Rowlett Council Votes on $5.2 Million to Replace Aging Public Safety Radios

When a Rowlett officer or firefighter keys a radio, it has to work. City staff say much of the equipment behind that radio is wearing out. Tonight, the City Council is set to vote on more than $5 million to replace it.

The council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the Municipal Building, 4000 Main. Two Motorola purchases sit on the consent agenda, according to the agenda. The agenda says consent items may be acted on in one motion, and a council member or a citizen may ask that an item be pulled for individual consideration.

New handheld radios

Item 4.B would buy 174 portable radios from Motorola Solutions for up to $1,136,582.58, including a seven-year warranty. A staff report in the meeting packet breaks that down by department:

• Police: 87

• Fire: 48

• Public Works: 18

• VIPS: 10

• Code Enforcement: 6

• Jail: 3

• Animal Services: 2

The purchase goes through a Houston-Galveston Area Council cooperative contract. Staff says that contract takes 27% off list price for radios and 20% to 25% off accessories.

The system behind the radios

Item 4.K is the bigger ticket: a platform migration and system upgrade for the city's public safety radio system, bought through a Texas Department of Information Resources contract for up to $4,061,009.70. It covers dispatch consoles, system backbone equipment and software.

The staff report shows how the price was reached. The full project, with maintenance for fiscal years 2029 through 2034, comes to $4,682,908. The state contract knocks off $339,636. Motorola takes off another $282,262.30 if the city signs before Oct. 27. To lock in that price, the city must pay a $10,000 deposit when it signs.

Taken together, the two purchases come to $5,197,592.28.

A DART Blue Line train at Downtown Rowlett Station, 2015. Photo: Michael Barera / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What the council heard in September

Minutes from a Sept. 28 work session, included in the packet, show Interim Fire Chief Mitchell Randles briefed the council. He said the Motorola system is shared by Rowlett, Garland, Mesquite and Sachse. Its hardware and handheld radios are reaching the manufacturer's end of life, and updating them would solve "the critical lack of ability to make repairs," according to the minutes.

At that session, staff said the city has 316 handheld radios and 174 of them need replacement. Staff first priced the system upgrade with 10 years of support at up to $5,684,978.70. Then it recommended a seven-year warranty instead and put the new total at $4,303,259.70. The agenda item now before the council lists a lower ceiling of $4,061,009.70. The staff report does not explain the difference.

How Rowlett would pay

Both staff reports say the city plans to pay with tax notes or certificates of obligation issued in 2027. Staff estimates debt service on the system upgrade at about $750,000 a year, depending on the term and interest rate. Any costs paid before the debt is issued would be reimbursed from it.

The work session minutes lay out a timeline. Handheld radios would be ordered in October 2026, arrive in December and go into service in January 2027. Work on the system would begin in December 2027 and wrap up in summer 2028.

Generators, after the fact

Also on consent, item 4.G asks the council to approve and ratify a purchase that is already underway: permanent emergency generators at six wastewater lift stations, bought from GenServe for up to $2,089,167. The project is backed by FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which the Texas Division of Emergency Management administers.

According to the staff report, the grant required the money to be spent by Oct. 2. The city asked for more time on July 14. While that request was pending, the interim city manager told Purchasing on Aug. 14 to go ahead rather than risk losing the grant. On Aug. 21, the state extended the deadline to Feb. 18, 2027. The council is now being asked to formally sign off on those steps.

Five million dollars is real money. But when the power is out and the calls are coming in, nobody wants to find out the radios don't work. Residents can speak during citizens' input near the start of the meeting. The agenda and packet are on the city's meeting portal.

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