West Memphis City Council passes AWIN appropriation

City ready to spend big money on new emergency responder radios

news@theeveningtimes.com The City of West Memphis is set to join the Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN).

West Memphis City Council loosened the purse strings and authorized spending $2 million for new hand-held and mobile radios.

Last month, the council heard the current radios had become obsolete with repair parts no longer available from the manufacturer. The unanimous vote last Thursday funded the communication system including mobile and portable radios, dispatch consoles, two tower sites, training and maintenance.

Emergency Management Director DeWayne Rose issued a letter to city council outlining the benefits of AWIN communication.

AWIN was set to help emergency responders communicate and coordinate with other local and state agencies.

Interoperability with other agencies was something the existing system never had.

“The new radio technology supports the City of West Memphis Firefighters and Police Officers with improved in-building coverage in our schools, hospitals, local businesses, and throughout our city,” said Rose. “Our Fire and Police Departments will have direct interoperability with State agencies such as Arkansas State Police, Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, and other Northeast Arkansas city and county agencies; Crittenden County, Marion, all Crittenden County small city agencies dispatched by Crittenden County, Memphis/Shelby County, TN and Desoto County, MS. Non-public safety agencies in West Memphis will operate on the same radio infrastructure helping to reduce the taxpayer burden in the City of West Memphis, making this a “Whole Community” radio system.”

Funding opened the door for a five-year lease/purchase and service agreement between the city and Motorola Solutions for the AWIN compatible radios.

The city gets 430 radios

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West Memphis Office of Emergency Management Director DeWayne Rose CITY COUNCIL (cont.)

costing $2,600 each. Police fire, sanitation, streets, code enforcement, and emergency management were set to be equipped with on board mobile radios and handheld units under the deal. The $3.5 million deal required the city pay $755,700 per year.

Council authorized using two million dollars from its American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 grant to start the project. The rescue funds are also commonly called also the COVID-19 Stimulus Package. The new agreement takes effect at the beginning of April.

Mayor Marco McClendon underscored the necessity of the new equipment.

Using two towers eliminates dead spots in experienced in some parts of the city.

“These radios save lives,” said McClendon. “These upgrades to our communication virtually eliminate radio silence by placing state of the art communication technology in the hands of our responders.

“These radios provided optimum coverage for those who protect us.”

Motorla Solutions representative Joe Gordon provided straightforward facts about the existing radios and dispatch system. The company had installed 140 AWIN sites across the state.

“My understanding is that the West Memphis system and certain components are at the endo of life,” said Gordon. “What that means is if you have a failure, there is no parts. You have to check on eBay for say a dispatch console, probably not the optimal way to operate.”

Councilman Tracy Catt of the police commission said AWIN was overdue in West Memphis, but city spending had stretched to the limit.

“This is something we should have started looking into ten years ago,” said Catt. “This is long overdue; we have to bite the bullet.

It’s no secret the (proposed) budget ran a $2.3 million and departmetn heads had to make cuts to balance the budget. We have to balance spending.

We need to start saving money for the next set of radios. We need to think about that, saving up, in every single spending plan moving forward.”

City Financial Director Tori Perry also warned council about counting the casino as a cash cow before its expansion opened. She also reminded the city board Southland met annual budget projections even after being closed for a period under pandemic protocol.

“In my opinion all the money from Southland is pre-booked until we actually start receiving more funds,” said Perry. “That’s when council can start considering

council purses.”

Rose assured city council the new radio system met all requirements under the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Project 25 standards.