Title
Approval to submit an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) to the Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHSEM), in the amount of $274,800.
Recommended Action
I move that Council approve the request to submit a grant application to the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency in the amount not to exceed $274,800.
County Manager's Recommendation
The County Manager recommends that Council approve the grant application as requested.
Body
Most of Los Alamos Fire Department's (LAFD) current portable radios are ten to eleven years old and are reaching the end of their service life. LAFD will need to replace all portable radios over the next three years per the department’s replacement schedule. The purpose of this grant is to secure funding to begin portable radio replacement over the next three years. The portable radios that LAFD plans to purchase using this grant funding are the Harris XL-200P Full-Spectrum Multiband Radios. The XL-200P radio is a tri-band radio that will allow LAFD to communicate with various agencies throughout New Mexico and the United States using this single radio. LAFD currently utilizes one radio for radio communications within Los Alamos and has a different radio for communicating with agencies outside of the county. This single radio will take the place of the two radios that LAFD currently uses. In addition, this radio has other advantages over the current Harris radio that LAFD uses including: ability to wirelessly interface with the facepieces on LAFD’s breathing apparatus to allow for clearer radio communication when personnel are on-air using their Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus’, intrinsically safe which means it enhances firefighter safety when operating in explosive environments, is LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi capable, and has more power when transmitting radio messages
Alternatives
The alternative to submitting the grant application is to utilize t...
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