave network as well as save the County money over the next two to three years. If the changes are not made now, eleven out of eleven hilltop sites would need to be re-engineered within two years at more than double the cost. The ATR will fund (from reserves) the re-engineering of the equipment at our sites.

Additionally, between the RFP and the contract period our primary vendor began using a new version of radio site standards. As a result enhancements in the electrical service are required at several sites throughout the network. These enhancements include surge suppression devices, dedicated circuits and grounding. These improvements will improve overall network reliability and protect the new microprocessor-controlled equipment from electrical damage and will ensure warranty-based support from our primary vendors.

Fiscal Impact

The total cost of the site re-engineering is approximately $315,000. Of that, $40,000 will be credited by the vendor for returned equipment, and $45,000 is available from project contingency funds. The remaining $230,000 is available in ISD equipment reserves. The estimated useful life of the radio system is 10-15 years, and we will continue to build a reserve contribution into our charges for the new radio system.